all about the chipboard

for the last couple of months i have been pining away at these chipboard albums.

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i love scrapbooking. it is the one hobby i have that allows my creativity to flow AND gives me a nice keepsake of my photos/memories. i don't want to totally give it up since i have slightly stopped drawing and painting. but lately, as i continue through my 2008 album, i am overcome with questions of how i will ever keep up with my endless photos. not necessarily now, but in the long term when i have other responsibilities that may take priority. then i came across chipboard albums. these would be fantastic to store photos with special themes like friends, vacation, life, love and happiness! AND they still promote the artistic side in you. i think this will be my summer project once the semester is over. i will tell you how it goes!! :)

a little something, something.

i saw a flash of something yesterday.

so extraordinary, yet could my thought be true?

mark wanted to try to unclog the sewer.

"now?" i questioned

"it will only take a second", mark replied, "besides the water is getting out of hand...too much mud".

half an hour later, mark is still searching for that clogged ice.

realization: i clean the house and make it tidy for myself, friends and family,

mark tries to clean the world and make it tidy for everyone.

or he likes to play in mud!
either one, they both make me smile :)

perfection

ahhh two posts in two days...crazy. but since i want to remember little moments of my life, love, and happiness in this blog i have to share this one! these are the days that make me feel content and happy with my life. it is nothing special that marks it as extraordinary to others. but it leaves me with absolute satisfaction.

as i wrote previously, i went the market with mark, and met up with anita and her sister, cindy. there is something i truly enjoy about hanging out with sisters. i never had one, and would NEVER give up my dearest brother for them, but frankly sisters have a bond that i wish i could have. they can do many things together like girlfriends, yet know each other better than anyone else in their world. i have seen it with my mom and aunt, my two cousins, and numerous friends. they give off such a beautiful energy that i just like to absorb.

anyways, we strolled the aisles buying our fresh produce, and homemade items. since we were on whyte, and the day was gorgeous, we walked over to plaid giraffe to "oogle" at the pretty jewelery and to maybe make a few purchases. ;) mark being the good sport that he is, sat himself in the "man chair" joking around with all of us. his face was precious as he watched us look at the potential buys, not once anxious for us to get out. after stopping for a fat frank on the side of the road, we made our way over to the bay. cindy, who is getting married this summer, wanted to check out the store for potential things to register for. mark and i went for the purpose of frying pans since i had previously promised mark i would buy new ones (reason: i was unaware of the damage metal on a frying pan caused...oops!).

i had a really good time. everything was just so natural. i don't know if it was because mark was there, in the presence of my friends, doing things that i liked and liking it too. or if it was just a perfect spring day to spend with the perfect pair of people. it won't be replicated, but it will be forever appreciated.

love

market time

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ahhh it is spring. i hear the birds chirping, the canadian geese coming home, the sun is out, and the breeze is cool (but not overbearing). i love it!

off to the farmer's market this morning to meet anita. maybe do a little jewellery shopping (eek), and buy some fresh produce....and i am thinking maybe some pretty spring flowers! :)

wish me luck!

love

food is the new crazy

i love to eat. i love spicy, sweet, sour, hot, cool, creamy, basically i love food!

recently (maybe more within the last year) i have become slightly more concerned with my health. i have been one of the fortunate ones to never worry about my weight. i am not very skinny but athletic and have never really had weight issues. due to good genes, high metabolism, and my love of working out i thought i was fine and could eat whatever i want. cut to my annual physical last year. for my age group, i have high cholesterol. i was shocked. due to my genes, poor eating habits, and my growing age, food has finally got the better of me.

it isn't only me. it seems like everyone (or maybe they all had and i just started listening) have gone healthy. i hear about food factories, eat organic, don't buy cans, avoid salt, sugar, and butter or is it margarine: regardless avoid both!  food....like real food has become the new craze! within this age of technology, where faster is better, immediacy is desired, and "i can't stay and eat, i have to go" is the philosophy, i wonder is our culture able to (or can) adapt? i hope so!

i (and whether mark has noticed, he has) made some friendly food choices. just to name a few:
1. always eat breakfast, and have flax seed in the am
2. when it comes to using canned veggies vs fresh...always choose fresh
3. substitute butter for apple sauce (believe me it really works)
4. whole grains are my friends: embrace them!

