almost new year

Well, I've been meaning to post something since the beginning of Dec. and that didn't seem to work...so...before another month of posting passes by and another year begins I thought something should appear on here.

This month has been full of excitement. Joni's showers, accepting a new job, having fun in Winnipeg for Christmas, enjoying the lots of snow (although still not a huge fan of winter).

I guess New Years Eve leaves one reflecting on the past year's events and what adventures (hopefully exciting) the new year will hold. Last year I/we were blessed to travel to Labrador, twice to Boston and area, Montreal, Edmonton, Detroit/Windsor, Winnipeg, and Calgary/Drumheller. We had many visitors and had great visits with family and friends. We (both Brad & I) had a wonderful year with our jobs and have felt much more settled into married life. We are SO blessed.

Praise the Lord, for good health, friends, and family. A warm home, great food and jobs. Yipee, for the past year and yippee for the new year.

it's that time of year!

It’s that time of year again. The Canadian Food for the Hungry Christmas catalogue is out! Don't you just love persuing for wonderful gift ideas for people who really do need something for Christmas!

I've been working from home the past couple days and it looks like I'll be here for at least another week. Huh. The strike at the Uof S has faciliated a move to our own homes as a current workplace. I never thought that I would be someone the could effectively work at home. Have enough discipline to just work. But so far so great! I get a lot done when I'm perched up here in this chair. Plus what a bonus to be able to wear slippers and eat fresh popcorn. Although in the past two days I've noticed that I really miss socialization and fresh air. It's just amazing to me that I can access almost all of my files, networks, work load from anywhere, really! And between cell phones, email, and msn I can keep in contact with all my colleagues. This is cool.

tissue boxes

Wednesday's episode of SPARK was great. The packaging and evolution of design with tissue boxes. Thank goodness for re-designed tissue boxes…love it!

Shopper's Drug Mart "re-designed" tissue boxes have blended into our house for the past couple years...for the very reasons they were explaining. My how Martha Stewart has impacted the house keeping trends of this century...thesis dissertation?!

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/blog/2007/10/show_notes_october_31.html#more

road anxiety

Apparently people that bike or walk to work arrive at their destination more relaxed and happier than people that driver to work. I think I might agree. Lately every time I get into the car, I get a little bit more anxious, a little bit more like the person in front of me is in the way and a little bit more jaw clenching by the time I reach my destination. I know that I am much happier when I choose to walk to work or home again. Plus, I think the quiet time to unwind is a bonus. Recently on my car jogs I put on some relaxing acoustic guitar music and think…I’m not in a hurry, I’m not in a hurry. It seems to work. What tricks/tips do you use to ensure a calm car trip?

Look what I found today while putting together a road safety e-digest; this fun article:
Volkswagen Canada has announced its Road Joy campaign to launch a wave of goodwill on the road. Buyers of the new 2008 City Golf and City Jetta models are asked to stem the tide of road rage by visiting the Road Joy registry at VW.ca and choosing a mission of kindness.

laments

The other night, I stayed up way to late…looking through alumni from my year and some of the friends I once had. I think I got myself stuck in a rut of moping over lost friendships. It is amazing to see recent photos of those people and to know that once they held a place in your life and now they don’t. You grieve a little at the loss of a friend . A roommate I visited about 5 years ago…has disappeared from my contact and a month ago I read, what I am assuming was her in the alumni news with a new husband’s name and a couple of kids…could there be one more of her, the same grad year? How sad to miss out on her life and friendship…and yet she has a whole different life going on. Isn’t life quirky? And isn’t it special that we still meet, and form friendships? Maybe it was the 10-year-reunion (university) invite that got me thinking!

invasion

The invasion begins: Campus is getting more and more busy every day…and the new arrivals are looking younger and younger. So much so that I’m in disbelief that they could be old enough to be in university! WOW!

