Next Year

Only 20 minutes left and then I'm officially on Holidays!

I'm excited yet at the same time have this fear I've forgotten to do something at work.
I've taken care of my emails and even remembered to set my Out of Office message, everything should be fine.

This Christmas season has been so busy. Busy with good things but so busy that I don't feel even a little bit of Christmas spirit and I can't believe it's in 6 days. It snuck up on me this year. There's been no time to decorate the tree or go see the Nativity Pageant or go to the Zoo lights (we'll go in January for sure). I haven't done even a little bit of Christmas baking and there were no cards to my neighbors. I'm relieved every night when I can cross tasks off my busy schedule, I've wished away the whole season!

I pledge that next year will be different, it has to be. Even if everything I'm invited to sounds like fun, I can't do everything without feeling rushed and annoyed.

So from this Grinch,

Merry Christmas

I wish you friends and family and treats and gifts and gift giving and game playing and cozy nights with slippers and hot chocolate and skating and anything else you've been hoping to do.
L

Picture a Christmas

Picture a Stable in Judeah.
Picture a sacred, silent night.
And can you hear the Angels near, and see the star so bright.
Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing Praise to Him; Remember Him,
as you picture Christmas this year.

Picture the kind and gentle Joseph.
Picture the mother, Mary, fair.
And can you see, so reverently The shepherds kneeling there.
Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing Praise to Him; Remember Him,
as you picture Christmas this year.

Picture a Stable at 6th Ward’s Christmas party, Wait John, don’t knock it over.
See the adorable Sunbeam sheep and watch them pull off their cotton balls.
Jesus doesn’t like his eyes being poked and there goes the manger.
Yet somehow it was perfect, just as it should have been. :)
L

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Like every little girl I had visions of being a figure skater... whom among us didn’t?
Not surprisingly that didn’t really turn out but I did used to really like to skate. I thought I was pretty good too, definitely comfortable on the ice, it was one of the very few sports that I actually liked to participate in. My Mom liked to skate so I have lots of memories of skating at the local arena. The Young Men and Women used to go skating on the Fish Pond sometimes too, I even remember a bonfire on the ice one year. Those trips always involved the standard scalding hot chocolate.

As I got older and eventually moved away from home the skating trips became non-existent and it was years before I laced them up again. Then I started dating Bradley who really likes to skate and we liked that it was something free we could do in the winter for a cheap night. So we took my old, too small skates and turned them in to (traded them in for) some really great new skates that are actually comfortable.

Last year we started going skating at local rinks but we purchased the new skates a little bit late so they weren’t used very often and since I hadn’t skated in years I really wasn’t good.

This Saturday Brad and I decided it was time to pull out our skates so we headed over to Olympic Plaza. We had such a great time and we even managed to go right before the ice was zambonied, meaning we got to skate on such smooth ice after. I was really pleased with how quickly it came back this time. I was much more comfortable than I’d been last year.

So I have a few skating related goals:

1. Be able to stop like I used to. You know, hockey style. I used to do it no problem but it’s definitely going to take some practice to get back there. I can’t stop at all anymore.
2. Skate often enough this year to be a decent skater.
3. Find others who own their own skates so we can go together.

These aren't exactly like mine but they're pretty close. Nice eh? And way better than those silly white ones.

L

Getting to Know You, Christmas Style

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags. I think gift bags are a cop out, they're no fun to open. Everyone loves to tear paper. I have this problem though, I have a lifetime supply of gift bags from the wedding... everyone gets wedding themed bags this year and every year until I run out :)
   
   
2. Real tree or artificial. I have a little artificial one. I've never had the space for a big one and I've actually never had a real one, I've seen that video of the real one going up in flames though, they're dangerous!
   
   
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually on December 1st but we've been so busy this year it has yet to go up. We're working on it, maybe tonight (but realistically probably not)
   
   
4. When do you take the tree down? When I get around to it, usually far later than it should be up.
   
   
5. Do you like eggnog? Ew, yuck, definitly not!
   
   
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't know if this counts cause I think I was 21 but my parents gave me a Kitchen Aid mixer, best gift ever. We have a tradition that gifts from Santa aren't wrapped so I could see it sitting there but I knew Mom had gotten one for Dad so I didn't ever look at it. They had to point out that it had my name on it and I wouldn't believe them for a minute or two. I really love that mixer. My parents have always been really good at giving me this great gift that's exactly what I want but I didn't ever expect to get.
   
   
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. It's tiny and cheap and from the dollar store and I'm hoping Santa will bring me a new one some year.
   
   
8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad. He has no hobbies and doesn't like to read and has everything he needs... the result is he gets one of three presents, a tie, pajama pants or cologne. What will it be this year? Wait and see.
   
   
9. Easiest person to buy for? My Mom. I can buy her clothes or yummy lotion or something cute for her house or some Christmas music, the list goes on and on, she's usually the first person I buy for.
   
   
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably the Ugly Claus series. My brother and I used to give each other tacky gifts. The person who got the tackiest one had to display it. I always lost though and the tradition died the year he gave me something so ugly I never took it home but hid it under the guest bed instead. Some traditions are meant to end though I'll always treasure the memory of the cheap, pink, plastic flamingo light.
    
    
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I've actually never sent out Christmas cards before. I really want to and last I decided this was the year to do it but then I felt guilty sending out Christmas cards before all the Thank you cards from my wedding went out so maybe next year.
    
    
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I really like White Christmas and a Christmas Story though there's no way Brad will watch that one with me. I talked him into it last year cause he'd never seen it and he was a little horrified at the stupidity of it, he just didn't get it, it's a classic!
    
    
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I'm always sad I'm not one of those super prepared people who has it done by October. I don't know when I start but lets just say I'm still not done. Getting close though.
    
    
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember. This year I'm giving my sister a blender we got for our wedding but I'm not sure that really counts. I asked her if she wants it and we got her a different gift. I did wrap the blender but only because it'd be fun to have more presents under the tree. It certainly won't be a surprise.
    
    
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pecan Pie. Lots and lots of pie. I love all the vegetables though too. I used to love the stuffing but 2 Thanksgivings ago we had this huge Thanksgiving dinner and later that night I was sick like I haven't been sick in years. Sutffing is a little ruined for me but I'm hoping not forever, one day I'll love it again.
    
    
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Definietly clear, I'm not a fan of the coloured ones, especially if they blink.
    
    
17. Favorite Christmas song? I really love O Come All Ye Faithful and O Holy Night, but as per my previous posts regarding Christmas Music it's pretty hard to choose a favorite out of 349 songs. I like them all. I also really like Christmas in Killarny because we listed to it a lot while I was growing up.
    
    
18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Since I've been single and living away from home Christmas always includes travel. Normally I drive to Magrath but one year I flew to London and this year we're driving to Spanish Fork, Utah to my sister's house. Should be fun. I do look forward to the time I have a family of my own that's established enough to stay home cause that sounds nice to me.
    
    
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Let's see... On Comet on Cupid on Donnor and Blitzen. Now... I don't remember how it goes after that but there's Vixen and Dasher and Dancer and of course Rudolph but that's about all I've got. That's not bad, I missed Prancer, I can deal with 8 out of 9.
    
