Saturday, January 26, 2008
Moving Day
Well, we have our new house, keys and all! We started moving in yesterday while I was at work, as Mike has his Dad and sister here to help. They actually did most of the work, but today we are planning on finishing the moving, so I'm very excited! Just wanted to update you all on that. I will try to post some pictures later today of the house before all the boxes were in!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Craving
Today I had the biggest craving to be somewhere warm and tropical. The snow is still beautiful, especially today as it was fresh and the sky eggshell blue. But, that got me thinking about spring, and how it is already warming up. Which got me thinking about summer and lying on a beach and being warm and swimming. I'm such a summer person, I think that except for the snowy Christmas time of the year, I could go forever just being in summer. No socks. No laces to tie up. No scraping the car inside and out. So now I realize that in order to last through the winters up here I'm going to have to plan a holiday to Hawaii or maybe the Domonican Republic, or somewhere like that.
Speaking of traveling, Mike and I have booked our ticket to the island in March, so I'm planning on eating at all my favourite restaurants in Victoria in one week as well as replacing my lululemon's, which have lasted me three good years of being worn at least 3 times a week. I think that was worth the price they cost me.
And, I finally made it to the gym today after a week of being too ill to go. Still sick, but hoping to be better by monday so that I can work this week. Still packing up the apartment, but moving day is only a week away now! Will post pictures of the house once we're moved in!
Speaking of traveling, Mike and I have booked our ticket to the island in March, so I'm planning on eating at all my favourite restaurants in Victoria in one week as well as replacing my lululemon's, which have lasted me three good years of being worn at least 3 times a week. I think that was worth the price they cost me.
And, I finally made it to the gym today after a week of being too ill to go. Still sick, but hoping to be better by monday so that I can work this week. Still packing up the apartment, but moving day is only a week away now! Will post pictures of the house once we're moved in!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sicko
That's me. Only three half days and one friday of teaching the first week back and I'm already sick. I lost my voice on friday, and then didn't feel well friday night because my throat was so raw. I thought it was just from losing my voice, but then my ears started throbbing too. I guess that's what you get when you work with elementary kids.
Although, why is is that being sick always comes on the weekend? There are many things I wanted to do this weekend, including packing and going to the gym, but instead I spent most of it trying to sleep with my head propped up.
Oh well, hopefully I can get lots of packing done this week and next weekend. The big day is coming very soon and Mike's Dad is coming to help us move on the 25th. I'm so excited to have some family come up here. Anyone wanna come with him? We could go sledding, it would be fun....
Last night I watched one of my all-time favourite movies, Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn. I had no idea she won the best actress Oscar for it, which is incredible as it was her first film. My favourite moment is when she is in Gregory Peck's character's apartment and is about to say goodbye and get changed and as she tries to walk past him to the bathroom he grabs her and they hug each other so tightly and her facial expression is just perfect. It's so romantic.
It got me thinking, how many movies are there that I enjoy watching again every year? Here is the list I came up with:
1.Roman Holiday
2.Love Actually
3.50 First Dates
4.Practical Magic
5.The Fellowship of the Ring
Notice that the first four are all semi-romantic. I guess that's just me.
But now I'm curious, which movies do you watch again and again?
Although, why is is that being sick always comes on the weekend? There are many things I wanted to do this weekend, including packing and going to the gym, but instead I spent most of it trying to sleep with my head propped up.
Oh well, hopefully I can get lots of packing done this week and next weekend. The big day is coming very soon and Mike's Dad is coming to help us move on the 25th. I'm so excited to have some family come up here. Anyone wanna come with him? We could go sledding, it would be fun....
Last night I watched one of my all-time favourite movies, Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn. I had no idea she won the best actress Oscar for it, which is incredible as it was her first film. My favourite moment is when she is in Gregory Peck's character's apartment and is about to say goodbye and get changed and as she tries to walk past him to the bathroom he grabs her and they hug each other so tightly and her facial expression is just perfect. It's so romantic.
It got me thinking, how many movies are there that I enjoy watching again every year? Here is the list I came up with:
1.Roman Holiday
2.Love Actually
3.50 First Dates
4.Practical Magic
5.The Fellowship of the Ring
Notice that the first four are all semi-romantic. I guess that's just me.
But now I'm curious, which movies do you watch again and again?
Monday, January 07, 2008
Winter fun
This last weekend before Mike and I both went back to work was a lot of fun. We hadn't had the chance to really do any winter outdoor activities, but after it started snowing again, we decided to plan a day of sledding.