The girls in our office were talking about their 19th & 21st birthdays! Man – I had the hardest time remembering these birthdays; where was I? How did I celebrate? Does time really pass that quickly? There really is some value to writing down or keeping photos of those memories. I usually default to where was I living? It tends to separate my life into 2-3 year zones. Very handy for identifying life events.

feel like fall

Any hopes of having a warm August have been dashed. The month started so lovely…hot, sunny, green and clear! But the last couple weeks are COLD, wet, blustery and feeling like fall. Yesterday morning walking through campus to my office I spotted the trees yellowing. Every year I have the same “eye-popping” reaction. Is it that time already? I love fall but I do not love the long, cold, grey, winter that follows.

Brad&I had a blast the first weekend in August helping my parents start the cosmetic renovations on their new Edmonton home. What a treat to go shopping for knobs, paint colours, window finishings, light fixtures, and countertops! I’m living vicariously through my parents until we find our own home. Plus, it’s cheaper this way!


Another month is almost finished and what a fun month. Finishing quilting projects, working on photo albums and booking up the fall calendar! And apparently pulling out the sweaters. Brrr.

hot summer

WOW!! This is a hot summer. I'm finally warm.although this is a little warmer than preferred and I seem to be sweating off the anti-perspirant!*sniff*sniff*.

This July has been filled with outside, outside patios and walking outside. Ahhhh sweet summer. Brad & I went to New England for my dear friend,Shauna's beautiful wedding! We had a blast finishing off details, setting up, visiting, consuming iced beverages and giggling about the upcoming wedding! What a special event to be a part of.

Brad and I spent a few days after the wedding exploring the beaches of lower Maine, and then sight-seeing in Boston. We celebrated our second anniversary with breakfast in Portsmouth, NH and a delicious supper on Newbury St. in Boston. And finished off the evening with some nostalgic Ben&Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream. ahhh. good times!. And the next day, we walked, and walked and walked and walked and climbed 294 stairs of the Bunker Hill monument, and then walked and walked and then sailed Boston Harbour, and then walked and then slept and then tried to walk and realized our legs no longer moved!

And now back to Saskatoon. back into routine! Although, it took a couple days to recover the normal feeling my legs.

fireworks

Have you ever seen fireworks while flying? I have now, Twice! Once several years ago while flying somewhere over the midwest USA and then just this time. But this time they were at two locations one over a great lake and then just as we were landing in Toronto...at the PNE grounds beside the CN tower! Ahhh so lovely - what a treat!

just my luck

Just after lunch when I was finishing my morning tea...I drank something chunk like from my travel mug...and I pulled out a FLY with no wings and a couple less legs!! YUCK!! Twice in the past year and a half there has been a fly in my food. Would this be considered good luck?

Three times in my life I have had a bird poop on me! People all around me and it strategically hits only me. Is this really considered good luck?

Tonight - I went to update my ipod and Brad had removed any trace of it from our hard drive. He upgraded our computers and replaced the hard drives. Asked me if there was anything that needed transferring and I said, "just the usual". Unfortunately I didn't specify IPOD. And now ipod decided to use one more of my computer authorizations...I have no music in my library and I can't figure out how to get the music off the nano and into the itunes library! PMS!? *Sigh* ho-hum.

june highlights

Wow! A whole month full of activities has whizzed by!

Beginning of June was full of adventures in Montreal! I went for aconference, spent an extra day exploring. Brad came with Honda for the GrandPrix and we met for a rendezvous! Highlights (or notable mentions) of the time there.

Great food - ahhh gotta love tasty treats. A place on St.Denis called Frites Alors. Absolutely delicious Belgian fries with freshmade dipping sauces. C'est bon! A deli-bakery in Old Montreal called Olive&Gourmando. Apparently Brad Pitt was there the week before. Try their mango, avocado sandwich and any of there brioche and pastry delights. I had my butts queezed there by some random dude. Unsure of what happened a conference friend confirmed my suspicion and we sure had a giggle! My, my. how bold.

Style - you just have to love the streets of Montreal for the je ne sais quoi! Almost everyone has a sense of style and a freedom to look fabulous walking down the street! How marvelous.


Next was down to visit Shauna. It sure was fun hanging out with her roommates. Getting to know her future husband and relaxing on the beach. Ahhh - relaxing.

