let me tell you about kitty

so here is our cat (really, its mark's by choice, mine through relationship). we didn't get off to the best start. myself being raised around dogs and kitty having a life of bachelorhood with no crazy women trying to clean up after him. BUT after close to four long years we have come a long way. he no longer runs away when my squeaky voice enters the building. i no longer get annoyed when he refuses to cuddle with me. when mark and i are causing a commotion (i.e. snowball fights or water fights), kitty no longer feels the urge to attack me. while i no longer kick him off the bed when he wants food (he is smart, he meows straight at my face now) ahhh it really is a harmonious relationship we have. in all fairness, he is quite funny and i officially have become a two-woman cat person (jingles, my brother's cat, gets my affection as well). let's face it this cat does have a personality. don't just take my word for it...take hers.

love

sushi sushi

yesterday, unfortunately for us, jimi did not come over for a sunday night dinner. he is busy either working up north or prepping so i cannot complain as i am super excited for him (congrats again dude on the union news!!) but let's take a little flashback at what we did last weekend. before i had left on vacation, jimi and i had talked about having a sushi dinner so on this following sunday i bought the ingredients to make it happen!

on the menu for us was (in one) crab, cucumber and avocado.
the other had green onion, cream cheese and smoke salmon (my favourite).
of course on top we had to have a little bit of wasabi and ginger....so awesome!

needless to say it was awesome. jimi, apparently being excruciatingly hungry did not want to wait for them to chill in the fridge (and from the picture, till they were made) so we did have some early....still good. mark was pretty hilarious too. him being a person who is not a fan of fish chose a veggie one of cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, and green onion. he thought we were ridiculous when we would eat the sushi with wasabi and get "hot brains". as it was going up our noses and into our brains. trying to prove a point he "delved" right into it. as he sat their with a motionless face we both new that it would hit him any moment....and it did! :) but as he likes to say, he took it better than the rest of us...;)

this is the finished product.
doesn't it look great.
some, i see, is falling apart but once its in your mouth it hardly matters! :)

 great fun...ready to do it again.
love

booking up

seeing friends every week

one at the market
one with a burger and a movie
one with mexican and doing various errands
two for a dinner party
two for a girls night (sushi included)
many at a drop by at an old job

great chance to catch up
lots of catch up is needed!
i love friends
especially mine!

love

let's talk about food

and now onto one of my favourite topics. food. really its what my family lineage is all about so i must take the opportunity to discuss it. while in tofino we got our fill of wonderful seafood delights: fish and chips, mussels, smoked salmon, etc. NOTHING and i mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING compares to the greatness of this place.

Tacofino Cantina located at the back of a parking lot is a large orange bus that serves the most delicious mexican delights. mark, when researching tofino, caught an article similar to this that mentioned their delicacy of the fish taco. although the mere idea of a fish taco sounded revolting (to say the least) we went to it knowing there would be little opportunity to have it back home. well, as you can tell by this post, i am glad we made the trip. along with the fish taco, we had the beef taco, the chili cookie, and the beef burrito (we were really hungry!). overall my vote goes to the beef taco. not only do they use just sliced avocado (so fresh) directly into the dish but they make a wonderful homemade salsa that contains mango. now how can you really go wrong with that?? this is the one thing that i seriously could go back to have again (especially during the northcoast trail as i really couldn't stop thinking about it). so if you make the trip to tofino...don't forget to trek to the back of the gravel parking and seek out the orange bus. it would be unfortunate if you missed out! :)

love

happy birthday

just one thing this early morning. i would like to make a shout out to my dad because its his birthday!! so happy birthday!! hope you have a fabulous day (of hard work, i am sure) and actually try to relax and atleast eat some birthday cake! :)

love you lots and thanks for always being there when i need a little help...even when it comes to catching fish.

