this and that

• We welcomed 2013 on a rooftop in Arequipa, Peru watching fireworks go off all around us. It was absolutely delightful. 
• I welcomed 2014 asleep in my bed as I had to work the next morning. It was not quite as delightful, but sleep is delightful just the same. 
• Nostalgia gets the best of me at the beginning of a new year. I make feeble attempts to fight it, but I love sitting in memories. Not just memories of the last year, but of all the years before. I like nothing more than sitting by the fire, sipping on some Teaberry's, and reminiscing. My favourite tea at Teaberry's -- Feel Relaxed.
• I'm planning on reminiscing later though.
• We visited some friends in Stanwood this Christmas and they have Fiesta plates which I happened to drool over our entire visit. Now I've been dreaming of them. I want one in (almost) every colour.
• I purchased this calendar. One for myself and one for a sister-in-law. I drool over this too. Daily. It is in my kitchen and I love it. I also love that SKOS and I have the same calendar. It makes me smile. Seriously, the calendar is delightful! 
• I talked with SKOS and her four rowdy boys today. Always loud. Always blurry. Always a good time. I wish they lived closer, but am thankful for Skype. 
• I came across this a while ago -- Secluded Cultures on the Brink of Extinction. I came across it again this week and found myself still gazing at the photos 30 minutes later. They are breath-taking. 
• On the same site (mymodernmet.com), I saw this -- Touching Portraits of Mothers with Their One-Day-Old Babies. It makes me want to take photos of the mama's I doula for. I have two births lines up in March/April... We'll see if I still feel inspired then. Or if the Mama's feel up for it. 
• I'm off to make some pumpkin spice pancakes! 
•  Happy New Year!

:: right now ::

Right now, I am... 

:: laying on our yellow couch in my yellow robe snuggled up under a blanket.

:: enjoying the fire and the fact that a little switch turns it on and off. I adore real wood fires, but our gas fireplace suits me just fine for now. Convenient and cozy.  

:: wishing Erik were home with me. We've been working opposite shifts since returning home and this will continue through the weekend. I worked Christmas day, he worked Christmas night. He works boxing day. I work boxing night. Same on and so forth

:: wrapping my mother's birthday gift. It was her birthday yesterday, but I was unable to visit with her so we are celebrating a bit belated.  

:: procrastinating cleaning my kitchen. There are quite a few dishes piled on the counters which require washing and putting away, but cozy-ing up by the fire is much more appealing. 

:: watching Downton Abbey. Sort of. I have been told it is good. 

:: lighting beeswax candles all round my living room. They're from here. I love love love them. Love them. 

:: crossing my fingers hoping our tree lasts a while longer. Needles seem to fall off when I merely look at it. I try keep my tree as long as possible -- sometime through January. It makes the living room delightfully gezellig. 

:: savoring the smell of said Christmas tree. 

:: watching the trees blowing in the wind. It's blustery out there and I am so thankful to be indoors. 

:: telling myself that cookies don't count as breakfast. 

:: thinking it is time to pick up another book -- it has been far too long since I've read something. Especially something of substance.  

:: wishing I had more knitting projects to work on. I just finished a few things and already miss having many options to pick up. 

:: craving pumpkin spice pancakes. 

:: searching for my favourite recipe for pumpkin pancakes. Still. 

:: remembering where we were last year at this time -- Huacachina, Peru. Yes, we were starting Our Grand Adventure just over a year ago. 

:: gearing up for my "Year in Review". 

:: holding my breath until our hard drive gets here. We sent it to Vancouver after the data couldn't be recovered here. It ended up costing an incredible amount of money to retrieve the photos, but we are told only 100 files could not be recovered. I will see it when I believe it. If my travel photos are returned then it will be worth every penny. 

:: waiting until my photos are returned to actually start my yearly re-cap. 

:: wishing you a wonderful day, wherever you are!!

A List.

A list. It is all I can muster at present.

