Our Christmas "Tree"

I say "tree" because it's fake and only three feet high. This year Erik and I decided to put up all our childhood ornaments - one's we had made and received as kids.

I don't know where this little guy is from, but he's mine and he's missing his roof.

One of Erik's freaky mice things.

Now this one actually frightens me. It's a used-to-be fuzzy cat with freaky eyes. 

I don't even know how long I've had this one for. Probably forever.

I made this reindeer out of clothespins. I love him. 

Even though he has no eyes.

Who knew I was into fiber arts when I was six? Look at this beauty!

This is made of feathers, some wooden ball, and pipe cleaners. I used to rub it across my face because it was so soft. 

Some of Erik's skates. Notice the paper clip blades.

This is one of Erik's favorites. He made it himself. He says the best thing about it is that he made it in second grade... and that his second grade teacher was awesome. And a total babe.

And look, we both had rocking horses!

This little wreath has to be one of my favorites.

Look closer.

And a little closer.

Cute. Little boy Erik. With his ugly rat-tail. See it poking out of the right side of his neck? Not cute.

And this. This would be a little angel I made in 1989. When I was two. I guess I was almost three. I probably "made" this is Sunday School. Way to let me participate! Notice the two stars on the lower bit of the angel? I think that is all I contributed to the ornament... I'll never understand these projects that the kids can't even participate in

And of course... the final product.

My SIL - Jenn

I have a sister-in-law named Jennifer. I love her. She is married to my brother, Anthony. They were married on May 26, 2007.

Jenn is one special woman and the perfect wife for my brother. She is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. She has this way about her that is comforting... she's always made me feel safe. Jenn has the ability to challenge me without making me feel criticized. She is always sensitive and encouraging.

Jenn is absolutely beautiful. One of the most beautiful women in the world! She is generous, caring and more than helpful. She puts me to shame when we're at my mama's house because she's always the first to get up and get things done (dishes, cleaning up, serving... anything).
 
I admire so many things about Jenn. She makes me want to be a better wife, a better woman, and a better friend. I have learned so much from her and I am so grateful that she is a part of my family.


And you wanna know my absolute favorite thing about Jenn... aside from the fact that her middle name is Ashley?

She's having a baby.

You heard me.

A baby.

I can hardly believe it. I've been pinching myself since I found out. Pinching myself and crying. I am so excited! I could not be happier for them!

This is probably the most wonderful news I could imagine sharing with anybody because I think it is just perfect. Absolutely perfect. Anthony will be 36 years old when the little one makes his/her appearance... he's been waiting for this for a long time. He looked so proud when he told me... so proud and so excited.

A new baby.

I.

Can't.

Wait.

Cutie Patootie

Here is the blanket I made with the baby I made it for!  I had only made two dish cloths prior to attempting this and you can definitely tell I am a "beginner knitter". But, it was fun to do and little Amy Claire looks oh so sweet in it.

Trying to Keep Warm

Our house is so cold! Like SO cold! Like really ridiculously cold. The silly thing is, I kind of like it. I am all bundled up and I think it's kind of romantic... except that I'm home alone. But still. Maybe I read The Little House on the Prairie too much as a little girl. I feel as though I am conquering something.... ridiculous, I know.

Anyway. If your house is any bit as cold cold as mine here are some tips you should know.

#1. Long underwear. It's FABULOUS!
#2. Layers. (obvs...)
#3. Fleece Pants. I'm sporting pants made by my mother circa 2003.

 Please Excuse the floor...

And yes, my pants really do have little bears and hearts all over them.

Love you, Mom!

#4. An awesome sweater.
Mine was made by my
mom... sometime in
the 1980's.  

#5. A great scarf.
Mine's wrapped around
my neck twice. This
allows for neck flexibility
which is essential when
studying.









#6. Legwarmers. Mis-matched blue and pink. Senior Girls volleyball.

