Three-Hundred, Thirty-three, Three

This is my 300th post on this blog! Happy 300th post anniversary (I don't think there is such a thing, but nonetheless, let's celebrate!!)

Tonight my friend Sarah and I went to the Canucks game. We won by three. And we got on the big screen about five times. We're pretty much famous I think. We had a fantastic time!

My youth once a month gets together to make sandwiches and then we go hand them out on East Hastings to the homeless. Usually people from the church bring sandwich making supplies (bread, meat, cheese, lettuce) so that helps! And it's a great time making them together and handing them out! Last time we went, we made 33 loaves of sandwiches! It was great! :) And I just found the picture on my phone, so I thought I'd blog about it.


Today my elliptical trainer and I got a bit better acquainted. Maia decided to name him Hans. So now we are committing to spend quality time together. What a beautiful relationship we will have indeed.

Guacamole, Girls, Green

This is the last post of the day (I promise!). Had to do some blog catch-up but figured I'd split it up! Tonight I had my monthly (okay doesn't always happen ever month..) nacho mountian (spelled wrong on purpose-if you want to know, ask) with some of my girlfriends that I met back at Trinity. We got to know each other better in our amazing psychology club that we were all part of. We did a ton of events (one is a lot right?) and met every week even though we didn't do much. Haha. But if anything, it was worth it to become friends! :)

Anyway, I didn't take any pictures because I forgot but I took pictures of my famous guacamole. Okay it's not famous... yet. but everyone says it's amazing, so here's my tricks:


Take an avocado that's ripe and squish it with a fork. Add lime juice, lemon juice, lots of garlic, chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro and salt and mix it all together. And ta-da! You have guacamole! Sometimes I add a touch of sour cream to make it a bit creamy. And if I want it really smooth I throw it in the blender.. but sometimes it's good chunky. And once again, like every recipe I seem to post, it's all up to your own personal taste how much you add!!

happy guacamole making!

Bowling, Bags, BBQ

Lately I have been learning the joy of just being with people. Not that I don't like being with people, but sometimes I busy myself far too much to just sit still and enjoy other people's company. This weekend was one that was full of just enjoying being with friends and enjoying one another's company, great food and have a good time! Here's some photos from the weekend.

My friend Carrie is getting married soon and so we had a shower for her this weekend and had a great time in Vancouver with a bunch of us! My friend Vanessa and I decided to inconspicuously hide our gift bag in her purse.. until we entered the glowing bowling alley where it stuck out like a sore thumb in all its glowing glory. So we had to take a pic just because we thought it was quite funny. :)

At the bowling alley!

We had 2 ties which I thought was fun! So we took a picture split seconds before the scores disappeared.. and then we went for gelato.. 218 flavors and you can sample like crazy! haha.. they have some pretty crazy flavors, so it was fun trying different kinds! And before that we went for Mexican which was super good! Great new restaurant I hadn't been to!

Saturday was homework day! Okay.. well I don't have homework.. but I love getting my friends to come do their homework at my house. That way I can make them food and have people to hang out with. And then I do productive things as well. So Kristen and Joce came over on Saturday which was fun. Then Joce and I went to the Keg for dinner to celebrate our love of steak. Perfect.
Candid shots of hard work being done.

On Sunday after church I had a few friends over for a bbq which was great! And every picture that was taken had an extra item of food added to it! haha.. It was wonderful just to enjoy the afternoon and evening together! And we watched 'The Gods must be crazy' which i had never seen, but i thoroughly enjoyed it! Great movie! I want to watch it again soon! :)


I got some Tim Tam slams in a wedding favor a few years ago. An Australian treat. But never actually used them properly. And when used properly-WOW. so good! :) you bite off a corner on each end, stick it in hot chocolate or coffee and suck it through, then stuff it in your mouth and it's melted chocolate goodness! Try it sometime!

Here Maia and Melissa modeling the proper use of the Tim Tams!
Then in the evening I played my worst round of Dutch Blitz with some friends who came over for our monthly late night dutch blitz fun. Oh well, hopefully I will do better next time!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Concert, Crazies, Country

When I was younger, I really admired my older brother.. I wanted to do everything he did. So I collected hockey card, I played and traded pogs.. and many other things. One thing that especially stuck though was a love for country music, specifically Tim McGraw. A few years ago my family went to his concert when he was here with Faith and it was great. But in some ways it was even greater seeing him on his own in concert. And what a great concert it was!

I'm not usually one that is famous person passionate.. but Tim I really admire. He seems (from my limited perception) to be a man of great integrity and I really appreciate his music and lyrics.. and also his stage presence. Here's some pics from the concert. Kristen and I had a great time. The one thing was puzzled us however is why country concerts are somehow an excuse for girls to dress quite trashy and get really drunk. Not cool. And kind of sad to see too.

Kristen and I decided that Tim has the best silhouette. haha

The special effects of everything were great!

Making a "T" and an "M"

waiting between the opening bands and Tim

more waiting

zoomed in waiting

on our way!! (these are backwards!)

Roses, Ricky's, Reading

I just went to Ricky's for dinner. Ricky's starts with an 'r', so I figured I'd put it in my title. I had no intention of telling you this, except for justifying why it's in my title. There.


Here's a funny story about my roses. I think they smell delightful. I stop several times a day to smell them and admire how beautiful they are. I had friends over the other day who all claim they don't smell like anything... but this morning I was lying in bed and I was overcome with the scent of the roses.. go figure. Maybe my nose is crazy?