• Pumpkin Pancakes are delicious. I have made them twice in the last week and devoured them much quicker than anticipated (I like to take them to work). I used a different recipe each time and both were great. I am on a quest for the most delicious pumpkin pancake recipe now.
• We have rekindled our obsession with coconutty-chocolately-almondy-joy. We have also made a variation sans almonds and with peanut butter. Yummmmmmmm. I freeze them in ice cube trays, pop them out, and store them in the freezer in a container where we snack on them once a day frequently. 
• Our computer crashed. We brought it in for data recovery. We lost most of the photos we had on the computer… which was a lot of photos. A lot. I'm ok with losing most of them but… we lost the photos from our trip. Yup, I said it. We had backed up our photos online until Scotland, but the internet in SE Asia was terrible so we didn't do it there. Yup, we are silly because I didn't do it the instant we got home but, in my defence, we had them on both the camera card and the iPad until I put them on the computer. Then we had them on the iPad and the computer until we updated our operating system at which point there wasn't enough memory so we had to delete them. At which point I should have backed them up, but I felt a false sense of security in our trusty Macbook. And so my heart dropped through the floor and I almost puked when Erik informed me that our computer crashed. To make a long story short … it is terrible. We are sending the hard drive to the coast and paying a pretty penny in the hope that at least some of the photos from the last four months of our trip can be recovered. And no, I don't need to hear "I told you so".
• To be honest, our computer crashing kind of took the wind out of my sails.
• I started knitting again. Hallelujah. It is therapeutic and lovely. I knit some cowls for a friend's kids. They are pretty adorable. Who would have thought that cowls were a good idea for kids, but aren't they? You don't have to worry about scarves falling off. Think about it. 
• Erik finished the first quarter of his Masters. This deserves a post of its own, but I will toss in a little shout out here. He is something like 1/12th done the program now!! He has been working so hard and I am incredibly proud of him. 
• One of the reasons I haven't blogged (other than my computer crashing) is because Erik has been monopolizing the computer for the past couple months. He seriously works so hard. He comes home from work and does homework until he goes to bed. Or he wakes up and does homework until he goes to work, depending on the shift he has. It's amazing. 
• I am heading to Vancouver this weekend to finally do the Doula Course. As you all know, I love birth and this is really just making things official. I don't really plan on being a doula-for-hire, but hope to continue volunteering my services to dear friends of mine.
• My brother is in town for the night so we are heading to my parent's to visit and eat homemade butter chicken -- yum. 
• Erik just walked in the door and we should head over there now.

Have a wonderful night!

:: right now ::

Right now, I am...

:: listening to the monks chanting in the temple beside our hostel. 

:: clearing my throat. Everyone seems to smoke in these parts and it is doing a number on my respiratory system.

:: losing my voice as a result of the above.

:: wishing I were home. This is the first time I have been homesick and it is because there are some big changes happening at home and I wish I was there to participate/help/love people. 

:: smelling sewage. Nothing new there. 

:: adjusting to being in South East Asia. It is so much different than South America, as I knew it would be, but it sucks to be back out of our groove. You know?

::  organizing our migration to Laos. Soon and very soon we will be floating down a river toward Luang Prabang.

:: appreciating how delicious Thai food is. It is exceptional and by far the best food we have had all trip. 

:: looking forward to cooking lessons tomorrow. We rescheduled this morning because I woke up unable to talk. 

:: salivating at the thought of the yummy food I will be surrounded by all day tomorrow. 

:: sweating. Just a bit. 

:: reminding myself that I'm so lucky to be here. I don't take any convincing, but I enjoy being fully present and grateful for this adventure. 

:: perusing photos on Facebook -- mainly old ones I have taken. 

:: willing someone back home to wake up so I can chat with them. I'm not even sure what the time difference is, but I feel as though you guys should be waking up soon, no?

:: planning adventures for the summer when I am home. I have plenty of catching up to do and I want to make the summer as full and friend-filled as possible. 

:: remembering to enjoy and appreciate this moment too rather than just looking forward to being home. 

:: conversing with my husband. It is funny how we can spend every moment of every day together and still manage to "miss" each other. We sometimes needs to have catch up days where we are intentional about talking with each other. 

:: unraveling the baby booties I was trying to knit. The pattern has me stumped, but I will give it another go soon. Or maybe I will email the ladies back home at Art of Yarn for some help. I love them. 

:: absorbing as much as I can. Thailand is beautiful and being thrown into another culture is outrageous and I love it!

:: decluttering  my house even though I don't have one. I have enjoyed living with very little and would like to continue to do so when we get home. Well, maybe not very little, but definitely with less things than before. 

:: commiting to having a clean house when I get home. This will make Erik happy. 

:: gagging because people are horking and spitting outside my window. This is sadly very common.

:: resisting the urge to itch the bug bites that are covering my legs. They.Are.Driving.Me.Batty!

:: trying to remember where I put the postcard I wrote. I sent three away, but can't seem the find the last one. It is frustrating me!!!

:: giggling at the poem Erik just read me. He is reading The Cider House Rules and it is a great book (at least the bits he shares with me are). 

