I cannot BELIEVE we’ve been married for ONE YEAR! It’s crazy, time flies. I feel like especially in this new season of C19 the days are sometimes long but the “months” are FAST! Cherish your days, your hours, your minutes and make the most of them! This post is a little like a journal entry for me, but if you want a sneak peak into what this year has looked like, take a read! Next week we’ll be sharing 5 lessons we’ve LEARNED throughout all of these experiences, so stay tuned for that too! (Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!)

Okay so married ONE YEAR! Here’s a little year in review for Josh and I!

WEDDING WEEK

Our wedding week was incredible. We had about 60 friends & family travel from all over the world to Newfoundland, my home province for our big day! Not only did many of them come for the day, but many came for the week before! We had a full itinerary of FUN to have together. We hit the hot spot restaurants together, ate the best food, visiting the rugged East coast beaches, jumped in the Atlantic, went on hikes, went whale watching & boating, had campfires & sing songs, lots of family dinners & bbq’s, oh and don’t forget backyard FOOTBALL! We also had my dream intimate rehearsal dinner in my childhood backyard which was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of the entire wedding experience. Just having those 15-20 people closest to you in life sitting around a table sharing food, fellowship, stories, love, celebration, both of our families, united together— it was beautiful.

Our actual wedding was more magical than I could have imagined. The time with the girls & my family in the morning getting ready was so much fun, the ride to the church that I have taken hundreds of times with my parents and brother was so special this time around as it was the last time we’d take that drive with me as a single woman. The service was so beautiful and God’s presence was so real. We had a beautiful exchange of vows, time of worship, a great word from our pastor, and an amazing prayer from my grandfather blessing our marriage at the end of our ceremony. It was such an amazing feeling seeing our support system our team of hundred plus people there to cheer us on, support our marriage, and be in our corner. It’s truly the best day of your life.

Then it was time to celebrate! We hopped in my Uncle Dwight’s fancy convertible and I was just so on top of the world I even drove with the roof top down with my wedding hair! (It was fine :P)! We forgot one detail though, to tell who had to go to photos where to go! LOL. But everyone figured it out! :) Those things are bound to happen so don’t sweat it!

We had AMAZING photographers and friends of ours, Julia & Tim take AMAZING photos for us. It was so fun & relaxing.

Our reception was at the most beautiful building on the skyline of downtown St. John’s — The Rooms. When the reception started the room, fully encased by floor to ceiling windows was also encased by FOG! Newfoundland is famous for, “the fog rolling in”. People were dumb founded by how thick it was! You literally couldn’t see anything. And then the most magical thing happened… it ROLLED AWAY! And before our eyes the most beautiful scene of the harbour, the mountains and the ocean unfolded.

We had a great evening of food, sharing speeches, great music & dancing & celebrating! At the end of the night, it was SO FUNNY. I had forgotten to pack a bag for our wedding night away at this cute tiny house Josh booked snuggled into the side of a cliff over looking the ocean. So my parents brought us back to my childhood home so I could quickly packed and then dropped us off at our little spot! Talk about a family affair ;) !

What an amazing day!

After a FULL week and day with everyone we loved, it was amazing to take some time the next day together. We took a quiet boat ride around the coast of Newfoundland, enjoyed the fresh air, held hands, snuggled & watched the beautiful whales. In the evening the celebration continued with a LIVE ARKELLS concert on George Street! Our FAVE band! What great timing!!

HONEYMOON

So we decided that after a week of adventuring and entertaining family & friends in Newfoundland (which was AMAZING) we thought we might want a more “CHILL” honeymoon, so we went the resort route, and this was my first all inclusive, but not Josh’s — he was a pro. So we chose the #1 honeymoon resort of 2019 which was Sandals White House Jamaica! Our travel guide helped us narrow down and choose and we are SO HAPPY we did. It was fabulous. You did NOT feel like you were on an all inclusive resort. It felt almost European in style with high end fine dining restaurants with full service, not buffet. It felt like there were maybe 20 couples on the resort— how they make that happen (maybe with the spacing & layout?) I don’t know, but it was amazing and intimate. The rooms, accommodations, staff, pool, beach, everything was spectacular and high high quality. If you’re looking for a great resort we highly recommend! It was a great week away of relaxing, having quality time together, beaching, eating, and having fun!

FULL TIME BONNE MEDIA

When we returned from our Honeymoon, Josh & I had made the decision that now was the time to take what was my “side hustle” FULL TIME! So we did! I kick started into high gear, Bonne Media! And I’m so glad I did! To see how it’s grown and what we’ve been able to grow and develop in the last year has been incredible!

STAYCATION WITH PARENTALS BONNELL

Just about a month and a bit after our Newfoundland wedding, my parents took a trip up to Ontario to enjoy some summer heat! We spent a few days in Waterloo, Niagara Falls & Toronto! We had so much fun!

THANKSGIVING

Our first thanksgiving as a married couple!! It was awesome. We had family dinners, lots of Starbucks coffee, warm sweaters, cool walks, pumpkin patch exploring, and hosted a beautiful friends-giving with a fun tablescape in our little condo!

FALL HOLIDAYS W/ FAM & MEGHAN' & BEN’S WEDDING!

October is such a beautiful month in Ontario. This year was no exception! We had our great friends wedding & my parents had flown up to enjoy as well! We had a fantastic time at the wedding celebrating & enjoying the beautiful fall that Ontario offers! We enjoyed Elora, the spa, the trails, the brewing co, fall fair at Westmount, Victoria Park, The Walper, & A Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game & Toronto shopping!