    
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Defintely Christmas Day.
    
    
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? I"m having a difficult time this year with how busy our schedule is. It's all good things but there's just too many of them, we're having to miss out on stuff we want to do because we just can't fit it in.
    
    
22. What I love most about Christmas? I love Christmas Carols. There's such a feeling about them, they make you peaceful and happy and ready to be super nice to everyone.
    

So there you have it, Getting to Know You, Christmas Style. Feel free to add your own answer in the comments :)
L

Party Pooper

Brad and I have been asked to be in charge of the program for our Ward’s Christmas Party and I’ve been a little surprised by my response. For a few months leading up to the time we were asked I’d been hoping we wouldn’t have to do anything with this party, I didn’t think I had any interest in helping with a family ward Christmas party. Brad was asked one Sunday and I wasn’t happy that we had to do it.

Being in Primary and living in a tiny apartment, I’d forgotten that I like to organize and plan. I’ve really enjoyed putting together this program and I’m excited to see how it turns out. I like giving people the opportunity to share their talents. I miss planning activities and parties.

If you’re looking for something fun to do this Saturday stop by the Crescent Road Chapel and watch a fun, entertaining program, complete with Santa (I hope, I wasn’t in charge of that portion and I haven’t heard). Eat a delicious meal and enjoy the party!
L

Love at First Listen

This new Relient K Christmas Album is easily the best part of this Monday; from the first note it was love.

If you need a pick me up or just love some good music, check it out.
L

Home sweet... Meat Locker?

A few months after moving into our apartment we discovered that our baseboard heaters weren’t working properly. After a few weeks, numerous phone calls and random stop-ins by our landlord the problem was finally fixed and we were proud of ourselves.

Well fixed seems to have been a pretty loose term. While yes, we do now get heat, the amount generated is NOT enough to actually keep me warm. 15 degrees when it’s -28 out is not warm enough. So you can generally find me on the couch wearing pajamas and covered in a blanket, carefully tucked so no air gets in. It makes me really unproductive though as doing those dishes would required me to venture out of my heated cove.

I’m sure starting to appreciate the case of hot chocolate I got at a wedding shower.
Here’s to more cold nights than I care to think about.
L

What do you wear when the wife has chores for you to do?

Unprepared

I’ve lived in Southern Alberta all my life so I’m fairly used to our winters but yesterday really took me by surprise. Physically I was mostly prepared for my walk home in -25 but mentally it caught me completely off guard, I had forgotten just how cold -25 really is. Halfway home I started considering my options and realized I had none but to continue on; I couldn’t very well just stop and freeze.

It took a long hot shower, some caramel hot chocolate, a robe, a blanket and a good hour to completely warm me up.

I’m a little better prepared for my walk home today, the better scarf and long coat will be helpful.

Here’s to the first of many, many cold walks home.
L

What Just Happened Here?

This is one of those stories that may not translate well on a blog but I’ll do my best.

Last week I went to Chapters and bought a book that Brad and I have been wanting for a while but as I was leaving I remembered we still had a gift card to Chapters that we haven’t used, darn. We don’t buy books very often so now is a good time to use it. I didn’t have to card with me so a couple days later Brad and I decided to go back with card in hand.

The plan was to return the book and then re-buy it using our handy gift card, easy right? As we were standing in line we saw a cd that I wanted so we added that to the pile, slightly complicating things since the gift card now won’t cover the entire purchase, we’ll just give them some extra cash though.

So we get called up to the counter and we explain to the very nice man what we want and he’s on board says he’ll just need to get authorization to make the return (he seemed really new). His manager happened to be standing right beside him so he heard the story and said rather than do a difficult return how about he just gives us an additional $5 in store credit and we call it even. We agree immediately as it seems like a great idea, we make our purchase and leave.

And then we start to wonder... wait a minute, what just happened in there? Cause when you think about it, it doesn’t actually make any sense.

Goal: Use our gift card, not our bank account to pay for the previously purchased book.

Result: We got $5 off a cd.

The manager must not have understood what we were wanting to do, or perhaps he wanted to get rid of us, either way we figure we’ll take the book back and try again. Maybe we’ll have better luck this time.
L

Christmas Times A Comin’

So I have this fetish with Christmas music, I really like it and I have a lot of it, 260 ish songs. You would think that would be enough but last night I downloaded a little more, including Jessica Simpson’s Christmas album. Don’t be fooled, it’s just as bad as you think it would be. But not wanting to make a snap decision, and loving Christmas music the way I do, I didn’t delete it right away thinking I’d listen and give it a fair chance. So last night and today I put my Christmas music on shuffle... Every freaking other song that shuffles is from that crappy Jessica Simpson album!! It never stops! And now I’m here at work with no access to iTunes so I can’t even delete the thing...
Oh how I suffer
L

A Handprint on My Heart

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack to the musical Wicked a lot right now and today this song really hit me. There are so many people I’ve know who are with me now “Like a handprint on my heart”. I am who I am because of the people I’ve known. Just a few that have made a difference in me:

• Brad
• Nathan
• Chris
• Irena
• Dave
• Tekarra
• Jamie

The list goes on and on, thank you for making me, me
L

Update - Music?

Just wanted to draw your attention to the video I've just re-uploaded to the recorder post,
I realized the video I'd put up was only 4 seconds long, this is the real video.

It's funny so check it out. Enjoy!
L

Remember Remember

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Happy Guy Fawks Day everyone!

Unfotunately our celebration must be put on hold, who knew you needed a permit to set off fireworks?
L

Music?

So remember when I promised the recorder video? Yeah, I forgot until today.

We went to Jen and Ian's house a while ago and Brad noticed Jen's recorder lying on the table and he got excited. Turns out she has two recorders so they started playing duets together while Ian and I tried to tune out the noise... er, I mean music.

A little while later they were all set up to perform their beautiful duet for us and for some reason none of us could stop laughing, and playing the recorder while laughing doesn't work at all. Listen for yourself.
L

Happy Halloween

So it's a little belated but Happy Halloween!

To celebrate the occasion Brad and I got together with our friends Jenn and Ian and we carved pumpkins. They made a fence with a cat on it and a moon up in the corner, very cute. Brad and I carved a very cute and scary spider.

It was lots of fun, I haven't enjoyed carving for a while, I guess it's all about the company
L

New Toys

Today was empty the camera memory card day so I'm going to post a couple picture posts.

I've been asked to lead a class in our Ward's Super Saturday (which I'm totally unqualified to do), the class I came up with is making Christmas stockings. Something I wanted to do anyway and we have a lot of young married couple's in the ward so I thought it was something that others would enjoy.

I did some Internet searching and found some designs I liked and thought I could duplicate.

This process required the use of two fun new toys. One, the brand new hot glue gun I bought for the occasion, works like a charm. The second is much more fun, my brother gave me a sewing machine that his co-worker was getting rid of. This is the first time I've found a use for it and I was excited. I'm not super experienced when it comes to sewing machines but I figured I'd be able to load the bobbin and thread the machine no problem. I was part right, I got it loaded but it took two phone calls to Mom and one Internet search. The above is a picture of my threaded machine.

