Attitude of Gratitude #11

Today is Remembrance Day and I am thankful for all the soldiers who fought for my freedom. Mom and I went and joined Jean and her family (that's Jean and I on the left) at her father's gravesite. He was an engineer (Sapper) in the Canadian army in Italy during the second world war.

Cecil is my grandfather's older brother. There were two other boys in the family. Harold, who served as part of the forestry division in North Bay, Ontario and Meliville who died on December 24, 1943 in Ortona, Italy.

My grandpa wasn't enlisted. He told me one time that while they were on their way to school one day someone was using a slingshot and shooting rocks. One of them caught him in the eye and he never had proper vision from it. That was enough to allow him to not have to serve.

This was my first time visiting Uncle Cecil's grave. Today was a good day to visit. Jean and her husband, their five sons, and some of their grandchildren were there along with her brother in law and a few family friends. We were quite a group in the soggy graveyard. We had a moment of silence at 11:11 am and then we all placed our poppies by the grave.

Today I am thankful for those who served and those who lost loved ones.

Attitude of Gratitude #10

I am thankful that my car is getting fixed, for free (the guy who hit me accepted responsibility) AND that I get a rental car while mine is in the shop! I took it in this morning. It should be ready in a few days. In the mean time I get to drive a spiffy 2008 Corolla. Like mine, only better, and RED! :)

Mostly I'm just thankful that my car is getting fixed though and that I don't have to pay for it.

Attitude of Gratitude #9

I am thankful for GladWare. This is my freezer right now. Two kinds of soup, chili, strawberries for smoothies, leftovers, all in GladWare. My lunch bag usually has three or four of these containers in it each day. I use them ALL the time and I love them. They have saved me so much money in eating out. They last for a long time...unless you drop them while they're frozen...then they shatter. Other than that they are fantastic though.

I am thankful for GladWare.

Attitude of Gratitude #8: Countdown Shows

I am thankful for Countdown Shows.

Okay, maybe "thankful" is to strong. I mean I could easily live my life without them but I really enjoy them! I primarily listen to Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 on Saturday mornings. Starting at 10am and running until 2pm he counts down the top 40 country music hits. My local station also plays Jeff Foxworthy's countdown but that's at weird times so I don't always catch it. There's a few others I catch on the American stations I can tune into from my car but I don't listen to them regularly.

I admit after a weekend of listening to the same 40 songs played over and over again, I'm pretty sick of them, but the interviews and tidbits of information that are thrown in are worth it.

I recently discovered that my local Christian station does a countdown on Saturday morning as well. If I'm up early enough, I'll tune in to that one. I used to watch the video countdowns on CMT when I had cable as well.

I am thankful for countdown shows.

Attitude of Gratitude #7

I'm thankful that my cold medication is all expired.

Wait, I know that sounds weird. Hear me out though. I have a minor head cold right now. Stuffy nose and a raw throat from mucus running down it. I went to drink some Neo-Citron and I realized that it had expired in September 2008. (I still drank it). That's a good thing though right? That my Neo-Citron is expired? It means that I haven't had a cold in awhile!!!

I also had some orange "cold and flu" capsules. I think they were Tylenol. I took them too. I feel a lot better today. I doubt it is because of my expired medication but it can't hurt.

So, I am thankful that my cold medication is expired because it means I haven't used it very much!

Texas Landmarks

When you think of Texas landmarks, what comes to mind? The Alamo? NASA? The Stockyards? All of those are popular and well known but there's another lesser known landmark that dozesns of individuals have made the trek to see. It was one that was near the top of my list for my trip. What is this mecca?

Stacy's Porch Swing




This weekend many women are making the trek to Texas. I don't know how many are actually going to stop by at this infamous spot but I had my chance in April 2007 and I treasure every minute I spent there :)

Attitude of Gratitude #6

I am thankful for salvation.

Last night I witnessed my second cousin, a girl I used to babysit, get baptized. That public act never fails to give me goosebumps. I was baptized almost 15 years ago and it is still just as special now as it was then.

I am thankful for salvation.

Attitude of Gratitude #5

I am thankful that I have joined the 21st century.

File this under the "little things that make me happy" or "things that aren't a big deal, but neither is changing them".

A major component of my job is organizing face to face meetings and conference calls for our board of directors. Each time a meeting happens, formal minutes are taken. Minutes that I write. We're talking over 30 sets so far this year. Most of the minutes are confidential and my boss is paranoid about having them stored on the server. My computer doesn't have a cd burner so up to now I've been using 3.5" floppy disks. It works because it's just word documents that I'm storing but they're so LITTLE. 1.3 MB? I fill that up in about three months.

Apparently I'm getting a new computer. Something about my coworker's computer dying, and him inheriting mine which means I get a new one. This new computer will have a cd/dvd burner. As part of the conversation of "what Heidi needs on her new computer" I mentioned that I'm using this archaic system of saving documents. Bingo! In the time it takes to say the Staples slogan "That was easy!" they bought me an 8GB memory stick. Gigabyte! Eight of them! That's like 800 stupid little disks!!!

I don't really care if I get a new computer or not because frankly this one works just fine but I am thankful that I have joined the 21st century when it comes to saving documents.

Attitude of Gratitude #4

I am thankful for my square dance friends. Some people might wonder why I drive 20 minutes each way to dance when I could drive 2 minutes but I started dancing out there and I have so many friends in that club that it's worth the extra time and gas to me.

Last night we had a new dancer class. We started the night with a spaghetti dinner and then danced. We started at the very beginning, learning all the moves from scratch. It's good to rehearse and we had so many new people that it made it a lot of fun.

I am by far the youngest dancer but it doesn't matter. Everyone is always so happy to see me that I just love going there.

I am thankful for my square dance friends.

Meeting Jean

So, speaking of extended family (see #3 in my "attitude of gratitude" post) Sunday night Mom, Dad and I went out to visit my dad's cousin Jean. I don't think I've met her before and my parents haven't seen her since her dad (my grandpa's brother) passed away. She and I have been communicating via email lately and she's the one who sent out copies of the geneology work she's done.

It was so great to actually sit down and review some of this information with her in person. Stats and facts are great but until you can relate them to something it's really hard to digest it all. Jean and her husband David are wonderful, warm, welcoming people who are full of stories. There's a 15 years between Jean and my dad so even though they know and are related to a lot of the same people, the relationships and stories are very different.

For example she was quite close to my great-grandma whereas my dad rarely talks about her. Having a reference point has inspired me to keep going on the work that Jean has already started. I did a little bit of internet searching last night but I need to organize my information before I move on. Little by little it will be accomplished.

Attitude of Gratitude

Sherry has challenged us to do a "Gratitude" post every day for the month of November. Canadian Thanksgiving was last month but this is a good exercise any time...especially since November is generally so crummy weatherwise.

I've done something similar to this in a daily paper journal I used to keep. Everyday I'd write a little re-cap of the day, a verse that meant something to me and something I was thankful for. I'm excited to try it on my blog.

Today is Monday and I'm just learning about the challenge but I'll put some from the weekend too.

I am thankful for #1 - My parents. Some days they drive me a little nuts but I love being with them and talking with them. My dad is an awesome sounding board for big world event conversations and my mom is incredibly insightful when it comes to personal relationships. I am thankful for my parents.

#2 - I am thankful for my maternal Grandma. November 2 would have been her 78th birthday. Unfortunately she only lived to see her 65th. She was taken way too soon but she leaves an incredible legacy of love behind. I have wonderful memories of her and I miss her daily. I am thankful for Grandma B.

