What a Man

Remember that post I did about Family Hockey?  I only bring it up again because my brother finally sent photos from the event. And I really only bring that up because this is a picture of all the boys in the fam who played... and in this picture, I think Erik actually looks like a bonafide hockey player. Notice him there on the right?? Between my brother Jonathan and my dad? I think it's because of his thick neck (thank you wrestling). What a man.

Obligation

I occasionally feel obligated to update this blog. I hate it when that happens. I have had this nagging feeling all week about needing to write something. There are times where I just have nothing to say so I have resisted the urge thus far. I still don't have much to say, but I thought I'd just let you know how things are going.

Actually, I have been thinking about hobbies lately. I have a love/hate relationship with my hobbies. The two at the top of my list at the moment are knitting and sending cards. They also happen to be my fake new year's resolutions. I say fake because I threw them out when a friend forced me to come up with something to strive for in the new year. I decided that they are things I would like to improve on in life in general so they were my cop out answers. Both are things I feel I can sustain for the rest of my life. I mean, who doesn't love handmade gifts and snail mail?

Back to my love/hate relationship.

Love.

I love knitting because it versatile. I mean, it can either be relaxing or entirely invigorating and challenging. I can choose to work on my baby blankets or I can learn a new stitch or (next on my list) create a baby garment. The options are endless! I love giving away hand-made gifts. I guess this knitting should include crochet as well. I have started doing that quite a bit now too. 
Summary: Relaxing and/or challenging, gifts for others.

I love sending cards because I love buying them. I get them from thrift stores, normal stores, anywhere I can really. I love them. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me smile. I love them. I wish I could make them, but I a not that creative. Maybe one day. Not only do I love buying them, but I love sending them! I love writing a little note in them (even when I feel I have nothing to say). I love the anticipation of waiting for it to get through the system and arrive at my loved one's home. I love the idea of the card traveling. I love that it actually has to be physically taken from point a to point b. What a lovely idea! Especially when I was sending cards to France... or across Canada. Lovely.

Hate.

I hate knitting because I have turned into a bit of a yarn snob. I like the good stuff. The problem with this is good stuff = expensive. I was going to the store regularly to see what was on sale so I got deals, but frequent shopping = more frequent buying. Bad combination. Also, my attention span is not always the greatest... thus I currently have 9 projects on the go. The last four inches of whatever project are always the hardest to complete (that'll be great for my 8 inch baby sweater). 

I hate sending cards because of my love of buying cards. Seriously! I love it. I am very good at restraining myself. In fact, I rarely buy cards. I bought them much more frequently when Erik and I were long-distance dating because I send him cards bi-weekly... and I had no car to go to thrift stores so I got them at the grocery store all the time. That got expensive. Yesterday I splurged on cards, however, because my favorite card store here in Kelowna was going out of business. Aka 50% off everything. I quickly scooped up cards I have been eyeing (sp?) for the past year and a half. I had an excuse to buy them now because they will never be as cheap as they were yesterday.  Thus I spent far more than I would normally spend, but I came home beaming. Erik even picked out a couple that he enjoyed.

And that is as far as my thoughts have wandered from schoolwork over the past week. My group projects are consuming me.

A Venti Vent

I would like to take a moment to vent about my program. It is frustratingly disorganized. Here we are... three weeks into school and we are still trying to figure out what is going on. I understand that (at least for me) there are always the beginning of semester jitters. There is always a period of time where you don't really know what's going one, but in most cases you can ask questions and get definite answers.

Definite is not in our faculty's vocabulary.

I know there is a certain degree of flexibility that needs to be maintained on the part of the student, aka me (and I consider myself a fairly flexible person), but seriously... when 60% of my grade is on the line I need a little direction. Especially when I am relying on three other people to work with me to produce whatever needs to be produced to make up the 60%. To make matters more irritating, three of my four classes require this collaboration.

I can usually tolerate the disorganization, but my severe disdain for group work has made it quite intolerable.

Proud of Himself

Erik and I went grocery shopping yesterday. He was casually talking to our favorite cashier when he suddenly exclaimed, "That is the best signature I have ever done in my life!"

And it was.

Almost legible.

On the Go...

I have been knitting as of late. I think it will come to a screeching halt, however, as school gets underway. I have many many group projects this semester so I am going to be spending much of my time in group meetings/group research/group writing/group prep work. I am not looking forward to the semester. I have group assignments worth at least half of my grade in three of my four courses. I think that is a bit ridiculous. Just saying.

Back to knitting.

I have a couple girlfriends who have recently picked it up as well so I have little knitting parties. We drink tea and sit on the floor knitting. It is splendid. I get bored of my projects when we are doing this so I am forever changing what I am doing. I currently have about 8 projects on the go. I like it this way. I find that I can knit for longer when I am alone because I just zone out and don't realize how much time has passed. When I am talking I ... well I don't zone out so I realize how slowly I am progressing and I get tired and switch to something else.

I have been trying to finish this one baby blanket I have been making since July! I tried a new stitch when I did it and it is the most tedious thing I have done. It is painful to even do a single row of the blanket so I am progressing quite slowly. I just want to finish the silly thing. I was making it for a friend and I decided that I'm going to keep it for myself because it is taking so long. At this rate it won't be done for years anyway. I force myself to do a row every once in a while just so I don't give up on the whole endeavor.