After the initial difficulty the stockings turned out so well, I'm so excited with how they look, the tree is Brad's the snowmen is mine and the Santa is an extra, if you want to learn to make one come see me on December 1st :)
L

New Socks

I know it’s silly but I hate buying socks. I feel like Women’s dress socks are expensive. If you need a bag of sport socks, no problem, they’re cheap but those nice patterned dress socks are pricey. As a result I tend hold off until it’s absolutely necessary, I’ve been trying to get by on 3 pairs of black socks and a bunch of others that are so thin on the bottom I may as well be barefoot. It was finally time so yesterday while out shopping for some pants (which I got for $20 by the way) I picked out 3 pairs of socks. 2 cute argyle and one plain black, 3 for $10 which I still think is expensive but I couldn’t wait any longer.

Oh man these socks! They’re so nice! Not too thick and not too thin. They stay pulled up yet don’t cut off the circulation, I should have bought these way sooner and I think I’ll go back for more! Yay for new socks!
L

At Least my Pride is Well Earned

I can now truthfully say – I make prize winning Chili!

I was the winner in the category of “Veggie” at our Ward Chili cook-off though there may have been a little confusion on the part of the judges, there was most definitely meat in my Chili and the only veggies were carrots and green peppers. I think it was the carrots that won them over. I’m not one to question the prize, I’m just savoring the victory.
L

Men on a Mission

The 2008 Men on a Mission calendar features twelve handsome returned Mormon missionaries from across the United States who, for the first time ever, have dared to pose bare-chested in a steamy national calendar.

Usually seen riding their bicycles and preaching door-to-door, these hunky young men of faith explode with sexuality on each calendar page. Hand-selected for their striking appearances and powerful spiritual commitment, the "devout dozen" are stepping away from the Mormon traditions of modest dress, and "baring their testimony" to demonstrate that they can have strong faith and be proud of who they are, both with a sense of individualism and a sense of humor.

The general public is largely unaware of the selflessness and
sacrifice of these missionaries. They have helped the poor, fed the hungry, built schools and homes, and provided service to many people in need. Theirs are stories that deserve to be told.

While the fact that twelve young returned missionaries are posing shirtless will certainly raise eyebrows, it may also help to sort out some common misconceptions of Mormons by celebrating the beautiful bodies, great looks and amazing stories of service of these deeply spiritual men. Intended to be a light-hearted spin on a social taboo, the Men on a Mission calendar is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the selfless servitude of missionaries.

Donations to Worthy Causes

The Men on a Mission calendar will benefit a variety of worthy causes.
Each of the twelve missionaries will have the opportunity to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar to a cause in the area he served. Some of the charities supported will include Care For Life, Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity.

The Italicized portions are the ones that struck me as especially ridiculous.
Any thoughts?
L

You Are What You Eat

New Recipes We Love

1. Sausage Paella
2. BBQ Chicken Enchiladas
3. Coconut Curry Chicken
4. Homemade Pancakes (try them, they’re so much better than a mix)
5. Seasoned Roasted Potatoes
6. That Peanut Butter Dessert Granny made – I must get the recipe

I love a new recipe and I tend to overuse it so I'm being careful to make these in moderation.
L

I Matter

I like voting.

It makes me feel important, my vote counts for something.

In my ward alone Dave Bronconnier got 7,053 votes. I’m one of those votes, I’m in that number. Without me and my vote he wouldn’t have been ahead by so much.

You go to the school or church that your ward is voting in and it’s filled with this sense of importance. Despite the posters on the wall or the trophies in the gym it feels transformed into this place where change can happen. I can make a difference.

I love that
L

Jimmy Eat World

I'm sure you've all been waiting to hear about the concert so here goes.

I really love Jimmy Eat World, I mean really love them, so when I heard they were coming to Calgary I was excited and bought tickets as soon as they were available.

On the night of the concert we met up with Dave and Naomi and heard on the radio that the concert was delayed for an hour. We were glad we heard about it before we got there so we didn't have to wait around for longer.

The opener was a group called Maritime. They were not good but we put up with them, waiting for Jimmy.

I'm sad to say that the concert ended up being dissapointing. Don't get me wrong, the music was incredible, the sound was probably the best I've ever heard at a concert and the lighting was so good. But the band didn't interact with us at all. They came out, introduced their songs and then they were done. They came out and did an encore but had no energy at all.

After the concert the crowd went out to buy merchandise only to discover there wasn't any. Apparantly the band got held up at the border. That's why the concert was late, the merchandise never came and they were super bummed.

I'd be interested in seeing them again because I've heard good things about their concerts. Hopefully they come back.

I'm posting some pictures and videos, so enjoy!

Pink and Pink

I don't know what it is about these, but I LOVE them!

Pink M&M'a

Brilliant marketing
L

Making Time

Okay so I know the blog has been super boring but I’ve been ridiculously busy these last couple of days.

There are a few things I’ve been meaning to write about. The Jimmy Eat World concert is one of them but it’ll wait, I have videos to add. The mother of a canker sore is another but it’s too gross to write about (thank me for leaving out details). There’s also the really really depressing movie Brad and I watched but it led us to nothing but super sad thoughts so I won’t dwell on that. Look forward to the video of the recorder duet and I have a few pictures coming.

So how about a story...
I went on a blind date once, it’s the only one I’ve ever been on. You hear horror stories about people’s blind dates so I was hesitant but when a friend asked if he could set me up with his other friend I said okay. So Pete (not his real name but since I don’t remember his real name I’ll call him Pete) calls me a couple days later and asks me out for hot chocolate, sounds fine. We go to this cool place in Marda Loop, it’s an old house that’s been turned into a coffee shop, you can choose which room to drink in as there are tables in the old rooms. We chose one with a real tree growing right in the middle, it was cool. If I remember correctly I had white hot chocolate and it was so good. After hot chocolate we decided to go back to my place to watch a movie but when we got there we discovered about 12 people sprawled all over already watching a movie. I was fine to nestle in and find a spot and watch in but it didn’t take long before Pete decided he’d had enough and left.

There was nothing specifically wrong with the date, just awkward. Disappointing that Pete couldn’t take the large group of people. I remember that Pete was tall... and that’s really all I remember. Never heard from him again and that was okay by me.

Here’s to more entries to come in the near future
L

Uninterested

Surprising to me is that in all my years working in an office I’ve never had to deal with a crazy cat/dog person. While I wouldn’t call my current co-worker crazy there is definitely an element there that’s foreign to me.

She has this dog, and she REALLY loves her dog. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand the love of pets but the frequency in which I hear stories about said dog is surprising. She has also uttered the following phrases “My dog is on a sleepover with her boyfriend”. But the sentence that takes the cake, (speaking to her mother) “But you haven’t seen your Grand-doggie in so long!”... Grand-doggie? Seriously?
L

Doing my Civic Duty

At Brad’s encouragement we’re attempting to be well informed for the upcoming Mayoral election. To help I’ve investigated the candidates (those that had websites anyway). I didn’t want my time and effort to be wasted, so to help all you Calgarians here is some info on the candidates and my opinions about them. I will warn you, this is going to be a fairly long entry.

David Bertram – Doing what's right for Calgary
Additional Info:
– Accountant
– Really crappy web site

Dave Bronconnier – Leading with Passion and Purpose
Additional Info:
– Far more info than I was willing to write down but I know that I like him.

