Productivity.

Since my last update I have been rather productive. In the past eight days I have:

- Had a bake-athon with my girlfriends
- Read three books
- Cleaned the dreaded closet
- Written some letters and cards
- Finished most of my Thank you cards (although I still don't have access to any of the addresses)
- Slept in
- Gone to Stanwood and back
- Finished almost all of my Christmas shopping

So, this Bake-athon we had... It was insanity! We were baking for over 10 hours. We made 11 recipes and doubled each one! We made everything from peanut brittle to gingerbread cookies to no-bake cookies to chocolate balls to biscotti and much much more. We were so sick of it by the end. Not to mention the fact that we were utterly overwhelmed by the quantity of cookies we were supposed to be taking home with us.

On to my readings.
"Night" by Elie Wiesel - Fantastic. Highly recommended. It's the authors record of surviving the holocaust and the terrifying things that he lived through. Short book, very moving.
"Stolen Innocence" by Elissa Wall - A bit slow at first, but by the end I didn't want to put it down. This was more informative than I expected. It's about the author's experience growing up in a polygamous sect. She was a teenage bride and eventually broke free of the community. The author does a good job defending certain aspects of the polygamous community while unveiling some of the horrors that occur. The book is written with sincerity, love and sadness for the people she left.
"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult - Another highly recommended read. Erik even made me read this one aloud to him in the car while we were driving because it is so well written. It's about a little girl who was born because her parents wanted a genetic match for her older sister who has leukemia. This little girl has undergone so many procedures to keep her sister alive and healthy and she has finally decided that she doesn't want to anymore. It's about a family's struggle to do what is right.

I should go wake Erik up... Have a good day!

Woops

Erik got off work at 12:00am. I was supposed to pick him up, but I fell asleep on the couch and didn't wake up until 12:39am. I jumped in the car and FLEW to his work. There I sat outside, embarrassed waiting for him to come out and scold me. I switched to the passenger seat. About 15 minutes later these two guys came out asking me what I was doing there. They informed me that Erik had decided to walk home. I eventually found him and humbly picked him up... now totally embarrassed... and a bit frustrated! Who walks home at 1:00am?!?!?!?!

Oh yeah, guys whose wives forget to pick them up.

My Christmas List

There are so many things I want to do this Christmas.

The not-so-fun things:
- Clean my house, including that dreaded closet. We have this walk in storage space that's about the size of a walk in closet that's all cement with some make-shift cupboards that is a disaster! We moved in the day before school started and I have been putting it off until now. It is time!
- Get on top (and stay on top) of laundry. I currently have five loads to do. Yes, that is all of our clothing. At least we have clean towels... that's a plus right??
- Fix my computer. For some reason the screen won't turn on anymore. The computer sounds fine but something isn't connecting. That is bad because all the addresses are on there for our wedding "Thank you" cards. (Yes I left those until Christmas too)

The "me-time" things:
- Read. I haven't been able to enjoy reading for the past two years. I have only read nursing books and that isn't cutting it. I tried to read in the summer, but there was too much to do and reading just wasn't enjoyable when I wasn't busy. I miss falling asleep reading.
- Walk. When we first moved here I walked all the time. I loved it until school became too busy and sucked the life out of me.
- Write in my journal on occasion. I blame this mostly on Erik. I share everything with him and it feels redundant and tiring to write it all down either before or after I talk to him about it. I love writing my thoughts though. I think better that way. Now I'll have time too! (I hope)
- Write letters to people. There is nothing better than getting a hand-written letter by snail mail. I think they are so precious and much more intimate and personal.

The fun things:
- Bake! I'm getting together with my girlfriends on Monday and we are baking 16 dozen cookies together. We are doing 2 dozen of 8 recipes so it should be good.
- Make a gingerbread house with Erik. That will just be fun.
- Write Thank You Cards. This will not always be fun, but I like connecting with people and it gives me an opportunity to write some people that I would not normally send mail to.
- Go to Stanwood for Erik's Alaska Fishermen Christmas party.
- Go home for Stewart's wedding.
- Go home and then to Stanwood for Christmas and Mom's birthday.

