...

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the semester. I am partly excited, but also a little bit saddened. The end of college looms before me and I don't know if I'm ready for it. I love being in school. My life is so simple. School is predictable, comfortable, and safe. I'm not ready to take on the responsibilities of being a full-fledged member of the workforce.

i love being an "auntie"

I got to babysit Sawyer for a couple hours yesterday. It was more of a playdate. I asked her mommy if she could come over after church for a couple hours. She's just getting to the age where she is starting to want her Mama... and she didn't like Auntie's house so much at first, but a mirror and some books fixed that.

I seriously love her! I wish I had all the time in the world to play with her, but school and work take up so much of my time. And then I have a husband who needs attention and love.

I love being an auntie. It's the best thing ever! I get to devote so much attention to my babies and I get to give my girlfriends a break. I think it's a win-win-win for all of us. Sawyer does love me, despite her face in the picture below. This was about the time that she was doing the double eye rub and needing to go down for a nap.

We read some books together and then snuggled to sleep. There is nothing more lovely than snuggling a warm, squishy, little baby as you both drift off to sleep!

Erik even joined us and passed out promptly. He thinks he didn't, but his twitching and snoring were sure signs of unconsciousness!

Then tonight I got to spend some time with Maelle. The poor girl has been sick and her first tooth just broke through on Saturday. She has been miserable. Poor little thing! And her Mama is sick too. Sad! So we hung out for a while and played on the floor and then I rocked her to sleep as she cried on my shoulder. I came home with two huge wet spots on my shoulders. When I say huge, I mean wet spots halfway down the front of my shirt. That little girl can drool!!!

I decided that I had better hang out with my girls because the next two weeks are going to be ridiculously busy! The end of semester always is. The thing I am dreading most is vaccinations on Thursday. I think I need six or seven of them. And I hate needles. I can dole them out just fine, but I hate getting them.

Anyway. It's time for me to go to bed. Goodnight.

ponyboy

Check this out!! What a beauty.

perfect timing

Do you know what I love?

I love when a song ends just as you are pulling into your driveway. It is just so satisfying to hear a song in its entirety and to know that the next one will start fresh when you turn your car on for your next journey. Unlike Erik, I am unwilling to leave the car on to hear the last 30 seconds of a song. Because of this, I rarely get to enjoy this simple pleasure, but it makes my day when I do.

This happened today. And it was lovely.

ps. thanks for all the tv show suggestions. i can't wait to start watching them!! feel free to keep them coming.

tv

I am so glad I don't have a television because I love watching TV. Love it. That is probably because it's a novelty... and because my sister had PVR when we lived with her so we could just tape shows and watch what we wanted when we wanted... and then we would fast forward through commercials.

Erik and I have been watching TV online. Our favorite series is "Bones" and we just caught up with the most current episodes. This saddens me because we've been watching about 5 episodes a week I love it!! I love the show. It makes me so happy.

Now we are in search for a new show to watch together. We tried Breaking Bad, but I didn't like it. Any recommendations???

Thankful

In honor of American Thanksgiving I have decided to write a short list of things I am thankful for. I can't wait until Erik and I get to spend a Thanksgiving with his family. Who knows when we'll be able to do that though. Back to things I am thankful for:

• My husband (aww). But really, I love him to pieces and am so thankful for him. He is wonderful and I love sharing my life with him. 
• My babies and their mommies. I am so lucky to have them. Mandi and Milena are absolutely delightful women and their babies bring me so much joy. So does the fact that they let me play with them whenever I want. 
• Snow. Even though I am not a fan of winter, there are still times that I love the snow. Like today as I walked home from work. It was dark and the snow was falling and everything was so still and so peaceful - quite the opposite of what life in a hospital is like. It was beautiful and refreshing to walk home in it. 
• Photos. I love looking at them and taking them.
• My family. Both of them. 
• The chance to go to Africa next semester. Can't wait!! (Vaccinations are next Thursday... I can wait for that. )
• Work - even though it's scary. 
• A reliable computer - even if I don't know how to use it. 
• A warm bed to snuggle into at night.
• A gym membership and a workout partner.
• My nursing girlfriends... I can't believe our time together is almost over!!! It makes me quite sad as we've been through a lot together and I've come to love them dearly. 
• My knitting needles. 
• My church, The Well. There's nothing like it. 
• Health - between the hospital and the homeless shelter it's amazing Erik and I aren't sick more often.
• A reliable car.
• Living within walking distance to work (both Erik and I).
• Christmas break in a couple weeks. 