Elizabeth Fielding – People First
– A responsive unified city hall is the most important change I plan to bring to Calgary.
– “The issues are not what any Candidate wants them to be, but what the majority of Calgarians feel they are. That’s just a dumb sentence
– “Respect each other, respect ourselves, this can prevent arguments, change attitudes, move mountains or at least remove road blocks!!!”
– Feels strongly about the poor treatment of Seniors and is focusing on that.

Additional Info
– Doesn’t look even a little bit professional. Really should have a better picture on her website. Really terrible photos
– Got sick and used allopathic and alternative healing methods
– “She is planning for a Positive Approach, Progressive and Unified City Hall that will set the Pace World Wide for Innovative Municipal Government.” Fairly certain she didn’t write this sentence at all, it’s far too good compared to the rest of the site.
– Seems a bit over ambitious. States a couple times that she wants to make Calgary world leaders in certain aspects.
– Random use of capital letters bugs me

Al Foster – A Move Forward
– Calgary is a Great City with a Proud History of Honest Hard Working People and it's time we gave The City back to these people. Apparently the city has become so crime riddled that it’s been taken away from the honest people? That’s just silly.
– Basically he says that Bronconnier is crappy. He notes how taxes have increased and supposedly 69% of Calgarians don’t like Bronconnier and I guess it’s him and his friends that run the city.
– “It’s time we had an Accountable Leader not a Politician running this city”
– “It's Time to FOSTER some New Ideas in City Hall” Heh heh heh, clever
– “A Vote for Foster is a Vote for Yourself a Vote for the Future”

Additional Info
– Grouchy Looking. Would look much more approachable if he shaved his beard
– He’s 55, been married for 34 years and has 2 sons
– Until he retired he worked at a pipe manufacturing plants doing inspections. He supervised and trained something like 133 people.
– Ran for Mayor in 2001 and 2004
– “Al believes in the health, welfare and safety of all Calgarian's and again if elected is pledging 25% of his salary to local charities and community programs.” Very cool
– Thinks the Tusina Nations dispute would have been solved if Dave hadn’t bullied them
– Doesn’t think we should be paying for Highway 22x improvements, it’s a provincial road
– I guess Dave is arrogant and has poor negotiation skills

Harry Heck – We can...
– Focuses on the standard issues. Taxes, Transportation, homelessness, all the basics.
– Has a lot of great ideas but doesn’t mention how he plans on following through.

Additional Info
– Wow, he’s the same age as me
– Marketing Consultant, Real Estate Agent (basically a bunch of random jobs)
– Seems really honest. Isn’t afraid to show people his failures and how they’ve made him better. Seems a little young to be mayor though

Sandy Jenkins - Expect More, Calgary
– Build LRT Subway Downtown – Would cost $600MM
– Open up the Taxi Commission, get cabs on the street
– Discontinue Market Value Assessments after 25 years of ownership
– Legalize all Secondary Suites
– Move West leg of LRT to Mount Royal College
– Campaign Finance Reform

Additional Info
– I expected Sandy to be a girl
– Has a blog, I appreciate that
– Looks like a good candidate

Jonathan (JJ) Sunstrum – ABC, A Better Calgary
– He had a link on smoking so I got excited thinking maybe he’d want to really get rid of it but he’s just saying there should be ash trays to avoid cigarette butt trash.
– The graffiti in this town “is really lame, and you know who you are”, sounded like he was 17.

Additional Info
– Also has a blog
– Uses a lot of really crappy quality video to tell about his issues. It’s hard to hear what he’s saying over the loud wind.
– His site was a pain to use so I didn’t actually read about all of the issues he’s addressing, it took to long. They’re all on their own page, with their own crappy video.
– Site quit on me and I didn’t care enough to restart it.

Jeremy Zhao (JZ) – Didn’t have a campaign theme
– Taxation
– Environment
– Affordable Housing
– Transit
– Homelessness
– Infrastructure Maintenance (spelled wrong)
– Voter Apathy

Additional Info
– Very cool website
– Daily updated blog
– You can easily add him to your Face book account, yay! (there’s sarcasm there)
– Only 19
– “All streams of media decided Jeremy Zhao was not notable enough to be discussed. Therefore Jeremy has decided to re-announce his intentions to run again. I am very excited to re-announce my plans to run again,¨ says Jeremy. Failure in getting a good head start has forced Jeremy to look for other methods of spreading his campaign, including Facebook and YouTube.” A little sad

There was one more candidate, Alnoor Kassam. His website wasn't listed on the City of Calgary page so I didn't look him up until just now. He has a very nice website but I've already made up my mind about who I'm voting for so I didn't feel like cutting and pasting. If you want to check out Alnoor is website is here.

Happy voting!
L

Weekend in Review

I spent the last little bit reading others blog entries hoping to be inspired for my own. It’s been such a long time since I posted an entry but I haven’t felt inspired at all. Funny how sometimes every moment seems like a blog entry and other times my life seems so dull I’m sure no one’s interested.

I suppose I’ll just have to go with a boring old weekend recap, despite it being Tuesday already.

On Friday I did something I haven’t done in at least 15 years, I attended a Primary party. I really admire the simplicity of said party. We met at a park where the kids played on a jungle gym, then we gathered them and had a quick scavenger hunt. The kids played some more and then we ate pizza and cookies which was followed by more playing. And that was it. Let me tell you, a Primary party is a whole lot different then a Relief Society party.

After the party we headed up to Airdrie for my Sister-in-law’s birthday dinner where we had a great time visiting with family, ate some really good food and got a few more wedding gifts, people’s generosity never ceases to amaze me.

A standard Saturday for me usually involves some sleeping in and then some house cleaning with some laundry thrown in. Brad comes home at 3:00 so we normally do something in the evening. Well this Saturday I threw my routine out the window and did zero laundry and zero cleaning. Instead I went shopping with another sister-in-law and managed to find the greatest deal! Two pairs of jeans (which I love) for $50. They were buy one get one free and Lisa had a 10% off and a $5 off. Best deal of the day! The evening was really fun, Brad and I went for dinner at Diner Deluxe and then we went and saw the movie Stardust which I would absolutely recommend.

Sunday we had dinner with friends and then played the Game of Life which has improved considerably since I was a kid.

All in all a really great weekend full of friends, family, yummy food and lots of laughs.
I’ll hope for one just as fun this week.
L

Skip Work, Make Babies

I found this article today, it's seems like some reality tv show, not a government endorsed population campaign.


"The governor of a central Russian province urged couples to skip work Wednesday and make love instead to help boost Russia's low birth-rate.

And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time -- on Russia's national day on June 12 -- she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even winning a new home.

Russia wants to reverse a trend in which the population is shrinking by about 700,000 people a year as births fail to outpace a high death rate boosted by AIDS, alcoholism and suicide.

This year a record 78 babies were born on June 12 at the main hospital in the regional capital of Ulyanovsk, beating the 2006 total of 26, said chief doctor Andrei Malykh."


People will do anything to win.
L

Love Love Love

I'm ridiculously in love with my new purchase.

I've been looking for a new set of sheets since we got married. I want purple ones to match some pillows I made from fabric used at our wedding. So far I've had zero luck finding these sheets, I didn't reazlie it's be so difficult.