#3 - I am thankful for extended family (and I promise these won't all be people, this is just what's on my mind right now). I come from a family (on both sides) that values relationships and history. Life frequently gets in the way and we don't communicate as often as we could but there are no hard feelings or drama and we all get along when we do get together. I am thankful for family.

Feast One Hundred & Ninety

Friday Feast
Appetizer
When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?
Yes but I usually smile first. I love smiling at people just to see what their reaction will be.

Soup
Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?
95% carpet. I only have a bit of vinyl in the entry, kitchen and bathroom. The allergist said I should have hardwood but I like capet.

Salad
Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.
He helped her help herself. (does it count if I kind of repeat two words? LOL)

Main Course
Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?
Yes, many people. The first that comes to mind is Charlyn and her three adorable boys and Diana and her four amazing children. That's just the beginning though!

Dessert
Name 2 blue things.
Not the sky today! Lets see...how about, the walls of my office (at least the part that's not wood panelled) and my co-worker's hoodie.

Inspiration

I originally uploaded this photo as a Wordless Wednesday but I realized I wanted to talk about it so I'm posting it today instead.

A few weeks ago Mom and I drove out to Surrey to visit an embroidery/cross stitch store. It was *full* of floss, patterns and tons of completed projects. Mom does a lot of cross stitch, she always has. Mostly smaller projects. I have done some in the past but not recently. After visiting that store I was inspired! I went digging in my hope chest and pulled out all my floss and half completed work. Since then I've completed a small Christmas project and made great headway on the larger one that I have going. I used to alternate between scrapbooking and cross stitching regularly but lately it's been all scrapbooking. It feels good to get the cross stitching out again though. It must be the cold weather.

I'll try and take some pictures of my projects so you can see what I'm working on.

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

I don't really know if it was paradise and I doubt they're putting up a parking lot but I definitely didn't know what we had until now that it's gone.

Yesterday morning on the way to work there was a big yellow machine on the road. I drove around it and didn't think anything of it. On my way home from work the machine was gone along with a whole bunch of trees! They've cleared enough space for probably three or four lots and there may be more to go.

Even though the housing prices have tanked in BC it doesn't seem like building is suffering. Especially in my town they are shoving houses into every available spot. Weird corners and places that have been empty lots for *years* are suddenly being developed.

This was running through my head all last night.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

The Search Begins

I mentioned in July that I had done some preliminary geneology work when I visited Grandpa. I've messed around with the info I collected a little bit (most Googling terms and stuff) but I haven't studied any of it yet.

In September I visited my dad's Aunty Phyllis (my great aunt) since then the "geneology ball" has really been rolling. I contacted my dad's cousin Jean and she sent out copies of all of her research. Charts, family group sheets, pictures, etc. It's mostly of my dad's, dad's side but it's fascinating.

We have plans to meet up with Jean on Sunday to go over some of it and then I'm hoping to start doing my own research.

I considered opening a separate blog to detail this journey but that's too complicated so I'm just going to keep it here and y'all can come on this adventure with me :) Stay tuned!

Halloween 2008

Last night was our Halloween night at Dance. Mom made an apron for me and I went as a maid, French maid, cleaning lady, whatever you want to call me. It was a lot of fun though. Everyone was trying to get me to come clean their houses LOL

Oh, and the duster is Seth's I never use it. I hate that thing but it was fun to have with me!

Everyone brought treats to share and these were my favourite. Shortbread cookies with jam filling covered in white chocolate!!!

The Arrogant Worms

My next two weeks are shaping up to be really busy so having a low key schedule this weekend was perfect. In fact on Saturday I didn't even get dressed until about 6:30pm when I left the house.

Sunday after church we had a potluck lunch and in the evening I joined Jenna, her husband William, her dad and two sisters for an "Arrogant Worms" concert.

My going was kind of a last minute decision. Sunday morning their mom wasn't feeling well so she asked Katherine to see if there was anyone that would like to go in her place. Katherine called me and even though I confessed to not being familiar with the music, I agreed. I'm glad I did. The concert was a lot of fun.

The Worms describe themselves as "Musical comedy at its folkiest" and nothing is safe from their super fast lyrics. I laughed out loud SO many times during the show. My personal favourite songs are now "Rocks & Trees", "Celine Dion", and of course the classic "Last Saskatchewan Pirate".

You can hear a few of the songs on their woefully outdated MySpace page.

Feast One Hundred & Ninety One

I haven't done this in a few weeks but it's Friday afternoon and I'm bored.

Friday Feast
Appetizer
What is the nearest big city to your home?
Vancouver, BC, and after spending time there again last weekend I can truly say I love visiting, but I really love living out in the suburbs. I never really realized that before last weekend.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?
Depends on the secret. Who it's from, and who I'm keeping it from. I tend to tell people who it won't matter to. There are some things that I've never told anyone, but mostly I let it out somewhere so it doesn't just sit and fester in my head (that sounds gross!)

Salad
Describe your hair (color, texture, length).
Brown with auburn highlights. Texture, wavy...but mostly because I keep it in a braid 95% of the time. Length, getting longer every day. Currently to my knees when it's down.

Main Course
What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?
I try to be courteous. I'm a "10%" driver. I generally go 10% over the speed limit. I'm not stupid and aggressive though. Defensive yes, aggressive, no.

Dessert
When was the last time you had a really bad week?
This one wasn't wonderful but mostly for other people. I just got the fall out. I have to admit, I'm tired of being a sounding board. I love that people trust me enough to ask for my opinion on stuff but it seems to be coming from all sides lately and I'm tired. (and if you asked me for my advice lately, it's not you. It's people who don't read here that I'm talking about).

:D

Once in awhile Dierks does what he calls "Town Hall Meetings". They're essentially a live chat with Dierks on a webcam addressing the Fan Club members and the FCers throwing questions and comments at warp speed. After the last meeting he did in April, where he unveiled the cover of the Greatest Hits project, he learned that just trying to read questions and answer them randomly doesn't work. This time he had FCers submit questions before hand and one of the staff at EchoMusic read them to him. It was kind of funny watching him answer the questions. Our comments are scrolling like crazy it's really distracting so he tried to ignore them but it's hard! Anyways, one of the questions was "What is the last song you downloaded" and "What are you listening to right now" He said that the last song he downloaded on Itunes was the Alan Jackson song that he will be singing during the "CMT Giants" special on Alan.

In his truck he's listening to cuts off his new album (due in February). When he mentioned the truck I typed "YEAH BIG WHITE!" He read that out loud! And said "Yes, Big White. That's my truck's name" and then he read my screen name "Agent-seven-one-three". I know it doesn't sound like a big deal but he didn't read very many comments out loud and he didn't read anyone else's screen name.

It made me feel special :D

The Straight and Narrow Way

My maternal great-grandmother, who I called "Oma" was a wonderful German woman. At least I think she was. Unfortunately I never developed a very close relationship with her. She immigrated from Germany along with her husband, and children which included my newly married grandparents. She retained a thick German accent which, I have to admit, to a kid, was indimidating. In the mid 1980's she also suffered a stroke which caused her to lose the use of her left side, especially her arm.

We usually visited her home whenever we were in Alberta but never stayed for too long. I remember the house but I don't have a lot of memories from there. When she passed away in 1997 after a lengthy stay at an assisted living facility, there was only one thing that I wanted to remember her by. It was the one thing that I really remember from her house. This picture.