And of course there's always:
- drinking tea
- lighting candles
- sleeping in
- enjoying rooms lit by nothing by Christmas lights

And that's just off the top of my head!

Oh Bother

I know I should really be studying right now. I have a bio exam at 9:30 tomorrow morning and I haven't started studying for it, but I just wrote my nursing exam this afternoon and I am exhausted! I hate nursing exams. Sometimes I feel I would do better if I didn't study at all (ok, that's an exaggeration, maybe if I studied LESS) because their questions are often ridiculous. I over think things wanting to have the answer somewhere, but I don't. I guess so often and that frustrates me! I have adopted the "I just have to pass" attitude... ok that's a lie too, but I wish I could.
My Christmas holiday starts as of 11:30 tomorrow. Hallelujah!

No More Surgical Floor!

Today was my last day on the Surgical Unit at KGH. I really enjoyed the semester on the floor, but I am not sad that it is over. I could actually see my self starting on a surgical unit. Well... here is a lame picture I made Erik take on my first day of clinical. I know it's silly, but my mom used to take pictures of us on our first days of school and so I thought it would be cute? No? Oh well. It made me smile.

Phone Call from France

My dear friend Alicia moved to France in the middle of August. Two weeks before my wedding. She has been my "best friend" since before I knew her. Her family lived in Ontario and I knew of them because they were friends of my parents, but I didn't know who she was. She moved here when I was in grade 1 and she was in grade 3 and we have been great friends ever since.

Anyway. She called me today when I came home from clinical and it was WONDERFUL to talk to her! She wasn't able to make it to my wedding, which was a bummer, but she got to move to France to fulfill a dream she has had since we were wee ones. She is playing professional volleyball in Europe and I am so so proud of her!

I got to talk to her today and it was GRRREEAAATTTT!

On another note. Tomorrow is my last day of clinical for the semester! Yippee!

Simply in Season

Erik couldn't resist buying a cookbook while we were at 10 Thousand Villages last week. So we came home with "Simply in Season". It is incredible! The book is split into the seasons and it tells you which fruits and vegetables are available. It then gives a bunch of recipes using those ingredients. It has breads, breakfasts, soups, salads, sides, main dishes, desserts, extras, and there is even a canning section in the summer. There's a nice little "All Seasons" section as well which is always nice.

Last night Erik make Kale Potato Soup - a definite winner. We didn't have any bread to go with it, but a hearty bread would have been delicious with it!

Kale Potato Soup

1 large bunch kale (chopped)
Steam and set aside. (don't try to cook it with the potatoes; the flavor will be too strong.)

1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and saute until golden. Add garlic and saute another minute.

2 large potatoes (diced)
2 cups/500 ml hot water or broth
Add, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft. Remove half the cooked potatoes; puree the rest with the cooking liquid and return to the soup pot. Return reserved potatoes and steamed kale to soup pot.

3 cups/750 ml water or broth
salt and pepper to taste
Add along with additional hot water or milk to preferred consistency. Heat gently until hot and serve.

Delicious! I would recommend using broth instead of water... adds some extra flavor.

I have been looking through pictures finally choosing which ones to print off and put in albums. It has been a long time coming and it is tedious, but I love pictures. Nobody likes looking at pictures you have saved on your computer, it is much more pleasant to leisurely page through an album of printed pictures. Now I just need to save up money to print off the thousands of pictures I have from the past four years.

I have recently been going through my Edmonton pictures. That was a fun year, especially after Laura and Brittney moved in. I can't believe I used to have that much fun... during school! When I should have been studying!! The funny thing is, I still studied my rear off and got great marks, but I managaed to spend almost every evening out gallivanting with either the girls or Eric, Church and Josh.

I miss these girls.
There was never a shortage of exciting things to do. Things I miss about Edmonton:
1. Laura and Britt's room - the Hub of King's.
2. Karaoke
3. Late night talks and laughs
4. "Renting Movies" from Laura
5. Playing pool at the HighRun
6. The $0.50 theater
7. Walking to Capilano "mall"
8. Climbing trains
9. Dinners at Laura's parents house
10. Knowing everyone in the school - at least recognizing them all
11. All the random little adventures we went on

Mainly I miss Laura. Laura, Jack, Jodi, and Britt.