:: bidding  you all adieu. It is time for me to rest my weary eyes. 

:: wishing you a wonderful Wednesday, wherever you are!!

It's Been A While.

I have decided that I am not very good at blogging while traveling. There are just so many other things to do! Some people's priorities, eh? When I am so "behind" in updates I like just throwing a list at ya. I hope that is acceptable as it is so conventient. Here goes.

• I never mentioned that we visited the equator on our way back Mindo. Maybe I did, but I don't recall doing so. We visited the Equator and it was fabulous. We balanced an egg on a nail, tried to walk in a straight line with our eyes closed, watched water drain from a basin both directly over and on either side of the equator, saw a sundial in action, and did a strenght/gravity test (or something). All simple little tricks, but very entertaining and amazing. Really, it was awesome. 
• We spent the last two weeks in Canoa, Ecuador. Two whole weeks. We were planning on staying for a few days, but we got stuck. The main reason for our long visit was that last weekend was Carnival here in South America. Apparently it is a continental party that lasts five days. It invovles flour, eggs, paint, and foam being thrown at everyone and anyone. We were encouraged to settle in as we wouldn't be able to find a hostel at the next town we were hoping to visit. So, two weeks it was. Thankfully Canoa's Carnival was the tamest it has ever been. I only had paint thrown on me once and foam sprayed a couple times. We also stayed just down the beach from town so we could escape the blaring music and sleep. 
• I don't regret a moment in Canoa. It was a little beach town and it was great! Erik surfed every day. He had only tried surfing a couple times before this trip and after a week he is actually quite good. I'm impressed, at least.
• I tried surfing. I had a lesson and actually managed to stand more often than not. Sometimes I would stand for a few feet, sometimes a few meters, and sometimes for many meters. I would say my longest "ride" was 75 meters (though it felt like 1000). I just played in the white wash, I didn't actually try any real big waves. I told the instructor that I was afraid of waves before we started. We didn't go past our necks so I wasn't too too scared, but I am terrified of the power of the waves so it was a big step for me. I tried one other time, with Erik, but was feeling exceptionally weak that day so I only got up once. I only tried three times actually, but I just didn't have it in me to push myself up. I am weak. It's embarrassing. 
• I'm a little ashamed to admit, but we ate at the same restaurant almost every day in Canoa. The reason I am ashamed is because it was run by Americans... no local food sadly. But, the employees were all Ecuadorian so we were supporting the local economy still. It was definitely gringoland in Canoa though. It was delicious, however, and there were plenty of vegetables to be had. We ate burgers, pizza, fish tacos, salads, and sandwiches. It was Yummmmmm. We started off sharing one meal betweenn the two of us to stay on our rigid budget, but the food was so good that we soon started ordering our own meals. Woops. 
• Erik volunteered at this local establishment (the delicious restaurant) so we started getting 30% off. That helped immensely both because we loved the discount and he was needing a challenege. He was getting bored doing "nothing". 
• We ate so much that we both gained whatever weight we lost since leaving Canada.
• There was another restaurant that opened when we arrived. It had a buffet breakfast for $5 per person. It had fruit, granola, yogurt, lemon loaf, toast, meat, cheese, crepes, waffles, eggs, and cereal. It was delicious as well. Again, it was a bit expensive for our budget, but we ate there because we could finally control the nutrients coming into our body. It was such a relief to know you were getting what you needed.
• Oh, we also only eat two meals a day. Just thought you should know. We aren't ridiculous gluttons all the time. That's also how we can afford to spend so much on each meal... at times. 
• In Canoa our days revolved around the beach and food. 
• Our days usually only revolve around food so it was nice to have a bit of a distraction. 
• We ran into these two Irish girls that we had met briefly in Quito while in Canoa. They arrived about a week after us and we spent every waking moment with them for our second week there. Erik and Karen rented the surfboard together and Elisa and I held down the fort on the beach. They were easily the most lovely people we have met traveling. I absolutely adore them and it was a tearful goodbye yesterday. They are flight attendants so I am trying to convince them to meet us in Scotland for a day. 
• Internet was the pits in Canoa so I feel very out of touch with the world. It was both wonderful and painful. I enjoy mini check-ins with family and friends. 
• I did get to skype with a few families from church on Sunday. It felt like I was having tea and cookies right alongside them. It is nice to stay connected like taht. 
• We traveled from Canoa to Guayaquil and then from Guayaquil straight through to Lima, Peru. A six hour bus ride followed by a 31 hour bus ride. I miss Ecuador already. Erik and I are reminded of why and how much we don't like Lima.
  