It hung in the rec-room in the basement. I used to stand and stare at this picture. It is an illustration of Matthew 7:13-14. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

The words are all in German but you can see that they are scripture references. I remember looking at it and thinking that I know I should want to take the path on the right because it leads to salvation but wanting to take the path on the left because face it, it's way more inviting.

I've had this picture for over ten years now. In that time I've moved five times. I've never really done anything with the picture. It's a bit odd so I've never actually hung it up. For most of that time it's sat in the back of my closet. Recently I pulled it out and decided to finally translate the scripture verses like I had originally intended when I actually got the picture.

Translating is harder than it looks! Some of the verses, like "Joh 3:16" were easy. Some took a bit of detective work but once I found them, they were just funny. Like Exodus 20:13. The German equivilant for Exodus is "Mof" or something. It has to do with it being a "book of Moses". Anyways, the picture beside the scripture verse (at the top of the image at left) is of two guys with guns aimed at another guy. Any guess as to what Exodus 20:13 is? Yup! "Thou shalt not kill"!

Some of the verses were next to impossible. I printed off a list of the German equivilent of the books of the bible which helped a lot but even then I had to use a process of elimination for some. For example, what book of the bible contains the following scriptures: 20:13, 23:46-47 and 33:11. Any guesses?

Now that I've read all the verses (in English) and now that I'm twice as old as when I used to read it and think the left path was better, I can definitely say that even though it's dark, the path on the right gives way more hope.

I think I'll even hang it up finally. It's a good reminder of lots of things, not the least of which is Oma.

Cousin Carla

Friday evening I went straight from work to Vancouver. Specifically to the Salt Tasting Room in Gastown. My cousin Carla was in town with her boyfriend Lee and she had arranged a get together there.

Salt is a really neat concept. From their website: "Salt is a tasting room specializing in artisinal cheese, small-batch cured meats, and a dynamic array of wines, beers and Sherries. Our menu is simple. Guests assemble a Tasting Plate from our chalkboard’s selection of 10 cheeses, 10 meats, and 10 condiments. The selections change constantly, making it almost impossible to have the same Salt experience twice."

I had a tasting plate combination of two cheeses and a meat. Then I let the waitress pick three wed rines...no wait, make that red wines LOL to compliment. I didn't keep the sheet of what I had and I'm kicking myself now because they were all fantastic. Along with the meat and cheese you get three condiments and I had apricot preserves, an Italian mustard and Granny Smith apples. You also get a basket of bread so it is surprisingly filling. I did find that by the end of our meal I was craving chocolate or something sweet.

Saturday I picked Carla and Lee up from their hotel and we went to her brother's house for dinner. His daughter is 3.5 and I haven't seen her since just after she was born. She kept Carla and I busy dressing up as princesses and having picnics on the floor. It was really sweet. It was great to catch up with Peter and his wife Shirley as well.

Carla and Lee are living in Amsterdam right now so it's hard to say when I'll see them again. It was great to have this time with them though.

Ontario: The Timeline

I've been to Ontario twice. The first time was Easter 2000. I was only there for four days but I got to see a lot of the sights. I visited again at the end of August, 2004. The main reason for my trip was the Creative Memories Showcase but I spent the week before visiting a number of different friends.

Since I've visited in the Spring and Summer, I now say that if/when I go back, it will be for Autumn because the trees are supposed to be gorgeous.

On the flip side, my favourite season in BC is summer. I don't love the heat but I love the busyness and the activity. The fairs and festivals, being outside, etc.

So right now I'm planning on heading East near the end of August 2010. I'll give notice in my apartment so I have it through the end of the month but if I get my ducks in a row, I can leave sooner than that. That will be a good time to drive across the country (because yes, I will be driving) and it will put me in Ontario just in time for Autumn.

I figure Septemberish is a good time to start a new job somewhere and, in a perfect world, I can still make plans to come home for Christmas. (Not to sure how that one will play out but I can hope right?)

Another thought is, if I'm in Ontario at the beginning of September, hopefully I can get down to the DC Retreat. Whether I drive, or fly, it's got to be cheaper since it's closer, right?

One last thing, with that timeline I have all winter to settle in and get familar with the area and once Spring/Summer hits I'll be ready and comfortable to start exploring in earnest. Because that's the main reason I want to live over there. To be close to stuff that we just don't have on the West Coast. Like history for example. 150 years just doesn't cut it.

So there, more reasons, not necessarily as to why to move, but WHEN.

Reasons to Move to Ontario

I keep trying to reference this blog post but then I realize that I never actually posted it in the first place. I started this particular entry in April. It's going to be on-going so I may as well clean it up and post it so I have something to work off.

My original post on this topic was in May 2007 since then the idea has continued to percolate and grow. I am a notoriously slow decision maker and I need time to get used to the idea. That's why the long timeline worked so well for me. Now we're under two years though and while part of me is scared because it's such a huge step, I'm getting more and more excited.

I've lost track of who I've told and who I haven't though. The only person I'm conciously NOT telling (yet) is my boss. Some of my coworkers know though and that's okay. I'm sure it will come out in casual conversation way before I give my official notice but for now, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. ;)

Earlier this week I was telling my friend Cheryl about my plan and, like most people I tell she said "it sounds like you've really thought it out." Which I have. So, here's a list of why I want to move to Ontario in Septemberish of 2010.

1. It's still in Canada so no paperwork is required
2. I have lots of friends there
3. I have a church I can attend
4. It's close to the East Coast of the US (which is an area I'd love to spend more time in)
5. I'll be 29 in 2010 and in need of a change
6. I want to live in more than one province in my lifetime
7. Financially 2010 makes sense. My car will be paid off in 2009 and I have a plan to pay off my cc debt by 2010.
8. I want to be in BC for the Olypmics but after that nothing is holding me.
9. By then I'll have been at my job for 4 years and ready for something new
10. At this point in my life I can leave all my furniture and kitchen items behind and start new because they were ALL hand-me-downs

And, from Rene

• And then there's SSMI and SWON and the Ohio Retreat....all within driving
  distance

and Diane:

• Ummm hello. I'm in driving distance.

So there. Lots of good reasons to move. Have I missed any?

Oh, and for the record, the drawbacks are:

1. I will miss my parents and friends here
2. The weather
3. The lack of mountains

I'm not intending for this to be a long term thing though. Just a change of pace for awhile.

Your train is coming

I have had Dierks Bentley's "Trying to Stop Your Leaving" as the ring tone on my phone for well over a year. Specifically the part near the end where he sings:

Train’s a comin,’ river’s runnin’
Pain’s a comin,’ tears are runnin’
Yeah, that’s kind of the way I’m feelin’
Knowin’ I couldn’t stop your leavin’

Lately, if my phone rings while Mom is around she's taken to saying "Your train is coming!" LOL

Watch the music video

Wordless Wednesday: Exercising my Democratic Right

Turkey-less Thanksgiving

This weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. Saturday I had plans to meet up with Melissa and Jevon for a Thanksgiving dinner but no one else could make that time. We still met up and played games but we had pizza for dinner instead.

Sunday was "Thanksgiving". Mom, Dad and I were the only ones together for dinner so instead of doing a big turkey I convinced them to make salmon with stuffing since the stuffing is all I was really craving. Mom makes an awesome stuffed salmon but this time she chose to make the stuffing on the side and do the salmon on a cedar plank in the bar-b-que. It was amazing! (please excuse the sideways picture. I can't get it to straighten itself).

Monday Meredith took me out for breakfast and then we spent the day making cards. We took a break at one point and played a round of Monopoly. We haven't played that in ages but we had a blast.