Our friends Matt and Lindsey took us to this place they used to go sledding at, about 80 km out of town, in the direction of the Peace River (north east of us I believe). As you get to the river valley, the road starts to slope downwards and around, so on the left of the highway, there is a "forest" (although it did actually have some nice big thick trees scattered in amongst the spindly ones). The cool thing, is that at the bottom of the hill, there is a landing where you can park in the snow, a fire pit, and an opening in the trees that leads all the way up the hill through the forest to the road. It's actually for skidooing, but we took our sleds and climbed the huge hill, (it took about 20 minutes just to walk up it) and eventually found where it came out at the top of the highway. We marked our spot, and then the four of us sledded down the insane hill, with L and I sharing a double sled. It was soo scary, but the best sledding I've ever done. In fact, after this, I don't think anything else really counts as sledding. When we finally got to the bottom, I think my face was pure white as I was at the front and got all the powder spray. I kept thinking we were going to crash into the forest because there were some really steep parts in between the flatter areas, with big jumps and holes in the snow. Thankfully it's so powdery up here it doesn't hurt too bad, although I was really sore the next day.
Once we got to the bottom, we drove back up to the top and sledded down again, this time by ourselves, so that one person could take turns driving the car down to pick us up at the bottom. Yes, the hill is that long. I think it took me nearly 10 minutes just to go down the hill once. I realized how strange it must have sounded when I told them it was the first time I'd been in a forest that was covered in snow. You don't really realize that there aren't many chances to take a stroll through the woods on Vancouver Island when the trees are all powdery and white. It was a really beautiful trail.
When we got home, I had to quickly get changed because our friend Kim and Nathan had finally had their baby, and we were headed off to the hospital to visit. I got home, took one look at myself in the mirror, and couldn't stop laughing. It turns out that the first run had completely melted mascara all around my eyes and had been that way all day! And no one told me. Sheesh. You would have told me, wouldn't you? Oh well, at least we all looked pretty silly, being red in the face, with matted, powdery hair.
At the hospital, I got to meet baby Gwen, who was born on January 4th. I got to hold her and couldn't believe how tiny newborn babies are. I always forget, because I'm so used to all the older baby girls here. I can't believe how many there are. 2007 was the year of the baby girl. If I count all my friends up here and in Victoria, in the past year, there have been 7 baby girls born, plus, just in my new church here in the last year, there were 7 baby girls born, and only 1 baby boy. It's kind of cool though, for a group of mothers who are friends to all have baby girls in the same year, because they can grow up playing with each other. Kind of like the sisterhood of the traveling pants or something.
Okay, enough about babies. I still haven't listed my new year's resolutions, or goals as I like to call them, but they include:
1) reading the bible every day
2) losing weight/exercising/eating healthy
3) making a better effort at keeping in touch with friends
4) sending off all my poems and stories for publishing
5) saving for my trip to Ireland, which I really want to accomplish soon, before Mike and I start having kids.
I think that's all of them. Last year I started reading more again, and getting back into the YA fantasy mind set so that I can start writing them, and I did accomplish that goal, since I read about 20 of them last year. It feels good to get to the end of the year, and realized that you've actually been consistent with one of your goals.
Well, to end off with, here are some of our sledding action shots. It's hard to capture the best moments, but they do give you an idea.
Matt and Lindsey going for a ride.
Me sledding at the bottom of the hill ( I was always the slowest one).
The boys attempting to survive without crashing on the steepest part of the hill.
Mike, arriving at the bottom.
Happy Winter!
Our friends Matt and Lindsey took us to this place they used to go sledding at, about 80 km out of town, in the direction of the Peace River (north east of us I believe). As you get to the river valley, the road starts to slope downwards and around, so on the left of the highway, there is a "forest" (although it did actually have some nice big thick trees scattered in amongst the spindly ones). The cool thing, is that at the bottom of the hill, there is a landing where you can park in the snow, a fire pit, and an opening in the trees that leads all the way up the hill through the forest to the road. It's actually for skidooing, but we took our sleds and climbed the huge hill, (it took about 20 minutes just to walk up it) and eventually found where it came out at the top of the highway. We marked our spot, and then the four of us sledded down the insane hill, with L and I sharing a double sled. It was soo scary, but the best sledding I've ever done. In fact, after this, I don't think anything else really counts as sledding. When we finally got to the bottom, I think my face was pure white as I was at the front and got all the powder spray. I kept thinking we were going to crash into the forest because there were some really steep parts in between the flatter areas, with big jumps and holes in the snow. Thankfully it's so powdery up here it doesn't hurt too bad, although I was really sore the next day.
Once we got to the bottom, we drove back up to the top and sledded down again, this time by ourselves, so that one person could take turns driving the car down to pick us up at the bottom. Yes, the hill is that long. I think it took me nearly 10 minutes just to go down the hill once. I realized how strange it must have sounded when I told them it was the first time I'd been in a forest that was covered in snow. You don't really realize that there aren't many chances to take a stroll through the woods on Vancouver Island when the trees are all powdery and white. It was a really beautiful trail.