I need to finish at least two of my projects before I start another one. Next on my list is to make a baby sweater. I want to expand my talents and learn how to shape things. We'll see how that goes. I am thinking of taking classes at the local yarn store so I can learn a few tricks of the trade. We'll see if I ever have time. Maybe I'll have to go over my reading week this year.

Well, that's all for now. I know that was painfully boring. Sorry.

Beeswax Obsession!

Erik and I are loving beeswax candles right now. Seriously loving them. Ours are from Stanwood's very own Quiet Light Candles. They were hand-made at the convent. They are positively delightful.

Opa's 90th Birthday Celebration

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my family came down to celebrate my Opa's 90th birthday. We started the day (Saturday) off with hockey, then had a little program at my grandparent's church in Abbotsford. That mainly consisted of sharing memories of Opa, singing, appetizers, and a slide show. My Opa kept on saying we were celebrating "family day" rather than his birthday (cute).

Following the formal celebrations we had a mini-reunion at my brother's church. That mainly consisted of watching the Canucks game, playing boardgames, playing pool and foosball, eating, writing poems about the family and reading them, doing an "older generation" vs "younger generation" trivia game, and other fun things.

Here are my grandparents. Oma and Opa.

Here they are with most of their children. Two of my mom's sisters were missing.

 

Here they are with most of their grandchildren. 20 something are missing (if you include some great-grandchildren).

My family naturally took the opportunity to take a family photo. This is the first time we have all been together for an occasion other than a wedding since... my Oma's funeral in 2006. This was taken for Akiho, the Japanese student who has been living with my parents since August.

The Girls.

Add in two SIL's.

I mentioned the poems at the after party. The cousins were to write about the aunts and uncles and the aunts and uncles were supposed to write about their nieces and nephews (aka the cousins). My nephews and two cousins just heard they needed to write a poem and they ran out the door to write one. They followed a common Jansen layout - the alphabet poem. They went first and read their poem which went something like...

A is for axe.

B is for butt.

...

F is for fart.

...

X is for fox.

It was adorable. They were thrilled to have our undivided attention and we were happy to give it.

Here we are looking at some of my uncle's photos.

And here is Jenn with her little baby belly. Poor girl, I couldn't stop looking at it and smiling. And touching it occasionally. Next time I see her the baby will probably either be begging to come out or I will be able to actually hold it!

And a final one of my mom and some of her sisters.

 It was definitely a fun weekend. Very busy and full of family, but so much fun! I miss family events like these. I find it interesting to come in as an adult. It is interesting to see how relationships change and to notice things about family dynamics that you didn't see before. I enjoy developing different relationships with my aunts. I enjoy talking to them about things that matter and having common interests. I hope we have many more of these family gatherings.

Family Hockey

I am not reason enough for my whole family to travel home... a belated Christmas celebration isn't really either... We were all in town to celebrate my Opa's 90th birthday. The Saturday celebrations began with a family ice hockey game. Many of my uncles and cousins joined my brothers and my dad on the ice to play a game of hockey. Erik played too.... for his second time ever. He made his hockey debut in December when there was another family game. He has already improved. I can't wait to see him next year. My parents gave him some of the old skates they had lying around the house so he can practice skating at least before the next big game. My brother Justin wasn't allowed to play because of his arm (see this post or this even earlier one) so Erik was able to use his equipment. In all, I think there were 24 guys playing.

Justin officiated as he couldn't play.

Dropping the puck.

Auntie Heidi in action.

Christopher wishing he was old enough to play.

Jeremy

Brian

Pops

Erik in action.

Somebody was distracting Jonathan.

Mom and Auntie Anita

Beautiful Sharlene

Zachary cheering on his daddy.

Me and Auntie Ange

The Jansen boys

"Christmas" in January - a pictoral update

We decided to take advantage of everyone being home and we postponed our Christmas celebration until January 8 (which also happened to be my birthday). I don't know what you all do about Christmas gifts, but we draw names and do a "secret santa" type deal. It works well when you have a large family.

I was able to give my mother her birthday presents as I was away for her birthday (for the first time ever!). Her birthday happens to be on December 25th. Poor girl.

  This is what my brother-in-law did to his face that day. I laughed so hard, but seriously! He kept it all weekend.

We had a pleasant, low-key celebration. It was strange because we had one day to pound out all our Christmas celebrating rather than a "season" if you will. It was fun though, as always. This picture shows a little bit of what it's like to crowd into my parent's living room. It is nice and cozy. There are legs everywhere!

Christopher and Zachary are excited about their new lego set!

Akiho (my Japanese sister) opening her new pajamas and housecoat.

Justin showing Brian some love.

My niece Kaitlyn and my mother.

My 23rd Birthday

Does anyone else ever forget how old they are? I always do. I need to count from the year I was born to be certain. Birthdays aren't as exciting as they used to be. Getting older is not quite as fun. This year, I was at my parent's house for my birthday. I haven't been home for my birthday in years! In high school we were always gone for basketball on my birthday so it has been 7 years... Not only was I home, but my whole family was there with me. Seriously. All my siblings. That has never happened. Ever. Well, it did happen before Benjamin was born, but since he has been alive, my older siblings have been at college over my birthday. It was fabulous to be all together! Here are a couple pictures from my birthday.

 Erik was not excited about being woken up in the morning, but I was. 

 Ice Cream Cake. 

 Tea from Mom.

Me and my niece Jessica.