This'll be my turkey next year. Whadda ya think??

Work Tomorrow

I am scheduled for an Employed Student Nurse shift tomorrow and I am so nervous about it!! It has been three months since I've been in that role and I don't feel prepared for it anymore. Ugh. I hope this isn't how I feel before every single shift as an RN, but I'm kind of counting on it. It has to be one of the worst feelings ever. Absolute dread and feeling utterly incompetent and inadequate. Ugh. It will be fine though; it always is. I thankfully don't have to take on the whole team tomorrow. That's just around the corner.

The Dresses That Weren't

I've been transferring pictures to my new computer so I can organize them and eventually get them onto discs and an external hard drive. Looking through them has been so much fun! Erik always bugs me because I don't remember anything unless I have a picture of it. And it's true. As I look through the photos it is like I am living everything for the first time all over again. It is wonderful!!

Anyways I stumbled across some pictures from wedding dress shopping. I know it's a faux pas, but I bought my dress before we were actually engaged. Like, only two weeks before. We'd been talking about getting married since we had started dating, then more seriously at about 6 months, then most definitely at a year. It's was April and I decided that I wanted to get married at the end of summer because it was before school started, but gave me four months to still plan the wedding. I didn't want to wait an entire year. Being engaged for a year would have been awful because we still would have been long-distance and I hated that more than almost anything! So, we decided to get married at the end of summer, but we weren't officially engaged. Erik decided to start looking for a ring and I decided to call a bridal store to see how long it would take for a dress to come in. The nice lady on the phone told me I should have ordered it two months ago, but if I ordered one by that Friday it would come in a week before the hypothetical wedding date - August 30th.

So, I called my sister Lindsey up and asked her to be my maid-of-honor for my "unofficial" wedding and then asked her to come out to go wedding dress shopping with me. This was on like a Monday or something. She said of course and promptly booked a flight. I called my Dad up to tell him the wonderful news (we'd been talking to my parents about it for a while. Had some good discussion over a couple breakfasts and they knew it was coming). So, I told papa the good news and then asked him to send my mother out and telling her I had a surprise for her.

I called my sister, Shar, to see if I could get her to come out too, but she couldn't because she has four beautiful children who needed their mother. I didn't tell her I was getting married, just that I had a surprise for her. I probably should have told her because she would have been more likely to come, but she is a mama first and foremost so she made a good decision.

Lindsey came out on the Thursday. We went surprised my mom at the bus depot allowing her to believe that Lindsey was the surprise and that we were going to have a girls weekend in Kelowna. 

So we went the next morning and walked around downtown. We went for lunch and were strolling along when I said, "hey let's go into here (a bridal store) for fun." Mom was fair game so in we went. I told the lady I was getting married on August 30 and we started looking at dresses. My mom just assumed I lied so we could look around because she didn't think anything of it. I turned to my mom and said, "no really Mom. I'm getting married at the end of August".

Mom's reaction.

The lady who was assisting us looked at me with her jaw dropped to the floor. She could not believe I hadn't told my mom yet! Mom, Lindsey and I... well we were all crying in typical Jansen women fashion.

When I went in to try on one of the dresses the lady helping me was like, "you hadn't told your mom yet? I can't believe your mom didn't know!" over and over and over again. It was pretty cute.