This is my husband...

C-section!

I don't know when I'll have time ... or energy (I'm pretty lazy right now) to write again, but I just wanted to say that I got to watch a C-section when I was in the OR this week!!!! It was great! I cried a little. Just a little.

Wedding Pictures

We finally got our pictures! Here are a couple.


Centerpieces.

I Have Survived... so far

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Erik updated my blog for me.

Erik recapped the honeymoon nicely, but he missed a bit of the wedding. As Eriksaid, it poured. It was quite disappointing. Still great though. Two best decisions for the wedding:
1. All my flowers were from Pike's Market. We went the day before and picked them all up for $150. That is 6 massive bouquets and then 20 centerpieces. The centerpieces were BEAUTIFUL! I gave the lady my order and they were all ready in an hour! My bouquet (which was massive) only ended up being $10. That is AMAZING!
2. Doing pictures before the ceremony. This was great because a) It started pouring right as we were done our pictures and b) The rest of the day was much more relaxing. Not that I was nervous for pictures, but it was so nice to go from the ceremony to the reception... especially considering the fact that it poured so there was nothing for our guests to do between the two anyway. It was so nice to see Erik beforehand and to have a couple moments to just enjoy each other without worrying about anything but being with each other. I had always been so against seeing each other beforehand because it "ruins the moment", but it was so good! I still cried walking down the aisle... and every time I looked at all the people there to support and love us. It is honestly strange and wonderful to have all these people you love smiling at you.

This past month has been crazy! The first week back at school was a bit of a blur. We came home from our honeymoon on Sunday, moved to Kelowna on Monday, and I had class at 8:00am on Tuesday. Talk about hectic. I don't know if I would recommend it, but I have enjoyed it... or at least survived.

Marriage is great. I don't really know what to tell you about it, but I love being married. It is a HUGE change from dating long-distance... and it rocks.

You'll have to verify this with Erik, but I think I am more relaxed this year than I was last year. I am not quite as stressed with school and I am a bit more level-headed. I would attribute a lot of that to Erik. He is always encouraging and supportive. He goes for walks with me when I'm going to freak out and ... this is a little embarrassing... but I haven't had to cook once since we've been married. I have helped him a couple times, but he does most of the work. He has brought a lot more balance to my life. I'm definitely not doing as well in school as I have in the past, but I am enjoying life more (I actually have a life) and I am a generally happier person. We even had a games night when I had an exam two days later! That is unheard of!

I don't have much else to say. I am excited for Thanksgiving. Some of my family is coming out here so we should all have a good time.

Oh! Erik's brother just got engaged! So the familial count is still growing. We don't have much further to go! There are only 5 siblings not married between the two of us.

I'm supposed to get pictures from the photographers this week or next, but I'll put a couple pictures up for your viewing pleasure.




Ok... pictures are taking a really long time. You'll have to wait.

Pseudo-blogger

Hello Everyone. You may have come to this blog thinking that your friend and mine will have posted this. You're wrong! Ashley has asked me to update this for the last month or so and I finally cannot stand it anymore. I am actually afraid to write this knowing that it may be the first of many updates that I may be asked to do but I feel I must update.

Here is the highlight reel.

Ashley and I are married. Weddings are such a funny thing. One day costs much stress and money but it is an important day. The day started off with sun in the east. We had been fretting about a sixty percent chance of showers which was supposed to increase in the afternoon. Still we had to hope. To make a long story short, it didn't rain... it poured and it didn't stop until after the ceremony and the reception.

Luckily for us we had chosen the location because of the well known ability the west coast has to rain no matter what the season. We were also fortunate to have taken our pictures in the morning which turned out to be perfect conditions for wedding pictures.

The wedding ceremony was wonderful. It was such a great experience to have so many of our friends and family together in one place, I wish we could have had a longer time to celebrate with them. That's really the only regret, not enough time.

Here are some quick honeymoon highlights, hopefully Ash will put up some pictures on here soon.

-We stayed for 2 nights at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle which was an amazing gift from a friend. It was perfect for how exhausted we were, we didn't really go anywhere or do anything, we just rested. It was wonderful.