So it's become habit that as we walk through a store that sells sheets we check them out, hoping for some purple ones. The other day we're walking through Walmart and go through the sheet aisle... and then I see them. They're not purple at all, not even remotely, this picture doesn't do them justice... pink, paisly. They're hip granny sheets and I love them.

They make me giggle every time I see them! As an added bonus they were super cheap (although not the greatest quality).

Apparantly when I picked them up to buy them Brad though, "Is she kidding?" I wasn't kidding, and my joy at them has yet to decrease.

L

Story Time

Funny story... so we were supposed to go to a birthday party last night for a guy in our ward.

Brad knew him growing up but they haven’t stayed in touch over the years, his wife is the teacher of the Sunbeam class that I assist in. We were invited and figured we should go, so we bought him a birthday card and headed over. We don’t know them well and they aren’t necessarily the kind of people we normally hang out with so we already expected a little awkwardness. We pull up to the house and only get more nervous when we notice there are next to no cars outside the house, not a good sign for a party. We ring the doorbell and it takes Jaime (the wife) a long time to answer, again not a good sign.

As soon as we see Jaime, we see "the look"... you know what I'm talking about, the "I have no idea what you're doing here but I'll be polite until I find out" look. There was obviously no party going on. I decided to break the awkwardness quickly and said something like, "You have no idea why we're here do you?" She confirms that she's confused. We totally got the date of the party wrong, it's tomorrow night instead... oops!
L

Ode to Clodhoppers

This weekend turned out even better than expected. It was filled with hot tubbing, Chair lift rides, Wii games, board/card games, lots of laughs and a ridiculous amount of food.

Here’s to more ice cream than a person can or should eat in one weekend and the discovery of bulk Clodhoppers as a topping, genius!

Let's do it again sometime
L

The Long Weekend As I See It

Picture it with me

• A beautiful mountain setting
• Lots of Yahtzee, Wii and numerous other games I plan to take with us
• Yummy Food
• Good Company
• An uncomfortable pull out couch
• A little Buffy
• A lot of sleeping in
• A hot tub

Sounds like a near perfect long weekend to me
L

Best News

Here you can be anything.
I think that scares you.
I've been here before but only by myself.
What giving up gives you and where giving up takes you.
I've had and I've been.
Here in center frame, there's only air.J
ust enough space to fit.
I said it out loud over and over but what do I know.I
said it out loud but it did not help.
I'll stop now.
Just so I can hear you I stay up as late as it takes, as long as it takes.
I promised I'd see it again.
I promised I'd see this with you now.

Jimmy Eat World, in concert, in Calgary

Awesome!
L

Friends & Family Rate

Brad decided a while ago that he’d start doing some DJ’ing, small stuff, mostly weddings, it’s a great way to make a little extra cash. We’ve done a bunch now, all of them for friends of ours so they’ve been given the Friends & Family Rate.

A couple weeks ago Brad got a call from Mindy Moore asking if Brad would DJ the dance for her Aunt’s Wedding. It took some scheduling but we decided it was worth it since for once we could charge his actual price. Mindy told us the location which we promptly forgot.

Jump forward to this past weekend, it was busy. Lots packed in. Friday we needed to help set up for Brad’s cousin’s wedding (Paul) and then rush down to the Fireworks competition. On Saturday while Brad was at work I would go help move his Sister and Brother-in-law. Brad would pick up the DJ equipment after work, swing by the house and pick me up so we could hurry over to the Family Dinner for Paul’s wedding. We’d be at least an hour late but it was the best we could do. After the dinner we’d hurry over to this other wedding and DJ. It was busy but well planned.

Friday was successful; we set up for the wedding and had plenty of time to make it to the fireworks. Saturday the moving went well. My Mother-in-law and I headed over with a carload to drop off and started visiting. I mentioned that Brad and I were going to have to leave Paul’s wedding so we could go DJ this other dance. She asked where it was and I said I wasn’t sure. All I knew was it was for Mindy Moore’s Aunt.

“Uh, Laura... Mindy Moore’s Aunt is marrying Brad's cousin.”

All this time, we never made the connection! Guess we should have written down the location eh? That may have triggered it. Needless to say the Friends & Family Rate was re-instated.
L

Fireworks Part 2

So once again we made the trek over to the fireworks, with our one set of friends in tow...

The first night we went Canada was competing and they did an incredible job, we loved it! The next night was Spain and their's was pretty average, we were unimpressed. Disappointed even. So last night as we headed over I was a little nervous that these ones wouldn't be good either, I was most definitely wrong though, I loved last nights almost as much as Canada. Here are some photos of the night.


And as a special treat I'm adding a video to this post, fun eh?

L

Absent Friends

Brad and I were so excited, from work he got 8 tickets, plus dinner to the fireworks competition, which we love. What a great idea! We were thrilled to invite a bunch of our friends, but who to choose, there were so many options! So the narrowing down started.

We extended our first invite to Naomi and Dave and they were excited, yay, success!
We next called Ian and Jen, the perfect time to hang out with them, only Ian is out of town. Fine, we’ll take just Jenn and Invite Cora to take his place, only Cora has plans.
Fine, we’re 3 down and have lots of time... only now the trouble starts...

Jenn is out of town so Jenn and Nathan are out
Jane is out of town so Jane and Ken are out
Lisa and Brady are still on their honeymoon
Chris and Lynn just moved
Dan is in Idaho
Marissa and Brendan have plans
Lisa and Doug are moving that weekend
Kim and Andrew are going out of town
Julie and David are down in Magrath
Irena has to work
We found Janine who was excited but then had to cancel
And then sadly Dave and Naomi also had to cancel*

We did luck out and Ian became available but here we are, 6 hours before the event and we have 4 remaining tickets... it’s starting to be depressing.

We made a real effort... called more people than we could have imagined necessary... if we missed you I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose and if you read this in time then call me, we’d love to have you come! We’re now out of ideas and may have to try to scalp our tickets... it’s a bit of a sad day.
L

*Names are not listed in the order called

I'm a pro too

It seems a digital camera makes everyone think they're a professional... here is my attempt
L

Weekend of Fun

Every year Magrath celebrates it's anniversary and my favorite part of it has always been the fireworks. They'd set them off at one end of the football field and we'd lie on the grass at the other. The fireworks go off right above your head and occasionally you'd be lucky enough to be hit by sparks, you're that close!

There are few things I love more than fireworks, so I was thrilled to be able to go to the first night of the Fireworks competition. We were there to see Canada and I'm not sure I could have loved it more. Mom, Dad, Rob and Riley came up and Riley was so cute, he'd clap his hands and proclaim that it was "Awesome". We're lucky enough to have tickets for Tuesday and Thursday as well. While you aren't hit by sparks for these ones they do have the added fun of music, I love the music!

On saturday we went on a Zoo trip, check out the pictures.
It was such a great weekend! I look forward to Tuesday and Thursday.



L

Shuffle

I have this iPod, and I’m pretty in love with the iPod. It’s not new, I’ve had it for years and it’s been well used. It’s 20GB of space and it’s jam packed full, not enough room for a single song. To put new music on I have to remove something which is always a hard decision, I’m afraid I’ll take off something that one day on my walk home from work I just HAVE to hear. The last couple times I’ve gone to remove music I’ve started to think that maybe since I don’t listen to everything, it’s full of songs that aren’t that good and I should go through and remove them. I never actually follow through with this thought though.