  And that is that. We fly to Amsterdam tomorrow and then we are off to Scotland soon after that.

It is February.

• I cannot believe it is February.
• I will be home in five months! Home in Canada, at least. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to get back to Kelowna.
• This morning I briefly skyped with a friend who just had a baby and I got to "meet" her little fella. He is absolutely perfect and she is looking and sounding fabulous. It was so nice to have a chat with her, no matter how brief. I wanted to hound her with questions, but decided that those can wait. I already emailed her a bunch which she graciously answered. What a gem. 
• We are heading to Canoa tonight. The only available bus was the night bus, which I am dreading. There is no first-class Cruz Del Sur in these parts so we are in for an uncomfortable (and long) ride. Canoa is a coastal town so I am looking forward to sand and sun while Erik can't wait to go surfing. 
• We rented a motorcycle for 24 hours and ventured off through the back country to a sleepy town called Mindo. It poured rain for much of the trip so we were both wet and muddy on arrival at our destination. It was the highlight of Ecuador, even with the puddles that I still found in my shoes the morning after. We visited the Equator on our way back to Quito. That was actually a lot of fun too. 
• Our shoes smell something fierce. So foul. I may have to soak them in vinegar or baking soda. Would that help? If not we could always make little volcanos in cups. That would be fun, at least. 
• It is no secret that I have had baby fever since... well as long as I can remember really. Sadly that baby fever is turning into whatever could be worse than baby fever. It consumes me. Even more sadly, Erik has yet to catch said fever. Four and half years of asking and his answer has never waivered. Apparently we are operating under a renewable five-year-plan. 
• Speaking of babies, Peyton and Avery are six months today! 
• We have had strawberries and cream every day for five days. We share a bowl so I feel about myself. The owners of the little icecream parlour we go to laugh when we walk in. They are very sweet. And I get zero dairy so heavy cream is better than nothing... right?
• Gravol will be my friend on this bus trip we are taking tonight. Yes, I am hung up on it. That is how full of dread I am. 
• I love clean laundry. I love not having to clean my laundry. 
• Our GPS broke while we were on our motorcycle adventure. For some reason it couldn't find the satellite so we had to navigate Quito on our own. That was a little stressful. We had to get the bike back on time and we had only a faint idea of where we were going. We made it though. Quito is huge, in case you didn't know. 
• We have to check out of our hostel so that is all for now. I'm going to get me some strawberries and cream. 

:: right now ::

Right now, I am...

:: listening to Erik, a Brit, and an Aussie discussing music.

:: smelling three different deodorants, some wickedly strong body wash, and smelly, sleepy boy... I may have a headache.

:: thankful that the Aussie was brilliant enough to open the balcony door as I wrote that last sentence because it smells in here. Thank you, Andrew!

:: hoping it stays sunny today. I love love love the sunshine.

:: planning a trip to the equator. We are hoping to rent a motorcycle -- Erik is pretty pumped about it.

:: laughing at all the boys around me. Staying in dorms is certainly an adventure.

:: enjoying having no responsibility.

:: dreading going back to work... And that is still over five months away.

:: thankful for our iPad. I can text my sister and she sends me photos and videos of my nieces daily. I also get videos and photos from Mandi. I look at them every single day. Over and over. It is wonderful.

:: needing to use the bathroom, but dreading that adventure.

:: uploading photos. I am surprised by how few photos I have taken... I am not big on city photography and Erik is tired of me snapping his picture.

:: loving spending every waking moment with my favourite person. I don't think he would say he same.

:: anticipating parking myself on a beach for a week. Erik is going to surf and I will attempt it for one day, but I plan on reading to my hearts content. That being said I am...

:: shuddering at the very thought of surfing. I kind of have afear of giant waves. This is especially true when I cannot touch the ground. And I am...

:: hoping our hostel has a book exchange and that there are English books to exchange with.

:: thinking I should drink some water. This girl is dehydrated 100% of the time.

:: reading the Bible from start to finish. I am thankful to have made it through Deuteronomy already. That was a wee bit painful.

:: praying that one of my dear friends has had or is having her baby very soon. Also praying that everyone is healthy and happy.

:: wishing you a wonderful Tuesday wherever you are!

:: right now ::

I don't know if you like SouleMama, but if you do, you will probably recognize this.

 Right now, I am...

:: watching the leaves on the tree across the street change colour. It is happening so fast I think I actually saw another one turn yellow (ok brown) just now. 