love

beachlife

what i love about the beach:

surfing

running

finding some warm water to soak in

and my absolute favourite thing about beaches is:

the sunset

love

school is now in session

so i am now back into the swing of things once again. that's right people: school is back in session. i must admit this time around i was a little disappointed seeing the calendar at september 7. don't get me wrong. i love school and i love my school friends (who it was really great to see) BUT my summer was fabulous. really it was more than fabulous but i just don't have an adjective that could put those four months in the highest threshold of greatness. regardless i am back at grant mac this time with a full semester of clinical on my plate. what lays before me you ask? my first rotation is mental health where i will be working with addictions, abuse, or mental illness. that is as far as i am willing to delve. next is my surgery and then medicine. so it seems that a busy 4 months is ahead of me. i have been told that a life will not happen but i see light at the end of the tunnel. mainly because i plan. and i mean plan...like everything down to my laundry and shaving my legs (ha ha). so i think i can plan a life in there too. i guess i will soon find out!

on a sidenote: i will have to find a little bit of life somewhere in the next two days regardless because we sold our fishtank (YEAH...finally) so i can finally organize all the stuff my parents gave me into our place.

till next time
love

north coast trail

since i have exhausted myself talking to various people about this place i thought i would do a little collage in pictures of our hike (click on the actual image if you would like a better visual...MOM) AND if you would like to learn about this hike click on the title of this blog as the link gives a fairly detailed version of what we did (minus the lighthouse portion as we skipped it)

okay here it goes...hopefully this can be followed. starting in the upper left corner of small pictures: 1. sand on the beach 2. mud (we got up close and personal with lots of this) 3. bear prints on the sand (and back to the left again) 4. seagulls 5. writing 6. myself on a happier day...must not have been the first two ;) going to the right is 7. me...looking happy but i am pretty sure that i wasn't: having just finished bushwhacking through a fake trail and no where near the end point with bogs and mud galore! 8. crabs...one of the many tiny sea life we saw. 9. back to the left is myself reeling in the cable car to get us across the river. 10. a view from our starting point. 11. mark using one of the many ropes on this trail to get us to our destination. this one was by far the steepest we had to climb down having just finished climbing up. 12. the tide is in leaving us "beached" 13. three hours later we can finally cross 14. a happy couple 15. a little bit of nature 16. on the beach for a nice pose. this was some of my favourite hiking. 17. just look at all that mud 18. walking through the seagull swarm...that was quite fun! 19. ahh see you can even see how much i love the beach walking 20. mark doing his share (or maybe more) of the cable car pulling.

hope you enjoyed our hiking vacation! :)
love

memorable moment in vancouver

so on our trip we went to visit my cousin jon in vancouver. with extremely short notice he set us up on his futon and we set off for a thai restaurant. shortly after he showed us the sights of the city in his own "jon" way with each statement having little comical throw-ins. my personal favourite moment was when a biker came up to jon's unrolled, driving, car window and asked to be pulled up a hill as he was in the middle of a race and was quite tired. jon laughed, pondered for a second (asking if any trouble would be had...the biker assured us it was okay) and proceeded to drive him up the hill. i had to take a picture, as this would never happen to me...only a godbout (or a jimi).

love

vacation part deux

well i am back. it was an absolute fabulous vacation but it is always good to be home.

this sums up my trip:

-long drives
-saw two carnivals (one small, one big)
-passed by numerous fruit stands, then actually decided to go to one!
-saw a cousin
-visited a large city for a bit
-went to two very small cities (much more my pace)
-lived on the beach, surfed on the beach, walked on the beach, ran on the beach, goofed around taking pictures on the beach
-went to a naturally occuring hotsprings, saw humpbacks, grey whales, seals, and otters
-had seriously the best beef and fish tacos in the whole world (no exaggeration from me *wink, but more on that later)
-saw a really big forest and noted how little has changed since visiting it 15 years earlier
-went on a fairly challenging hike where two poles were broken, pulled a ligament in the shoulder, bruised the shin bone and came out with far too many mosquito bites
-saw bear footprints, heard a bear, saw a bear itself, saw some ducks, snails, crab, starfish, wolf prints and countless other wildlife creatures and creations
-camped out in some fairly funny places
-attempted to hitchhike for 5 hours on a desserted logging road
-met some fabulous hikers who saved us in our hitchhiking disaster
-travelled a long way back to get to our home

great memories to last a lifetime...it really was a great vacation.
love

my summer holidays

what i did on my summer holidays:

-worked
-and worked some more at night
-yoga: hatha, hot, power, and yin...all helped in so many ways for both body and mind
-ran, ran some more and then did a half marathon
-my parent's moved and the never ending calling commenced
-saw the big apple
-went on numerous shopping trips, musicals, museums, historical monuments at said place
-saw the west coast
-did some surfing, went to naturally occurring hairsprings and had the BEST fish tacos anyone could ever make.
-went on an extremely difficult hike and survived. both life and relationship are still intact (although it was touch and go at times * wink *)
-went to a wedding, then a second one. both had stunningly gorgeous brides with daper grooms
-went to a football game
-enjoyed two musical festivals. one devoted purely towards women's strength, the other had an earthier feel
-had a tremendous amount of water fights
-enjoyed the summer festivals with friends, co-workers, clients...
-at said summer festivals had MORE than MY fair share of green onion cakes
-made my own said green onion cakes
-scrapbooked past trips with the passion i had when on them
-said goodbye to a job and people that i loved with all my heart for a job that i hope will love me in the future
-spent a grotesque amount of time with the person i love. knowing that i have a lot more time to do this but refuse to take for granted the time i have now.

p.s.

the green onion cakes were excellenté. LOVED them!

oooo and another p.s. the carnival day was fun too!
and in the sprit of p.s....p.p.s. i have my last day of work tomorrow....and i am on vacation. so till i get back...

...lots of love

sushi, green onion cakes and other little things

my last week of work has begun (and almost ending). started off on monday making sushi. first off i work with one of the most amazing people when it comes to cooking. she just whips up stuff like no other i have seen before. AND she did it again (this time with sushi). my other co-worker and i stared in amazement as she piled everything onto the rice and rolled it like it was nothing. "i am terrified" was my co-worker's immediate reaction to making this as we were both in charge while tempura was being made in the kitchen. i have to say: SO MUCH FUN (and actually easy once you get the hang of it)

today was another adventure. i have said it many times before how much i adore green onion cakes. well since tomorrow is CARNIVAL DAY. i couldn't think of a better time to cook up a batch myself. well part one was today. i got it from sum.ptuo.us hopefully it turns out!! because if it does it will save me trillions of dollars (or 50$ from all the festivals) AND i can have them whenever i want.

in other news i saw eat, pray, love last night. very similar to the book so if you read it you will find very little surprises. pretty good overall.

tonight i am going grocery shopping for our trip. packing tomorrow. then off!
see ya

love

traditions

monday night.
a brother came over
we had pancakes and bacon
the second time
starting a new tradition
or not
we may just love pancakes and bacon
and have PLENTY of maple syrup!

love

speaking of:

1. life. i had the most amazing lazy day yesterday. sarah relieved me from "lockdown" and mark picked me up. we went to the old strathcona farmers market. hadn't been there and a sooo very long time. picked up pasta and pesto, saw a nursing friend. all was grand.

2. trip. we then went to mec. stocked up on some camping supplies for our upcoming adventure to bc. got a replacement headlamp, a case for the camera, and most importantly some fabulous dried food. AND second most importantly a fat frank because who can honestly not have one of those!! :)

3. sleep. went home. watched the so you think you can dance finale. ellen is fab! had a fabulous nap. after walked the dog as he was hyped up for some trail adventures.

4. movies. saw a bunch this week. everybody's fine: bawled like a baby. note to dad, i need to call you more often and don't see that movie ;) princess and the frog: yes its disney but i really wanted to see it. classic storyline but a very nice ending. date night: i now understand what my brother and mom kept laughing about. very hilarious! bounty hunter: i enjoyed it but it was not as fabulous compared to the rest.

5. harry potter. look at the below trailer.


love

flowers

flowers. for a girl that has absolutely no yellow, blue, or red thumb let alone green thumb i have to say that i love love love flowers. half the time i have absolutely no clue what the related name is to the colourful arrangements. it doesn't matter. i just love what it brings to mind. spring, summer, fall and winter there is always a relatable flower to signify the changing seasons. with those changing seasons are emotions and feelings welled up inside. PLUS they add a punch wherever you see them. whether you have them in a vase or in your backyard, it brightens anyone's day to look at them. here are a few pics of our current flowers!

sunflowers. one of my favs. the signature autumn flower for me. so beautiful, bright and big!

 

a mixture of wildflowers. i know that the red are poppies for sure...the others i am at a loss but don't they look wonderful together....