i am hoping that with these small lifestyle changes i will be able to continue and move forward with further products that will enhance my health. let's face it i will always love the spicy, sweet, sour, hot, cool, creamy. i won't give those up! however, with moderation i will be happy with all my foods and most importantly HEALTHY!

love

me night

mark is going to his friends tonight so i am planning the perfect alone night:

1. get into my comfy housecoat and spend the night in it

2. do a little bit of homework/research for my paper

3. give myself a pedicure

4. rent a girly movie...maybe two

5. relax

sounds fabulous!

love

great friend

let's talk about case...just because!

initially, i met case, in jr. high. apparently all she remembers of me was my long pink sweater that i thought was hot...and apparently was not (side note: why do we seem to remember each other's clothes...must mean first impressions are important!) regardless our friendship did not take off in grade 7. she moved at the end of the year.

we met up again, in high school as she was in the same social circle as me. i remember one of the first times i hung out with her. it was in her blue firefly, going to christine's. when we talked we found out that we shared the same chapstick, were close to our moms, and (when we would go) shared the same church. that was our initial bond. and it stuck! casey was always (and still is) up for anything. i remember i wanted to jump in puddles on a rainy day just because. she was there in a full body rainsuit splashing around with me! we would always try to do things like bike rides or go to the gym but spend half the time on the ground laughing, or talking...or going to mcdonalds! she was my consistent bar partner, as we acted foolishly, and danced to violent femmes and dee-lite. i would go over to her house (or her to mine). we ordered ham and pineapple pizza and jalapeno ranch dip, and watched endless television/movies. i would sleep through them, she would wake me up, in her casey way, i.e."TRACEY, WAKE UP!" and tell me what i missed. our greatest movie bond, and greatest sense of nerdom was lord of the rings. i had the first two extended versions...we watched them back to back and then went to see the last movie. i don't think i have seen those movies since that time! :) she is fearless, energetic, and extremely social. i love and admire each of those qualities. that is what makes her a special friend. i had the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding. a wonderful day that was so intimate and compiled of so many people that love her and her husband. she is also the reason that mark and i are together (you can read it in a different blog post). she is a wonderful human being who will always be one of my bestest friends!! BONUS: she is a wonderful mom!

love you case!

i have one more thing to say

ahhh a nice relaxing evening for st patrick's day. had some really good green food today. started my day with two green suckers, then had cucumbers, celery, spinach dip, and guacamole, with two green cookies. ended my night with some green milk and green pancakes!...ahhh if you can't enjoy it through food it just isn't worth it!

anyways...had a great scrapbooking night although still am really crappy with the photo taking. but here is my spread. it was in 2008 on valentine's day. casey, jeff, and i decided to do action shots as the camera person yelled out a word. needless to say it was endless laughter.

happy st patrick's day again!

love

this is all i want to say:

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

love

short and sweet

i went out for dinner for a co-workers birthday
it was a good dinner
i had great laughs
i went out for drinks after
they were good drinks
i had greater laughs
what a fantastic night

thanks for the fun everyone!
love

thanks dad

while i was working the other day i noticed snow valley from our drive back to program. snow valley is one of the city hills in edmonton that i have been to twice in my life. usually (coming from a semi-skiing family) we would trek to the mountains rather than go here...ski snobs as you would probably conclude. anyways, the two times i went to snow valley were on school field trips when i was in grade 5. i thought about my dad (a die-hard skier). he would take the days off work and chaperone/ski with me. i totally forgot that he did that until i saw that hill. we would usually stay later than the kids from school and ski. he would buy me a chocolate bar and we would talk about things in my grade 5 mind. so this is a shoutout to my dad. thanks. i had tons of fun and enjoyed our late afternoon skiing. thanks for taking the time. love you!

scrapbook night

i love to scrapbook

and i love my friends

not quite that good at the picture taking and don't own a scanner so this is what you all get. in reality, i don't think it is quite that crooked ;)

love

spring cleaning

with the creation of facebook i see into the lives of many friends all at once. spring cleaning is what everyone is saying today. i love a clean house. sometimes, when i have a million things on the go, i.e. grocery shopping, studying, paper writing, working...i will start cleaning. stress? maybe, but i just love organization and i love the finished product.

cleaning is something that mark despises. when i look at him, i see mass chaos. yet he seems to survive quite well, better, without my underlying ocd need to create order. that was one of the most difficult things we had to adjust to when we started living together. my difficulty in "letting go", realizing not everything is an emergency and i can function. his difficulty and wonder of why i need things the way they are. it was very hard and stupid fights would ensue. yet with fights you learn and love. our relationship grew and we accepted our differences.