-Next we drove down to Florence, Oregon. We camped out at J.M. Honeyman State park in the nation dunes park. We visited some cute little towns, the sea lion caves, and the sand dunes of Oregon. Florence is the town where they blew up the whale to remove it from the beach but it ended up raining molten whale blubber for like an 1/4 mile radius or something. Check it out on youtube here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGVkHl-nBhE

-We drove up from Florence to Astoria, Oregon and we must have visited every single historical sight and viewpoint on the map. It was tiring but I'm glad that we did it.

-We stayed in a bed and breakfast in Astoria which was my favorite part of the trip. We happened to be right down the street from the Goonies house and right down the other way from the school that Kindergarten cop was filmed at. We also drove over the bridge that was used in Short Circuit. I was in movie heaven as these were all movies I enjoyed growing up.

-We went to see a civil war reenactment which was really fun to see and hear about.

We are now living in Kelowna, BC. Ashley is doing her second year of nursing and I am keeping house while I apply for permanent residence status. I am looking for work in churches where I can actually get a work visa but it doesn't look so good on that end of things either.

That's all for now. Maybe you'll hear from Ashley later.

Ta ta.

Murphy's Law

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

This seems to be a theme in wedding planning... or just in general in the past couple weeks. For example:

- About a month and a half ago our pastor and pre-marital counselor told us he wouldn't be able to do either the wedding or the pre-marital sessions. He had already missed our first two meetings without ever communicating with us where he was or why he wasn't there. We didn't hear from him for over a month and a half and then he finally emailed us to say he wasn't able to do it. That sadly left us with no time for counseling as we don't live in the same country so we were barely able to get the number of sessions in before the wedding. We thankfully found someone to do the ceremony for us, but we are going to have to do post-marital counseling. That was a huge disappointment.

- Erik's car window was smashed and my purse, camera, work keys and Erik's Ipod were stolen from his car when we were swimming in the river two weeks ago. Yes, they were hidden (except for his Ipod). Yes, this did occur in Washington and my wallet was stolen therefore I was stuck in Washington. Being stuck in Washington without ID is not conducive to getting a marriage license or working or... well pretty much everything I needed to be doing. This ended relatively well as:
1. my nieces hadn't put my ID back into my wallet when we were crossing the border so it was in the console of my car (too bad I didn't realize this until 4 days post-theft).
2. my computer was in the back of the car and they didn't see it
3. I had left the car keys at Erik's house.

- My sisters (also my bridesmaids) didn't pick dresses until two weeks ago. From day one I told them they were in charge of getting dresses they liked (in yellow... or green) and we were still at three weeks before the wedding day without dresses. They ended up narrowing it down to two dresses two weeks ago and then we sat and awaited their arrival. One was a yellow dress being borrowed and one was a green dress being bought. The yellow was given then thumbs down quite quickly because of it's strange mid-calf length.

- We got the green dresses in on Saturday, but they weren't put on until Sunday. It didn't fit! It was over two inches too small! My mother wasn't sure if she could fix it so we were thinking of Plan B and C and D and E. We were just going to do black dresses then because they would be the easiest to find on short notice, but my mother managed to fix the dress. So, bridesmaid dresses are completed.

- Erik and I went to Kelowna yesterday to pick up my wedding dress. We had a 10am appointment and so we arrived at the store and Erik went off to read his book. The lady said she would be just a minute and so I wandered around. I was perusing the dresses and I found the one I had wanted... I had seen it on the internet and loved it and it wasn't there when I went to the store (I had one day to choose my dress or it would not have come in on time). It was there, and it was beautiful AND it was $100 cheaper than my dress!! Shucks eh. Anyway, the lady in the store looked kind of panicked and she was bustling from the front desk to the back room. After about 20 minutes she came to me and said, "We don't have your dress". I was like "Ok, do you know where it is?" She said, "Yup, it is at the seamstresses house. She hasn't started your alterations yet." I asked if she could be done by 4pm because I knew there really weren't many alterations to be done. There were more phone calls and, yup they could be done by 4pm (I had to be home by 8pm). So I got directions to the seamstresses house, Erik and I enjoyed our day together in Kelowna and then we picked up my dress and went home.