So that was my long weekend. Fairly low key without a turkey in sight!

Scenarios

Best Case Scenario: The idiot who backed into me takes responsibility and my bumper is replaced at no cost to me.

Worst Case Scenario: He denies it and I have to pay the deductible of $300.

Either way it's a pain in the butt but not as bad a it could have been.

So, what happened? I was driving, following a truck and we were both yeilding before turning right. He slowed down in the right turn lane and then started backing up!!! WHO BACKS UP in a turn lane?!? Luckily he wasn't going very fast but he still put his hitch through my bumper. I honked but he said he "couldn't see me" and apparently he couldn't hear me either.

He was really nice and jumped out and gave me his information right away. It was his boss's truck. He's in town on business. They have to notify by letter but hopefully he'll own up to the charges.

Wordless Wednesday: :(

Random Memory #6: Oregon Trail

I'm continuing to live in a no-television apartment and it's working amazingly well. All my regular shows have started back up again for the new season and I'm not missing them or feeling sorry for myself at all.

One of the things that is keeping me sane is that I can get random dvd's from the library. Movies, documentaries, educational programming. It's fascinating what they have there. Recently I watched a PBS documentary on the Oregon Trail. That is a period of history that has always fascinated me. I have read lots of historical fiction based around that time period and we used to spend HOURS playing it after school.

As soon as the bell rang we'd RACE to the computer lab and stay there until it closed (an hour or so later). Mom learned not to expect us right after school. "Us" was Meredith, my brothers and I (and other students). You could take five people in your "wagon" so Mere and I always took each other, which ever boy we had a crush on that week and one random brother that we'd write off to cholera or a wagon accident or drowning. Because you knew SOMEONE had to die and we didn't want it to be someone we liked!

The best part of Oregon Trail was hunting (even if you could only bring back 100 pounds of meat) and running the rapids at the end. I still miss that game.

Did anyone else play?

Weekend Recap

Fall is here. The crisp cool days, the smell of wood smoke in the air and the leaves are slowly changing. Thanks to global warming (or something, that’s just a good scapegoat) we also has some wacky weather over the weekend. Thursday I was out until 10pm running errands. I had a list of places to stop: Michaels, Linens n’ Things, my parents so I could use the computer and do laundry and Walmart. Friday I got home after work and didn’t leave. I kept the blinds closed so I couldn’t see the rain or wind, lit a bunch of candles and scrapbooked all evening. It was wonderful.

Saturday was “National Card Making Day”. I met Teresa on the Canadian side of the border and together we went down to a scrapbook store in Bellingham for a card class. 15 cards for $15 in two hours. Cute cards too and it showed how many you can make with a small amount of paper. When I got home I used the “formula” they had showed us along with a new stamp set I bought and made another 10 cards in less than an hour.

Sunday after church I went over to Mom & Dad’s for lunch. Mom was in Alberta all last week staying with her dad who had cataract surgery on Tuesday. He’s doing well and my aunt has actually moved in with him now which is good. He may be getting his eyesight back but his hearing is mostly gone :(

Sunday evening I went over to Chris & Natalie’s and we played Settlers of Catan, with the Cities & Knights expansion pack. I’ve played Settlers with the Seafarers pack but I like Cities & Knights better. I lost but it was still fun ;) I worked with Natalie at NR and we've been planning a games night for awhile. I'm pretty sure we'll have more in the future and I can't wait!

So that was my weekend. Nothing too crazy but really enjoyable.

Only six quirky things this time

I've been tagged by Looney Lisa to share my 6 Quirks! There's a pun in there somewhere LOL

Here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know

Okay, I've done this before. Y'all are going to think I'm just a big ball of quirk!

1. If there are two rolls of toilet paper for me to use, I always take from the smaller one.

2. I hate doing dishes and I let them build up until I run out of something (forks, pots etc) It's bad but it's one of the benefits of living alone :)

3. I don't drink iced tea. Sweetened or not. I just don't like the taste of it. I wish I did because it sounds so refreshing but I can't get past the "tea" taste.

4. I have exactly 300 "Friends" on Facebook. That's not really a quirky thing but I just realized that. A portion of them are from SS and I really don't interact with them but I feel weird not accepting their request. I'll probably go through and purge at some point.

5. I read Country Weekly. Some people find that quirky. I find it normal. It's a good magazine! How else do you think I fill my head with lots of useless news?

6. I don't have a computer at home, yet, I still manage to spend WAY too much time online. Crazy.

6 people to tag:
1. Who
2. ever
3. hasn't
4. been
5. tagged
6. yet!

YouTube Debut

After the wedding when we went back at Mom & Dad's house, Seth, Robert, Brittany, Mom and I sat down and played cards. During our game I put on a tape of Classic Disney songs that I have and the boys were singing along. It made me laugh so I filmed them with my camera. I had my YouTube debut in August. This is their's. Seth's on the left, Robert's on the right singing "A Whale Of A Tale" from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and "You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!" from Peter Pan.

BC's Northern Capital

As many of you who have been playing along on Facebook know, I was in Prince George for the first part of this week (I was posting updates to FB as I got internet access). Why you may ask? For a conference. I think I've mentioned that I sit on the Board of Directors for the organization I used to work for. That organization is one of 34 of it's kind in British Columbia and this was their annual conference. (I went to the Association AGM in March. Next year the two events will be combined.)

Bright and early Sunday morning I was picked up by two other Directors, Donna, Grant (and his wife Judy) and Grant drove us to the Vancouver airport. Our plane was delayed for about 30 minutes due to fog in PG but it was clear flying along the coast and I had a great view of Howe Sound and the Coastal Mountain range. (The white spot in the picture on the left is a ferry going from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale) Once we arrived in PG we were treated to brilliant orange and yellow fall foilage. It was beautiful. At home everything is still green and is just starting to change. Up there it's really dry and the trees are brightly coloured.

I had had a busy few days before our trip so after we checked in Grant and Judy went golfing and I just relaxed in my room for awhile. I did go out an explore the downtown section of Prince George for awhile but being Sunday, most places were closed. Luckily "Books & Company" a fantastic little...actually, not so little, book store and cafe was open. I hung out there for awhile just because it was such a great place.

That evening (after a nap after my walk) we had a welcome reception in the Two Rivers Art Gallery which I looked down at from my hotel room. This picture was taken from in front of the Civic Centre. The clock is part of Civic Plaza. The building behind is the art gallery and the building behind that is my hotel.

Monday we were up bright and early for the conference. All of the speakers they had were excellent and I learned a lot. I got sick of conference food pretty fast (it was unimaginative and bad quality) but it was free so I didn't complain too much. That evening Grant, Judy and I joined other delegates at a local PG restaurant called Cimo's. We had a nice time chatting and getting to know each other better.

Tuesday was more of the same. Late in the afternoon I skipped boring sounding round table discussion and went for a walk in the sunshine. That evening was our "Gala Awards Dinner". I was soooo surprised when I was awarded a "Volunteer of the Year" Award. I definitely wasn't expecting that. Each of the 34 organizations is able to nominate a Volunteer which is why I say "a". I was one of 21. It was wonderful and very special.

Wednesday we got up and had breakfast with the rest of the conference attendees and then headed for the airport. I had an aisle seat so I couldn't really see out the window. I ended up getting a pressure headache that I haven't really shaken yet either. Very painful.