To make a long story shorter we had one and a half days to shop. The first day we went to three stores and figured out what we like and the second day we went back to the first store and chose between my top three. I was by no means trying to find "the perfect dress". I didn't have that choice really, but I also didn't care that much. I obviously wanted a beautiful dress, but I had never even thought about my own wedding. I had no idea what I wanted! Well, I thought I wanted a simple dress with straps and a lace up back. My dress was none of these.

This was one of my possibilities. I loved this dress! It felt so good on. I liked that it was asymmetrical and the fabric was delightful. I ended up not choosing it because, as Lindsey said, "if you've got it, flaunt it". And this didn't really flaunt it.

This was the "bedazzler". It was Lindsey's favourite one. She loved the cinched bum. It was really difficult to choose between this dress and the one I ended up buying (at the time). It may have been that this one fit oddly (it was four sizes too big)...

And this is, of course, the dress that I wore to my wedding. The exact dress. We bought it off the rack. I think I eventually settled on this one because I liked it more for an outdoor wedding. It was elegant. It was cheaper. And it fit. I didn't have a "this is it" moment or a "feeling". It was just a good decision so I chose it. I wish it was more romantic than that, but it wasn't.

I didn't love it until my wedding day. And even then I was occasionally iffy. I think I even told my photographers that they didn't really need to focus on my dress. But I do love it. And I think it is absolutely beautiful. And I wish I could still squeeze into it... maybe next summer. That's one of the problems with a zipper: it's not as forgiving as a lace up back.

And that, my friends, is the story of how I got my wedding dress. Before my engagement. Hey, it worked for us.

Books

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

I have read the ones that are yellow.
Erik has read the ones that are blue.
And we have both read the ones that are purple.
The ones in green we have started, but never finished.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (Erik is currently reading this aloud to me).

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 

6 The Bible        
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis 

34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown    
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood 

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding 

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan          

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel     
52 Dune - Frank Herbert         
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy  
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce           

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl 

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (he's pretty proud of this one... the unabridged version)

Grand Totals:

Ashley has read 27

Erik has read 20

I take no responsibility for the rest of this post. Erik would like to point out that his books have way more pages than my books do. And that he is better than me. In fact, he has created his own 'suck it' list. It is as follows:

1. Les Miserables - Suck it
2. The Lord of the Rings - If you have only seen the movie... then... Suck it
3. The Inferno - Suck it
4. Dune - Suck it
5. Crime and Punishment - Suck it

And (not from the list):

• The Brothers Karamazov - Suck it 
• The Silmarillion - Suck it

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e e cummings

in a rut

I had THE most productive day yesterday as far as homework goes. The longest break I took was an hour (for dinner). I worked from 0800-2300. Now that, my friends, is tough! Why can't productivity be followed by productivity?? I'm feeling burnt out. It's been three hours of homework this AM and I am feeling quite done. That's the way it goes, I guess.

In other news, my house is freezing. Actually. My hands and feet are numb. It may be time to purchase a heater because I don't know how much of this I can take.

Today may be a crafting day! That would make me so happy as I have projects still lying around my house begging to be completed. My goal is to have them done by... who am I kidding. That won't work. I want them done as soon as I can get to them so they get to my family prior to Christmas. It can be done!

Last Paper of the Semester

Man it feels good! Almost done the first draft. Conclusion and editing tomorrow and then it's done! I still have to do the assignment that goes with the paper, but that won't be so bad.

Sculpt

I went to a sculpt class today with a friend on my journey to squat-dom and let me tell you, it kicked my butt! Royally. I won't even be sore tomorrow because I was too weak to even complete the workout! Ridiculous! I knew I was weak, but I didn't think I was that weak! It's just another reminder that this new commitment to exercise is a good idea. Here's to persevering.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

*** *** ***

UN Millennium Goals

Global health is an interesting thing to think about. As you all know, I'm going to be venturing to Africa in February so I have been thinking about global health quite a bit. What are our responsibilities as Christians? As a wealthy nation? As a globe?

