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

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. ;)

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.

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!

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.

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.

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! ;)

Online Friends