Locks of Love - Part Two.

In January of 2007 I cut my hair and donated it to locks of love. Well, just yesterday I did the same thing.

I decided that my hair was too long for traveling. How often will I really be showering?? And that long raggedy mess would surely irritate me to no end. So, I decided to cut it to a more manageable length. I didn't want it too short, but my desired length would have meant I was cutting 8 inches off -- just 2 inches shy of the minimum for donation. With that in mind, I decided to chop off a few extra inches because if you're that close then why not donate it??

11.5 inches later (just to be safe).

I liked it better yesterday. After the hair dresser did it for me.

I liked it less this morning. After my shower I tried my usual hairstyle... letting my hair air dry. And let me tell you, it did not look good. Frizzy and awkwardly kinked/wavy. It thankfully fits in a ponytail so that is how I am currently sporting it. Maybe I will be adventurous and try "do my hair" tomorrow. 

Music Monday!

Hello Mondains,

Here we are again another Monday. As I sit here I have been listening (or trying not to listen) to a car alarm that seems to have been possessed by an evil spirit. It has been going off for about two hours now. Sometimes it sounds like a real alarm but for the most part it sounds as if someone gave a giant toddler a giant penny whistle and a 500cc injection of caffeine at the same time. I just stepped outside and found out that it's my neighbors Chrysler making all the noise and it could also resemble a remote key-less entry double beep noise streamed rapidly together with a fluctuating pitch. Strange but true.

Now to the music! This is a song called My body is a cage by Arcade Fire. I like the song but what really catches me is the video that I have posted with it. It is a fan made video that takes clips from the movie "Once upon a time in the west" and patches it together. I am struck by how well the song and video correlate. In fact it was so much so that I had to watch the movie and I am thankful that I did because it was also fascinating and well done. Though the artists don't know that they did, I am happy for this collaboration between mediums.

My Body is a Cage from JT Helms on Vimeo.

Coincidentally the main theme of the song that of the body being a cage is not a new idea. It has been around for centuries and is repeated in many different religions and philosophies. Most notably the Christian gnostics of the second century. Gnosticism is based on the idea that matter is evil and the way of salvation is through knowledge ("gnosis" is an ancient Greek word which translates into the english "knowledge"). It is interesting to me that this idea would spring up in such away again. Interesting.

Until next time, keep the one you love on the dance floor.

EO

Here is ye ol' wiki link for Gnosticism

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. 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. 

Wishing you a peaceful weekend! 

*** *** ***

:: 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!

text message

My husband received this text message from my niece this morning.

Hey so I locked the bathroom door somehow... My morning has been full of stuff like this... But I can't get it unlocked. And I need to leave for school. Is it ok if I leave it locked? Maybe you can try get it unlocked.

Oh Jessica, what are we going to do with you?

<><><>

My mind is far too busy to form complete and articulate thoughts. I feel as though our trip is sneaking up on us -- there is still so much planning to do! We are keeping our itinerary bare, but there are still so many decisions we need to make and things we need to book. Scotland needs to be booked in full before we go. I need to have a chat with Lynnagin about Australia (or many chats rather). I have a couple friends who have traveled around South East Asia that I am hoping to meet up with. I have to make an appointment at the travel clinic to see if we need any vaccinations. We need to decide what to pack and what we still need to buy (which seems like so many things).

We are leaving in 10 weeks.

My dear friend, Milena, is due in 8 weeks so I am essentially a write off after that. I plan on spending as much time as possible with her and that little baby.

My family is taking a trip to Mexico in 6.5 weeks so I really only have 6.5 weeks to finish up our planning and most of our decision making. Oh boy. 

Music Monday

Hello Mondains,

I'm back, at least for the next couple of months before we leave for our grand adventure.

I've got some good music in store and hopefully some enjoyable useless knowledge you'resofondof.

For today, this hour, this very minute, I think that you should enjoy this:



Beggar in the morning by the Barr Brothers. An excellent track. In fact I had this in my head the entire six hours it took me to ride my motorcycle to Spokane, WA from Kelowna. No joke, the e-n-t-i-r-e time.

Until next time keep your belts loose and your triggers tight.

EeyOh!

it's official.

Flights are booked. Semi-world Tour -- here we come!

Want a rough outline? If not, stop reading here.

We have decided to see South America and South East Asia. Well, parts of both as it would be impossible to see everything. We are also doing a little stop over in Scotland to visit some dear friends of ours and then, when my loving husband comes home, I will be making my way to Australia to visit Lynn and to travel around a bit (money depending).

Oh! Before I continue I feel it important to announce that I received a Leave of Absence from work!!! I applied for it thinking it would never (and I do mean never) happen. But, this means that at least half of our family will have work when we return to Kelowna. I am so relieved! It takes a weight off my shoulders and gives us a guaranteed income for when we get home (Erik is leaving his job before we go). My manager approved it yesterday and since then I have been doubly excited for this trip.

Back to the rough outline.