Then a cold. Yep - for about a week I was struck with a stupid cold. And now!! We're at the end of June. Unbelievable. The longest day of the yearhas just past and the temperatures have been warming up. Saskatoon is full with the jazz fest and flowers are finally starting to bloom. Yippeee! It's summer!

facebook has taken over

So I've actually started writing a few postings since my last one and every time something comes up and I don't get around to posting. And with all the busy-ness of life and work, any free moment on the computer has been busy with figuring out facebook. Oh facebook.

Anyways...

Life has been extremely busy. People coming and going, and coming and going. Work has been full with a variety of out-of-the-ordinary activities taking up time. And now it's almost the end of May. A lovely May. The trees are green, the air is warm. Absolutely lovely and beautiful. And the evenings are long. Perfect for being outside. Ahhhh.

Night have been busy with cake making, decorating and eating, and of course visiting with family and friends! Brad celebrated his birthday and we spent the evening at an amazing cirque du soleil performance! Beautiful, fantastical and so imaginative. I had wild dreams that night!

The past week and a bit has been filled with house cleaning out! I've been really motivated to purge, give-away, garbage and organize our house into a well functionning machine! It's awesome. And then re-doing the kitchen cupboards! Too much fun and it's a great excuse to use my little labeller.

House thinking. I started reading a book called House Thinking. Actually I had picked it up from the library the day after my excursion with Jennifer looking at big, slightly frivolous houses. When is it just too much? I don't have a problem with someone having a nice house. But an installed cappuccino machine and tv behind the mirror in the bathroom, just seems like too much. I just love the ideas in this book! Wonderful.

"the well-thought-out home has much less to do with a piece of prime real estate or the latest decorating trend than with its responsiveness to deep evolutionary needs, personal preferences, and cultural influences that we're often only subliminally aware of. We may not have words for these satisfactions, but they infuse our favorite houses and apartments and make us feel at home".

And Brad has been doing so well at work, I'm so proud of him! He really is a natural and very gifted at selling! I'm going to Montreal the first week of June for a conference and he ended up earning a free trip there for the GrandPrix, so believe it or not we'll overlap our time in Montreal for a rendez-vous! C'est la belle vie!

home sweet home

Always save before adding photos! This is the second time I'll be typing this post. Arghh. I started this a couple days ago, ho-hum.

Last week I was in Windsor/Detroit for an automotive engineering conference and I realized how much I like Saskatoon. This really is a lovely city, relatively friendly and quite safe.



During my lunch hours I did some exploring of Detroit. One lunch I took a taxi to the art institute with a "hard-of-hearing" taxi driver and paid extra for it. I had a laugh with the art institute lady and she suggested taking the public bus (remember this is downtown Detroit, not a comfortable tourist destination and I'm dressed preppily for an engineering conference). I stood out like a very sore thumb (see me for more story)! The next day I was chatting with the charter bus driver and she said, "wow, you took the detroit public bus, I'd never have the nerve"!

All-in-all, pretty good time, lots of adventures, good conference info, and glad to be back home.

weekend in winnipeg

Brad&I hopped on a plane Fri. night and spent the weekend in Winnipeg with our friends from Newfoundland, Trevor&Krista. We wandered around Winnipeg on Sat. Put a turkey in the oven on Easter Sunday morning. And Krista went into labour. By supper time on Easter Sunday, Trevor and Krista had a baby girl name Nelaya. She was 6 lb 14 oz. So tiny and so precious. What a wonderful Easter surprise, celebrating new life! We are so happy for them!

(picture incl. doctor&nurse)

furniture arranging

For anyone who absolutely loves arranging furniture! Check out this link from Ashley Home Stores! Woow...so much fun.

http://www.ashleyhomestores.com/RoomPlanner/RoomPlanner.aspx?PageId=RoomPlanner

stations of the cross

Jesus institutes the Eucharist
Jesus prays in Gethsemane
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
Jesus carries the cross to Calvary
Jesus falls under the weight of the cross
Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene
Jesus meets the pious women of Jerusalem
Jesus is nailed on the cross
Jesus promises Heaven to the repentant thief
Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is laid in the tomb
Jesus rises from the dead

http://www.cptryon.org/xpipassio/stations/

end of busy-ness

Isn't it strange how one month of continuos busy-ness can be done on one day. March 31st arrived, our work end of year...all the work was finished and now my evenings are my own. Wow...what should I do?

my newest cake

I have a new found appreciation for cake makers...it's not just flour and water!