 

and a lovely surprise that i came home to one evening. those are the best kind of flowers. the flowers of surprise! *heart*

love

what have you seen lately?

i can always count on summer to feed my indulgence of fast action, funny, blockbuster MOVIES. sadly i have found this summer lacking in all of the above. i must admit i haven't been to the theatre much this summer with all the wonderful weather, training, festivals and scrapbooking there is to do but of the few movies i have seen i have been sadly disappointed. mainly that is: iron man 2, and most recently the other guys.

don't get me wrong i LOVED LOVED LOVED inception, and got quite a few laughs in the a-team and sex and the city 2. but i have missed those big movies like the harry potters. you know the kind...the big screen mega film usually adapted from some kind of book NOT involving a vampire romance. ;)

this begs the question. have you seen any good movies lately...or are wanting to see?

on my wish list:

eat pray love
going the distance
salt
scot pilgrim vs. the world
life as we know it

hopefully those will fulfill what i crave in a movie!
love

short little note

ah summer is winding down making me slightly nervous of what is ahead for me. i am trying to focus purely on the present and enjoy what is going on right now but i got the dreaded email. school is calling me back. already i am told that i will not have enough time in my day to do a simple basic life support renewal as i am choosing to do it on september 11 and the recommendation is to do it no later than september 1 as there will be no time! YIKES!! sometimes i see how this could be a stressful job as they are ingraining stress into our minds as we go to school. i unfortunately have a medical appointment on september 8 that cannot be reversed and i am afraid (on august 11) what my instructors will say when i tell them as i may miss a bit of work.

i need to remember to just breathe

i still have one more month of summer. 2 weeks in tofino. 1.5 weeks of work left. i need to enjoy them, i tell myself. have a good time. life can be serious but it is also fun too! so i must try to relax. even if i will be in an internet cafe somewhere in tofino writing to my clinical instructor regarding the going ons in clinical. :)

love

folk fest

folk fest was once again upon me. i love folk fest. i love the music, the hillside, the sun, the people, the view...everything. i don't think there is anything more relaxing than sitting on a hill and listening to beautiful music. it makes it better when there is company (and i had just that). the first night i may have spent more time chatting and enjoying moments with a little ones' first folk night but i did hear a wonderful rendition of "heart of gold" by ben harper. AND once again got an appreciation of a new artist (for me) in patrick watson. here are a few moments of that first night.

so jeaninne and i may have snatched little one and bought a family size popcorn pretending we were in a relationship and she is our child...;) but look at her....SO CUTE!

"why did you bring me to this crazy thing??"

awesome eats!!

the only other day i caught was sunday and i had the best date of all! markness!! beautiful day with some pretty great sessions (my favourite was with colin hay and chris trapper, to great AND hilarious musicians). also saw some hula dancing with the great music of te vaka and some fabulous celtic music of four men & a dog. 

 on stage three...

common folk fest sights

in between i just lazed on my chair snoozing away on such a wonderful day of folk. see you next year folk fest!

love

a change is a coming

so in two short weeks i will be done my job. as of right now it is a permanent decision. i will be starting clinical in the fall so all my day shifts will be devoted to my school. it will be hard to go because i absolutely love my job. sometimes i get a little frustrated about the lack of awareness and the lack of funding that comes with the guys i work with. but when it comes to my clients, they rock. it is probably the best job i have had. i have worked with so many great people (and we joke about those not so great). PLUS we did so many fun things revolving art, food, sports, games, and dancing with the clients. i had the privilege to take out guys on outings to the community allowing them opportunities to access places they never would have seen (and hopefully increased the community's awareness in a positive way). i think i would have stayed there forever if there was a chance of growth. my boss, however, was extremely truthful with the options and consistently encourages many to go back to school. he was EXTREMELY supportive of the idea of me going back and allowed me to split positions with another co-worker for 1.5 years. it is going to be hard leaving and i will miss so many people but it has been a fantastic 4.5 years!

love

lovely song

well i just have to say thank you lilith. i got 10 free downloads from them this week. i don't know if its because i went to the concert or just had them on an email list but i am happy! take a listen to this lovely song.