In one of my classes last year my teacher defined global health as "the health of populations in a global context that transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations". Beside that definition I wrote my own notes from our discussion about how global health is about worldwide improvement of health, reduction of disparities, and protection against global threats that disregard national borders.

Global health threats require partnerships for priority setting and health promotion at both the national and international level.

Enter the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). These are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. They are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted during the UN Millennium Summit in September of 2000.

The MDG's have been adopted as a global action plan by the international community. They provide a framework for the development activities of over 190 countries working together to achieve global health. They form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions. A global effort. How cool is that?

I know this is going to make for a very long post, but I am going to write about each of the Millennium Development Goals. I think it is important to be aware of what is going on in our world and this is something that makes me proud of our global community.

UN Millenium Development Goals


1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.

Target: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

• poverty = living on less than $1.25/day
• In 2009, although it had decreased, there were still 55-90 million higher than anticipated living in poverty. 

2. Achieve Universal Primary Education.

Target: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. 

• progress is being made since 88% were enrolled by 2007

3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.

Target: To eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, in all levels of education no later than 2015. 

• In 2007, 53 out of 171 countries had achieved gender parity.
• 60% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education; 30% in secondary education; 6% in tertiary education. 

4. Reduce Child Mortality.

Target: To reduce by 2/3, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

• In 1990, 12.6 million children died from preventable/treatable causes; that figure has declined to 9 million today, despite the population growth
• Sub-Sahara Africa accounts for 50% of all deaths among children under five. 

5. Improve Maternal Health.

Target: Reduce by 3/4, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

• Every year, 536,000 women and girls die as a result of complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or within six week postpartum.
• 85% of this figure occurs in Sub-Sahara Africa and Southern Asia.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases.

Target: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

• Progress has been made due to increased funding, use of insecticide treated mosquito nets among children, anti-retroviral treatment increasing, and knowledge of HIV prevention slowly improving.

7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability.

Target: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

• Emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases is rising.
• Global warming poses threat to fisheries.
• Want to reduce deforestation.

Target: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to sage drinking and basic sanitation.

• 1.2 billion people practice open defecation (18% of world population).
• The world is ahead of schedule in meeting the target for drinking water, however, some countries still face enormous challenges with access. This is predominantly a rural problem.
• Sub-Sahara Africa remains the region with the highest prevalence of slums. 

8. Development of a Global Partnership for Development.

Target: Address the special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states.

• Problems with trade due to tariffs.
• Problems with transport in landlocked countries.
• Developed countries did well in provision of debt relief an assistance.

Above information obtained from class notes and from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.

In other Africa news, I have started going to the gym. I've decided that it is time for me to stop complaining about being out of shape and to do something about it. I flailed around at Zumba last night which was mildly embarrassing, but fun anyway. I just want to be able to squat moderately comfortably while in Africa... if you know what I mean.

Story behind {this moment}

I know I'm not supposed to write about my {this moment}, but this one makes me laugh! Sawyer is so interested in Maelle, but Little Miss isn't quite at the point where she cares much about Bean. Sawyer is always smiling at Maelle and trying to touch her and play with her, but she isn't the most gentle yet... she hasn't quite learned what "gentle" means. Or "ouch" for that matter!

Interested in her little friend.

Not so certain... wait for it... uh oh.

Bean doesn't give up! Here she's going for the ear.

So we flipped them around and this arrangement worked much better!

Sawyer grabbed onto Maelle's hand and played nicely for a while. It was pretty cute. And that's the story behind last weeks {this moment}.

comparing my girls

In these photos Sawyer Dawn is 6.5 months and Maelle Mai is just over 3 months. HA! They make me laugh! Sawyer is so little, yet so chubby and Maelle is so tall, yet pretty skinny. I just love them!