I finally finished my level III final cake! Ta daahh

*giggle, giggle*!

spring cleaning

This morning was ballet girls brunch and as part of our conversation here are the smells great, cleans well, is friendly for you home and friendly for the environment cleaning products!

This past year, I've been trying to use products that are healthier for our home, nicer to the environment, smell great, and still clean well. Sometimes the vinegar and baking soda just don't cut it (no pun intended). We all clean our homes and hopefully this is one way that helps out.

Here's a few finds in time for SPRING CLEANING!

Method home products (great website). The eucalyptus mint flushable wipes are awesome for toilet cleaning and bathroom touchups. Shoppers Drug Mart sells some of this line here in Canada.

Fruits & Passion sells other home & kitchen products. Try the Lavendar-Mint glass cleaner and their Ecological Home Cleaner.

Another great cleaning tool are microfibre cloths. They are awesome and easily clean-able. Check out Canadian Tire, The Bay or Home Outfitters for Casabella products.

And for your laundry, if you use dryer sheets try out Nellie's Dryer Balls. They really do work at drying your clothes faster, preventing static, and keeping clothes softer.

project porchlight

I heard this on CBC last week and thought it was just awesome! Brad&I changed all (except one) all bulbs to compact flourescents...and we've saved a bundle of energy & money!

Project Porchlight

broke up?

A couple Saturday's ago Jennifer and I were running errands and drove passed a kid that was collapsed up against a snow bank. We both scratched our heads and wondered if this kid was alright. Being concerned :) we decided to drive around the block to make sure that the kid was okay and not in trouble. We kept looking in the rearview mirror at the motionless child. As we rounded the corner and neared the snow bank we looked with anticipation.and PHEW!! He started walking down the sidewalk, smacking the snow bank with a stick.

When we recounted the story later to Brad he responded, "maybe he just broke up with his girlfriend"?!

Huh - that's the first thought that came to his mind. Hah hah. that's awesome!

cakes

Today was cake decorating. We started learning how to use fondant. Here's the result.

And I finally finished the cake from level 2, which was using a basketweave and royal icing flowers. Too much fun :)

please slow down

Okay people (most of you not included) this is my safety rant. PLEASE SLOW DOWN. Last week on the same morning there were two fatal crashes. If there is frost on the grass, the road may be slippery. If there was water on the road and it freezes overnight, then there will be ice on the road in the morning.

This morning the intersection by my house had a crash and as I pulled into campus a car had spun around and was up on the centre median. Slow down. If you see ice at an intersection and have trouble driving forward don't you think that you shouldn't go faster than the speed limit on the rest of theroad?! Arghh.

If you travel at 50 km/h then it takes one hour to cover 50 km.
If you travel at 40 km/h then it takes one hour to cover 40 km.
If you travel at 50 km/h then it takes 15 min. to cover 12.5 km.
If you travel at 40 km/h then it takes 15 min. to cover 10 km.
Is it really worth going faster?

great melt

Yesterday began the great melt! The weather is warming up, the birds are chirping, the snow is melting, mini-ponds are forming and the back of pant legs are mud splattered! It’s suppose to be in the +’s for the next few days. The sun is shining and the days are getting longer. Spring is on the way!

no time

Well my goodness I've had lots I could post lately but no time to post it. Plus, Brad's been enjoying quality time with the computer this past week or so.

BUT I have really wanted to post this news:

Yahoo!! Yeehaw!! My best friend Shauna is getting married! Yippeee! Yeah! I'm so excited that she's met a man she loves and that he asked her to marry him! And she said "yes"! Oh how exciting - bell's will ring!

in memory of - Fred the Fish

Our fish died. Fred our first fish, from when we were married, died yesterday. Today we bought a tiny new fish - Fred II.

