This summer, we decided to spend our vacation time enjoying our yard and home and had a "staycation".  We crossed many chores off of our to-do list that we had been meaning to complete since moving in a year ago. It was a great feeling to organize our space and tidy-up our yard. Sometimes the only thing we really need is a few hours just to relax at home and read a good book. 

We also got to spend some of our time enjoying a few restaurants around Regina.  One place we decided to visit on our last day of vacation was Sprout's Café on Victoria Avenue.  We have hired Sprout to be our caterers for our wedding and decided it was a great opportunity to sample some of their cuisine since they are only open for breakfast and lunch during the week.

It was so wonderful to walk into Sprout and see this large poster prominently displayed with Ellen Degeneres' sign-off line "Be kind to one another".  I felt it was kind of fitting given our wedding wish is for our guests to perform an act of kindness in lieu of giving us a traditional wedding gift.  Not only did we pick a great caterer with tasty food, we picked a really kind and generous local business to be part of our special day.

If you are in Regina during the week, please visit the Sprout Cafe on Victoria Avenue for breakfast or lunch. You won't be disappointed!

On November 13, 2015, the day of the Paris attacks and other world events, it was hard not to feel that there is just too much hate in the world. Home alone while Jeremy was out at his weekly game night, Joanna spent her time watching the news and reading her Twitter feed, trying to learn more about the events in Paris. The city she had always dreamed of visiting since she was a little girl first learning French was under attack and there was nothing she could do about it. People shared their thoughts and prayers for the people of Paris on social media because they too could do nothing more than express how they felt. During the height of the media coverage, you didn't even know that more tragic events had taken place in other parts of the world too, but all anyone seemed to care about was Paris.

​Needing a distraction from the tragic events of the day before going to sleep, Joanna turned off the news and tried searching out a happier story to read. She came across an Upworthy story of a bride named Leigh Clark who believes in making the world a better place through acts of kindness. Ironically, this story was published on the same day as the Paris attacks. A story about love and kindness on a day when it seemed like there was only fear and hate in the world? How perfect! The story went on to explain that, as her wedding approached, Leigh knew "asking guests to do good deeds would be an amazing way to celebrate love — and not just between her husband and herself, but the world."

After reading Leigh's story, Joanna was inspired. Although they had no plans for a wedding at the time, she and Jeremy had talked about getting married "one day." They knew that day would come soon, they just hadn't set a date and made it official. Leigh's story really represented Joanna and Jeremy's values. The story made her think. They were lucky people, they were well educated, had bought their dream home, had good jobs and really had everything they needed. Acts of kindness... What a great way to celebrate their love for each other when they eventually got married! When she shared her idea with Jeremy, he agreed that it was something he wanted to do too.

In February 2016, when they officially decided to get engaged and started making wedding plans, one of the first decisions they made was to make their Wedding Wish official. They created this website to help share their wish with their family and friends. It is not like a gift registry exists for acts of kindness! Their wish would need a bit of an explanation to be understood.

Although the couple would love to have everyone at their wedding, they decided a smaller event was more their style. Even if you aren't attending in person, they are hoping you might be a little bit inspired to help make their wedding wish come true. Please consider doing an act of kindness and then sharing it with the bride and groom. Help them to share their love and make their wedding wish come true.