:: staring at a pile of laundry that needs to be folded, a pile of fabric scraps that need to be sewn, a pile of buttons that need to be put on almost-done-knitting projects, and at a pile of cards that I meant to send last year. 

:: thinking I should really follow through with my ideas a bit better. 

:: hoping to find some inspiration so I can get those needles clacking again. 

:: hearing the hum of the dishwasher. I love having a dishwasher. 

:: wondering where we will be a year from now. In Kelowna, I'm sure, but where will we live, what Erik will be doing, what our lives will look like? 

:: feeling grateful for a weekend full of family, friends and food. 

:: wishing that the sun I see streaming into my neighbours windows would shine in mine. Sadly we have no direct sunlight. 

:: planning a weekend away with my girlfriends. 

:: waiting for some lovely fabric I ordered from Hawthorne Threads to arrive. 

:: anticipating making some of these. I think it's time for Mama and me to have a craft date. And wouldn't my nieces look darling in those?

:: deleting photos from the computer. Maybe it will be a little less overwhelming to put them into photobooks now. Or when I'm done purging my massive excess of photos... I think it's going to be a long process. 

:: smelling the beeswax candle burning on the table beside me. 

:: feeling irritated by the hair that has been shed all over my floor. We are adding to it quicker than I can rid my house of it!!

:: sipping on some tea. 

:: wishing my dear niece a happy birthday. I cannot believe she is nineteen! 

:: begging time to slow down just a little bit -- I'm not ready to leave yet. 

:: stressing just a wee bit about planning our trip. 

:: getting very excited about traveling all the same. 

:: wishing you a lovely Thursday afternoon where you are!

New Years 'Resolutions' - a first.

I'm not one for resolutions. I have never made them for myself (and I'm usually anti-resolutions), but this year I have decided to set some goals for myself. Just for fun. I don't really know what would qualify as a "resolution", but I think I would really just call these fun things  want to do.

#1 Read a book a month - Now that school is out and I have had some time to recover from the constant readings assigned to me, I think it is time for me to start reading again. Reading for enjoyment sake rather than out of necessity. Up this month: Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.

#2 Knit a new pattern each month - I love knitting, but I sometimes need a little encouragement to try something new rather than continue knitting what I know. They don't need to be big or difficult patterns, but something different each month. Up this month: Baby Sophisticate. 

#3 Complete the quilt I have been working on for the past two years - Yup, two years. You'd think I would have finished it by now as it is simple squares, but I haven't had the motivation to. This is the year.

#4 Do at least one "legitimate" quilting project - Haven't decided what it will be yet, but one of my friends does some quilting and I am going to ask her to help me out (in the form of doing it with me so I actually get something done).

#5 Sew something other than squares - This can include anything from a bag/purse or to a children's (or adult's) garment.

#6 Take a photography course - Erik and I have been saving for a new camera and now I just need to pick which one I want. I figure I should take a photography course so I can optimize my camera rather than use it as a point-and-shoot.

#7 Go on at least one overnight hike with Erik and one with Mandi - I feel like this should be easy to do, but summer fills up quickly with work and this summer there will be my brother's wedding, a family reunion and much much more.

#8 Plan a date for me and Erik each month - An "ashley-style" date (aka free or nearly free). It's easy to forget about dating when it's just the two of us. And he usually wants to do expensive things so I need to take dating into my own hands.