love

home again home again jiggidy jig

what a nice mini break from work and the world. this weekend we were off to william switzer park for some long awaited camping with jimi-jam, jeff, jeaninne and dj. thank goodness that jeaninne and dj left a little earlier as they managed to get the last campsite at gregg lake.

overall a great time. we hiked utopia pass, went to miette hotsprings, did some whitewater rafting in grande cache and in between had some laughs, good food, campfires and games.

glad to have the break and spend it with some great people (added bonus: NO MOSQUITOES!)

here are a few highlights:

good morning world!

hiking, jumping and resting

everyone accounted for!

pretty scenery

at miette rocking the historic swim suit (i forgot mine)

 spoonage!

preparing to raft

sibling love

hope your long weekend was enjoyable!

love

its getting hot in here

today i must say is just plain ol' HOT! we got to about 28...NICE! jeaninne was out on her lawn chair probably hanging out in her kiddie pool...great day for a day off! only complaint is that with all the rain an outbreak like no other has occurred: MOSQUITOS! they are out like i have never seen them before. took the guys to capital ex today and we had to hide out in the casino till the grounds opened because we could not escape those nasty critters from outside....

...i am going to have to stock up on my bug spray this weekend as we are headed camping (fingers crossed that we get a site). it should be tons of fun as white water rafting is on the agenda, a small hike, and i will be surrounded by friends and my family (little bro is coming)! even if we don't get to go camping we will most definitely be doing the rafting. MAINLY because it is paid for! :)

love you all and see you in august! have a most fabulous long weekend!

this makes me smile

my mom posted this on her facebook status the other day. its about my grammie sansom. i enjoy it so much that i wanted to share it:

"Oh I made curtians for the entry way to replace the old happy face ones Mom had. When I hung them I realized the happy faces were upside down. I was annoyed but realized they were the rt side up if Mom is up in heaven so I was happy."

it makes me happy too! :)

love

summer song

i think this will be MY official 2010 summer song. like many before it...it is catchy, bouncy and i feel it is perfect for roadtrips when the sun is shining and the scenery is stunning...

i love you summer!

its been a pretty incredible week and i must say this...i am really enjoying my summer. i am on facebook reading some friends status's of how they can't wait to go back to school and i jcannot figure out why. i love my summers...especially summers as a student. maybe its because i know this lifestyle won't last long so i am trying to savour them as much as i can. its right now when i am really glad i declined on school year round . sure i would be done sooner...but so far i like this trade off more.

this week i am loving:
-date nights
-good movies
-sunshine
-outdoor pools
-living through my run
-friends that came to said run (thanks for being there guys!)
-wedding fun
-bowling fun
-good food (green onion cakes, vegetable jalfrezi and chicken korma)
-great times at work
-hot yoga and being able to successfully balance in one class
-a special person being okay even if they are going to have to eat more veggies ;)
-folk fest concert coming up
-more races to run
-talking to my mom on the phone and then my dad (yes he is alive)
-future plans of more exciting things to come!

love

jamie oliver

lets talk about food. i love it. i may have said this before but i love to eat. i wish i was as good of a cook as i am an eater but alas it isn't so. i have mastered a couple of staple recipes like chicken, spaghetti, tacos, stir fry, etc. but to really dig down deep and cook something extraordinary...that is just so not me. i leave the special up to the men in my life i.e. my father and my lovely boyfriend. that is until i came across:

FOOD REVOLUTION. a most fantastical show that was playing in april about healthy good old fashioned cooking. the premise is easy. if you cannot pronounce it or will not find it in your grandma's kitchen its not good for you. i fell in love with the show and jamie oliver. i had never been a person who paid attention to cooking personalities but this guy was highly relatable. so i decided to buy:

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook. i must say that when i came into the house with this book mark burst out into laughter. that was until he skimmed through it. so MANY choices of curries, pasta dishes, desserts, breakfast, lunch and dinner it was too hard to look away. so he cooked up a batch of pasta the first night. something easy and with a couple of raw ingredients tasted amazing. then i decided to dive in and do something i have never done. salmon tikka masala. and guess what...i didn't screw it up! SHOCKING! as we have been going through this cookbook we have continuously enjoyed everything we have cooked and have yet to stumble into any pitfalls. FOR THIS GIRL THAT IS SOMETHING EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

give it a try...you will not regret it! :)
love

a garden story

there once was this rabbit...we will call him peter.