Then there’s the feature I could never really grow to love... the shuffle. In the years that I’ve had my iPod I think I’ve used the shuffle 3 or 4 times. The music is too random, I didn’t like that. I think over the years though, what with having to remove music to put new stuff on I’ve ended up with an iPod full of some really wicked music. I actually used the shuffle yesterday and today and ended up with the greatest mix. I heard so many songs that I’d forgotten I loved. So here’s to my favorite toy and new music to come, bring on the shuffle!
L

Anywhere But Here

One day at work, months ago, Kim wasn't feeling well, she'd had a cold for a while and had run out of tissues so she asked Betty if she could have one of hers. Betty cooly said while handing her the tissue,

"You know you can buy these at the drug store in 5th avenue place (across the street) for only a couple dollars."

Kim and I were a surprised at her stingy-ness... apparently Betty doesn't like to share her tissues. Later she made some comment under her breath about how it'll be difficult for her to live with someone one day if she can't even share her tissues. Kim and I wholeheartedly agreed.

Yesterday was Kim's last day at work. She's decided to go back to school and I couldn't be happier for her, the only drawback being that she no longer works with me. We've known for a long time that she was quitting so I've been preparing myself for her absence. I went into work today, ready to not see her and noticed she'd put her tissue box on my desk with the above post-it note attached. What a great way to start the day, with a good chuckle, I'd totally forgotten about that day. I'm sure she wouldn't admit it but she'll miss the crazy Betty experiences, you don't get those anywhere but here.

Good Luck at school!
L

Pictures Say It Better - Part 2

Here is Chris and Lynn at their wedding... don't they look so good?

We had a few weddings to go to this weekend, here we are at Al & Janaya's wedding the next day

And to end the post on a HORRIBLE note! Brad and I stayed at my parents house this weekend, I went downstairs to check if there was anything bigger than the double bed we were currently in. Instead of discovering a bigger bed I found the biggest house spider I've ever seen! It was awful! The picture doesn't really do it justice put trust me it was bad.

Pictures Say It Better

Right before our wedding, Brad and I bought a digital camera. We're so pleased with it and have fun. This afternoon I was loading pictures onto my laptop so I thought I'd post a couple here.

This is one of my favorite cupcakes to date. Chocolate cake with Cream cheese icing, yum!!

We got a new bbq that we can't get enough of, we use it for almost everything. Our favorite being bbq pesto pizza. The pesto one is half finished, it's the green one. It still needs tomatoes and feta cheese. The one beside it is pretty great too though. Pizza sauce, pepperoni, green peppers, onion, garlic, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Just as good as it sounds.


This is a picture of a wedding cake I made for a friend's wedding this weekend. It turned out well.

I didn't plan on this post focusing on food but that's the way it ended up so I hope you're hungry now.
L

Things I’d rather be doing than sitting at my desk doing nothing

1. Finishing Chris’s wedding cake
2. Reading a book
3. Eating pink lemonade Ice Breakers
4. Sleeping
5. Cleaning my house
6. Pretty Much Anything!

Tickle Bread?

How was your long weekend? Ours was great. Brad and I wanted nothing more than to totally relax and lounge and sleep in late and not have a single real thing to do. We decided the best place to execute this plan was down at my parents house, so after work on Friday we headed to Magrath. Our plan worked perfectly, we slept in late everyday (despite the double bed). We ate eggs benedict for breakfast, my favorite, and watched movies. We ate yummy food including homemade multi-grain bread and chocolate cupcakes with raspberry icing. We even waded in the pool my parents have in the backyard. It’s one of those one for kids but it’s a pretty good size, Brad and I were about waist deep.

Probably the highlight of the weekend was my nephew Riley. It’s interesting to watch how quickly kids change. Only a couple months ago when Brad and I went down we were nothing but annoyed with this little guy. Every morning we’d wake to his screams and he would throw tantrums and cry and was just plain annoying... not the case anymore. He’s turned into this adorable, fun boy that says the funniest things.

He loves to swim in the pool so when the adults are talking it must be referred to as the p-o-o-l so as not to get him excited. He likes it when you read stories to him, he wears cute Superman and Bob the Builder underwear and loves all Thomas toys. I’m not sure it gets any cuter though than when he’s talking to Brad... or as he pronounced it “Bread”. We taught him to tickle this weekend so he’s say, “tickle Bread?”. At first when he’d ask where Bread was we were confused... well I guess there’s bread on the counter, it took us some time to realize that Brad = Bread.

Anyway, here’s to a great weekend spent with Bread and my family, we’ll do it again for sure.
L

Disappointed

I’ve been waiting for this release for a while now, the new Yellowcard album.
The last album they made was not good, it was not anywhere near the sound of Ocean Avenue so when I started to hear good things about this latest album I was excited. The band members themselves admitted that Lights and Sounds wasn’t very good.

For this new album they went with a new producer and have been talking about how they’ve gone back to what they love and have made an album they’re really proud of. I’ll admit, I had high expectations but this new album just doesn’t cut it. The overall sound is very close to Ocean Avenue which I appreciate, but the songs all sound the same. They’ve taken that formula and applied it to every song, it’s boring. There are two noticeably different songs, Paper Walls, which uses a cheesy boys choir at the beginning and Dear Bobby which is cliché in the lyrics and the use of the old man speaking was silly.

So overall I give Paper Walls a 2.5 out of 5, I’m disappointed, I expected more.
L

Addicted

So I was reviewing my blog and realized it’s been a long time since I posted any sort of list... the list is sort of a staple on this blog so the following is well overdue.

Newest Addictions

1. Yahtzee
2. Instant Star
3. BBQ Pesto Pizza
4. Buffalo Chicken Calzone from Cheesecake Café
5. Tanks on the Wii
6. Smoothies
7. So You Think You Can Dance
8. True Bride Confessions

I'm sure there's more but those are the ones that came to mind.
You should definitely come over and play tanks with Brad and I :)
L

My Winning Streak Continues!

Last night we finally opened and played our new game of Yahtzee.

It’s been years since I played and my memories are all of playing with my Dad... he was good at Yahtzee. I however was not good. I’ve never been very lucky at dice games, so while I was excited to play I was a little nervous too.

Brad and Cora and I played and the first game turned out much as I expected it would... I did not do very hot, in fact I was very obviously in last place. Determined to not end the game on such a sour note I insisted we play again (it didn’t take a whole lot of arm twisting). In my very first turn I lucked out and rolled the coveted Yahtzee!!! That helped my score for sure. The rest of the game continued on a positive note and come the end of the game I’d won! I was definitely surprised and now I’m excited to play again... it might be my new addiction.
L

Wednesday Woes...

It’s 10:55 and I’ve seriously said two words at work this morning...

It’s one of those days. Brad and I woke up late this morning so we were rushed... I called in sick yesterday and I’m still not feeling super today. I’m working on a project I don’t really want to do.

I expect the day to be long and not very fun
L

Ashamed

Remember the Cookie Scandal of 2006...