Sawyer is so interested in her little friend! Here she is (below) trying to devour Little Miss. They make me laugh. It will be so much fun when they are interacting with each other more. And with me more! I can't wait to play with them!!!! Currently I play with them and they laugh at me, but it will be so much fun when it's reciprocal. And when they know and can remember me... I don't want them to be shy when I come back from Africa because they have forgotten who I am. That would make me sad. I'm prepared for it though. I won't be spending much time with them in January so it is likely that they will forget me. I'll have to spend lots of time re-acquainting with them upon my return :) I can't wait!!

Africa. It's always on my mind. This week in our weekly meeting we talked about different illnesses in Africa. I'm glad I'm traveling with my own medical supplies and a hoard of nurses! Though I hope neither come in handy. I would love to remain healthy and hydrated.

Maelle's baptism

It's been a little while since I have posted about my babies. Erik has been trying to convince me to post about the rest of my life more and about my pseudo babies less.... it seems to work for a while, but posts about my little ones always spill out.

Little Miss was baptized yesterday at our church. The picture below shows just how little our church is!! Well, to be fair there are some people to the right that aren't visible. It is pretty tiny though and I really love it.

Sam and Milena (Maelle's parents), sang a song that they wrote for Maelle during the service. It was beautiful!!! It is something that Maelle will cherish when she's older. Their song made acutely aware of my complete lack of musical talent. I wish I could put my heart into words the way they managed to. 

Yup, I took a picture while we were praying for Little Miss and her family. I was multi-tasking... though Sawyer's papa shushed me. Apparently my camera (which was muted and had no flash) was too distracting for him. Look at how cute Maelle is in her fancy white dress!

We went for lunch at S and M's after the service. Erik even got a little snuggle in! Seriously, he is so good with babies. He is a self-acclaimed "King of Babies". They love him! And he loves them. He really calls himself that because whenever we are babysitting I take care of the babies until they have been crying for over an hour and then he swoops in and puts them to sleep within 10 minutes. I claim that they are just ready to go to sleep because they've been crying for so long, but he thinks he has magical powers... and proudly declares "I am the King of Babies." This declaration is often accompanied by him pointing at himself triumphantly.

Other than that, not much has been going on here. Homework seems to be never ending, but this is the final push of the semester and I really don't have too much to complain about. January may be another story... but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Oh, I also have a bunch of half-finished Christmas presents strewn across my house. I'm slowly checking them off my list. Slowly, but surely. I think I only have three people I still have nothing for in Erik's family. That's not bad. I have a half finished Christmas garland lying on the floor in my living room too. It's a bunch of felt squares cut out and I'm threading them onto a string. I have to cut out way more squares though. I just went to Michael's a bought more felt so I will hopefully continue working on that this weekend. I wish my house was already decorated for Christmas, but I need to make my decorations and haven't had time yet AND we are getting a real tree this year so we have to wait a while to pick that one up. I love Christmas though. I love how cozy it is. I can't wait!!!

Have a wonderful evening!

The Battle of the Brothers

Justin and Benjamin are both playing college volleyball this year and they are both in the same league. On Thursday they played their first league game against each other and it just so happened that I had the day off, so I went to watch. Erik didn't feel like coming so I made the trek all on my own. Don't worry, there was only a bit of snow on the highway and there wasn't too much fog. It was pretty safe. I arrived just in time to surprise my dear sister-in-law, sneak in a snuggle with my niece, and eat a bit of dinner before heading off to watch the game. A couple of my aunt, uncles and cousins even made it out! It was fun to see everybody again, even for just a couple hours. Out cheering section even had signs made. I think my favorite was my little cousin's sign that said "#3 is related to me!" with hearts all around it. Justin and Benjamin both happen to wear number three.

Little Ben's team (CBC) beat Justin's team (UFV) in just three sets (best of five). I was a little disappointed that the game didn't go longer, but it was fun to see my old school win.