Those are the major going wrongs. There are many many many many more minor ones. Many. Things not being completed on time. Erik buying the wrong supplies (bless his heart). He tries to be so helpful and I really appreciate it, but he happens to need VERY SPECIFIC instructions. Painfully specific. That is something I'll have to work on giving the first time around.

Oh, and I have no idea what our flowers are going to be like. I couldn't order flowers because we didn't have dresses so we are going to Pike's market on Saturday to pick out flowers and Erik's friend is going to make them into beautiful bouquets for us... :)

I am still loving wedding planning (most of it). For everything that has gone wrong, there has been a remedy or at least an alternative. Everything will get done. It may not be what we planned, but it will be wonderful. I'll have a husband by the end of it and that is really all I want.

I'm glad he's home

Me - "Hey Erik, you can tell me if I look bad and I won't take it personally."

20 minutes later.

Erik - "Hey Ashley, you should learn 4 different hairstyles to rotate through."

Me - "Am I not pretty enough for you?"

Erik - "Well, you are beautiful, but you could learn some easy hairstyles to enhance your beauty."

Me - "What, you don't like my hair?"

Erik - "Well, you look like a Sasquatch."

Me - "A Sasquatch??"

Erik - "Maybe a Wookie."



If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Deflated.

That's how I feel. Deflated.

Erik has been fishing in Alaska for the past 3 weeks and comes home on Sunday. Hallelujah! I can't wait to just BE with him - even if he hasn't showered since he left home. This week has been exhausting and I just want my best friend.

On Saturday as I was about to leave my sister's house to attend Reuban and Amy's wedding I decided to quickly check my email. Erik's sister had just sent me an email informing me that Erik's grandfather was not doing well and that they were taking him home to pass away surrounded by people who love him. I decided to skip the reception and to instead go down to Stanwood to be with the family - my soon-to-be in-laws. Grandpa passed away on Sunday afternoon in his home surrounded by his family. It was an interesting experience to be there - especially because Erik was in Alaska. His family functions much differently than mine does so it was interesting to support them in their grieving. There were many moments where I sat there thinking "What AM I doing here?" or "Uh... what should I do now?" I feel blessed to have been there and to have witnessed and participate in the family supporting each other.

On Monday I was planning on going to visit Grandma and the aunt's again but my mother called to inform me that my aunt and uncle got in a car accident up by Burn's Lake on their way home. Thus started another ordeal.

To make a long story short, three cousins were airlifted from Smithers to Children's Hospital in Vancouver. The two oldest boys underwent reconstructive surgery on their faces yesterday (broken eye socket, broken cheek bones, broken jaw, etc. etc.) and the youngest boy has been sedated in ICU. They were worried about brain damage and spinal cord damage, but today we got news that he is in the clear as far as that goes. He did tear at least one ligament supporting the vertebrae in his neck. They need to ween him out of sedation to assess the full extent of his injuries. My other little cousin is in Terrace with another Aunt as she had minimal injuries.

So my days have been full of work and then driving out to Children's to hang out with my cousins. I have had a wonderful time hanging out with them. They are such troopers. The most difficult part was wheeling the two older boys down to see their brother in ICU for the first time. They were both in rough shape, but they wanted to see him. It broke my heart pushing them up to the bed and seeing them both well up with emotion. They were both hesitant, but they touched Jonas and held his hands and feet and talked to him. I can't even begin to describe what that experience felt like. I was in awe. The only word that comes to my mind is reverence. That is the word that I would use to describe those precious moments. Does that even make sense?

Throughout it all, I have felt a pang of loneliness. I have so many people around me, but I deeply miss Erik. I want to share this time with him. I want the comfort he offers, the knowing. I miss him.

High Ropes... Hell!

It has been a while and I have been psyching myself up to update.

Erik and I went to Sasquatch! It was a lot of fun. The weather was much nicer than I expected and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the bands we saw. As anticipated, Tegan and Sara were awesome!! So were Flight of the Conchords! So great!