South America
- Nine Weeks.
- Fly in and out of Lima, Peru.
- Hoping to see Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia.
- We are predicting that most of our time will be spent between Peru and Ecuador.

Scotland
- Two Weeks.
- At a bit of an added cost we decided to fly through Europe rather than Asia.
- You see, we have good friends in Scotland and we would love to see them.
- Flying into Amsterdam and taking a ferry (probably) to Scotland.
- Maybe a few days in Amsterdam before heading to Kurt and Erin's.
- Maybe a road trip to Ireland. 

South East Asia
- Thirteen Weeks.
- We haven't thought about this one much. I'm hoping to meet with a co-worker who lived there for a while.

*At this point, Erik will return home to go fishing in Alaska and I will continue on solo. 

Australia
- Three weeks.
- That's a long time.
- Stay at Lynn's.
- Maybe travel alone a bit.
- Maybe convince Lynn to travel a bit with me.


As I have said before, and I'm sure I will say again, any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Doesn't it sound exciting? I can't believe it is actually happening -- we are actually leaving on this grand adventure. It is surreal and, like my trip to Africa, it probably won't hit me until part way through the actual trip. I am so excited though!

Leaving December 20, 2012. 

Many more updates to come.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. 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. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!  

*** *** *** 

Picture us buying tickets for our grand adventure. 

True Story. 

Erik's Baby

Erik's "moe-moe-bike", as Sawyer affectionately calls it.
Erik's baby, as I much less affectionately call it.
Erik's pride and joy, as he would probably call it.

His Honda Shadow.
His motorcycle.  

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. It is obviously so much fun to ride on, but there a couple things I am not too pumped about.

First of all, it is so unsafe! I trust Erik implicitly, but it's the other yahoos on the road that I'm not so sure of. And not just the yahoos, but unexpected road conditions (gravel, an unseen bump, etc etc). You have a lot less time to recover a mistake on a bike than you do in a car. And the implications of an accident are much more serious if said accident happens on a bike rather than in a car. Yes, you can ride as safe as can be and can take every precaution to remain that way, but there are so many elements out of your control and so much less grace when on a motorcycle.

Secondly, let's be honest for a moment, the motorcycle is a toy. A very expensive and, as previously mentioned, very dangerous toy. But we already talked a bit about the danger so let's move on to the expense. Wowza is that thing expensive. I knew it would be, but Erik had some blinders on when he made the decision to purchase the bike. There is insurance, gear, maintenance, licensing, etc. And all for a toy.

I have made some rules in light of the dangers associated with motorcycles. Erik can only ride it if he is wearing no less than jeans, his riding jacket, close-toed shoes, and his helmet (obviously). This has come down from his riding pants, riding jacket, riding boots, and a full-face helmet. I do not ride it unless I have close-toed shoes, jeans, a leather jacket, and the full-face helmet. When it is 40+ degrees out this can get quite hot. My stomach turns when I see people riding motorcycles in shorts and tank tops though! It is so irresponsible. 

All of that being said, I love riding with Erik. I'm never scared, but I'm always aware of what could happen.

We took the bike to my family reunion in August. I wouldn't recommend six hours on a seat that is 8 inches by 12 inches and hard as wood, but it was fun none-the-less. Erik has gone on a couple trips to Washington with it as well, but we have mainly stuck close to home. We have had a few couple-hour cruises around the Okanagan. The insurance has expired so the bike will be wintering at my parent's house, but we did go on one last cruise with Kevin and Mandi on Saturday. I think it would be fun to go on an actual road trip with them next summer. Mandi has her own bike so I will have the freedom to jump from Erik's bike to Kevin's more comfortable cruiser throughout the trip to give my derriere a bit of a break.

I am surprised I didn't tell you about the bike sooner. It is Erik's pride and joy. He's quite disappointed that he won't get to ride it for another 9 months, but I think he will be a little bit preoccupied for most of that time. Traveling the world has that affect on you.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. 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. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend! 

*** *** ***

kisses

My niece kisses me every night when she goes to bed (ok, when I go to bed) and every morning when she heads off to school.

I love it.

comedy.

I took this photo of Sawyer

 and immediately thought of this.

And I laughed. Out loud. For a long time.

keepin it real

I often want to share every detail of my day. This is especially true when there are tiny people involved in those days. In keeping with my current desire for simplicity, I will keep my words few(er than normal).

My days off have been so full. Full of children. Full of laughter. Full of joy. Full of family. Full.

I babysat the neighbour twins while I had Maelle and Sawyer over. The four little ones played wonderfully all afternoon. Sawy and Maelle spent the night.

My mother, sister, littlest nieces and I ventured to the coast for 24 hours to celebrate my Oma's 86th birthday. Oma didn't know we were coming and when we brought the babies in she got down on her hands and knees so she could see them in their little car seats. She had tears in her eyes as she marveled at them. It was pretty special.

My sweet Little Miss slept over again last night. She slept for 13 hours and it was awesome. She even let me put her hair into french braids in the morning.