Just Another List

• We had Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year. We borrowed a couple long tables from church and converted our living room into a dining hall. We didn't get to spend the day with our families, but we had some wonderful friends fill in. There ended up being ten of us and it was a wonderful evening. 
• I finished knitting the dress I was making. I still have to sew in all the loose ends, but the main construction of the dress is finished. It's adorable, as I knew it would be as I've already made the same dress twice before. I'm making another one of Hailey's dresses only this time it's for me. No, I'm not pregnant, I have just decided that I want to start my own collection of hand knits. 
• Erik and I are planning on going travelling next year. Nothing is set in stone, but we are thinking of going for six months! Wouldn't that be wonderful? We're thinking of doing South America, South East Asia and Africa. I'm a little worried that it's too many continents for only six months -- six months really isn't that long. We are just in the early stages of planning though; we are actually just dreaming still. But we'll make it happen. More on this later. Probably much more over the next year. November 2012 is the anticipated date of departure. We cannot wait!
• We are heading home to Washington tomorrow to attend a funeral for the mother of one of Erik's childhood friends. It will be good to be home. 
• Yes, I do consider my in-law's place home. I'm sure you would too if you were ever blessed enough to visit. 
• I have oriented to another ward at the hospital. I am expanding my knowledge base to include plastics. I'm a little nervous, but plastic surgeries fascinate me! Don't think face-lifts, think taking skin, fat and a portion of the muscle muscle from the lower abdomen, dissecting and elevating it, then creating a tunnel between the skin and the chest wall so you can pull the skin, fat and muscle up through the tunnel with it's blood supply still intact and use it to create a new breast after someone has had a mastectomy. This is a procedure known as the Transverse Rectus Abdmoninis Myocutaneous Flap, or more commonly the TRAM Flap. Now that procedure is absolutely amazing. 
• I borrowed my girlfriend's KitchenAid for a day and it changed my life. It only took me 15 minutes to make bread! And I made a couple batches of cookie dough and it was all done before the bread was even finished rising. Amazing. I have got to get me one of these. 
• I've just started making Christmas gifts. I don't even have ideas for everyone yet. Ugh! I will need to start hounding people for lists. This year Christmas is with the Olsons. I'm always a little sad about not spending holiday's with my side of the family, but I do love sharing them with Erik's. I don't know when we are going to celebrate Christmas though because my girlfriend just sprung an end-of-December wedding on me. We'll just have to work something out though. 
• I work Dec 26, 27, 28 and I may swap an 8 hour for Christmas day. One of the girls wants to spend Christmas with her baby. 
• My SIL is due in December. I can't wait to meet the soon-to-be-newest member of the Jansen family. Shoot! We also need to plan to make it home to meet that little one. I think we are going to have an exceptionally busy December/January. 
• I turn 25 in January. Does that mean I get to throw myself a big party? Who wants to come?

the one in which i talk a lot and say nothing

I miss when Christmas vacation was actually a vacation. Today marks the end of my fall semester and I have to work tomorrow!!! And then as much as I can over the rest of my "holiday". 

I haven't touched my knitting needles for weeks. I can tell. I need to knit! 

Need. To.
Big time.

I miss Sawybean being this little. 

All she wanted to do was snuggle. And coo. And be as close to you as possible! Now she's starting to just want her mother. Sad. That won't last forever though (hopefully!). I'm thinking of blowing up a picture of myself for both her and Little Miss so that they remember who I am when I am in Africa. Seven weeks seems like a lifetime! Especially for little babies! I hope they don't forget who I am.

I didn't go to the gym this evening because I have had a headache all day. I am a pansy when it comes to headaches. I hate them!! Probably because they sometimes turn into migraines. Like at my brother's wedding reception when I thought I had a dehydration headache so I drank 12 glasses of water (literally) and spent my evening squinting against whatever light was around and vomiting up everything that was in my stomach... and then some.

Erik's sister is due in less than a month and I really wish we could go visit her family once the little babe comes, but that won't happen any time in the foreseeable future. We visited them three years ago (has it really been that long??) and it was delightful. I was looking through our pictures from that trip and it made me want to visit even more. The picture below is from December 2007... our nephew decided to draw all over himself. What a cutie!

My girlfriend is getting married in August and we've been looking at wedding things. It makes me wish I could have our wedding all over again! I never even thought to look for decorating ideas online! Crazy, I know, but it never occurred to me. There are some really neat ideas out there! And simple too. She's getting married in her parent's backyard, which I think is very cool. It is going to be an absolutely gorgeous wedding. We're going dress shopping next Friday! I can't wait!

I have started collecting doilies to make myself one of these. 

I think it is gorgeous! Too bad I have no windows to hang it in front of. I figure I won't have enough doilies by this Christmas anyway so I will save them up for next year. I think it's absolutely lovely. 

Speaking of crafting... I also want to make this. I may be able to do this over the holiday, but we'll have to see. I love how simple it is.

This year my family is having a baking exchange. My immediate family only, but I need to think of a recipe that I can make in mass quantities!! I need 8 dozen of whatever I'm doing (or the equivalent).  Any ideas??

you know you're lazy when

• you're working on a group project and emailing things to each other... even though you're in the same room and could just walk the five feet required to show whatever it is you're emailing.
• you're still in your bathrobe (do they call it that anymore) with a towel on your head even though you showered four hours ago.
• you ate yogurt for breakfast, again, because you didn't feel like opening a cupboard and pulling the toaster out.
• you have an exam in 45 hours and you haven't even cracked open a book (ok that's just being stupid).
• you've accumulated four cups of water by your computer because bringing your dishes back to the kitchen is just more effort than you can muster.
• you feel productive after writing out this list.

it's going to be a long day.