Anyways, PG (which incidently does NOT stand for pregnant, as some of my less observant Facebook friends thought) is a nice little town. I'd have a hard time with the "average winter temperature of -18oC" but it's nice in the fall. I do wish we had had more time for tourist opportunities but I guess it's a reason to go back :)

Feast One Hundred & Ninety Two

Continuing to work backwards on the Friday Feasts

Appetizer
When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup? I drink it the way it comes. If it was in a can, I drink it from the can. If it was in a bottle, I drink it from the bottle...unless it's a 2 litre. Then I pour it into a glass.

Soup
What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch? Nothing now that I don't have cable. Previously, CSI: Miami, New York and ER. Even with all the shows debuting this week, I'm not missing them though!!!

Salad
Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant.
John McCain. For selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Main Course
Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas? Absolutely and I love the idea of using "save gas" as a reason for that!

Dessert
If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself? How about "the SECRET agent" :D

"What's up?"

I totally forgot to post this. I went "stateside" last weekend on Saturday afternoon. The original plan was to go hiking but it was POURING rain so we just ended up going out for an early dinner. Anyways, the line at the border was way longer than it should have been in the rain (seriously, where are people going?) and when I finally got up to the wicket the guard took my passport and asked "What's up?" Not "where are you going?" or "Purpose of your trip?" but "What's up?"

Say wha?!?!?

Then he proceeded to ask me "What I was taking down" "Uh...nothing that's not coming back. I have lots of cr@p in my car but it's all coming home with me". He looked in my trunk (which has clothes, lawn chairs, a blanket and other stuff) and said "That's quite an eclectic collection you've got there. Have a nice day!"

Weird, weird, weird. At least he didn't give me a hard time!

I have a cutting board!

Okay, I have a few cutting boards but yesterday, after living in my apartment for two years and two months, I discovered that I have a built in cutting board hiding in my cutlery drawer. Two years and I never knew it was there! I frequently have wished for one but I never thought to reach way under the counter and see if there was one there. It's pretty dusty from un-use but it won't stay that way!

Oh, and I called my brother/ex-room mate and apparently he knew it was there. He was just holding out on me!

Food Adventures

Taken from Shirley's Blog

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.


1. Game from an animal that someone in your family killed. My uncle was/is a hunter (he was my uncle, he is a hunter) I've eaten bear, moose and deer that he's shot

2. Ice cream from a dairy farm that makes their ice cream on the premises. Bonus points if you can eat your ice cream and see the herd of cows that it came from. Birchwood Dairies has wonderful ice cream. I'm currently craving their frozen yogurt but I haven't made the time to go out there lately.

3. Wild berries that you find, pick and eat yourself. The blackberries along the river here are awesome. We didn't get any this year but it was mostly because we ran out of time. I did pick raspberries this year but they weren't exactly wild.

4. Something deep-fried that was never meant to be deep-fried. Mars Bars? After fish n' chips? Yeah heartattack!!!

5. Pizza from a NY City pizzeria that's at least 40 years old. Not yet but talk to me in 18 months

6. Bread made from scratch, still warm from the oven. Yep, mom has a bread maker that we've used a few times. We've done rolls and stuff too.

7. Food from a street vendor. Bonus points if you and that vendor don't share a language in common. I'm not a huge fan of street vendor food. I know I've had stuff though. Definitely roasted chesnuts. I can't remember what language he spoke. Probably English.

8. Fish you have caught and cleaned yourself. Yeah but it was kind of cheating. It was an "Outdoors" Trade Show and they had a pool full of fish for the kids. I caught one and we ate it but it's not the same as in the wild.

9. Birthday cake (and frosting!) from scratch. Always. I don't do cake mixes.

10. Salad from someone's garden. Most of the greens I bought this year were from the farmers' market and were all grown locally. They included interesting bits like dandelion leaves too!

11. Homemade salad dressing. Yep, I made this salad last week

12. Baseball park food. Bonus points for a Fenway Frank. Never been to Fenway but I have had a hamburger at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver.

13. Homebrewed beer. Wow. #13 and we've finally found one I haven't had! I've had micro-brew and homemade wine but not homemade beer.

14. Something baked in an EZ-Bake Oven. My cousin was "baking" with one a few years back. The cake turned out pretty gooey but I swiped some of the icing...

15. Slab bacon from a butcher shop or meat market. I don't really eat bacon so no.

16. Real maple syrup. For sure! Lots of it. Especially yummy on ice cream!

17. Astronaut ice cream (purchased from a gift shop on a school field trip, if possible). Something tells me yes but I can't summon a specific memory.

18. Something you didn't think you would like, but you tried anyway. Aligator. It's just kind of fishy.

19. Yuengling beer. Say what? Umm...no.

20. Mastroianni Brothers bread Never heard of it

21. Bueon Y Sano burrito Nope but I've had some yummy burritos!

22. Guiness draft. Warm, in a pub in the UK somewhere. Guiness draft yes and I discovered I liked it more than the other beers I was trying. I was in a Pub in Victoria though. A city that has a very, very UK feel but it's in Canada.

23. Haggis (not for taste, for bragging rights!) LOL! I would totally eat it for bragging rights if given the chance. So far I haven't had the chance though.

24. Beets Pickeled? With every. freaking. meal. as a kid. I don't mind them but I don't keep them in my fridge.

25. Avocado My weakness. Most "memorable avacado" would be the guacamole at Catina Laredo with Sherilyn. I still dream of that meal.

26. At least 10 different kinds of sushi. Over the years, yes. I still prefer California rolls though.

27. Something you've grown from seed Hmmm I was never responsible for the actual planting part.

28. Something with the head still attached when it was served. Fish. It sounds so nasty when you say it this way though.

29. Crawdads/Crayfish (Bonus points if you caught/cleaned them yourself). Crayfish in Texas...no...wait...it might have been catfish. I forget...no, I think I did crayfish too.

30. Alcohol that was older than you were. Nah, I'm cheap. I'm not opposed to it though!


So, 21/30? I'm pretty adventurous if I do say so myself!

Now I'm off to find Homebrewed beer, bacon, astronaut ice-cream, Yuengling beer, Mastroianni Brothers bread, a Bueon Y Sano burrito, some Haggis, some seeds to grow into something and Alcohol that is older than I am. Stay tuned for some tipsy blog entries!!!

Gotta love emails like this

"Ok Heidi-you rock!"
- from my boss after I sent a message to a director ending with "I trust this addresses your concerns." :D

She took my shoes!

Last night I went to a PartyLite show. One of the ladies left a bit earlier than the rest of us. I was watching her put her shoes on and thinking "Hey, her's are almost the same as mine!" At the end of the evening I went to get my shoes and I realized that her shoes are almost the same as mine except SHE TOOK MY SHOES! They were the same style of Walmart 725 shoes, only her's were probably a bit newer since they had different stitching on top. Luckily one of her friends was still there and managed to catch the "shoe thief" on her cell phone. She came back and said "normally I wear orthodics so when I put the shoes on and then felt funny I just chalked it up to that".

Anyways I got my shoes back but we all had a good laugh over it :)

The Trip Down Memory Lane

Once in awhile it's fun to drive past the homes you have lived in. Because my parents have always rented, there's been a few of them (7 including where my parents live now) in this town alone. Lately though, I've been taking the tour a lot.

Mom, Dad, Aaron and I did on Christmas Eve.

Meredith and I did it just after she got back from Australia.

Seth, Robert and I did it last weekend.

It's getting old. Next time I go (which hopefully isn't for awhile) it will be with a camera.