  And now it's back to work.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. 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. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend! 

*** *** ***

keeping it simple

I have been thinking a lot about simplicity. Simplicity of the home, the heart, and the mind. I feel as though I go through phases where this take priority -- at least in thought.

Since my parent's moved here and brought all my childhood goods with them I have been sorting, reminiscing and ultimately throwing away. Purging has done wonders for my soul. It was difficult at first (I am a sentimental lass), but, as with most things, it got easier and began to relieve stress rather than cause it.

Letting go.

Purging started with childhood memorabilia, but trickled into my other areas of my house -- my clothing, my desk, my books, my cupboards. And it has made its way beyond my house and into my life. Into my being.

I have let out a sigh of relief.

Many times.

It is freeing.
And I can already feel myself slowing down.
Taking it all in.
Breathing.

"Be still, and know that I am God". Psalm 46:10

I can feel myself becoming still. Can feel myself calming.
Breathing.
Knowing.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. 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. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend! 

*** *** ***

Chemistry 11A Motto

I will only accept my best in chemistry

I will take Chemistry to have and to hold

Even though we struggle, we will still try to get smart.

Chemistry is beautiful from sea to shining "y"

We will listen to everything given to us.

We will use our workbooks with pride and honor

W will learn chemistry from the "H" to the "Nv"

We will learn chemistry to the best of our ability

I will be the best I can be,

Sciences at our school are three, 

But it is clear for all to see

The best of all is Chemistry. 

I am a little bit sad to say that I was able to recite this from memory with very few prompts from Erik. This was the motto our class wrote on one of the first days of chemistry (eight years ago!). We recited it at the beginning of class every day thus burning it into my mind. Oh Chemistry.

...

My niece moved in so I have been busy cleaning and organizing. The room she moved into happened to be my junk room -- a place where boxes of things that needed to be organized would go to die. My dear husband and my lovely niece have patiently tolerated said boxes being left in the living room thus giving me a bit of pressure and allowing me time to go through each of them. To make matters worse (or to add to the stuff), my parents have just moved to Kelowna and brought with them 12 boxes of my stuff from infancy to young adulthood. I have sorted through almost everything and have purged more than I could have imagined. It has been therapeutic, exhausting, and wonderful.

It has been fun to go through all of my high school notes (I was a bit of a hoarder). It has been more embarrassing than fun actually, but it is what it is. Erik and I have had many good laughs as I have read each note again before tossing them.

I even found my Grade 11 Chemistry motto along with Haiku's we wrote about Chemistry.
Some of the haikus:

Chemistry is great
It involves moles and volume
Smile for Chemistry
- Lauren H.

I do not like moles
They are very confusing
Moles are not my friends
- Ashley J.

Dan, Stewart, Joel sit
Thirsting for knowledge in chem.
Kim brings us a well
- Stewart R.

Chemistry is great
It has moles and molar mass
I love eyebrows... yay!
- Daniel B.

Moles are helping me
Calculate molarity
And make good haikus
- Elly B.

Mister Kim chem. Teach
Mister Kim no eyebrows him
(something that is hole punched out) is fun again
- Joel B.

circa 2005

Hey Lynn,

I hope you're home right now because otherwise I'd look like a fool. It is currently 11:00am on Sunday. I have been at your house since 9:10am trying to wake you up, but you are either in a very deep slumber or you aren't home. I'm hoping your having a wonderful sleep because your neighbors think I'm crazy! It won't be too embarrassing if you end up letting me in, but leaving defeated would be pretty crappy. I need to think of some new tactics that may arouse. By arouse I mean rouse as in "wake you up"... nothing sexual. The volleyball has hit your window on numerous occasions and I think I've run your doorbell more times today than it has ever been rung in its entire existence, I've banged on the back door of the kitchen and called your name, but all to no avail! You really must be in hibernation... or dead. Now that would be terrible! I don't think there's any way to break into your house though! There's always a way to get into mine... Alright so this situation is looking kind of hopeless. the only good thing that could happen would be if your neighbor came out and asked if I needed help... or a date... or a swim or maybe even marriage. The probability of any of those occurring is... well I'd say 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000 give or take a few. At least I get to enjoy your beautiful backyard... too bad I don't have access to a camera. It is very picturesque. Ok, I'm giving you until 11:45 to wake up or show up. I will laugh so hard when you aren't actually home... that'll be terrible, but hilarious all at the same time. Oh well. At least you're getting a note out of all of this, even if it is less than entertaining.

I'm hungry now. You're MIA and I want to take pictures. Crappy. I'm leaving the house in 40 minutes.

Alright I just had a 20 minute nap and it's hot out!! I'm even in the shade! 15 minutes my dear and I think I'll head out.

Ok, I'm dying (not literally) of thirst. I'm going to head home. Email me about hanging out tomorrow... make sure you have tons of sunscreen :) I've been in a freezer every day!!

I love you, Lynn. Have a wonderful day.

Love Ashley

remember this?? where were you???