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??

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

This 'n That

Erik has a hairy chest.

Or more appropriately... Erik has hair on his chest.

This is a new development. He had about 5 when we got married and that number has sky-rocketed to hundreds!! Unbelievable!

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We are heading to Stanwood, Washington for the weekend. Friends of ours are going down to Seattle for a music conference and we are hitching a ride. I am very much excited as Stanwood is one of my favorite places.

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My aforementioned lipoma is dearly missed. It is strange to not have it perched on my head. It's like seeing yourself in the mirror for the first time after you cut all your hair off... over and over again. Every time I touch my head I am a little bit surprised that it is not there. Silly, I know, but true.

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I am currently in a bit of a knitting frenzy!! It is absolutely lovely. I really need to make something for myself though. Knitting is a great way to expend anxiety and frustration. It is great stress relief between studying for exams. It is wonderfully mindless for after an exam. It is just all around great. I think I have spent way too much money on yarn though... woops. And I have "nothing" to show for it because I have yet to keep something. Oh well. I love a productive hobby. My girlfriend asked me to teach her how to knit so we started dish clothes yesterday. It was lovely.

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My littlest brother, Benjamin, turns 18 on Friday! Wow! How did he get so big. He is quite possibly the sweetest kid I know. He is so gentle and genuine. AND he still says "I love you" whenever we talk on the phone. My fave!

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I sent our Christmas lists to our families... two weeks ago?? How great am I??? Now I just need some in return (hint, hint) so I can finish up my Christmas shopping.

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My friend just showed up and we gotta work on our group paper now. Have a great day!

Knit Happens

I have been working a lot of night shifts lately and have, therefore, had plenty of time to knit. My patient slept through the night on 3 of those nights (hallelujah!) so those provided some prime-time knitting. I was worried about knitting in the hospital, especially baby items, but I talked to a nurse who knits and she said that she dry-cleans everything when it's done. While at work, she grabs some clean linen and knits with it on her lap so the knitting has a clean surface and she obviously washes her hands frequently. This was comforting.
I've been keeping my projects simple. Things most knitters could do with their eyes closed, but it is helping me learn to keep my tension even etc. etc. All good practice. I thought I'd share some of the things I've been working on.

On the Needles.

1. This right here is going to be a baby blanket. I hope. It's the most complicated thing I have done. The first thing I made after dish clothes. It's only complicated because I knit the blanket and then I had to pick up the stitches all the way around it and knit on the border. It is almost finished! Almost. I really have no idea how it will look. I don't even know if it will be square. I don't even know if all the sides will have the same number of stitches because I had no idea what "pick up stitches" meant. Everything looked the same to me so I made that part up. I also didn't know how to increase stitches, so I made that up too. I also "learned" how to add another ball of yarn when I ran out of the previous one. I watched a confusing online video and then, you guessed it, made that up too. I think it will look ok though... maybe I'm just hopeful. Anyway, here it is.
2. This is a scarf that I have been working on. It's made out of beautiful yarn that I got on sale!!! I love getting things on sale. You can hardly see it, but the yarn weaves in orange, pruple, red, green, yellow, and different tones of blue. It is just lovely.
3. Another baby blanket that I just started. I couldn't get the picture to turn sideways. I am practicing a different stitch. This is called the moss stitch. It is a knit, purl, knit, purl pattern. That may mean nothing to you, but to me it means that I have to switch the yarn from the front of my needle to the back of my needle on one stitch and then back to the front of my needle on the next stitch. Repeat. Repeat 110 times for each row. Very time consuming, but pretty and I'm told it doesn't stretch out as much.
4. And of course, dish clothes. They are a nice little project that only takes a couple hours and can be done while watching TV. Perfect.

Future Project.

• I have the perfect little project for this yarn here. You will..... well you might have to wait until next summer as school is starting soon... but I will keep you updated.

What is up

• Erik and I scored at a garage sale last weekend! We got a bike, a flour sifter, an applesauce maker thingy, a fisher price farm set, and some other little doodads. So great. We also found a little farm that we like and can buy produce from.

• I'd never had fresh beets until yesterday. I've had pickled beets, but never fresh ones. They are delicious! We made them in our oven with Olive Oil and salt and pepper and they were certainly tasty. I could see them becoming a favorite.

• My friends, Ali and Joel had a beautiful baby boy, Caden Theodore. I am so excited to see Ali in her role as a mother. She will do a wonderful job. I only wish I lived closer so I could make her meals and play with her sweet little babe. I cannot wait to meet him in a couple weeks!
  