Brad's blog - Ski-Doo trivia

I should point out that "Ski-Dooing" is the incorrect term for "Snowmobiling". You see Bombardier (Canadian Company) launched the "Ski-Doo" in 1959 and was originally called the "Ski-Dog" because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. By an accident, a painter misinterpreted the name and painted "Ski-Doo" on the first prototype. The public soon discovered that speedy vehicles that can zoom over snow were a lot of fun. Suddenly a new winter sport was born “Ski-Dooing”!

mario mission

Sarah & I, for a couple nights this week, have been on a mission to conquer MarioWare: Smooth Moves. It is an absolutely hilarious game for the Wii. It is hundreds of ten second micro-games grouped together in little quirky stories. And the tasks are beyond funny. Since the Wii remote is, well a remote, you can swing it, jump with it, pick it up like a phone, etc. People have such amazing imaginations. What a riot. Rent this if you have a chance, you will roll with laughter.

driving on the wrong side?

Sometimes when I see a poster with an image of a lone car on a road or if I watch a single car driving on the tv, I get confused what side of the road they should be on. I often double guess and have to gesture driving to confirm the correct driving pattern in N. America. Isn't it funny that even though I was in Japan only two years (they drive on the left-hand side of the road) my mind will occasionally short-out and confuse itself?

BNL

Sat. afternoon I got a call from Brad, "put your dancing shoes on, we're going to the Bare Naked Ladies concert tonight"! Yipeee. Brad's co-worker gave him free tickets and we had a BLAST. What a great performance and a super duper fun way to spend a Saturday night. They are wonderful performers, great with crowd and fantastic on their instruments. They threw in some Saskatoon appropriate humour and made the crowd laugh.

cool weather airlines

Well I knew some strange adventure was bound to happen.

Brad & I returned home at 4 am on Tues. morning. Our flight was suppose to arrive in Saskatoon at 11:50 pm Monday night but from weather concerns to who knows what else we arrived WAY later than expected. Our flight was delayed in Halifax, so being curious about our connecting flight in Toronto I checked online at the Toronto airport departures and saw that our flight home was delayed a little. Phew, we'd make our last flight.

When we arrived in Toronto we met with Brad' aunt&uncle for a bit, seeing another delay we kept on visiting and then decided we should probably get going to our plane. Through security we passed and Brad said "hey, hi" to the Jon-o-vision guy. He was behind us. Then we sat at the gate. Plane delayed again until 11:30 pm. Well we didn't get on the plane until almost midnight. And then we sat, for just a few more minutes, a few minutes more, a few minutes more, until 1 am. Arghhh.no blankets or pillows were handed out and everytime they made an announcement it was always just a few more minutes. Until finally we all watched the luggage loaded up and took off.

And all the while they suggested we might have to stop in Winnipeg for fuel!? They never stop in Winnipeg for fuel. So flying we go.and yes, we stopped for 30 mins to fuel up in Winnipeg!?? Hmmmm. So by the time we got off the plane, got a taxi and got home it was 5 am (7 am Labrador time). Yieckss, it took us 19 hrs and a red-eye flight to get home!!

The cool thing was the president of the University here was a couple rows ahead of us. AND a lady from my bible study and church was with her husband, they were seated next to us. Small world. Gotta love flying and being at the mercy of weather and the airlines.

winding up

Wow, time is sure flying. Brad and I have spent the past couple days just relaxing. Tues night we had a family night playing dominos.

Wednesday...Brad and I made a short trek to the very first Hudson Bay post. The first department store in N. America. The drive sure was beautiful and although the post was closed for the winter we went exploring up to the NFLD & LAB interpretive centre.

We've been searching the past day for something fun to take home, maybe a soapstone carving or a labradorian tea doll. Only a couple more days until we're back home. I've been checking environment canada's website and even though there's more snow here the temperature is about the same. Boo hoo.

cabins & skidoos

Since I last posted Brad was out and about busy with fishing and skidooing and since then I've had my chance.

Thurs. night we were at a birthday for some LeDrew friends of the family and had a blast learning some newfienese and playing some fun games. Brad and I won the newlywed game and were thrilled by our high points.