It was strange to be at CBC again. There were a few familiar faces, but most of the students are new. I guess it has been three years since I've been there. A part of me really missed being there - in a tight knit community where everyone knows your name.

Anyway. I came home the next morning,. A very short trip, but a fun one none-the-less.

today

I spent my entire day writing a paper with my girlfriends. The entire day! I just got home. I spent all of Tuesday, all of Wednesday and most of Thursday doing the same. And we are still not finished. Curses!!

I returned home to find my dear husband lounging in the tub reading. Isn't that lovely? I am out doing homework all day and I come home to find that Erik had the most relaxing day.

I gave him a swift kick in the butt and ordered him to make me some dinner :)  So now I sit, here at the computer, with a bowl full of salt and vinegar chips and a tub of left over icing waiting for his gourmet tuna melts. Delish!

Oi! And it's my baby brother's 19th birthday. Can you believe it?? Happy Birthday Benny Boy!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

*** *** ***

The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe

I know it's long, but one of my friends read me this poem earlier this week and I loved it! I would encourage you to stick it out and read it if you have the time. 

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!"

A Great Day

Do you ever have a great day? I had one of those today. I wish I could live this day over and over and over again. It was so wonderful and I feel so very happy.

It started with Bosu at 0630 with one of Erik's co-workers. Getting out of bed at 0545 was dreadful, but I am so glad I did. I got my rear end kicked by a bunch of older ladies!!! Let's just say that on a scale of one to ten, I have zero arm strength.

I came home and hung out until 1200 when I had to go to school. I played around on the computer figuring out how to organize my pictures. I'm so excited to make photo books! I've done some through shutterfly, but it will be wonderful to not have to upload all my pictures because that takes hours and hours.

And then, when I got to school, my girlfriend Kelsey told me she was engaged!! Well, she held up her hand and we yelped and hugged and cried. Then we (Sam and I) convinced Kelsey to skip class and we went to Starbucks so she could tell us the story of her proposal. It was absolutely beautiful! So simple and very much "kelsey and josh" just like a proposal should be. I love freshly engaged women! Kelsey was just radiating joy! It was so much fun to be excited with her and to share in that joy.

Then, we had a wonderful Africa meeting in which we talked about where we are going and what we are doing. Kelsey is coming to Ghana with me so I got to spend the entire afternoon with her - lovely!

I am so excited to go to Africa! I think about it all the time and think it will be such an amazing experience. I have often tried to write about it, but I never know where to begin and I don't know how to sort through my thoughts.

On paper it doesn't seem as wonderful as it was, but it was truly a wonderful day.

Now I get to hang out with my favourite person in the world, Erik (what punctuation goes there??). And I get to do homework, but that's not so bad.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Oh. And did you know that in the US "rockets" are called "smarties"?? My BIL didn't know there was such a thing as chocolate smarties. Just a random fact.

How to Build a Global Community

One of our teachers read this in our weekly meeting for Africa. I think it was on a postcard she had. I enjoyed it and I thought you might too. 

Think of no one as "them"

Don't confuse your comfort with your safety. Talk to strangers.

Imagine other cultures through their art, poetry and novels.

Listen to music you don't understand. Dance to it.

Act locally. Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture.

Question consumption.

Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation.

Look for fair trade and union labels. Help build economies from the bottom up.

Acquire few needs. Learn a second (or third) language.

Visit people, places, and cultures- no tourist attractions.

Learn people's history. Re-define progress. Know physical and political geography.

Play games from other cultures. Watch films with subtitles.

Know your heritage. Honor everyone's holidays.

Look at the moon and imagine someone else, somewhere else, looking at it too.

Read the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Understand the global economy in terms of people, land, and water.

Know where your bank banks.

Never believe you have a right to anyone else's resources.

Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination

Question military/corporate connections.

Don't confuse money with wealth, or time with money.

Have a pen/email pal. Honor indigenous cultures.

Judge governance by how well it meets all people's needs

Be skeptical about what you need.