#7. Fleece Socks. A Christmas gift one year. Made by my very own mother... I think in the mid-90's. Maybe. Maybe not.
#8. Multiple Blankets. They keep the heat in and keep the drafts out.
#9. A Hot Water Bottle. You may notice that I don't have one, but I have discovered (or rather I was shown) that this little sucker works just as good. And yes, it does happen to be an IV bag. 3 minutes in the microwave and it is DIVINE! Bundle it up under the blankets on your lap and you're ready to go!

#10. I almost forgot. Tea. Tea is also essential to keeping warm.

A housekeeper would also be nice right now, but that has nothing to do with the subject.

Surgery

Justin is in for surgery again. He is actually being operated on as we speak. He was in a motorcycle accident this summer and broke his radius and ulna clean in half. His radius has not fused together (odd cause he's only 20) so they are going in again. Justin explained a little bit of his procedure to me. He said it's something along the lines of:

1. The surgeon will be sawing off the dead/not growing bone
2. They will take a piece of healthy bone from his hip/pelvic area
3. They will put the hip/pelvic chunk into his arm (they're hoping this will promote growth)
4. They will have to sand down his ulna so that his wrist matches up properly once the radius has been pushed back together.

Justin didn't sound too excited to have the surgery done, but who would be.

**Update **

Justin is on his way home. Joel informed me that they didn't need to shave down Justin's ulna. They put a larger piece of hip in and sanded it so it was flush with Justin's radius. So, no shorter arm.

My Mistake

I bought a book yesterday. It's called "The Birth Partner" by Penny Simkin. I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn't resist. The midwife I talked to highly recommended it saying it was a wonderfully informative book. It is. I absolutely love it. It is thrilling! I am on page 151 of 368 already.

The problem is, I haven't studied for any of my exams.At this rate though, I'll be done the book by tomorrow night and able to start studying for my Friday exam. I only have three finals this year anyway.

Actually, I "hid" my book so that I have no choice but to study tomorrow.

Exams are done Monday. Can't wait.

Wishing

Erik and I live in the basement of my sister's house. We have lived here since September 2008. We share a kitchen and have a living room and bedroom downstairs. It's nice, but it's my sister's house. It feels like my sister's house. I feel like a visitor. We do pay rent and everything, but it's still not ours. I long for a home of my own. I don't even need my "dream home" yet, but I think we need our space more than ever.

We house-sat for a month in September. We had none of our material possessions there (not that we even have many), but it started feeling like home because for that sweet month it was ours. The place we are living in now has never felt like home.

Erik and I dream of having a place where we can develop community. We want our home to be a place of fellowship, of rest, of conversation, of eating, and of peace. We want a place in which we are free to invite people in and bless people with the many blessings that we have.

We want a place to call home.

American Thanksgiving

I have the pleasure of being married to an American. That means I get twice the Thanksgiving dinners! Yippee. On Friday we hosted a little gathering with a couple of our friends to celebrate American Thanksgiving. The best part of it was that the boys prepared all the food! All I had to do was make was a salad (a delicious salad, but just a salad). It was splendid.

I was banned from taking pictures quite early in the night so here are a few from our fun evening.

Waiting patiently for the food.

Erik forgot about his can of cranberry sauce until it was almost too late.

Classy. Erik was excited to show off his still can-shaped cranberry sauce.

And the evening ended with a fun game of x-rated Apples to Apples. Definitely a good time.

Stinky Pits

A little while back my sister-in-law wrote a blog Deo for my BO. She gives a recipe for homemade deodorant. I left a comment for her about how I don't wear deodorant because my armpits don't stink. And to be honest, they never have. I hardly wore deodorant through high school. When I did it was mainly because everyone else was and it was the "thing to do". Totally unnecessary for me. In fact, deodorant made my armpits itch and I would always get sick of the powerful smells I bought (after all, if you are going to wear deodorant you may as well make it noticeable).

My armpits stunk today for the first time ever! It was, at least, the first time I noticed it. Definitely not cool. I had to borrow Erik's deodorant because I couldn't stop smelling them once I noticed they smelled bad. Is that normal? I honestly sat there with my arms in the air alternating pits for a while because I was so shocked. Let me tell you, they did not smell pretty.

