Gratitude

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ JFK 

After a weekend full of family and good food, I am stopping by to wish you all a happy thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for!!

Farewell, 2011

Christmas has come and gone. A surprise visit home from my sister who has been in Africa for the last six months was the best present ever. We spent our holiday with family and friends and it was wonderful. 2011 has been good to us. We watched Medea grow and change, moved to a new home, and have made many wonderful memories. I am so excited to see what 2012 has in store for us!! Happy New Year all. May this year be the best one yet.

Grateful.

This weekend was spent enjoying the food and company of family. Once again I am reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.

Christmas Time is Here...

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Christmas time is here

We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year...

HelloooooOOOOoooo Nurses!

I'm always at a loss for what to dress up as for Hallowe'en, so when my friend Dominika asked if I would like to join her and Scheherazade in dressing up as nurses from Silent Hill, I was stoked. It took two days to create the masks out of paper mache, which we then painted with acrylics.
The nurse uniforms that we found were distressed with tea and coffee grinds, then stained with water colour inks, acrylics, and cream paints.
We painted on veins with acrylics, and even though we weren't planning on taking off our masks, we painted up our faces like skulls for total creepy effect.
The overall result was AWESOME!!


The only people who saw us without our masks besides those who went with us, were the people at Tim Horton's, because we weren't allowed to wear our masks there for ID purposes. I guess three undead nurses with pipes walking into a Tim's would be a bit creepy, but really, zombies need doughnuts too!

What was under the mask...

We ended up winning the prize at New City for best group costume, and it was a great feeling! (Though I have to say it was a total BLAST to walk down Jasper and freak people out!!)

Gratitude.

This weekend Russ and I were able to spend thanksgiving with my extended family, which is always an exciting time. This year there was much to be thankful for:

• All of my sisters and I were able to make it home this year

• Russ and I met Maria, the Brazilian exchange student who is staying with my parents for the year

• My cousin Ben was at thanksgiving at my grandparents (Ben spent the last year in New Zealand, and this weekend was the first we'd seen of him since he came home!)

• My cousin Jana and her husband Dan announced the exciting news that they are expecting (the first!)
  

• I was able to wander around my old high school and take some pictures and refresh some memories before it is sold (the town has built a fancy new school)

• There was copious amounts of delicious homemade food to be shared

• There was much conversation and laughter to share

• The snow held off on our drive home until we arrived in Edmonton

And finally, my wonderful, awesome and somewhat nerdy husband came across this sweet video on youtube:

A Much-Needed Escape

Last night Russ and I got home from our week-long excursion to Vancouver Island. We drove down last Sunday and drove home yesterday. It was a fantastic escape, and I'm sorry it went by so quickly, but I am grateful for the many memories we made, as well as the chance to get to know some friends better. I celebrated my birthday while we were there, and I've decided that since we were in a different province, it doesn't count. We also attended the wedding reception of our friend Morgan. He met his wife in Kenya while working there for a year. He spent two years trying to get her into Canada. In February he went back to Kenya and they got married. She is finally here in Canada, and so his mom held a reception at her home in Lake Chowichan to celebrate, as well as provide an opportunity for friends and family to meet Besho. It was a wonderful day. The Island is a beautiful place, and it is incredibly tempting to relocate. However, right now, there are too many things to keep us here in good ol' E-Town, so in Edmonton we shall stay.

The Empress Hotel in Victoria

Pier in Sidney, BC

Morgan and Besho


The Legislature Buildings in Victoria

Father's Day

You can see where I get the goofy from...
Happy Father's Day, Dad! Love you lots!!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, mum! Love you lots!

Christmas Time is Here!

I enjoyed my first married Christmas with Russ and the fam, and it was wonderful! I hope your Christmas has been merry and bright.

In the Deep Freeze...