Love in any Language

I think I need to add "weddings" as a tag on my blog. Saturday, September 13th I attended my fifth wedding ceremony of 2008. This was was for a family friend, Dan. While I was in highschool this family lived across the street. Their daughter Joanna was is year older than me, Dan is one year younger (between Seth and I) and their twin boys are the same age as Aaron. Us older kids used to walk to and from school together and Dan was like a fourth brother to me. He was always either at our place our we were at his.

In July 1998 Joanna got married (the summer after she graduated) and that started the season of weddings for me. Since then I have attended over two dozen weddings!

The unique thing about this wedding (and Joanna's ten years ago) was that the ceremony was entirely in Romanian. Two hours long and I didn't understand a word of it. BUT, it really didn't matter! Weddings are weddings. Sure I didn't follow word for word what was being said and I missed all the jokes but at the same time, I knew when they were reading scripture, when they were giving "life advice" and when the vows were being taken and I teared up. Not to mention that the music was amazing. The church choir sang a few numbers and a couple of other people shared songs. I didn't get the words but I understood the meaning and it was beautiful.

Seth and Robert and Seth's girlfriend Brittany came out for the weekend (Robert's girlfriend didn't want to skip school). It was just my family at the table for the reception and we had a wonderful time. The food at the reception was amazing and plentiful, which is the Romanian way.

It was nice to see this family again and to see Dan so happy. I love weddings. In any language :)

Feast One Hundred & Ninety Three

I have some actual blog entries percolating but I'm not ready to publish them. In the meantime, pull up a chair. It's time for Friday's Feast!

Appetizer
Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?
Generally an optimist but I definitely have my pessimistic moments.

Soup
What is your favorite color of ink to write with?
Blue. Actually I love a rainbow of colours but if we're talking basic everyday pens, it's PaperMate "M". Twelve cents each baby!

Salad
How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?
I have had exactly three pedicures in my life and maybe as many manicures. I usually keep clear polish on my fingernails but I haven't mastered the concept of shaping my nails and I I can't buff them to save my life. THAT'S what I like going to the salon for. To get them properly shaped and buffed. Toes, meh. Not a big deal to me.

Main Course
Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it?
Yes. Lots. The local radio station does a lot of their contests online and I've won concert tickets, cd's and more there. One of my favourite websites The 9513 is also great for spreading the wealth. I've gotten a t-shirt and cd's/dvd's from them.

Dessert
In which room in your house do you keep your home computer?
I don't have a computer at home. Crazy huh? When Seth was there we kept it in the dining room. When I get one, it will be a laptop and the goal will be for it to be as portable as possible.

Wordless Wednesday: This one just makes me giggle

Filling up the Hug Quotient

Dance started back up again last night. It was great to see everyone and to catch up on the past few months. It's funny, everyone there is substantially older than me but they are so friendly that it just doesn't matter. Everyone greets you with a great big hug and is genuinely glad that you're there. It's one of the reasons I love going.

I'm also proud to say that I even managed to get through some of the more complicated dance patterns without messing up. I thought for sure that I would have forgotten most of it again but I guess I've been doing it long enough now that it's becoming second nature.

In searching my blog I realized that I never got around to uploading this photo. My dance partner Ralph took it in June when we were at Minter Gardens after the Rally in the Valley.

Here's to another great season of square dancing...and hopefully my body will forgive me soon. I was *sore* this morning!

This is the time of year...

when lockers and trunks all over the country fill up with jackets. It's cool misty and moist in the morning so you have to wear a coat. By the end of the day it's HOT and you definitely don't need one. I remember cleaning my locker out at the end of the school week and having to carry five sweaters or coats home. Crazy! And now my trunk is filling up. Every piece of outerwear I own ends up in there.

Not that I'm complaining about the weather in the afternoons though. It's absolutely beautiful out. I just wish it could warm up a bit earlier in the morning so I don't have to bother with a coat at all.

Friday's Feast #194

Appetizer
If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?
Now that Mere's back in Canada, I can safely say Europe. I'd like to visit Australia but I don't think I want to live there. I would love to live in Europe for a year though.

Soup
Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?
Boring old Explorer

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?
7, but compared to other people, 11
I love history

Main Course
Finish this sentence: Love is…
Something I'd like to experience :(

Dessert
Have you ever been in or near a tornado?
Yep! On April 13, 2006. Most fascinating day ever.

Sometimes Procrastination Works

I've been putting off a relatively simple task for a few days. I just realized today that I CAN'T do it until the 18th anyways because I need some information that will come in that day. Excellent. Procrastination works!

I think I'm finally getting over it

I don't think I've ever posted about it but when I initially moved out I developed an irrational fear of running out of food. I knew it was ridiculous but I couldn't help myself (or I chose not to). I liked the feeling of having a very full fridge, freezer and cupboards.

Slowly, slowly I am being cured of that. Shopping at the farmers' market helps. Knowing that I only need as many vegetables as I can eat in the next six days is huge. I buy a little, force myself to eat them (not that EATING them is the issue, it's cooking them. I'm lazy.) and then go buy more on Saturday.

I'm working on cutting down what is in my cupboards as well. I don't need bags and bags of pasta or five varieties of cereal. I get paid every 15 days. Groceries are part of the budget. If I eat what I have, I can buy new on my next shopping trip.

It's weird to have to train myself to think like this but after two years, I think I'm finally getting it.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Last year I blogged Where Were I Was the World Stopped Turning which is the question everyone is asking today. I won't re-hash it but you can read if you want.

Last weekend I watched Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. It was coincidental that I watched this movie just before September 11th. I just happened to find it at the library so I borrowed it. It was very interesting. I confess there was very little in there that I didn't suspect all along, like the Bush administration's alleged reasons for the war on Iraq. His view on how the War on Terrorism and the fear brought on the American people was cultivated through the media was fascinating.

I recommend this movie to every adult looking for one man's view on this major event.

Today I am not doing anything particular to commemorate the day but I admit the memories are a bit more accute. As I said last year this event has been the most significant world event of my life. It has affected me and the world I live in more than anything else. September 11th is a day that has gone down in history and I can't help but remember.

Wordless Wednesday: Happiness is...new music from Dierks!

And, on to happier announcements

Get this. Remember earlier in the year when I was taking to myself? Well I never did make it to that concert but guess who's coming next February? (Brad Paisley!!!) and guess who's opening for him? (DIERKS BENTLEY!!!) Woohoo!!!

Meredith asked me last week "what's your next concert?" I told her I didn't have one but Dierks was coming in the spring. She doesn't quite get my obsession with seeing him so often but that's okay. Now I have a date. February 24, 2009. I get to see Brad again which is what I wanted and Dierks will be on the same bill!!!

Woohoo! The countdown is on!

Uggh. Double Uggh and now Triple Uggh.

I don't like politics. I follow them a little bit because you have to to relate to the world but I don't enjoy them. I don't get fired up by them and truthfully, like many Canadians, I could care less.

Everyone in the world knows that the United States is holding it's presidential election in November. It's all encompassing. You can't avoid it. Even in Canada, American politics often get top billing in the media. This happens every four years but some how, with the primaries and conventions and stuff it drags out for over a year. Ugh.

Later in November, British Columbia is going to the polls for municiple elections. It's the other end of the spectrum (small vs. big) but it's probably the one I care about most. This election cycle is every three years and it just happens to coincide with the US election this year. Double uggh.

Now Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister has called a federal election on top of all of this. Talk about a three ring circus!!! The good thing about Canadian federal elections is they're only allowed a lead time of 30-some days so this one will be over and done with by October 14. Still. That's three elections in two months. Triple uggh!!!