So I have concluded that I need to try out my SIL's home-made deodorant to have on hand just in case. You never know when the stench will strike.

PS. Shawna, how long does this stuff stay good for?

Pop!

I popped my lipoma again today. In class. The expelled contents were about the size of a raisin. When I got to the bathroom to dispose of it I had a blood patch on my head. Thankfully I am not blonde.

fatty friend fights back

You heard me.
My fatty friend is present an accounted for. It has been re-growing itself. It's not that big yet, but it's definitely letting me know that it's there.

Do you ever have it where you think you miss something.... and then you get it back and you really wish it was still gone? I have that.

Public Transit

Our car is kapootz. We are in the process of deciding how much we can afford to spend on another car (not much) and what kind of car we want to purchase. I hate it.

Meanwhile, Erik and I are using public transit. Erik rode the bus on his own on Thursday for the first time in his life. I was leaving to work on a group project and Erik was going to meet me at the mall later that evening because we had worship practice (I only observe at these things). I gave him all of his instructions.... It was simple really. Only one bus comes near our house. It comes about every 15 minutes. And it comes right at the end of our road. Easy as pie.

I have never seen Erik so nervous!

He kept asking me questions to ensure that he wouldn't make a mistake.
E - "How will I know I have to get off?"
A- " The bus stops right at the mall."
E - "How do I know when the bus will come?"
A - "The bus will be here at 3:52 and if you miss that one the next one will be here at 4:07."
E - "How much do does it cost?"
A -"It costs $2. I gave you $4 so we can go to the mall and then get to practice later (we had some shopping to do at Fabricland)."

The questions continued and I laughed as Erik sat in complete discomfort.

I was late getting to the mall because the bus in Glenmore is not as reliable as our good ol' number 8. Erik was waiting for me at chapters practically beaming from ear to ear because he made it to the mall all on his own. What a big boy.

Which One?

I only want to print off one of the following pictures for our long awaited "Honeymoon Album". I am no Louise Chapman (or Gary for that matter), but I like to dabble with my camera occasionally. These are from the time Erik and I hiked up a sand dune with my bouquet to take pictures of it. Which do you like best?

#1#2#3
#4

#5

Intro to Psych

I had my first day on the Psychiatric Floor and what a first day it was. It started off normally. We had report on all the patients, met our nurses and then moseyed off to read through our patient's charts. At about 7:45 I started walking toward the nursing station looking for my instructor. One of the nurses kindly and forcefully asked me to go into the nursing station and to remain there for a minute as they were about to have an altercation. And an altercation definitely ensued.

A lady barged into the nursing station demanding to be released. She was very distressed and kept on yelling about her cat and being held against her will and on and on. There was no way to calm her down and she started getting physical so they called a Code White (aggressive individual). The doors to the psych ward are locked so she couldn't leave the ward. She was smart enough to pull the fire alarm because that unlocks all the doors on the unit. She pulled the fire alarm and ran out the doors with 20+ people in hot pursuit.

During this time I was watching the monitors they have in the nursing station. There are three Psych ICU beds for people with acute illnesses. A staff member was making the bed in one of the rooms and managed to exit just as the distressed woman and her entourage entered. I watched, along with a resident who was also on the ward for the first time, as the nurses had to corner the woman in the room and then exit safely. The poor woman began throwing things and throwing herself at the walls, floor, and windows.

She was quick enough to pull the fire alarm and run out of the psych ward, but she didn't know that she was running herself right into the Psych ICU. This was the best case scenario as the rooms are secluded, locked and entirely safe.

The cops were called to come to the hospital and assist the staff in undressing the woman, getting her into hospital garb, and giving her much needed medication. It was quite an ordeal.

I didn't find this out until later, but the woman wasn't even a patient. I'm guessing she was a patient at some point because she knew where she was, but she came in the door while it was unlocked for someone else. She was already agitated, had issues of alcohol and drug abuse, and was delusional. Things just escalated from there.