On Tuesday I went to work with Erik. He was facilitating the high ropes course at Warm Beach Camp. I got to stop people after they went on the swing, bring them the ladder to climb up on, unclip them and help them down. Erik was trying to convince me all day to go on the course with him, but I am TERRIFIED of heights. Who would have thought? I haven't always been, but it developed somewhere in my life. I know that you are entirely safe and that if the course was 5 ft off the ground it would be pitiful, but I am still very uncomfortable with being 30 ft off the ground. All day I watched kids romp around the course, but I was still adamant that I was not going to join them. Finally at 9:00pm I was pressured into going up there. All the kids were gone so it was just me and Erik up there with his two work buddies on the ground. It was still light when we started, but by the time we were done it was a fair bit darker and my depth perception was failing me so I missed the wires a couple times. I was not impressed. I even cried at one point (just a little bit... tears just welled up in my eyes then went away).

I think it's a bad idea to do the course with someone you know. What I mean is that if I did it with a facilitator that I didn't know then my only picture of who they were would be this hero who conquers the high ropes course all day every day. It is easy to blindly trust a person who you only know in the context of what you are doing. It is much harder to trust your fiance. Well, I trust Erik, but I don't have this distorted picture of him being the high ropes guru. I know who he is and I have no problem telling him to "Shut up!" or saying "No I don't need to stop and breathe I need to finish and get down!" or "Get away from me! Don't touch me! I'm trying to breathe!" I didn't have to pretend that I wasn't scared and that I was confident. I was allowed to be pathetic... and pathetic I was.

I finished though. Hallelujah!

Here are some random pictures from the past couple weeks.

At Erik's grandparent's house at 5:00am.
Christopher and Justin at Zachary's baseball game.

On the way home from Erik's grandparent's one day.

Grandma Lea without her wig.

This Summer

This is going to be quite the summer. Mainly because I'M GETTING MARRIED!!! Erik proposed on Friday night! The night involved take-out sushi, a cafe where he sang to me (iron and wine), and a fire and flowers on the beach. oh... and a beautiful ring!
So, I'll be the 5th Jansen wedding in 15 months. I was home for his graduation this weekend so it was "perfect timing". Perfect because I can come back to Kelowna and tell my friends. Not so perfect because I have three exams this week. For the first time I don't care about them! I have a wedding to plan and approximately four months to plan it in.
I'm now back in Kelowna trying to study, but it isn't going too well. Go figure.

One Year

It has been a year!!! A whole year!! Erik and I have been dating for a year.
Man have things changed. We are completely different now than we were there (thank goodness!). Erik used to be so awkward (k. he still is, but now he will at least hold my hand in public). Here's us somewhere in he beginning... like a month after we started dating...ish. I have loved growing as a couple and figuring out who we are together, but also the support he has provided for me to grow as an individual (I would like to say that I have done the same for him, but I'll leave that for him).
It was hard to become "we". I had been so anti-dating it wasn't even funny. I did not know how to date (does anybody?). I said so many strange things... just bizarre.
One thing I have learned that stands out right now is that our relationship is unique to us. I have learned to love the quirks rather than be terrified by them. That has really allowed me to appreciate our relationship. That is my dating advice (I should be qualified to give a bit now)... look for the unique aspects of your relationship and LOVE those.

Here is us last weekend. Erik was up with my parents and three of my brothers and it was hard to be excited about our one year anniversary of dating when my parents are celebrating their 37th of marriage in less than a week. Now that, my friends, is a long time.

Pictures from the Reception

Lindsey's Reception

My sister Lindsey got married in Costa Rica on December 29, 2007 to Adrian Neale. We celebrated this weekend with family and friends. It was raining all morning but turned out to be a beautiful day.
At one point in the reception Lindsey got up and announced that she had a surprise for our family... in walked my brother Jonathan and his fiancee Courtney!! We didn't know they were coming because they had their pre-marital course thing all weekend. But they left a couple hours early so they could make the reception. They were a couple hours late... and missed our family pictures... but we were so excited to see them.
It was a good celebration. Lots of laughing... and crying... and hugging... It was good.

It won't let me load photos right now so I'll try again later.

I Can't Stop Myself

Some people are compulsive shoppers.

Some CRAVE chocolate.

Some are addicted to coffee.

Ok... enough poetry.