he loved to eat.

he would eat many things like carrots

potatoes and beets

and don't forget about the peas

even the lettuce was not safe.

however the farmer (loving to all animals) was getting mildly frustrated.

so the farmer built a fence of chicken wire.

peter, although sad he could no longer eat, enjoyed the many flowers from the other side.

and maybe some of the blueberries

the end

p.s. the farmer's girlfriend was busy scrapping but she took the time to smell the orchids from the farmer's sister's bridal centerpiece. so pretty! :)

bowling fun

on saturday night mark and i went bowling with his cousins. 10 pin style. i have been bowling at least twice a year (it usually involves the guardrails going up and the bowling ball ramp in place...but whatever). i should have practiced more. one game of bowling i had the whooping score of 30! yes that is right 3-0! and YES again: that is a lot of gutter balls that were going my way. apparently, others seeing the need that i was in desperate need of help scoped out another bowling ball and came across lucky lime green, weight: 9lbs. others tried to use the ball and failed. nervously, i stepped up to the lane and threw the ball (ever so gently) and guess what....8 PINS DOWN. cheering arose...who knew cheer would come about for only 8 pins...he he he

in case you were wondering what mark's score was at the end of the game it was in the 130s. obviously he is the yin to my yang!

love

the half marathon

well it is done. a run i would like to call: hellish. ah. i really wasn't feeling the run like i have on other days BUT guess what!!??? it doesn't matter. i finished it! walked a bit, ran a bit and jeff stayed by my side the entire time...refusing to leave my side (which i know very well he could have!!). my overall average was about 5:59/km and i am taking it with pride! my personal aim was to finish the race under 2 hours but i really needed those extra 16 minutes! :) AND there is always next year! he he he. as i say this my body is slowly rejecting me but i know in my heart it will happen again. it was too much fun training and i really do have a love for running. who knows maybe some day i will get to the infamous 2 hour goal??!!!

love

the race

because many people have been asking where i am running. here is the info. you will only be familar with it obviously if you have lived in this area.

The Moose is Loose is on Sunday and it's time for a short update.
The route this year is the one we planned for last year before the storm sewer collapse and the wind storm blew down trees.  Because someone has been having fun with the on-line map here is a written description:
The start Finish line will once agin be in Emily Murphy park.  The race for all groups will start and finish here.  the route follows the river side trail around the golf course and Hawrelak Park  (water station here) and into the woods trail on the south side of Hawrelak Park.  This trail will take you along the river until it comes out on Saskatchewan drive where there will be a water station.  All participants then go west along the paved trail and down the hill  along the old Keillor road.  at the bottom of the hill the 10k runners and walkers will turn around and head back the same way they came.  The half marathon group will continue west and follow the trail to the foot bridge over Whitemud creek, and then turn right along the river (water station here).  after passing under the Quesnell bridge as soon as you get to the trees there is a trail turning toward the river into the woods. Take this  trail and follow the r! iver to the west end of Fort Edmonton Park where it goes up a very short but steep hill, and onto a paved road.  follow the road until you see a blacktop trail on your left and follow the trail around to the John Jenzen Nature centre. stay close to the curb on your right and catch the trail again as it goes around the parking lot and then across the access road to the fort. turn right back onto the sidewalk under the Quesnell bridge and follow it back to the foot bridge.  Do NOT cross the bridge but turn right and go up to the road but turn left on the gravel trail going south.  This trail goes under the bridge on Fox drive and then head south through the trees along the creek.  Follow the trail toward Rainbow Valley.  The turn around point this year is about 2km up the valley but not all the way.  There will be marshals at the turn around point.  when you get back close to Fox drive turn left on the foot bridge that goes east to the Whitemud creek! park parking lot (water station here), through the parking lot and back to the trail that takes you to Keillor Road.  Then follow the same trail back to Emily Murphy Park.

waking up is not hard to do

so its 7:41 am on saturday morning and i have come to a realization. i am like my father. i can't sleep in. after the wedding, i was home at 2 am. it was a great night of love, dance, stories, and fun and i thought i would be ready for bed by the end. cut to now and it just doesn't seem like my body has sleeping on the agenda as my head is racing. maybe i have been working so much my body doesn't know how to relax?? he he he

the weekend of fun is still going. there will be a bbq today and the weather (unlike this weeks downpour) looks promising. i will also be registering for my race, and having a pizza party with my brother. And i am going to try (hopefully) to sneak in some yoga between all of this.

hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
love

p.s. if you want to take a peek of what we gave the bride and groom: click here

to my mom: this post is for you

because my mom always loved a good purse and she is not here to see it in person this post is for you. first off click here. that is my wonderful new purse that anita picked up for me when she went to the states. don't you love it??