NOW that we have adjusted to living with each other compromise has begun. mark helps me clean even though i know how much he truly utterly dislikes (maybe even hates?) it. yet he chooses to help. i on the other hand, let go of the need to nag and harass him to do things that really are not important to him. in the end it is just a stupid dirty dish.

isn't it amazing what a little spring cleaning can get you thinking about.

love

my pick of the night

if i was invited to the oscars this is what i would wear. beautiful.

love: part 1

my mom had been volunteering at the mustard seed for awhile. i was searching for something so i decided to join. i enjoyed it immensely. i felt like i had a purpose. a higher goal in life. with that volunteer job, there was a tiny itty bitty feeling to do so much more for these community members and others that were just as vulnerable. the mustard seed was also when i had my first encounter with mark. my mom always liked him (somehow i think she wanted to set us up but did not know how). he didn't talk much. neither did i. i was not looking for love, lust or anything remotely similar. i was striving for happiness within myself. so for a year, he was just mark, the mustard seed volunteer.

enter casey. after volunteering for a year, casey expressed interest in joining. i, welcome at the idea of having a friend doing this with me, pounced at the opportunity. casey, being casey, fit in right away. the volunteers and community members fell in love with her outgoing personality, humor and beautiful smile. and casey, being casey, was never shy making friends. she immediately latched onto mark. that is how he became part of our little group of three. four months past. we started giving mark rides home. i became slightly intrigued yet self protective. i knew little about him besides being a volunteer. however you can count on casey unravelling the puzzle as many questions were asked. it became casey's sole purpose to get us together. karoake was the doorway. a bunch of us were going to go singing in the millwoods area. i was struggling to get casey to come. mark overhearing this expressed interest. the opportunity came! casey said she would be there if mark was there.

that is how our relationship started. karoake became a scrubs marathon, became a movie date, became a home cooked dinner date, became long distance texting to this: a loving adventure three years later.

i guess thanks is given to my mom and casey. to my mom for her very subtle pushing and getting me started at the seed as it gave me more opporties than i can count. and to casey's lack of subtlety and for her just being her.

love

oscar night

so tomorrow is the oscars.

i used to be a fanatic about these things. even as a kid, i would stay up late and watch the academy awards special. i remember when billy crystal used to host and do all his spoofs. when whoopi goldberg was the first african american women to host the academy awards. i remember steve martin, david lettermen (uma/oprah), chris rock, and john stewart. i remember ellen degeneres with that ridiculous swan costume. i remember the outfits. i loved the dresses, the glamour, the make-up, the illusion. the big party where everyone would dress up for one special night. i always wanted the invite...but only if i could dress up too! and the wins were my favourite part. when roberto benigni jumped all around the seats after his name was announced. when matt damon and ben affleck were in disbelief as they randomly shouted words/names as they clung onto their statues. when little anna paquin hyperventilated (just a little) before her speech. when hilary swank forgot to name her (then) husband for a beautiful yet small movie. and when james cameron declared he was "king of the world" for a beautiful yet large movie.

it was an event i shared with my mom. that one sunday we would sit, and watch certain musical numbers, wish for certain winners and be intrigued with certain movies that we never took note of before. when my mom was away, i took my oscar fix to my very awesome(est) friend casey's house and would sit with her, her mom (my mama b), and her aunt. we would watch musical numbers, wish for winners, and wonder about movies all the same. when i was away in australia, my travelling commrades and i staked out the television in one of our hostels up the northern coast. in our little shelter, under the pouring rain, with a feast for plenty(liquorice, tim tams, chips, candy, much more) we watched muscial numbers, wished for winners, and planned on those movies.

in the last couple of years i stopped watching the ceremony. i still cared as i would hear about the winners on the radio the next day. i would admire the dresses in the magazines the next week. i would see the movies in the video store the next month. i still love the idea. it is that one magical day, where those selected actors/actresses get a chance to be in a fairytale.

i think i will watch them this year.

love

just like that

i went to michaels last night...
spent a small fortune...
just like that...