To make matters worse, the fire alarm kept ringing for the next half hour for some reason and some of the other patients were working themselves into frenzies. My poor patient was a schizophrenic with strong auditory hallucinations and an anxiety disorder... not a good combination with a loud ringing bell.

Let's just say it was an interesting day.

Weekend in Stanwood

I had all sorts of things to say before I logged in... now I feel lost for words. This will be brief.

Erik and I caught a ride down to Stanwood this weekend with some friends of ours. It was lovely. Much too short, but lovely just the same.

On our first day there we went bowling with my father-in-law. We were the only ones at the bowling alley.

Five frames in. Erik had me doubled and my FIL had me tripled.

And no trip to Stanwood would be complete without:

1. Erik pestering Joey

2. My MIL and me passing out on the couch.

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!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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

Late Night Nachos

Today I did something I never do. I went to pick Erik up from work at 12:00am and decided that we should go to Boston Pizza with his friend for nachos. It ended up being a great night and the three of us chatted for a long time. We told many stories, struggled through some questions about life and purpose, and shared two plates of nachos. It is now 2:00am... what was I thinking??

Oh yeah, I brought some knitting.

Things I've Learned on the Toilet

I have a book called "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader". I love it. It faithfully sits on the back of our toilet for some pleasure reading. Here are some of the things I learned today:

• The shortest complete sentence in the English language: "Go."

• Sean Connery has a tattoo that says "Mum and Dad."

• In Hot Springs, Arkansas, it is illegal to gargle in public.

• It cost $3 million to build the Titanic... and $100 million to make the movie.

• In Canada, milk is sold in plastic bags as well as in jugs.

• A lion's roar is louder than a jackhammer.

• Johnny Depp played guitar on the 1998 Oasis album Be Here Now.

• A tiger can cover about 30 feet in a single stride.

• A human body decomposes four times faster in water than on land.

• A group of hares is called a down. (A group of hairs is called a wig.)

• A turtle's shell is sensitive enough to feel a twig brush across it.

• Temperature of milk inside the cow: 101` F.

• Napoleon's favorite horse was named Marengo; George Washington's was named Lexington.

• It's against the law to run out of gas in Youngstown, Ohio.

• Ireland's longest place name: Muckanaghederdauhaulia ("pig marsh between two saltwater inlets")

• Shocking news: there are about 500 species of fish capable of producing electricity.
  

Kalispell, Montana

We had the pleasure of going to Kalispell, Montana for the wedding of one of Erik's good friends. Jared, the groom, is from Erik's hometown of Stanwood. I was worried that our car wouldn't make the drive, but we left early Thursday morning and were in Kalispell nearly 12 hours later. The drive was supposed to take 8 1/2 hours, but Erik missed a turnoff without realizing it and we ended up taking a bit of a detour. Oh well, it was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day. Strangely enough, I was able to crochet in the car!!! I usually get car-sick when I look away from the road for any length of time, but something was definitely working in my favor.Kalispell is a quaint little town somewhere in the middle of the never-ending state of Montana (if you have ever driven the I-90 straight through you will understand what I mean by never-ending). I did find a beautiful yarn store when we were there. It was incredible! There were rows upon rows of yarn!! They had a rather large alcove at the back with couches and chairs that you could knit in or just relax in if you wanted to (Erik appreciated this). And they had plenty of fabulous yarns to marvel at, to feel, and to enjoy. It was lovely.

Erik was one of the groomsmen so he had his duties to attend to. I spent my time in the hotel knitting and watching TV. It was exactly what I needed at that point in time. I'm in the middle of exams and papers and having time to myself to relax was so refreshing.I don't know if any of you have been to an American Wedding. They are strange. Period. The ceremony started at 3:00pm and the whole kit'n caboodle (huh?) was done by 7:30pm. Including the clean up. Strange. The strangest thing about it... they all said this was normal!!! Somebody tell me it isn't! Don't get me wrong, I loved this wedding, but one of the best things about weddings is spending time with people you don't usually get to see. A bunch of our Stanwood friends were out in Montana and it would have been wonderful to hang out with them longer. We did end up going to a restaurant to hang out, but we had just eaten dinner and it wasn't the best environment to hang out in. We were hoping to go bowling instead, but small-town Kalispell was completely shut down.