I DO!!!

love

making a card

i am in the process of making a wedding card for mark's sister upcoming wedding this friday. the one problem i have encountered is what to put in the card. i found this quote site. some pretty good quotes but what to put in it.

my favs so far are:

"A happy man marries the girl he loves; a happier man loves the girl he marries." - anonymous quote 

"When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out." - Elizabeth Bowen

"I love being married. It's so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." - Rita Rudner (okay that may not speak them but it certainly speaks me...he he he)

or this site:

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without."

or maybe a simple congratulations is in order???

love

oh brother

you just left but i have to say.
i enjoy you!

you make me laugh.
you make me smile.
you are good with serious talks.
and you reminisce with me.
you are an adventurous spirit.
and a calm human being.
you are up for everything and anything.
you are my constant defender.
yet you joke with me to lighten my mood.
frankly,
you are an awesome human being.

i love you jimi jam!
thanks for the sunday night football game/dinner. "RICK RAY!"

tiiiiiiiiired but feeling happy

feeling ambitious today. i woke up at 5:30am to do my last big run before the 1/2 marathon. craziness i know, but i really wanted to get it in before work rather than after as i enjoy the cooler air.

GUESS WHAT?

i finished it! 18.09km in 1 hour 44 min 42 s. it felt good. however it is amazing how my body starts to shut down in the end. so tired. but i know i could get another 3km in. i am already thinking about doing a marathon one year and wonder if my body can reach that state? only time will tell. but let's stay present!

its going to be a big week of parties and food as mark's sister is getting married. very exciting for her and her groom AND all the family. that and a few get togethers (one with my nursing friends, eek haven't seen them in so long) this is shaping into a most excellent week! :)

see ya
love

saw sheryl crow last week at lilith. love her! :) my favourite song of hers:



love

thanks

overall, i had a pretty great week. nothing really special but it was a week that made me happy.
so i am just going to make a shout out to the things:

thanks

- to singing show-tunes as loud as i can in the car

- to beautiful weather to run in, and pouring rain to cool me off

- to a pretty special person for being around to laugh and tell jokes with

- to a small no fuss dinner with my brother

- to running and almost finishing my training

- to have jobs that i enjoy and have equally as much fun as the guys i work for

- to talking to my mom

- to having green onion cakes, sqor blizzards, and multiple scoops of ice cream on said hot days

- to someone DRIVING when getting said blizzards

- to scrapbooking, always scrapbooking

- to hanging out with a friend for some shopping and a movie

- to making more plans with more friends for more social gatherings

and on and on...

love

life is a cabaret

i am in love with broadway. at 7 years old i went to my first play. it was an open air theater production of oliver with my mom and her aunt. soon after that i went to the mayfield dinner theater in edmonton to see oliver again. i was envious of oliver (played by a girl) who got to sing and dance on stage. i wanted to be her! that and the desserts made for a glorious night. at 10 years old i was visiting my family in nb when my aunts introduced me to les miserables. the music got me hooked right away. lucky for me the play came soon after. i collected newspaper clippings obsessively (that i still have today) on anything and everything les mis (even compiling a scrapbook). that and singing endlessly in my room to young cosette's castle on a cloud, i am surprised my parents didn't commit me. i have always said that i would love to live my life as a musical...well i have seen many and this year managed to see three in a week when i went to new york.

the idea that i can choose a play/musical like picking a movie thrills me. AND here i had it at my fingertips. it was lovely. i was previously obsessed with wicked. i had read the book by gregory maguire before the play had even been thought up. so when it came down to choosing what to see when we were in nyc, that was my number one pick. i must say, it was an amazing pick. i have a couple of rankings of musicals and this is one of my favourites. the costumes, theatricality, music, the sets...it had it all! :)

the second, jeaninne and i picked together. we had both seen the movie when it had first come out. obviously we knew the plot but had no idea how great the musical really was. billy elliot, had so much humor and made me cry on numerous occasions. i still cannot get over how well those boys can dance and sing. amazing!