And yes, I'll vote in the ones I'm allowed to but I won't like it.

Friday Feast #195

There isn't a new Friday Feast today but there's lots of old ones to catch up on.

Appetizer
What is the weather like today where you live?
Grey and overcast. The weather man is promising warm sunny weather for the weekend but I'm having trouble believing him.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you?
Maybe a 5. I work because I have to. It would probably be higher if what I did wasn't just a job.

Salad
What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.?
There are only three windows in my apartment and they all have curtains on them. I've looked in to getting black out blinds for the bedroom but they're expensive. Instead I've just learned to sleep with lots of light in my bedroom (from the security lights outside)

Main Course
Name something that instantly cheers you up.
A good song on the radio never fails. Personal emails work too.

Dessert
How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning?
I set my clock radio and then a few minutes later my cell phone alarm goes off. I usually don't hit snooze unless there's a really annoying song on the radio.

Signs that Summer is Gone

1. The fog in morning while driving to work
2. I started making Christmas cards yesterday
3. I'm wearing nylons today

But, it's supposed to be nice this weekend so I'm planning on getting out and enjoying it as much as possible.

Wordless Wednesday: Really. I'm not hard to please.

This is from my box of elementary school projects.

Labour Day Long Weekend

This weekend was all the best parts of summer in three days. Saturday I met up with Jevon, Melissa and Melissa's Mom and we hiked up Mount Thom. It's not a long hike but it's fairly steep so it'a good work out. You get a beautiful view of the valley up there too. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves by going for pie at the airport :)

Saturday evening I went to a bar-b-que at Susan's. Susan is a new friend of mine. It was great to see her place and meet a few of her other friends. We had yummy steak and corn on the cob and other food and then made s'mores. It was great.

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and I went for Thai food and then I went home and scrapbooked for awhile.

Later that evening the three of us drove out and visited my Great-Aunty Phyllis. She is my grandma's sister (I visited their other sister, Elsie this summer) I just love her. As a kid, visiting Aunty Phyllis was kind of a chore. As an adult I treasure every moment I have with her. She has an incredible memory just like my grandma had and she'll talk non-stop until you leave. It was wonderful to see her again.

Monday we had a picnic at the church. Lots of people showed up and while some people played baseball and volleyball I was content to just sit and hold babies and visit :) There are LOTS of babies around so I definitely got my fill.

In the evening Meredith and I went out for dinner at Milestones and then for a walk on the pier at White Rock. We finished our day with dessert at Pearl.

Good food, good friends, lots of memories. It was a fitting way to say "good-bye" to summer...but I'm still hoping that it's not really gone!!!

Friday's Feast #189

Appetizer
What was your favorite cartoon when you were a child?
My brothers were generally the ones watching cartoons. My preference was for anything Disney (Winnie the Pooh shorts or feature length films). Animated classics over cartoons.

Soup
Pretend you are about to get a new pet. Which animal would you pick, and what would you name it?
This is definitely pretend because I have no use for pets right now. I do admit to coveting Diane's fish but only if they came with someone to care for them. And I'd probably name them after famous people.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion?
9 The wedding was great because my dress was already picked out for me. I like getting ready for stuff but I *hate* picking what to wear.

Main Course
What kind of music do you listen to while you drive?
Country...which is what I always listen to.

Dessert
When was the last time you bought a clock? And in which room did you put it?
I just altered a clock I bought at the dollar store. I hung it in my scrap room but it's too loud so I took the battery out. I'd like to get one for my dining room but I haven't yet.

LOL I copied this from Nesa's Blog but if you scroll down she copied last week's from me. I think it's time to give credit where it's due. To the original Friday Feast blog!

Michigan Memories

Warning: This is really, really long and should probably be a bunch of separate entries but that would take way more brain power than I have available right now so I'll just appologize in advance.

"Michigan Memories" is what Diane's dad dubbed the mosquito bites that we all picked up and while they are the most persistant annoying reminders right now, I have SO many happy memories that it makes it worth it ;)

This trip was amazing. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, this weekend I flew to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the wedding of my friend Diane and her fiance Jim. I had a wonderful time. I met tons of awesome people, had a blast hanging out with Diane and getting to know Jim.

I left home right after work on Tuesday and drove down to Seattle. I stayed the night with Dars and Wednesday morning she took me to the airport. I had a layover in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (during which I bought cheese and watched the olympics) and I arrived in Grand Rapids at 11:30, local time. Diane was there to meet me and we went straight back to their house.

Thursday morning we had a list of errands to run. Picking up the marriage license, a tux, stopping at Michaels, Target, the bank and more. We also made a number of runs to the airport to pick up her Mom, Dad and brother and then, the other bridesmaid, her friend Laura.

Laura and I really hit it off. She is an incredibly cool, insightful, interesting woman and I really enjoyed getting to know her.

Thursday evening, once everyone had arrived, we all gathered on Jim and Diane's awesome back deck for pizza. It was the first time that Diane's family had met Jim and his family and everyone got along famously.

My big thrill for the night...actually there was a few. The first one was seeing fireflies for the first time. I was talking to Laura but I kept focusing my eyes just past her head. Finally she asked "what are you looking at?!?" I realized then that the flashes of light that I kept seeing were fireflies!!! We don't have them up in Canada so this was my first time seeing them. Very cool.

Another first was Diane gave Laura and I bags with black flip flop Crocs in them!!! For any of my non-SS readers, Crocs are a *huge* deal on the board but I've never had my own. I was very excited to get them and I wore them for pretty much the rest of the weekend (including at the reception).

Friday morning Diane, Laura and I got up and went for spa pedicures. They were wonderfully relaxing and we all came out of there with matching French pedicures with daisy's painted on our big toes. Diane and I got manicures as well (Laura had just had her nails done so she opted out).

After our pedicures we went for lunch at Logans. The best part was the "mini bucket" desserts we got. So cute! After lunch we headed over to the reception hall. Both families were there to help set up. We had to arrange all the tables and set up the chairs and Diane's mom, dad and uncle formed a team that ironed 25(!) table cloths!!! They had a system going which worked great. The rest of us made center pieces, bouquets and set out the favours at each spot.

Once the reception hall was ready to go we headed over to the church. There we assembled the arch and before the rehersal, we ate a yummy dinner prepared by Diane's amazing mother-in-law. HUGE pans of lasanga, caeser salad, garlic bread and to-die-for-brownies.

The rehersal itself went great. I was way more uptight about everything than Diane & Jim and I'm lucky I didn't get kicked out :P They put up with me though. Jim's mom had bought him a t-shirt with a tux printed on it to wear and Di had a makeshift veil and bouquet. When the pastor was reviewing the part about exchanging rings Jim pulled a ring pop out of his pocket and presented it to her LOL

Near the end of the rehersal, the photographer, SS member Tiffany (Tiff McPinkie) showed up. It was wonderful to meet her and hang out with her. She stayed at Diane's Friday night (along with Laura and I. Jim and the boys went to his parents) and we had a great time chatting into the evening.

Two other ScrapShare members, Rene (HavaDrPepper) and Jen (momof2greatcats) joined us midway through the rehersal as well. They drove together from Ohio and it was awesome to finally meet them and spend some time together.

Saturday was showtime. Diane, Laura and I hit Burger King for breakfast on the way to the hair salon. I actually did my own hair so I just got to observe and visit while Diane and Laura were pampered. Diane's hairdresser, Joyce is awesome. Di's been going to her for a number of years already so they are both super comfortable with each other.