Well today I proved that I learned nothing. That I have gained no more character then I had back then.

I made cupcakes for a friends birthday yesterday and there were extras so I brought them to work. These cupcakes are no ordinary thing, they’re a work of art. A yummy chocolate, moist cupcake with pretty piped cream cheese icing on top.

So I pass them out and people are enjoying them. My boss says, “This isn’t Duncan Hines from a box is it?” I shake my head no (It was Betty Crocker so I wasn’t actually lying :). She says, “You can tell, it’s so moist”.

I absolutely let her believe that I made the cake from scratch when it really was from a mix! In my cake mix defense, I was in a hurry, they were last minute and I added some stuff to the mix to make them yummier.

Don’t think less of me...
L

Conversation with a Telus Agent

So she asks when I want the change to take effect

I say immediately. She responds with, “Did you have a date in mind?”

What? A date in mind? I just told you I want it immediately... would that not make my date as today?
L

Golf = Life

When you think of classic date activities, two you normally come up with are bowling and mini golf... two things I happen to be really bad at.

It must have been at least 5 years since I’ve mini golfed and it was an embarrassing experience, I came in dead, dead last. There was no confusion over who lost that game, it was certainly me. So when Dave invited us mini golfing to celebrate Naomi’s birthday the only reason I said yes was because I knew Brad would want to go. I regretted accepting the invitation pretty quick though and was not looking forward to golfing, I wracked my brain trying to come up with reasonable excuses for us to back out. I came up with nothing convincing though so we headed off to golf.

Surprisingly I ended up having a fantastic time! The course was really fun, with little streams and a waterfall. No one took the game too seriously (except the ridiculously annoying kids behind us) and we laughed and visited and loved it.

Possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life...I’ve tried to recreate it in picture form. It was just as impressive as you think it was :)

The biggest shocker of the evening came when we looked at the scores though... I tied for 1st place! Never before have I done that well. I’ve enclosed a copy of the score card so you can share in my victory with me. Notice the three circles, yeah, that’s right... those are three hole in ones! (Guess they made up for all the holes I did horrible on)

7 over par is not to shabby in my books.
L

Discoveries

I discovered something about myself on Monday night and I’m ready to declare it...

I don’t like Dairy Queen!

I know, shocking, me who likes all desserts but I’m ready to declare that I don’t like them. I think they’re super overpriced and I don’t think they use quality products. Their ice cream is okay but it’s the chocolate I don’t like, it’s cheap and waxy. Other products aren’t much better, like their whipped cream and brownie chunks; they’re just not that good. I’d rather go somewhere for a good scoop of quality hard ice cream or maybe some gelato. Even a carton of Safeway ice cream is preferable.

It doesn’t help that the DQ by our house is really, really hot every time we go in. I don’t know how the employees handle that heat all day, it’s awful.
L

A Few Wedding Photos

If these three weren't enough and you're interested in seeing a ridiculous number of our wedding photos you can go here. It really is a crazy number though... even I was a little bored and they're my photos :)
L

Shakespeare in the Park

What a great idea! Some friends of ours invited us on a picnic to Shakespeare in the park at Mount Royal College. There were 5 of us in total. I brought a potato salad, there was some yummy spinach dip and bread and the greatest pita sandwiches, they were seriously so good. Strawberry shortcake for dessert topped it all off. We sat in the outdoor amphitheatre and enjoyed the sun and the 70’s themed play, As You Like It. It was the perfect Saturday activity. After the play Brad and I invited everyone back to our place for some Wii, and we had such a fun time playing and eating candy and visiting.
L

Entertaining Overload

I just can’t seem to help myself, I keep inviting people for dinner! It’s an addiction really...

So far we’ve had two of Brad’s siblings with their spouses
Dave and Naomi
Janine and Chris
(I held off inviting Dave over for tonight)
I’ve already extended an invite to Al and Janae
I want to invite Ian and Jenn
I tried to invite Nathan and Jenn but they couldn’t make it
Ryan was suppose to come over last night but that fell through

There’s still a whole list of others in my head just waiting to be invited. I love having a home with Brad that we can invite into and the new BBQ and the Wii have only made matters worse. If I didn’t mention you on that list, don’t worry... I’m sure your invite will come though I’m trying to pace myself.
L

Great Name Change of 2007

And so it’s started...

The marriage certificate came in the mail the other day. I can begin with my long list of name changes. I started with my name at work, that’s all done.
The list of what I still have left:

1. Social Insurance Number
2. Passport
3. Drivers License
4. Telus & Telus Mobility
5. Our Utilities
6. Our Lease
7. The Bank
8. Air Miles
9. Credit Cards
   

Married ladies out there? What am I forgetting?
L

Scary!

Last night was a night full of crazy and scary dreams.

Before I get into them, one thing I’ve noticed in our new apartment building... in the stairwell there are quite a few spiders. If you know me at all you know that I DO NOT like spiders. I can kill them if no one else is around but if I’m not alone then you bet I’m going to have them do it. I think they’re creepy and disgusting and I hate them. Normally I’m pretty good at leaving outside spiders alone but if they come in my space and my house then consider them dead.

That being said... these spiders in the stairwell haven’t really bothered me. They’re not in my apartment; just the stairs and they’re usually in high corners. The entire time I’ve lived in the building (2 short months) I’ve seen only 1 spider in my apartment and it was by the window which is enough to convince me that these stairwell spiders are not going to make it to my apartment. I can accept that.

Or so I thought...

I had this horrible dream last night... there were these spiders, really big spiders, like bigger than your hand spiders. They were really really flat (and if I’m honest they didn’t actually look all that much like spiders and they had a bit of a plastic look to them, but I’m dreaming here) and they would...

I should warn you... it’s about to get disturbing

These spiders were sneaky, they’d get under your clothes, lay on your stomach and they leached blood out of you... awful I know. So in the dream there’s two of these awful “spiders” on me. Brad knocks them off of me (and I wasn’t freaking out nearly as much as I would have in real life) and then was about to catch and get rid of them when the dream switched.

I was riding on a motorcycle, Brad was driving and someone else was hanging on behind me, we went up a really steep hill, this other guy says, “You ready?” And we do this impossible huge jump... I was terrified! Closed my eyes, held on to Brad and waited for it to be over. Before we landed the dream switched again... I could continue but I think these two examples are enough to give you an idea of last night.

So – lesson learned, no more peanut butter ice cream before bed for me. Hopefully tonight is much more restful.
L

"The Sun and the Moon"

Wasted time.

I cannot say that I was ready for this.

But when worlds collide,

and all that I have is all that I want.

The words seem to flow

and the thoughts they keep running.

And all that I have is yours.

All that I am is yours.

Ohh...

Painted skies.

I've seen so many that cannot compare

to your ocean eyes.

The pictures you took

that cover your room,

and it was just like the sun

but more like the moon.

A light that can reach it all.

So now I'm branded for taking the fall.

Ohh...

So when you say forever,

can't you see you've already captured me.

- Mae

Surprise

Something that actually surprised me this weekend...

