This page is dedicated to all of my friends, online and off! :) There are so many times in my life when I don't think I would've been able to get by without a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, and/or some kind words of support or advice... Thanks to those who have been there through it all. :)

Family

Paul

Of course Paul is first on my list... he's not only my spouse and life partner, he's also my best friend. We somehow manage not to get sick of each other, even in our different roles together - trying to parent together, look after our home and finances together, and socialize together. True tests of our friendship happen all the time (like when we were painting Harmony's bedroom over a long weekend and spent time together in a small room 24/7!) and we are often surprised to find how much we are "in sync". It is a wonderful thing to be able to find yourself in love with someone who is also such a good friend.

GHS Group

Karen

Another very close friend is Karen, and I actually met Harmony's dad's through her. :) She is a very "out there" chickie (shaved her head before I got up the courage to!) :P but also so extremely bright! We first met in grade 9, and we've been friends since. I guess you could say we had a "special" relationship at one point as well- thanks for teaching me about some of the important things in life, Karen! ;)

Karen now has a daughter of her own, which makes our relationship even more enriching - we're able to relate to each other as mothers and talk about all the joys (and not-so-fun moments!) of parenting! Her little girl is just 4 years younger than Harmony and they've been growing up a little bit like cousins, which I think is wonderful.

Karen and her partner Kelly were married on September 26th, 2006, and I had the honour of being one of her bridesmaids. It was a beautiful fall wedding, and we all had wonderful roses and other bright flowers in our hair. Harmony helped out with little Aili, who looked so adorable decked out for Mommy and Kelly's big day! We wish them all the best happiness.

Isabella

We didn't even know our family had a guardian angel in the form of our friend, but we found out we did when Isabella was helping us out this year. We are truly blessed to have her as a friend, and the kids really like her too. We can also brag about the fact that this friend (younger than we are, no less!) is a PhD candidate at the U of Calgary. See, we have smart friends, that must mean we get to be smart too.

Cynthia

Another amazing friend is Cynthia, and although she's away at another university too (-sniff-), we still manage to squeeze in some quality phone call time. Not to mention the fact that she's often back in town to visit. ;) She played the clarinet in band with me (and much better than me, might I add), which is where we met. You rock, chickie! :) Over the years, our friendship has grown so much, and I'm proud to call myself her friend. We have such great chats. Cynthia, you're awesome, and I'm always there for you! (((bone-crushing HUGS)))

One special thing Cynthia and I share is that we were each other's bridesmaids in our weddings - which happened to be 2 weeks apart! Now we'll be sharing an anniversary month too - it's great to have someone to chat with about married life. ;)

Alicia

'licia is yet another of my "chickie"s! ;) Alicia is one of the few non-Carleton people- she went to my school - yes, the good one! Carleton sucks! (ahem).... She plays the flute and sings and went to my high school (and was in our little "band and vocal geek" gang. Our friendship is still growing, and sometimes we're both a little guarded about it because we've both been hurt in life and love, but maybe that will be our bond too in a way... Alicia is presently living in Toronto, where she is starting her career as a teacher, but we get to see her once in a while still!

Nadia

This energetic member of our little group can't be left out! We've also known each other since high school, especially since she lives on the same street as one of my cousins did! Nadia's very fun to have around at parties we throw, but enjoys being at family-type stuff since she and Harmony are pretty cute together.

Jill

Jill is also one of the gals in our GHS Gang, and is amazingly talented at everything from architecture (her field of study in university) to all the social ins-and-outs. We're always happy to have her and her partner as guests at our parties, and it's great being able to chat about all those "adult world" things we're all getting started with - post-graduate jobs and house-keeping, etc! Jill and her partner Chris recently got married as well, and we were happy to be guests at their wedding - congrats guys!

Val

Ok, I'm including Val in this section of friends (even though she didn't go to GHS) because she hangs out with our little "GHS gang" group of friends. :) We met at my New Year's Eve party in 2002. She was one of the first people to be around while Paul and I first started dating, and definitely has a role to play in our history together. She now lives in Toronto, but still keeps in touch.

Playgroup Mommies

A big shout-out to the Playgroup Mommies - Amanda, Trina, Helen, Catherine, Jenn, Jennifer, & Sonia!!! who are now also Scrapbooking Mommies too! :) We met when our "Winter 2004/2005" babies were small and have kept in touch, through the Tuesday afternoon playgroup for babies under 1 when we were all on mat leave and afterwards through other playgroups and playdates. The kids had their first birthday party togteher @ Cosmic Adventures. Now us moms enjoy getting together to scrapbook pics of our growing toddlers! Helen has recently moved overseas, bringing her daughter Alyssa with her and their family is having lots of new adventures I'm sure. The rest of us really miss them but know we'll see them again someday soon. I can't wait to see the kids together this winter for a bunch of birthday parties when all the kids turn 3!! :)

Scrapbooking Mommies

This is the group that brings everyone together from different groups to share one common crafty hobby - scrapbooking!! I host a crop every single month and love to drag out my big table and sometimes bake cookies! :) We all bring our albums or cards we're working on and share tools and supplies. It's always neat when someone brings a different tool, like the Scrapboss or even a Cricut.