last was an impulse choice. our last day in ny we thought we would catch a show of whatever was available. la cage aux folles aka the birdcage was the winner. this was a jeaninne pick that i eagerly followed. it was similar and then not so similar to the movie. quite funny and i found myself wondering why can't i have legs like those showgirls. damn! an added bonus for us was frasier aka kelsey grammer was in it. too funny.

i loved the whole musical experience. in truth, i left wanting to see so many more shows. i already bought the soundtrack to rock of ages, american idiot looked really cool, and i would have LOVED to see kristin chenoweth in promises, promises. another reason to go back! :)

love

its a wrap up of the last two days

these last two days have been nothing but the sole loveliness of relaxation. i work, go home and nap (like the old lady i am) and scrapbook. it has been pure bliss.

i am still continuing my quest for the half marathon as its next weekend (YIKES). so i get up at 6 three times this week and go for my morning run. the goals are 6km and 10km. AND, my running partner has cancelled the next big run that we do together. the target is 11 miles or 17.7km this weekend. whatever. he had a lame reason. i mean who wouldn't want to meet up with me at 6am to go for a run on sunday morning...he he he

i finally finished my painting projects last weekend. i painted my mom's beloved brass lamp (gasp) silver and finished the second coat of my cd case: the lovely zesty lime! they are sitting in my doorway at the moment waiting to move to their real home. alas, we must sell mark's 70 gallon fish tank first. know anyone interested?? PLEASE!!!

next up is a couple of reupholster projects...and maybe i will start on some more of my cooking goals like my nan's raison bread...or brown bread that i set way back when. AND of course continue to work.

on the parent front, they are finally settled in at stanley. or maybe i should just say they are finally there. jim's cat jingles has already caught his first mouse. LOVELY! :)

that is it...have a happy tuesday night and wednesday morning everyone!

pancakes, bacon, and cantaloupe

dinner with jim
all he wanted was pancakes
mark wanted bacon
so that is what we had
and cantaloupe
that is what jim brought
then jim started singing yellow submarine
but instead of that he subbed in cantaloupe
mark joined in

i love those boys

mentality

i have always loved to run. however, i have never pushed myself to the extent that i have done these last two summers. last year, a torn hamstring. this year (keep knocking on wood) uninjured. i did 16km today. so hard. i was feeling great until i hit the 13km mark. then it was a test of my mind vs my body. who knew running played such a mental game with yourself. i did finish it. in a pretty good time too. but it was hard. i need my running buddy back! :)

work functions

i enjoy my work and co-workers more than i can say. i guess it is an added bonus of why i love my job even more. a couple of days ago we decided to get together after work for an "after party". we have gotten together many times before and usually have a blast. BUT as the night progresses we usually resort to talking "shop". NOT THIS TIME! what a great night of friends hanging out with friends. not once was work even mentioned. just stupid, silly, and sometimes crazy fun!

must do that again.

love

the start of the blog

i officially started blogging in 2005. casey had started up her blog and we all became addicted to her posts and the continuous comments. casey went on vacation for a couple of weeks and i was distraught at the idea of no blog so she named me an administrator so i could do my own posting. this was my beginning. my mom started reading it AND even more exciting my 80 year old grandmother was reading it (although for the life of her she could not post a comment, "that darn mouse just doesn't stop moving").

BUT when i really started blogging was in 1998. it may have not been the formal blog we all have now but it was a recording of what was going on in our lives. my friend, rebekah, started a hotmail account giving all of us the password. within that account, we would write quick notes or long letters detailing what we found important, funny, or needing to share with our friends. i loved it!

a couple years ago i went back to the account to see if it did in fact still exist. it was there...but unfortunately our posts are gone. i went back today...and our account is gone.

regardless i find it interesting that we are still at it today. i have read, learned, and loved my friends not only in person but in their thoughts written on their blogs. such a great privilege!

i love blogging!

love

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

you are a pretty fabulous country!