EUROPE TRIP!

So a few months into marriage we realized that we wanted to start a family pretty much ASAP. But before we were chasing after little Kiddo’s we really wanted to invest some of our time and resources into seeing the world together. So we planned a EUROPE TRIP! This was amazing, highly recommend. I had been to Europe before, but it’s an entirely different experience going with your hubbz. We visited London, Paris, Barcelona & then did 14 different stops throughout Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands, and the Caribbean islands through a Trans- Atlantic cruise! Best way to see a lot and still relax! Highly recommend!!

CHRISTMAS

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It’s my favorite time of year for sure. This year was our first year married and our first year at our home in Ontario! We had a really cute early Christmas pizza party with our family, we ordered really cute “Merry Christmas From the Webber’s” cards, bought a tree, decorated, watched Christmas movies, baked Christmas cookies, had a cookie swap! It was awesome. We had a beautiful Christmas Eve Service at Slate church, and made our rounds throughout the evening visiting different family get togethers! Then we headed home, put on the fireplace channel, threw on our Christmas jammies, put out our stockings & hit the hay!

BANFF

To celebrate my birthday and top off some of our travel goals for our first year married, we headed to WESTERN CANADA to visit my brother! What an AMAZING experience. We explored the great city of Calgary, shopped, ate at the Calgary tower and MANY other amazing foodie spots like MODEL MILK! They have the coolest cafes, breweries and restaurants! Andrew gave us a great tour of the best of the best! We did a famjam spin class (one of my fave studios YYC Cycle!) shopped, hung out with new friends and of COURSE headed to BANFF! We stayed in the cute picturesque village of BANFF for 3 days and hit up the ski hill— what an amazing experience. We explored the village, visited the FAIRMONT Banff springs, Lake Louise and other great mountain top look outs!

FLORIDA

Last but not least, F L O R I D A! We have a family trip we usually take each year since I was probably 2. Florida is like the winter getaway for all Newfoundlanders. Josh & I flew down and met up with my parents and brother in Kissamee Florida! We stayed at a beautiful gold resort where my aunt & uncle and cousins were also staying! We had a blast. From pool days, to golf, to Disney, shopping & beaches! Fun fact— we think this is where we conceived! It was kind of funny because the whole family knew that it was ovulation time LOL!

COVID

So we get back from Florida March 14th and realize that the world isn’t the same anymore! We self isolated for 14 days after visiting the US and we got into a new groove of a new normal. We set up two cute white desks at home, almost like a little school room haha and we both started working from home! For the most part, it’s so much fun! We really get along super well and don’t need a lot of alone time. Josh enjoys being tended on too with lunches and coffees ;)! LOL. But the Covid season wasn’t going to be boring….

WE’RE PREGNANT!

So during Covid we new that we’d soon find out if we were pregnant or if we were gonna have to go another round or 20 of trying! (You never know!) So me being an eager beaver, I took a test a little too early and it actually was negative. It was technically a day before I was supposed to start my period, and I guess I didn’t have enough of the hormone in my body at the time for the test to pick up on! So we kind of settled into the fact that okay, not this time. Of course we were disappointed. Actually, the same week we put an offer on a house and also didn’t get it. So life isn’t always rosy! That was a tough week. But God’s closed door’s are blessings for the right one’s to open! About a week later, it was a SUNDAY. My favorite day of the week. We were tuning into Slate Church online and it was right around the time the song “The Blessing” by elevation worship came out. (Amazing song). After we watched church we were cleaning up the condo and had “The Blessing” on blast. As we were playing it, I was singing and worshipping along and just felt as I was singing the words,

“May His favor be upon you

And a thousand generations
Your family and your children
And tHeir children, and tHeir children”

I just had this feeling in my heart that I was pregnant. So I picked up more tests that afternoon and in the evening we took the test, and we were PREGNANT! We were so excited, what a moment. Minutes later we were on the phone with our parents and siblings sharing the news! We couldn’t wait!

BUYING HOUSE!

Okay so baby on the way, but small condo is our home… We had been looking at the real estate market with our relator for about 2 years off and on, just monitoring the markets, the neighbourhoods we liked, narrowing down our must have’s and what we really wanted. It may seem like funny timing to buy and sell a house during a pandemic, but it was the perfect timing for us. We found a house in a neighbourhood we loved on a street where Josh actually lived growing up, and I actually lived on in the FIRST apartment I lived in when I moved to Ontario— C R A Z Y! It checked off our boxes and we put in an offer! The next day we found out it was ours. We were so excited! Writing this now we move in two weeks! Boy am I happy we didn’t get the first house we put an offer on!

ONTARIO SUMMER STAYCATION

And that all brings us to right about now. It’s a HOT HOT summer and we are making the most of each moment. We’ve had a great summer so far as we navigate through preparing for our move and baby and enjoy the day to day. We also were lucky enough to get to spend a week at a beautiful cottage with our family in Port Elgin for some quality relax time together. And then again, my in-laws gifted us with a great weekend in Haliburton at Sir Sam’s Resort to celebrate our anniversaries together. it was a beautiful experience with great meals, many laughs, spas, pools & the refreshing lake!

Two weeks to move, Two weeks to gender reveal, I wonder what the next year will hold! One thing I know is true is that when we trust God, follow in obedience in his footsteps, where He guides us, the best is always ahead of us! Let’s GO!

XX - Ash