MOMS

"Hi" to Patty, Adrian & Susan from the MOMS group! Our little ones have grown from babies to toddlers and still manage to be little handfuls! Thanks to Jeffrey and Emily for coming to Avery's 2nd birthday party, hope they can come over and play another time soon! :)

My hubby's friends

Kat, Kurt, & Karen are my hubby's friends (and were the 3 people in his wedding party) but I also knew them all in high school too! Kat and Kurt were in both the High School band, and the "potton colyester" (PC) group (don't ask, just don't ask!) :P

High School chickies

Another group of high school friends are Nina, Meg, Dawnie, and Angie. I knew them all in high school and now mostly keep in touch with them online, through LiveJournal and/or Facebook. Meg also now has a little baby Wylie, and they brought us a cute Little Tykes car which Avery just adores. We went to Nina's wedding in August and it was a really lovely backyard ceremony and wedding. Harmony enjoyed taking lots of pictures!! and both kids enjoyed playing with Nina's dog Pepper.

Loyola Court

Shout-out to my neighbours here in Loyola Court! Since we live right next to the park, we are constantly there and have met so many of our neighbours! Luckily for me, a few of the moms here also enjoy scrapbooking!! so I keep some seats ready for them at my monthly crops (hi Chiqui, Amanda, & Melanie!).

Online Friends

There are just soo many wonderful women that I have met online over the years...

From the moms in the YM Communities I run (Young Canadian Mommies, Young University Mommies & "YUMAlum"), to women I've met in Mom & Prengnacy lists and message boards (Dec 98 mommies), to other online friends I chat with on MSN (Nicole, Marie), to LiveJournal friends (Stephanie), new friends met (or re-met!!) on Scrapbooking Buddies, to all my mommy friends in the YM Boards (Mandi, Cara, Samy, Amanda, Tiffany, Jessica, Sarah & Sarah, Kayla, Ashley, Toni, Christianne, Jen, I don't want to forget anyone!!!) ... so many people have become really special to me and have helped me through some tough time in life!

Mommy Friends

"Chickie" (Sarah)

One of my closest friends is Sarah. She's a couple years older than me and has two adorable little kiddos- Bailey (Bay) , who's 2 years older than Harmony, and Arianna (Anna or "Peanut"), who is just 5 months older than Harmony! Sarah and I met when we were pregnant with "the girls" at a pre-natal nutrition program for young mothers, and we knew we were friends when we were both SAHMs calling eachother every single morning during Rosie! ;) When we were both at university, and we got to see each other often, and even now that I've graduated, we still make time to chat and see each other. She also happens to moderate many of my young mommy lists (she is our "Community Memembership Coordinator), and does an awesome job of keeping them active and happy lists - I literally could *not* do it all without her so thanks a million chickie! You are an awesome CMC and mod! :) Oh, and I bugged her enough times for her to get a homepage - Click here.

Stéphanie

Although I've known Steph since the kids were babies, we really only started getting close a few years ago when she invited me to a scrapbooking class... and things have just gradually evolved from there, with our love of scrapbooking as a great common tie that we share. Her son Alex is only 5 months older than Harmony, so we can relate a lot about parenting kids of that age! Also, we have a lot of similar values about friendship, life, spirituality, etc. and have great discussions. I'm happy to have found such a positive new friend in Steph, and hope our friendship continues on this same path - chickie, je suis très contente d'avoir trouvé une amie comme toi. :)

Cindy

I've known Cindy since before she became a mommy, but always knew she'd be a great one. I admire the way she pressed forward with determination in all that she does - success with her career and continuing education included. Bowling nights rock!

University Friends

Aimée

Although everyone seems to *think* Aimée is my sister (maybe cause of the red hair!!), she's actually just a close friend! :) She went to my university in the Sociology and Women's Studies programs and we've had a few classes together since we have the same concentration. Aimée is an *amazing* listener, and she is so supportive of every single thing I've ever done! She is also a really amazing person, who has been through a lot but is dealing with everything with a lot of courage and determination. And of course Harmony loves her "auntie Aimee" as well- those two get along just famously! :)

Tina

Another good university (and also mommy) friend is Tina- her son Aaron is Harmony's age and they went to the university daycare together for years, which was great! Meanwhile, Tina and I were in Psych together and had a few classes together, which was great for sharing notes and studying. Her son Aaron was also the ring-bearer at our wedding, and the kids looked too cute together. They like to refer to each other as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" and say they will marry each other one day, despite our insistance that they are too young to be thinking about that! She's always keeping me going with laughs and funny stories, and it's great to have another young mom with similar views and attitudes and similar parenting styles... well, except for a few styles that may differ somewhat - here's to real mashed potatoes chickie! ;)