Friday we all packed up and put on our outdoor gear and skidooed out to the cabin. The bay is frozen over so part of the journey is on smooth groomed snow trails through the woods and then you head out onto the bay, that is like riding on frozen waves...owzers...bumpy...but what a scenic way to travel. It's gorgeous. We unloaded our stuff at the cabin and back out onto the ice for some fishing. I caught the first fish! A BIG TROUT! Yipeee...and after about an hour, Maegan and I decided we had enough of the cold and went back into the heating up cabin.

Seven of us stayed in the cabin over night, playing dominos and laughing about eating yellow snow (Brad and I made ice cream with condensed milk and FRESH snow). This led to an evening of hard laughing. Fun.

Saturday I stayed in while most of everyone went back out onto the ice for more trout and rock cod fishing...I quilted. After packing everything up again and making our way back into town, it was out and about for another night of visiting, eating and laughing.

This past couple days we've been relaxing around the house and doing a little souvenir shopping.

happy valley - goose bay

We've arrived safely in Happy Valley - Goose Bay. We actually bumped into people we knew in Toronto airport. We stayed overnight in Halifax paying about $20/hr and as we boarded our last flight in Halifax for Goose Bay the flight attendant warned us that we might not land because of a blizzard. It was blizzarding but we landed just fine.

Brad's been in his glory, ski-dooing, fishing and exploring. It's fun to see him so happy and excited.

I've been busy quilting, relaxing and seeing some of Brad's Goose Bay hot spots.

on our way

Boy time sure flies...we've been getting ready for our trip to Labrador and time just passed right by. Brad and I leave today! Yippee a two week trip to the wild frontiers of Canada.

Little Mosque on the Prairie

This week a new sitcom started on CBC. Very fun, very different. Lots of interesting characters and scenarios. Little Mosque on the Prairie. Take a look, what do you think?

Saskatchewan is sure producing some very fun tv shows. Isn't

Corner Gas also a great show? It sure makes me a little more proud of this province. Yeah, Saskatchewan.

day after tomorrow

Do you remember watching the movie "The Day after Tomorrow". I think that's kind of what Saskatoon was like yesterday. The sun is shining and it's hard to believe that the sky is clear. Today is -32, -46 (-51F) with windchill and sunny! That was a horrible storm, like a snow hurricane...brrrr...

Linked are two good stories that describe yesterday's weather.

Worst blizzard in years blasts Saskatchewan

Snowmobiles used for rescues in Saskatoon's "worst storm"

No wonder it was SO hard to get home yesterday.

B L I Z Z A R D

Today the highway between Saskatoon and N. Battleford was closed and travel was not recommended between Saskatoon and Regina. Wow!! We are wallopped with a whack of whirling snow. We're having a blizzard. I can barely see the building across the road from me. Isn't weather amazing.

CBC said this morning that the west was being hit with winter. Obviously that was written by someone who has not spent time out here. We've had winter since the beginning of Nov. when we got dumped with piles of snow and cold, cold, cold. And 2nd, January often gets cold blizzardy weather. So there ;)

OK, it's worse...way worse out there. We got sent home from work...never in my life do I ever remember being sent home from work or school in Saskatoon because of winter weather. And it was really scary driving home. White out conditions in the city and drifts...big thick snow drifts. I can only imagine what the highway would be like. Be aware...the roads are horrible right now and slippery.

You it's bad when you can't see through a webcam! This is on campus!

resting

Today I stayed home from work. Last night I went to bed feeling strange and this morning I could not wake up. Body aching, head and cheeks sore and super tired. So I slept almost the entire day. WOW! I sometimes wonder if we can oversleep. I'm still pooped right out and ready to hop back in bed. Go figure?! I sure don't like feeling this way...yuck.

But what a beautiful reprieve this winter has been. We dove straight into the cold and this past couple weeks it's been just beautiful. The sun has been shining and the air has been warm like spring. Ahhh...spring.

Brad and I are going to Labrador. We booked our tickets and will be gone for two weeks. It's my first time going to Brad's "home". I'm a little nervous and quite excited. But it's always a special time to see where someone went to school, where they use to hang out, to be with family and of course...who goes on holidays to Labrador! Chalk that up to a new adventure. I was hoping for sunshine, beach and sand but it looks like it will be sunshine, snow covered beach and ice. Plus, we don't have to wait in line to get our passports. Phew.