I really miss Confederation Park Ward. I didn’t expect to. I thought I’d go to 6th Ward and feel right at home, that was a little naive. I was very comfortable in Confed, I had established myself and knew almost everyone there. While there are quite a few people I know in 6th Ward, they’re all just acquaintances, none of them really know me. This has caused me to feel a little out of place and it’s surprising.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I hate 6th ward, I’m not saying I won’t love it eventually. I’ve always been of the attitude that you can’t expect others to make you feel at home, it’s up to you. I’m will to do what’s necessary it’s just going to take more time than expected.

Top 5 things I miss about Confed.

1. Irena and her hugs
2. Being able to sit by almost anyone in Relief Society
3. The quiet of our old Sacrament meetings
4. Dave
5. Not having to fear that I’ll be called to work in the Primary

L

Overflowing

At Brad's request I'm posting the poem that I read at our wedding.
It was written for us by our good friend Jane Kearl

Overflowing
I watch as water rises over the rim of a glass
And spills down the smooth side
Pooling silently on the table top
You are my water

I sip of your smile and savor the way
I am reflected in your lucent eyes
So clear and comprehensible
So attentive and forgiving

I sure footedly slip in to you
Your warmth encompassed in a kiss
Where I am dissolved
Now I am your water

Every day I drink you in
And, in return, offer a taste
Of perfect imperfection
And an impermeable promise

I shall never thirst again my love

SYTYCD

There’s this tv show... this magical tv show. A show above all other shows. It’s the one and only tv show that I can’t stand to miss.

So You Think You Can Dance

It’s the kind of magic that you can only watch over the summer. It’s a reality American Idol-esque show but features dancers. These really incredible dancers. Every week you get to watch these performances that are so good, these partnerships that work or don’t work. They have judges that are honest but not horribly mean. If someone stunk they’ll tell them but there’s normally some good they can find to mention. They feature all sorts of dances and in the end America votes which couples should be in the bottom 3. The judges take it from there and each week they vote off 1 boy and 1 girl.

So this show that I’m so enamored of... it’s on twice a week. On Wednesdays you get to see the dances and on Thursdays you get to see who’s voted off. So that’s two nights out of a week, that’s not a lot. You’d think we’d be able to arrange it so we can watch this one favorite show but somehow the majority of the time we end up missing it. We forget or we go out. We’ve, pathetically, even set the show to tape yet often forget to make sure the VCR is actually ready to go. It ends up feeling so tragic when I miss Shauna being voted off... but I loved Shauna! I wasn’t ready for her to go. And to finally see them get rid of Cedric. Hopefully as the season continues we’ll be more organized and will find the time to watch this favorite of favorites.

If you have yet to watch, give it a try, you just might love it.
L

Newest Love

It’s in a strange form, one you wouldn’t expect...

We have a new ice cream make so yesterday I decided to make some homemade strawberry ice cream (not the love I speak of). The recipe told me to puree the berries in the blender so I dropped my berries into our new blender and pushed the puree button. I think I had realistic expectations, I was sure I’d get some slightly mashed berries that eventually just bounced around in there, not pureed at all... I could not have been more wrong! These berries came out so smooth there wasn’t a single lump.

I believe there’s nothing this blender can’t do, it crushes ice effortlessly, make the most delicious smoothies and is stylish to boot. Oh how I love and use daily this wonderful blender.
L

Stampede Breakfasts

Over my years working downtown I've discovered that one of the benefits to my central location is the number of Stampede Breakfasts I'm able to attend.

Last year there was the Private one my building threw for us, the one at 5th Ave Place, the one at Petro Canada where we didn't actually eat because the line was scary long and there was the one on 8th ave put on by the Calgary Firefighters. Add that to the 2 church ones I went too, one Stake, one IRC and I had a record breaking breakfast year.

Sadly, this year does not look like it will measure up.
I finally made it to my first breakfast this morning hosted by 1st Calgary, it was a great start too. Eggs, sausage, ham and of course pancakes. Having eggs tips the scales on breakfasts for me though. Because of my honeymoon I've missed the Stake breakfast, because of my marriage I'm not eligible for the IRC one :) I've since moved buildings (only across the street) but apparanty being temporarily the only tenants in the building doesn't warrant a breakfast. I will be heading over to the 5th Ave breakfast tomorrow which is usually a real good one. Last year they had fruit toppings for pancakes and hashbrowns.

2 down from 5... sad really
I suppose there's always next year
L

p.s. I discovered through the course of this blog that I have a difficult time typing/spelling pancakes. I always mess it up and have to go back to fix it... funny

Speed Bumps

Like it or not I'm back at work today.

Now is about the time we'd be napping in Puerto Vallarta, I'm sleepy.

So the biggest thing we noticed while down in Mexico?

All of the speed bumps! There are tons of them! We'll be driving on the freeway and come to a bridge and everyone has to slow down because of the speed bumps. It's like driving on Deerfoot and having to slow down often. So annoying.

They had a two types too... there were your average run of the mill bumps and then there were these




Very large metal bumps screwed into the pavement that would jostle the car and I'm sure ruin things if not taken at the correct speed. Luckily they had signs to warn...




We're happy to be back on normal roads.
I think it will be a long time before we complain about speed bumps here.
L

Puerto Vallarta

Hola!
Well we´re here and loving every minute of it.
We sleep and then decide to eat, then we sit in the pool. Drink something fruity and decide maybe we should eat again. So far we´ve managed to avoid a sun burn.

Tomorrow is our dolphin enounter and the next day is our canopy tour, our resort is a dream. Palm Trees and no cleaning up after ourselves and pools and the ocean. We definitly aren´t cut out for the humidity though. It hits you like a wall when we leave our room, thank goodness for air conditioning. This was the best decision. We love not having to make a single wedding plan. Stay tuned for pictures of our dream honeymoon.

Thanks so much to everyone that helped make our wedding day so wonderful. It was exactly how I wanted it to be, I loved every minute of it and hope you did too.
L&B

As a side note, blogging here is definitly interesting, the blog page is all in spanish. The keyboard is differnt too. It´s a good thing I blog often and know where the buttons are :)

July 8th - still special

Well, it's my last day of work before the wedding which means I'll not have access to internet until July 9th. Thought I'd leave one last blog entry.

Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed this engaged time as much as I think it can be enjoyed but here's a list to leave you with.

Reasons why I'm happy this wedding is almost over :)

1. No more ridiculous little details to make decisions over
2. No more sending Brad home at the end of the night
3. No more wedding favours to put together
4. I'll finally have some time to plan a house warming party
5. No more panic attacks that I've forgotten something
6. Hopefully I'll have something else to blog about now
7. Mexico here I come!

L
(As a selfish little reminder, don't forget
about my Birthday on the 8th :)

Blogging Woes

Sadly, I must admit. I have become one of the things that annoys me most... an infrequent blogger. I've just not been able to keep up with everything I need to do, blogging and the creativity it demands has been the first to go.

So here I am, 4 days before the wedding. Mostly everything is done, there are little things here and there but I feel basically on top of things. I do have this crushing fear that there's something major I've forgotten to do. I have a bit of a cold that's slow to let go and I seem to not be able to sleep anymore... my racing mind keeps me up until all hours. I look forward to Puerto Vallarta and the ocean and the paradise and no more wedding planning. Here are a few pictures to instill a little jealousy.

Hope to see you in 4 days :)
L