Eat adventurously. Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet

Choose curiousity over certainty

Know where your water comes from and where  your wastes go

Pledge allegiance to the earth: question nationalism

Think South, Central and North- there are many Americans

Assume that many others share your dreams

Know that no one is silent though many are not heard- Work to change this.

he's sometimes funny.

Erik is taking a course for his new job as a case worker. The school providing the course is from somewhere in the US and part of the course is participating in an online forum. I guess each student had to provide a little self introduction and the following is a bit of Erik's...

"I suppose I should introduce myself; I apologize for the delay. I first came to Canada in 2003 to participate in a one year program at Columbia Bible College and, for reasons which do not need to be explored at this juncture, I have been in Canada ever since. If you’ve ever seen the show “Due South” you may recognize the reference in the previous sentence. If you haven’t seen the show, I suggest you do if you get the chance one day.

In fact, I will explore why I stayed in Canada at this juncture. I decided to complete a BA in Youth ministry, met a beautiful Dutch girl, and got married. Now I live in Kelowna, BC and work at the Kelowna Gospel Mission as a case manager while my wife completes a nursing program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus. Originally I am from Stanwood, Washington, a wonderfully small town between Seattle and Bellingham.

I enjoy reading but nothing current. I like the classics; most recently I’ve been on a bit of a Dostoyevsky kick, and of course somehow I always seem to be re-reading C.S. Lewis. I grew up watching M*A*S*H and it still reigns supreme in my favorites to this day along with such obscurities as Due South, Red Dwarf, and Monty Python. I play guitar and have been learning the bass guitar lately as well.

The transition to Canada was actually surprisingly easy. Although there are a few individuals from my home town that continue to remind me that Canada is socialist, which of course is wrong, and the States is Capitalist, which of course is correct. Despite this, there are few differences in the culture. Here are some interesting tidbits which I have learned in the course of my stay here:

1. Centre, Theatre, Colour, and Behaviour are not spelling mistakes; they are real words.

 

2. The summers here are actually very nice. It is not cold all year round. In my town it actually gets up to 40+ degrees Celsius, which is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit

3. The equation from Celsius to Fahrenheit is somewhere in the vicinity of: (Cx2)+32=F

4. “Aboot” only happens in locations east of New Brunswick.

5. The words Pasta, Mazda, and Mario are pronounced “Pas-tuh”, “Maz-duh”, and “May-rio”, which makes me cringe every time I hear it."

An individual in the opposite situation (from Canada living in the States) responded and said something less funny than Erik to which he replied...

"Everything is good up here as far as I can tell. Alberta still pays people to live there, BC is in major debt and as of today without a Premiere. Ontario still cheers for the Maple Leafs, which is unfortunate... see how well I've adjusted. ;)"

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

*** *** ***

jaybird and erik

for erik

Erik responded to my post about toilet paper and he is disappointed that nobody commented on his comment. I explained that people don't usually re-check comments so he requested that I post his response here. So, to appease my husband, here is a post entirely devoted to his comment. Please respond. Say anything.

What Ashley has conveniently left out which I think is important is the make and model of our TP and all of the options she has available to her while wiping. 

We use Charmin Ultra Quilted extravagant 3 ply TP. So absorbent that you can pour an entire glass of blue liquid on the floor and 5 sheets can absorb it all. The downside of this choice of TP is that it is very expensive and I will not compromise the comfort of my sphincter buying anything less.

Ashley does not have a glass of residual blue liquid to wipe up every time she goes to the bathroom. All I ask is that she use the "paper plane" folding technique if she needs more ply power or that she "find the corners" as it were. The sheets feel small but there is actually quite a bit of acreage on one of those babies.

My message to all women out there, stand against TP waste, save enough to take your poor husband out to the movies once in a while. Please!

I am Erik Olson and I approve this message.

Sufjan - Age of Adz

Sufjan is amazing. We went to his concert in Seattle this weekend and I came home with a huge crush on him. He is everything I love: super awkward, super quirky, and super talented. Don't worry, Erik has a crush on him too so we have an understanding.