Once our hair was done, we swung by Di's house to pick up the dresses and then headed for the church where we dressed and Laura did our make up. Despite my worrying (Diane was freakishly calm during the whole weekend so I took on the role of anal neurotic bridesmaidzilla) everything was exactly on time. We finished primping and preening with exactly one minute to spare. Perfect!

The ceremony was beautiful. Everyone was exactly in place and everything ran smoothly. The pastor's sermon was fantastic. I have been to many, many weddings and this was one of the nicest ones I have heard yet. The cool thing was it was only the second time he had performed a wedding!!! He is actually Jim's brother-in-law as well. The premise of his message was that life is a story and a marriage is a novel you write together. You only have one pen to write the story of your life now and you have to work together to decide when a new chapter will start. It was wonderful.

For the recessional Mr. & Mrs. Bryan walked out first (obviously) and then Laura and the best man, Jim's friend and cousin, Bill. Last I got to walk out with both of Jim's boys, one on each arm. That got a laugh from the congregation :) The wedding party and parents lined up for a receiving line and then we and the rest of the family went back into the church for formal photos.

From there we headed out to a park by where Jim & Diane work. It has beautiful landscaping that includes a gazebo and waterfall. Tiffany took some beautiful photos there. It was a bit of an adventure because the wind was blowing so hard. It actually took Diane's veil right off her head!!!

We arrived at the reception hall a few minutes before our precise "5:05 pm" entrance was scheduled so we hung outside for awhile. It was *hot* that evening. Hot and muggy...until midway through the reception when the skies opened up and the deluge started. Even then it didn't really clear the air though.

Dinner was catered and delicious. BBQ chicken, beef, roasted red potatoes, mixed veggies, rolls and probably something else I'm forgetting. Diane's inlaws were key in making sure all the food was ready and served properly. Awesome people I tell you.

For the rest of the evening we just proceeded to have fun. There was a brief open mic while we were waiting for dinner to be ready and a few people gave wonderful speeches. The cake that Jim's aunt (his mom's twin sister) made turned out perfect. It was decorated simply just like Diane wanted and tasted great.

The dances were a blast even if Laura and I were often the only ones up there :) Lots of good memories. Oh, and I *didn't* catch the bouquet. I already have four. This one went to Aunt Joan (the one who made the cake) and she was thrilled!

There is so much more I could say about the fun time we had at the reception. Meeting new people, dancing and more but this entry is already getting too long. The one interesting thing was, knowing I was surrounded by so many wonderful photographers, I didn't take a single picture on my camera ALL weekend!!! If I ever felt the urge to take one, I'd just grab Diane's camera. Between me, her and everyone else that used it, we managed to log over 300 images over the weekend so I know there won't be a shortage of pictures!

One thing we don't have photos of is what Jim, Diane, Laura and I did after the reception. Still dressed in all our wedding finery, we drove in to downtown Grand Rapids to Mojo's Dueling Piano Bar. It was a blast. There were no less than five bachelorette parties there and at least one other wedding party. It was a great way to finish up the night.

Sunday Diane and I got up and took Laura to the airport. Then we went for brunch with her family and took them to the airport. (Kind of a reverse of Thursday). Jim dropped off the rental car and we all went together to drop off the tuxes and then we went back to their house. His parents where there and stayed while Jim & Diane opened their presents.

In the afternoon Diane and I watched "Hairspray" and then we all watched the Olympic Closing Ceremonies together while Diane uploaded photos.

Monday was my turn to fly home. Again I had uneventful flights (unless you count the warm cookies ;)) and Dars picked me up in Seattle. I took my time coming home and went to bed early when I got there.

So there, my attempt at capturing five wonderful days in words. It's hard but it's a start :)

Congratulations Jim & Diane and thanks for letting me be a part of the begninning chapter of your life together!

Living in Fast Forward: All this in one week!

Okay, when I have to reference my day planner between blog posts you know I'm busy. I need to do a quick recap now though or I'll never do it. I want you to know that I've written all of this out in my head already. Transferring it into written words seems silly but I know if I don't, I'll forget. Okay, we left off with the hike at Buntzen Lake.

Monday, August 11th My friend Rebecca took me out for my birthday (nothing like making it last eh?!) We went and saw "Mamma Mia!" in theatres. I'm somewhat familiar with ABBA's music but I didn't know what to expect with the storyline or the movie. I was blown away! What a treat!!! I haven't laughed that hard or felt so good in a long time. If you haven't had a chance to experience this show yet, grab a girlfriend and go. Better yet, grab a bunch of girlfriends and go. It's a blast. I really want to see the stage show now.

After the movie we went to a local restaurant and had huge yummy ooey gooey desserts. It was a great way to celebrate.

Tuesday, August 12th A few months ago I added an ex-coworker as "friend" on Facebook. I've been trying to contact her through various mutual acquaintences for a few years with no luck. There wasn't a lot of communication on Facebook either but at least I knew she is still around. Finally last Tuesday, well, Monday night but I got the message on Tuesday, I got a note from Jennifer telling me that she was would be in town for one day and wondering if I was free for coffee "between 5 and 6". Luckily I was (I would have made myself available if I wasn't) and we met up. Another co-worker, my friend Tracy and her husband Murray came too. It was wonderful to catch up with Jennifer and to meet her adorable son Joshua. (Jen's in the middle with Joshua and Tracy and I are on the arms of the chair in the picture). Hopefully next time we'll have more time to spend together.

Wednesday, August 13th - We packed up at work and headed into Vancouver for the Annual General Meeting. My co-worker and I had dinner at Moxie's on Robson before she went for a run. I relaxed in my room for awhile and then went down and hung out with the Directors for the evening. They're a fun bunch and it's nice to chat with them when you're not in a board meeting setting.

Thursday, August 14th - I was in the meeting room just before seven in the morning setting up. Our Non-Confidential meeting ran smoothly and was followed by the AGM Business Meeting over lunch. After that we packed up, checked out and then hung out at the cocktail party for awhile. It was a gorgeous day so instead of fighting rush hour traffic a few of us decided to go for a walk. We ended up walking most of Robson Street and stopping in a few stores. When we got back to the hotel some of the US Directors were there and they invited us to join them for dinner. We had a lovely meal at the Keg (a nice steak house) and then we packed the car and drove home. I wasn't really paying attention to the clock but by the time we got home it was midnight!!!

Friday, August 15th - I was back at work...on time too! There's always tons to do after a board meeting so I just focused on task after task and the day flew by.

That evening I went to a workshop with an old Creative Memories sideline of mine. I haven't seen her since I moved out!!! So it was wonderful to catch up with her again too.

Saturday, August 16th - Was mostly a relaxing day at home. I walk to the library and down to the Farmers' Market but it was too hot to do much else. In the evening I went to Jevon's parents house for a bar-b-que. Jenna, Will and others from the "Hemlock Crew" were there. Jevon made amazing bar-b-que ribs and we had lots of other salads and burgers too. We spent the evening playing games and visiting. It was wonderful, just like summer should be :)

Sunday, August 17th - I came home after church and laid low. Again it was stinkin' hot and muggy and I didn't feel like doing anything. In the evening I joined some church friends for a bar-b-que but I left early and went and saw my parents.

Monday, August 18th - Work was another crazy, post-board meeting day. In the evening I went to the Agri-fair wrap up dinner and then home to finish packing.

Tuesday, August 19th - I'm heading down to Seattle in the evening and to Michigan for Diane's wedding on Wednesday. Stay tuned for updates!!!