One of the wonderful things about living in Canada is the glorious Arctic cold fronts that move in and camp out, plunging temperatures well into the negative digits (centigrade), as well as dumping delightful piles of crunchy snow everywhere. As delightful as all this wintry weather is, it has angered our car Max, and Max now refuses to start. On top of that, our apartment building was bathed in the warm glow of a fire last night. No big deal--fire in the garbage room, which filled the halls with smoke and forced the residents to wait in the cold for 20 minutes, but a neat little bit of excitement, to be sure. Oh well. Only a few more days until Christmas, and only ONE more day of work until a bit of time off and getting to spend time with family!!

Merry and Bright

Temperatures are plunging and snow is falling...the most wonderful time of the year? In spite of the icky weather, all is well. I'm nearly done gathering my gifts, and am looking forward to spending time with the fam! The mall is crazy, and people are frantic to get everything done. I refuse to be sucked into the vortex of stress and instead, attempt to remain an outside observer. I refuse to allow stress to get to me, and I shall emerge from the frenzy, cool as a cucumber. I can't wait!

It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown...

Retail tries to ruin Christmas for me. Being forced to listen to stale, boring classic Christmas music on a loop right after Halloween, being surrounded by crazed shoppers day in, day out...Christmas isn't about the gifts. It isn't about the baking and treats (though they are really great!), it isn't about the lights and the decorations, but it's been eclipsed by them. The consumerism of this holiday is especially frustrating because I'm surrounded by it daily. Being stuck in the mall at Christmas is frustrating. I love Christmas. I love listening to the good music, decorating a tree, (even if it as tiny little one on our table), I love spending time with family, making and eating treats...Christmas is a sweet time, outside of the mall.

T'is the Season...

The first snow has fallen...and melted, but there is a distinct chill in the air.


Things have definitely taken a more festive turn, and everything is beginning to feel holiday-esque. Work is a frenzy of holiday-product-related activity, and people are already frantic to get their holiday shopping completed.

This will be the first Christmas that Russ and I will actually spend together. We will actually be together on Christmas morning, rather than talking on the phone. We will actually have presents for each other under the tree, and will get to see the other unwrap them.
While I dread the time leading up to Christmas, as working in retail has that effect on anyone, I'm definitely excited for my first holiday with my husband.

Much to be Thankful For...

Thanksgiving flowers from family

Lovely fall days

A wonderful husband

I hope that everyone else is feeling thankful for life's blessings!

If April Showers Bring May Flowers...

...then what the heck do April blizzards bring?! The weather has been seriously schizo these last couple of weeks. It went from being 20c last Sunday, to -12c and blizzarding this Saturday. I just don't get it. Stupid global warming...ruining everything...
All I can say is that I am absolutely sick of winter, and ready for spring!! No MORE SNOW!!
OoooOOOoo!! As I was just typing that, the sun came out! I think I shall take that as a sign of things taking a turn for the better, weather-wise. Then again...we do live in Alberta...

Maybe I will take a trek out to go to the jeweler's to see the wax of my wedding band. Oh wait...they close in 5 minutes. Crap. Oh well...more time to try to decide between a ruby accent or a moissanite one. Any opinions?

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Welcome, 2008.

Happy New Year, everyone!! I know that this year has a great deal of things in store for all of us, and I, for one, am pretty excited.

Christmas Time is Near...

Well, winter is definitely here, and Christmas is just around the corner. Christmas lights are going up everywhere, the malls are playing twenty versions of Jingle Bells, and people are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, already frantic to get their shopping done.

I'm slowly getting into the Christmas mood, and am hoping to get my shopping started this week. I'm just excited that we are allowed to wear red to work in December, and Monday is Christmas Socks day...now, if only we had room for a tree.

Late-Night Greetings.

Just wanted to wish you all a happy new year! I hope it brings good health, happiness, excitement, etc, etc!!

Merry Christmas, Friends!

Just wanted to wish you all a very very MERRY Christmas, and an exciting and rockin' 2007!! Can't wait to see what the new year has in store...love you all!