Waiting for the ceremony to start. These two little boys loved us. And I mean LOVED us. The littler one was stuck to me. He asked me to dance with him all night long. He was so sweet. He was the flower-boy :) It was adorable.

The groomsmen goofing off a couple minutes before the wedding started.

Heather and Jared.

Erik speeching at the reception. Him and Casey wrote a Jared Manual for Heather. It was pretty funny.

With the groom.

This is a complete tangent, but I enjoyed everything being shut down on the weekend. Call me old-fashioned, but it made me feel almost nostalgic for some strange reason. I love small towns.

We went for breakfast the morning after the wedding with most of Team Stanwood. I love hanging out with Erik's friends. They make me laugh constantly and tell me a lot about Erik's younger years. All weekend they were mocking me incessantly for (1) my Canadian accent - they would trick me into saying words and then laugh at me, and (2) Using my knife to cut up my food and put it on my fork. We left for home right after breakfast and obviously made it home safely.

Jared, Heather, Me, and Erik

The Olsons, the Boots and Hans

JB

I get to hang out with Joel Bron tomorrow and I am pumped.

My Lipoma

You may not know what a lipoma is. I didn't until I had one myself. Actually, I didn't know what it was until I had already had it for 3 years.

According to Wikipedia,

a lipoma is a benign tumor composed of fatty tissue. These are the most common form of soft tissue tumor. Lipomas are soft to the touch, usually movable, and are generally painless. Many lipomas are small (under 1 cm in diameter) but can enlarge to sizes greater than 6 cm. Lipomas are commonly found in adults from 40 - 60 years of age, but can also be found in children. The most common type is the "superficial subcutaneous lipoma", ie. just below the surface of the skin. Most occur on the trunk, thighs, and on the forearms, although they may be found anywhere in the body where fat is located.

Interesting. My lipoma was painless (unless pressure was applied to it) and was just bigger than 1 cm. My lipoma was on my head, nicely covered by my hair which meant it only came up when people were doing my hair. It has been my constant companion for the past six years.

Today, I scratched my head and felt something strange. It turned out that I scratched a layer of fat off my lipoma. It was like... a large piece of dandruff. Not alarmingly large, but large enough for me to know it wasn't dandruff. I felt my head and there was what seemed to be a tiny hole at the center of my little fatty friend. I decided to give him a little squeeze and felt something give way a bit so I asked my brother-in-law (the only person home) to see if there was something coming out. Sure enough, he confirmed that it looked like a giant zit popping. I ran to the bathroom with him and we watched in awe as I continued to squeeze out copious amounts of fat. From the top of my head. From my lipoma, my little fatty friend. It was awesome! We sat in the bathroom for a good 10 minutes while I continued to squeeze and squeeze and fat continued to burst out of the top of my head. It was like a giant eruption of fat. Seriously. It looked like fat they remove during liposuction. It could have been lard. It felt like warm candle wax... You know? Totally cool. Totally bizarre.

We decided to take some pictures. This is probably disgusting, but we thought it was awesome. In fact, at one point I even heard my BIL saying, "Man, I wish I had one of those!" None of the pictures really show much, but pretend that they do. Imagine fat coming out of the top of your head.

These pictures are of the aftermath.

A bit of perspective. The hole was small relative to the size of the lipoma.
It was like a huge underground zit.
And my hair looks matted and disgusting because of the blood, fat, and other juices seeping out of my head.

A little closer. I don't know what those digit things are poking out of my head.
I'm waiting for Erik to come home to do a proper inspection.
Gross?

This is about 1/4 of what came out... maybe less than 1/4.
And those aren't flat pieces either.
Some are taller than they are wide.

Now my head hurts. The pain is pretty localized to where my lipoma once was, but kind of an all around headache now. I can't believe it's gone.

Shawna

I know we are late but...