I love buying cards. I love sending cards to people (ok, usually just Erik). When I go shopping I can't help but peruse the card aisle. When I see a "perfect" card I can't help but purchase it.

Thankfully they are hard to come by.

Usually.

Then there are those days where you see five or six that would be perfect for your mom, your sister... or just Erik.

Today there were only two perfect ones. Thank goodness!



Erik, your card's in the mail.

Banana Paper

This week I got a parcel in the mail!!! Parcel's are by far my favorite thing. I love getting them! (I've only had two this year... and one was things I had bought and paid for)...

Anyway, my sister Lindsey (who was married in Costa Rica this December), sent me a banana journal from Costa Rica. It is excellent. It is beautiful. I love it. It is 100% not paper!! that is incredible. I can't tell you what the contents are because it's written in Spanish... but I'm assuming banana's are a huge factor. NO PAPER though!!! Banana's are much easier to regrow than trees are.

Soup Sweats

Please say I am not the only person who gets soup sweats. I was just enjoying my wonderful bowl of soup (SUCCESS!!!) and I started pealing off the layers. I never really realize what I am doing until there are no more layers to decently remove. Then I just feel HOT. So hot that I chug three glasses of water and walk around for a minute before sitting down again.

At least the soup was a success.

Of Goat's Milk Soap and White Bean & Rosemary with Garlic & Vegetable Soup

Erik has sensitive skin.

Erik does not use normal soap because normal soap irritates Erik's sensitive skin.

Erik convinced Ashley to buy Goat's Milk Soap because it doesn't irritate Erik's sensitive skin.

Ashley guffawed but relented.

Ashley LOVES her Goat's Milk Soap.

No really. I LOVE my Goat's Milk Soap. It is incredible. It is better than anything else I have ever tried. I come out of the shower and don't even feel the need to put lotion on. That, my friends is a miracle. I could lather myself up forever. Canus Goat's Milk Soap - you should all go out and get some. It comes in four wonderful fragrances:
1. Original Formula (the one I'm currently using ... very pleasant)
2. With Olive and Wheat Protein
3. With Shea Butter
4. Fragrance-free (for those with extra sensitive skin)


White Bean & Rosemary with Garlic & Vegetable Soup

I am in the process of making this soup from a recipe I got from Erik's sister at Christmas time. It was DELICIOUS when she made it, but I'm a little nervous. It's tough to replicate something like that.

My soup is reheating on the oven as we speak (I made it last night, but it always tastes better the next day) It's almost time to go have a little taste test. If all goes well I will post the recipe.

Listen and Let Be

We have been talking extensively about listening in one of my nursing classes. It's something that I have come to realize is not as easy as it seems. This has become obvious at clinical. It's much easier to try to fix someone's problems than to trust uncertainty. This is a poem that is in one of our textbooks that I really appreciated.

Listen

When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving me advice
you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way,
you are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen! All I ask, is that you listen,
not talk or do - just hear me.

Advice is cheap - 10 cents will get you both Dear Abby
and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.

And I can do that for myself; I'm not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can and need to do
for myself, you contribute to my fear and weakness.

But, when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel,
no matter how irrational,
then I can quit trying to convince you
and can get about the business of understanding what's behind
this irrational feeling.

And when that's clear, the answers are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand.

So, please listen and just hear me.
And, if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn;
and I'll listen to you.

Anonymous

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

A lot has happened since my last update:

- Erik and I attended a friend's wedding.
- My family celebrated Christmas together.
- My mother turned 55.
- Erik and I drove to Lake Benton, Minnesota to visit his sister and her family. We stopped at Mt. Rushmore on the way.
- My sister got married in Costa Rica.
- I returned to Kelowna.
- I celebrated my 21st Birthday.
- Classes have started up.
- I bought my first pair of scrubs.
- I have started my Clinical Practicum.

First, Lake Benton was wonderful! We got to meet the newest addition to Erik's family and spend time playing with his two-year-old nephew. We experienced a Minnesota wind storm and had plenty of time to relax.




Lindsey and Adrian were married in Costa Rica on December 29. My parents flew out for the occasion and had a wonderful time.
Erik is visiting me now in Kelowna so I am going to go spend some time with him.