His concert was amazing. He's gotten a bit of flak because of his new album, Age of Adz. It is a very different than his previous albums and there are more than a few people who don't like it. I, however, love it! He played through almost the entire album at his concert and it was awesome!!!! He warmed us up with Seven Swans and then dove right into his new stuff... and I loved every minute of it. It probably helped that I had been listening to his new album incessantly. 

Sufjan though. Back to him. I love him! We were in the 10th row (only $30!) so I had a very nice view of the man and I certainly enjoyed it. He is so awkward and I adore awkward. I don't even know how to explain why I enjoyed him so much... He's just Sufjan. I know the photo below is blurry, but it's the best one I have. It was difficult for me to focus on both holding my camera still and enjoying the show. 

The concert was October 30 so Sufjan had his band dress up for halloween which was pretty funny.  One of his band  members, a trombonist, came out in a little dress with an umbrella that he twirled around. I know it sounds pretty typical, but it was hilarious!! We were laughing so hard every time he graced us with his presence.

We had the pleasure of enjoying the concert at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. It was an absolutely stunning venue. Erik says it was originally built for ballet. It was gorgeous! There were chandeliers all over the place as or even more beautiful than this one.

The ceiling looked like this!

And this is what the balcony looked like (Erik snuck up there to take this picture). All of my pictures from our seats were blurry because I couldn't hold my hand still. Imagine it as magnificent as this though. It was incredible!

And in case you aren't sick of hearing about Sufjan yet, listen to this next song. It's in two parts because the song is 25 minutes long. It is wonderful for car rides... eight times through and I would be at my parent's doorstep. 

Vesuvius

A little Sufjan for you.

Erik and his TP

Erik regularly mocks me for being so cheap. I love deals, I don't buy things we don't need (except yarn) and I generally kibosh things that cost money. So, he always comments on how I scrimp and save, but there is one thing that he cares about much more than I do.

Toilet paper.

He always complains about how much toilet paper I use. If he happens to be in the vicinity (too much info?) while I am grabbing toilet paper he will holler at me to use less.

For example, "Five sheets??? You just peed!! Why do you need five sheets?!?!?! Use one!!!

Nice try Erik.

There are a couple reasons why I use more TP than he does:

1. He can employ the shake-and-go method, but I like to ensure my undergarments aren't required to finish the drying process. 
2. He only needs to use toile paper for half the excretions I do.
3. He doesn't move his bowels nearly as often as I do. That alone leads to an uneven distribution of toilet paper consumption.

Erik is so ridiculous that he dropped an entire roll of toilet paper in the toilet, fished it out, allowed it to dry on our plunger, and now uses it. Please tell me that is a bit much.

Macbook Pro

I am currently typing on my brand spanking new computer. I would love to say that I love it, but I don't yet. I know, I know, it's only the first day and I have a lot to get used to. All I have really tried is to put my photos on and I do not like that I can't do it the way I want to. 

Let's face it. I don't like change. 

There I said it. I chose nursing as a profession and I don't like change. If you know anything about nursing you will know that is ridiculous! I can't help it though. 

I like how my pictures were organized on my old computer, but I can't do it like that here. I like organizing by month and then throwing different folders in throughout the month. Then different pictures in the folders may be named different things depending on where we were or what we were doing at a particular time and I don't know how to do that on this thing! I even watched multiple tutorials. I guess I will just have to adapt.

Aside from that the computer is pretty. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Erik insisted we needed whatever this one is, but he was showing me a smaller computer when he said it. So we have a bigger computer than I expected. Coulda saved some money! I guess you don't really talk about saving money when you buy a macbook though. There is nothing cheap about them. 

Even though I don't like change, I am good at adapting. I know I will adapt to this new technology as well and I am sure I will learn to love it. After all, it's a macbook pro, right?