When we got home, I had to quickly get changed because our friend Kim and Nathan had finally had their baby, and we were headed off to the hospital to visit. I got home, took one look at myself in the mirror, and couldn't stop laughing. It turns out that the first run had completely melted mascara all around my eyes and had been that way all day! And no one told me. Sheesh. You would have told me, wouldn't you? Oh well, at least we all looked pretty silly, being red in the face, with matted, powdery hair.
At the hospital, I got to meet baby Gwen, who was born on January 4th. I got to hold her and couldn't believe how tiny newborn babies are. I always forget, because I'm so used to all the older baby girls here. I can't believe how many there are. 2007 was the year of the baby girl. If I count all my friends up here and in Victoria, in the past year, there have been 7 baby girls born, plus, just in my new church here in the last year, there were 7 baby girls born, and only 1 baby boy. It's kind of cool though, for a group of mothers who are friends to all have baby girls in the same year, because they can grow up playing with each other. Kind of like the sisterhood of the traveling pants or something.
Okay, enough about babies. I still haven't listed my new year's resolutions, or goals as I like to call them, but they include:
1) reading the bible every day
2) losing weight/exercising/eating healthy
3) making a better effort at keeping in touch with friends
4) sending off all my poems and stories for publishing
5) saving for my trip to Ireland, which I really want to accomplish soon, before Mike and I start having kids.
I think that's all of them. Last year I started reading more again, and getting back into the YA fantasy mind set so that I can start writing them, and I did accomplish that goal, since I read about 20 of them last year. It feels good to get to the end of the year, and realized that you've actually been consistent with one of your goals.
Well, to end off with, here are some of our sledding action shots. It's hard to capture the best moments, but they do give you an idea.
Matt and Lindsey going for a ride.
Me sledding at the bottom of the hill ( I was always the slowest one).
The boys attempting to survive without crashing on the steepest part of the hill.
Mike, arriving at the bottom.
Happy Winter!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Books this year
Taking the idea from Ciboulette, I have decided to also post the list of books I read this year. I haven't made a book list since I was a kid and very dorky when it came to my book list--the purpose was usually to show how many books I could read in a year--usually around 150 novels, mainly Nancy Drew. I can't believe how much time I used to have to read!
So, this year's list is quite funny, because while Mike was in Regina and I was on my practicum, I read way more than I had during my entire degree. And, since I could finally read for pleasure, and wasn't forced to read adult fiction novels, I began catching up on all the YA fantasy series' that had been written in the last few years. Thus, my list has only about 3 adult novels on it, although I did attempt to read One Hundred Years of Solitude to make up for it (and only made it half way through. I'm also currently reading Ireland, by Frank Delaney.
So, here they are, approximately from least favourite to most favourite.
23. Beyond the Deepwoods, by Paul Stewart and Chris Ridell
22. The Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis
21. Lost, Gregory Maguire
20. Trickster's Queen, Tamora Pierce
19. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
18. Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
17. Enna Burning, Shannon Hale
16. Avalon High, Meg Cabot
15. The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
14. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K Rowling
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
12. The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9. Mimus, Lilli Thal
8. Trickster's Choice, Tamora Pierce
7. The Golem's Eye, Johnathan Stroud
6. The Amulet of Samarkand, Johnathan Stroud
5. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
4. A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore (most hilarious book ever)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2. Inkspell, Cornelia Funke (could be tied for first)
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
If you have never read any YA fantasy series, or if you've only read Harry Potter, definitely read the Funke books, they are very good. Also, not on my list as I've already read them all are O.R Melling's books for young adults, which she has recently re-written and re-published, but they are amazing too. Happy reading for a new year!
So, this year's list is quite funny, because while Mike was in Regina and I was on my practicum, I read way more than I had during my entire degree. And, since I could finally read for pleasure, and wasn't forced to read adult fiction novels, I began catching up on all the YA fantasy series' that had been written in the last few years. Thus, my list has only about 3 adult novels on it, although I did attempt to read One Hundred Years of Solitude to make up for it (and only made it half way through. I'm also currently reading Ireland, by Frank Delaney.
So, here they are, approximately from least favourite to most favourite.
23. Beyond the Deepwoods, by Paul Stewart and Chris Ridell
22. The Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis
21. Lost, Gregory Maguire
20. Trickster's Queen, Tamora Pierce
19. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
18. Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
17. Enna Burning, Shannon Hale
16. Avalon High, Meg Cabot
15. The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
14. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K Rowling
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
12. The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9. Mimus, Lilli Thal
8. Trickster's Choice, Tamora Pierce
7. The Golem's Eye, Johnathan Stroud
6. The Amulet of Samarkand, Johnathan Stroud
5. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
4. A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore (most hilarious book ever)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2. Inkspell, Cornelia Funke (could be tied for first)
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
If you have never read any YA fantasy series, or if you've only read Harry Potter, definitely read the Funke books, they are very good. Also, not on my list as I've already read them all are O.R Melling's books for young adults, which she has recently re-written and re-published, but they are amazing too. Happy reading for a new year!
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