• The fires are raging here in and around Kelowna. There are 2000 people evacuated and something like 22,000 who have evacuation warnings. One fire is 4000 hectares large. A smokey cloud is currently covering the entire city. I'm off to volunteer and provide meals for evacuees this afternoon.

• I hate going to school in the summer. I am taking a philosophy course and it is so hard to be motivated. I hope I am thankful I took it when all my classmates have an extra course in first semester. We'll see.

• I love having Erik home. It is great.

• Erik and I are going to his brother's wedding in Stanwood over the long weekend. Only immediately family are going to be at the ceremony. I am very excited for it. I still don't know what I'm going to wear, but that hardly matters. I can't wait to see the family again. Everyone will be there! Two of Erik's brother's (one's an in-law) were missing from our wedding last summer so it will be nice to see everyone all together again.

• I'm learning how to crochet. Trying to at least. Self-teaching isn't going so well. I'm going to have to call in recruits.
  

=)

Things I am loving right now are:

• Trying new recipes
  
• Eating outside
• Baking bread
• Hanging out with Erik
• Our herb garden
  

Investigating

Lately I have been feeling the need to be creative, resourceful and motivated. I always talk about wanting to change how I live and "go green", but I don't feel as though I am really making an effort to do so. I don't "look outside the box". I always make an excuse like "when I'm done with nursing" or "when I have kids" or "when I have energy". The thing is, I would much rather start changing how I live NOW so that I can focus on implementing what I have learned when I'm done school or have kids. I would rather do the work now and start the change so that I can continue rather than start my journey when life gets even more busy. I realize that it is a process and that it won't change in an instant (although I would much rather it did) so I just have to take baby steps.

This "Going Green" bandwagon that I am more than willing to jump on has been frustrating and rewarding. It's difficult to always be conscious of what you are doing, what you are wasting, what you can recycle, and what you can somehow reuse.

Green Practices already implemented:

• Canvas and cloth grocery bags
• Walking to the grocery store
• Stainless Steel water bottle (Purica Steel from Nature's Fare)
• Glass containers for left-overs (both sets on sale)
• Eco-friendly cleaning products (Shawna, do you know if your homemade laundry detergent works in a high efficiency front loading washer?)
• Run the washing machine on cold
• We recycle everything possible
• Growing our own Herbs :Greek Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Lemon Basil and Rosemary
• We use our local library (currently reading Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood)
• Erik rides the scooter to work
• Simply in Season Cookbook - We need to use this more, but we love it!

Things I want to do when we have our own home:

• Compost - My sister hates the idea and we live with her right now so that's a no go.
• Garden - Vegetables, Herbs, Grains, Fruit

New things we are trying/going to try:

• Buying Local Food
• Buying Organic Food
• Using Whole Grains in meals (Does anyone have recipes or ways of doing this?)
• Eating less meat (this is going to be tough as I LOVE meat)

The main thing am focusing on right now is buying local foods. I needed to do some prep work with summer being just around the corner so I did some investigating yesterday. In the past, all my attempts to find "Local Produce - Kelowna" came up with stores selling local foods. Although they are all great stores (Nature's Fare, Paul's Produce etc.), I am interested in making a connection with the actual farmers. I want to learn more about the process of growing the food and, let's face it, I want to remove the middle man.
As I said, all previous attempts were in vain, but I finally found an excellent website. If you're living in BC and want to find out which farms are certified organic go to this website. Please. It is awesome. I found farms all within a half hour of where I live that sell many of the things I am interested in buying!

Some of the organic produce I am most excited for are:

• Raspberries
• Tomatoes (I wish we were growing our own)
• Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Onion
• Corn
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Vanilla Beans
• Beans
• Cucumber
• Asparagus
• and seeds for when we have our own garden!

And we have some local, but not organic:

• Grapefruit
• Oranges
• Honey

I also found an organic whole grain distributor... I need to look into this more as I have no idea what to do with whole grains, but we'll see. They are from Saskatchewan, but their prices seem reasonable and shipping and handling wasn't too bad. I'll keep you posted.

I. Am. Pumped.

A Home

Lately I have been craving a home. I mean I have a place to live, but I want a home. I haven't felt at home since before I left for college; I have felt like a transient the four years since. I miss the enveloping peace that comes from feeling at home. The comfort that drains you of energy, but makes you blissfully happy.

My dream home:
- a couple acres
- little fixer-upper house
- couple cows, chickens, goats
- a relatively large garden
- a wood fireplace