now the scrapbook creations begin

love

Jeaninne Date!

i have a jeaninne date today! very excited! jeaninne has been one of my very good friends for about 14 years now. I saw her first in 10th grade and admired her fashion sense...she laughs now, but i thought her blue track pants with a white line down the legs were extremely cool. ahhh what were we both thinking? 

we were meant to be friends. she had a love of dance and we had a fair share of dance parties: backstreet boys, spice girls, paula abdul, and darren's dance grooves. west edmonton mall was and is still our marathon. we love the same music, sometimes really bad music. AND just having good old fun! frankly the girl makes me laugh like no one could, and she is one of the few whom i can cry with. she never judges, always listens, and we have such good girl talks. Plus its like we have our own language as she can talk in tangents just like me. she is one of my greatest friends. we have shared so much: clothes, laughs, tears, graduation, life ponderings (thankfully not boyfriends). and done so much with each other: camping trips, toured italy, summer festivals, skiing, karoake++++, shopped till we dropped in montana, movies, going to new york (may 2010...eek!) and so MUCH MORE! AND i had the privilege to be a bridesmaid in her wedding (let me just say: not one bridezilla moment. she says there was one but i think she was awesome). 

so needless to say i am pumped to see her tonight. we don't see each other as much as i would like (i would like to blame school, and my two jobs, and her busy job for the reason...more my stuff then hers) but i talk to her atleast once a week...and frankly couldn't imagine my life without her. she is fantastic!

AND i still think she has impeccable fashion sense! :)

love

wake up in the morning

i have consistently been going to the gym five days a week for the last 3.5 months. in the beginning i was eager, ready to sweat away all the excess sugar i was consuming over my birthday and christmas. mid january i started to falter but pushed through. my idea is once i start making excuses not to go to the gym, i will stop going. experience has taught this to be true. well today: wednesday, march 3 ,2010 looked to be that day of failure. my alarm went off twice: 5:50, 5:55. i laid in the bed fairly still. evil thoughts entered my head, "i'm tired"; "i didn't get any sleep last night"; "i can work out at night"; (something that has taught me to be untrue). just as i was starting to believe my lies. WEDNESDAY, popped into my brain.

every wednesday morning at 7:45am a co-worker teaches yoga (for free) at my work. she believes that every workplace should have some form of a health program and since ours doesn't have one, she generously took it upon herself to teach us yoga. having experienced injuries in my life, and being hopelessly flawed when it comes to stretches after workouts, i keenly attend her classes without fail. it leaves me feeling refreshed, walking straighter and longing to enroll in more yoga classes. yet it is no joke, my body is constantly challenged by how far i can stretch almost teetering out of balance (darn you dance poses!).

so i would like to say thank you to that lovely lady! you are the reason i ran on the treadmill today. as all i could think about was how great i would feel in one hours time.

love

battling addiction...REPHRASE: SCRAPBOOK ADDICTION

ahhh, to scrapbook. what can i say. i am an addict, been one for about 17 years now. my mom started working for welcome wagon and came across a sponser who did creative memories. she rehauled all of our albums (my brothers and mine) and compiled a baby book. me being me, was not satisfied with the progress she was making (even though she was rasing a family, working a job, and doing countless other things). so i took over my album at 13 finished it. mom, seeing my interest, bought me a scrapbook travelling bag, filled with all things that would delight a crafter: glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, endless stickers and all other necessities to make my own albums. so the scrapbooking began. now 12 + (?) albums later, i still continue the NEED to scrapbook. my travelbag is now a room. the glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, and endless stickers are in abundance. also some helpful additions have fueled my addiction even further. THE CRICUT has helped me escape the need to die cut paper for hours. the brads, eyelets, ribbons, glitter, and chipboards have ehnaced my pretty little scrapbook pages (what i believe) into works of art.

ahhh to scrapbook. the only problem is there really is not enough time in the day to do all i want. i am currently (although) slowly working on my album from 2008 (yes you heard it right), a wedding album for a bestest friend (i love you case) from 2006 (i know i am horrible friend), and an album for a very dear lady i work for. there are definitely worse problems!

ahhh to scrapbook.

love

hopewell rocks

so as i study for my midterms i look over at my picture screen saver and can't help but stare at the one's of hopewell rocks.

hope you enjoy! :)
love