ClarkandPearle.com

At 3 in the morning, mommy-to-be felt a kick in her belly. Mommies-to-be often feel those sorts of things, but this one was special — it was the one that told your mommy-to-be that you were on the way! Mommy- and daddy-to-be jumped in the car, and off they went to the hospital, to see if today was the day they would get to meet you.

At 6 in the morning, mommy-to-be could feel that you really wanted to see everyone! She could feel the kicks getting stronger and stronger. Doctor, and daddy-to-be, aunties- and uncles- and grandmas- and grandpas-to-be were awaiting your arrival with baited breath.

At 6 in the evening, everyone was still waiting; Doctor was trying to help mommy-to-be, and mommy-to-be was trying to help you! And daddy-to-be was helping her! And auntie-to-be was helping him! And grandma-to-be was helping them! And grandpa-to-be was helping everyone! Everyone was taking turns making sure that everyone was ready for your arrival.

At 8 at night, everyone was getting anxious to see you; Doctor said we should make your arrival soon, because she could tell you were getting anxious too. Doctor said you were tired. Doctor said mommy-to-be was tired. And so Doctor rushed mommy-to-be to the Operating Room. Don’t worry about what “Operating” means; your mom is in health care, so she can explain what that means when you’re older.

At 9 at night, we knew it was time; all the waiting, all the excitement, all the anticipation all boiled down to this one moment.

At 9:52 at night on July 12th, 2008, mommy-to-be became Mommy. Daddy-to-be became Daddy. And Baby-to-be became you. And all the aunties- and uncles- and grandmas- and grandpas- to be all became happy, because you had arrived, safe and sound.

Happy Birthday, Ava.

P.S.: Uncle Eric took lots of awesome pictures. I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to share it with a bunch of people who check out our website — just click on the link below:

Baby Ava’s Birthday: July 12th, 2008

As mentioned in my previous post, Clark and I went river rafting last weekfor our friend, Clara’s, birthday. It’s been a bunch of days since we done it, and still my reaction to it keeps changing; before we set off for it, I was like, “Pfft, whatever!” On the way over it was, “Ohhhh, it’s so early — ooh, coffee! WEE!” As we arrived in Whistler, the meeting place for the tour, I was like, “Uh, I might wet myself.” As we rode a rickety old bus down logging rodes to the launching site, I was like, “Uh, I might crap myself.”

It got better from there.

I’d say, all in all, everything was great; the scenery was beautiful — we saw stuff that you can’t see other than by boating down that river — and the people were great! There were only a couple of minor bumps in the way, affectionately called THE RAPIDS. We rode through some pretty white water, and the water was pretty high, at that! The Steamroller, the Devil’s Elbow, The Cheeky Monkey — each one tried to kick the CRAP out of us! We got tossed left right right, and just left of right and all the little vectors in between. I mean, LOOK at that little thumbnail I just posted! That’s US somewhere amidst that white cloud of TERROR and WET and STUFF.

But yeah, in hindsight, the trip was great. I mean, sure,

• this and
• THIS, and
• THIS happened. But other than that it was… yay.

Oh, who am I kidding. I fell into the river. I FELL INTO THE RIVER. THE RIVER TOOK ME AND SAID “YOU GET OUT OF THE BOAT NOW.” I saw water a foot above my head and thought to myself “This sucks.” I saw this big rock rush towards me and I thought “YOU SUCK, RIVER.” Then Clark and my fellow boat mates came and PULLED me from the river’s watery clutches! YOU LOSE RIVER. Team Fit wins.

There are pictures of that momentous event, and more! Check it out right here! Just click on the image below:

Hi, everyone! It’s been a while since there’s been anything posted up on this site, eh? Since the marriage, Clark and I have been quite busy, as one can imagine! There’s still so much to say about what’s been going on; there’s the wedding, and we moved to our new place and we went to Northern BC to meet family on Clark’s mom’s side and we went river rafting, all of which have really good stories attached — not to mention pictures! With every day that passes, more and more stuff happens, thus queuing up the continuing saga that is getting married! Well, I don’t want to hold up the line of stories, no no sir, and so with that, let’s begin with the item of business highest on the list right now: the wedding itself!

It’s true what they say about the bride and groom on their wedding day: they totally CHECK OUT on that day, and everything becomes a blur. That’s exactly what happened to me during that day, which is why I’m so thankful for a bunch of things for that reason — so much stuff went on at any given time that it was pretty impossible for me to actually get with the program. Thankfully, the bridal party had their stuff together and totally kept everything flowing, especially my sister, who was not only my Matron of Honour, but my MC as well. Did I mention she’s, like NINE months pregnant, on top of it all?? And then there’s Mardy, who was like matron of honour #2, totally backing up Manang on the day. And then there’s Scott, who gave a lovely speech that day, and who I’m sure kept Clark together leading up to the big moment. And let’s not forget Glen, who, among other things, developed what I will refer fondly to as our signature drink: the Boat Awesome. If you want the recipe to this most excellent mixed drink, please contact me — I am all for the purveyance of this awesome beverage.

Enclosed are a number of photos taken by our photographer for the day, Delainy Mackie of Living Image Photography — they’ve definitely been a great help to me in terms of remembering that day.

Without further ado, here are our wedding photos. Just click on the picture below.

What, she’s posting on the day of her wedding? Yeah, I actually think I have the time to do this! Either that, or I’m totally forgetting to do something potentially important! Whatever! At this point in time, I’m on such a buzz, I don’t think there’s anything really more important to do other than the stuff we’ve done to get to this point; the rehearsal is done, the cakes are made, dresses bought, flowers arranged, marriage prep classes taken, friends and family have been made aware of the happy news, and, at the start of it all, a ring was given and a question was asked to me by Clark: “Will you marry me?”

It’s been a life-changing past 10 months for the both of us; from the day Clark proposed in August to right now, I definitely know we’ve changed; we’ve been through big career changes and life changes and lots of other changes that, well, really changed things. Some of it has been hard, some of it has been definitely surreal, and some of it has been like all “What the heck, seriously?” But you know what? These have been the best days of my life so far. That’s because, for all the things that have changed during this time, the things that have stayed the same are the things I love more than anything else in the world, and they’re still with me; without the boundless support of  friends, family, and most of all Clark, I couldn’t be the blushing bride I am at this very moment.

Hey, this stuff is good. I’m so going to just copy and paste this entry and use it as my speech! Heh heh heh, no one will ever know — until they go home and read the site and… eh, whatever. Go ahead! Read it! You won’t realize this stuff isn’t fresh until it’s too late! Haha, I win!

Shoot, I have spent too much time formulating that joke and now it’s time to get dressed. OK, so I guess I’ll continue this at the reception! I’ll see you there!

It’s been a chilly spring for Vancouver, hasn’t it? Really SUCKS for people who are, say, GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEKEND.

We’ve been watching the weather like a hawk, Clark and I. While the wedding will be predominantly indoors for us, I think most brides and grooms hope for at least a bit of sun to peek out over the course of their special day.

There are some engaged couples that get even more hardcore about making sure the weather doesn’t suck on their wedding day, going so far as to check almanacs and historical resources, picking only days that have a history of being sunny. I didn’t do that, but looking out the window, uh, maybe I shoulda. Hey, let’s check it now!

Hmm, this is positive; Climate Services says that mid-June has, historically, shown us only a 30% chance of precipitation. Of course, this June doesn’t feel like the others. It’s kinda COLD. So I guess the only real measure of how good the weather’ll be will be, well, whatever we actually end up getting!

There, this thing should help keep track! Here’s hoping for good weather!