I have been trying to do a lot more reading lately. Especially since my books are all in the bookshelf waiting to be read. One day I hope to have read all my books. haha. So stay tuned for a little book review soon. :)

Enjoy the beautiful day/evening! (unless you don't live here.. then enjoy whatever type of weather you're having!)

Decisions, Dinner, Dancing

I felt like writing a blog post so I am doing just that.

Lately I have been having impromptu dance parties in my kitchen. I have two doorways, so I can dance in and out of the kitchen in a circle with my music blaring. And it's delightful and so freeing to hop and dance around while singing at the top of my lungs.

Lately I have been having a lot of different friends over for dinner or lunch and it's wonderful. It's so nice to be able to host people in my home and cook them a meal and just enjoy their company. I am blessed with a home from which I can do this. :)

Continually I am reminded that I hate decisions. (as mentioned in a previous post). I wish I could figure out a way to somehow balance emotions and logic in my decision making.

And I leave you with a quote that speaks deeply to me right now:
"Not a heartbeat of agony is ever unnoticed or unused by God"

Bonding, Blossoms, Beautiful

I live on one of the most beautiful streets because of the way they've landscaped it. In the fall, the leaves were brilliant shades of yellow and red. And now the streets are lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom and it is absolutely stunning!

Went for a jog this morning and snapped a few shots. Unfortunately i only had my point and shoot but I figured I wanted some nice pictures to post nonetheless.
I love all the trails around my house and am so thankful for the beauty and the natural "escape" it lends me.
I have been re-reading Donald Miller's book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" because I absolutely love it and it inspires me. Here's a quote that struck me last night from the beginning of the book:

"You get a feeling when you look back on life that that's all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story and bond with us through the experience."

I had to ask myself, do I allow my daily experiences to bring me closer to God? To bond with Him over, because we're experiencing it together? Or am I simply living life and letting moments pass me by?
Presently my house smells very strongly of paint fumes. Might have a headache by the end of the day, but I am thankful because that means my renovations will be DONE in just a few short hours!! There were a couple of red touchups needed in the kitchen as well as the new baseboards being painted and the ceiling in my room being painted (to cover up all my blue paint that I got on the ceiling when I painted... haha) So the end is indeed in sight!! and in scent! :)
Have a great day and enjoy the flowers blossoming everywhere!

Tennis, Tea, Turns

The last few days have been absolutely beautiful weather! So I pulled out the tennis rackets and played with a few different friends on a couple different days! I have to admit my arm is a bit sore. I guess they call that tennis elbow?

I like to make my friends do crazy jumps.. I mean, that's how they play tennis. We're pretty hardcore after all. Hardcore enough to get tennis elbow.

Taking a smoothie break

Last night I went out to Vancouver with my friend Vanessa and we met up with our friend Bridgid. The three of us get together every few months and it's always fantastic to catch up! I love friendships from as far back as high school that you can pick up and catch up and enjoy one another's company.

I love letter writing. Or just sending cards to people in the mail. And I must admit, i LOVE getting mail as well (so if anyone wants a pen pal, let me know!) I got this card from my friend Karen the other day and laughed quite hard at it and still giggle every time I see it (just because I'm THAT mature..) So I thought I'd share it with all of you! I'm thankful for days I get mail because it makes that day just even a little bit better!


Sometimes I wish life were prescribed with one way to go and no hard decisions. Well, okay, I don't really wish that, but I hate making decisions that I have to mull over. Generally I think of something and I do it without much thought following. Like, when I renovated my house, I'd go into the paint or flooring place, grab one thing that suited what I kind of wanted, and I'd go with it without looking at any other options. Some people would never be able to do that and would want to see all the options which is fine. But I like it simple. Choose something, stick with it and be satisfied with it. When I'm presented with a lot of good options it makes it so much harder. At times I wish I didn't have all the options. Right now I'm faced with a lot of differing life options, which makes it so much harder to decide. Because there's so many factors to consider. So many pros and cons for all of them. Sigh. Anyone want to make my decisions for me?

And so concludes my ramblings for today. Enjoy the start of a new week!!

Peaches, Pears, Practice

Chilled fruit soups sounds like a delightful way to start a hot summer evening dinner!

So, the other day I figured I'd venture into the world of making chilled fruit soups (much to the mocking of my friends :) ) I went to the produce store and bought two bags of pears and two bags of peaches, each only a dollar each! (they were on the verge of going downhill, so they're sold at discounted prices-great deal though!)

So, here's a recipe for the chilled peach soup I made. I made chilled pear soup, almost in the same fashion, so I won't bother putting that recipe up. Plus, we're still in the experimental stages...

First I boiled my peaches and then put them in really cold water, and then the peels came off really easily.
Then I put about 2 cups of peaches into my food processor and added 3/4 cup of cold water, 2 Tbsp. honey, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt. Then I pureed it and proceeded to add 2 tsp vanilla along with some nutmeg and cinnamon to taste.
Then I pureed it some more, chilled it in the fridge, and then when eating it, I added fresh mint on top and it tasted excellent! Okay, so this is just the beginnings of my chilled soup experiments. There are a lot of other things I want to try, with adding other fruit and other ingredients, but I will be sure to keep you updated! It's a great way to enjoy fruit and it's nice and light and tasty.

And another fruit adventure! whenever I have friends over, I force them to try the newest fruit I have bought at the produce store. So, Lawrence came over and I made him try the cactus pear. I wasn't totally sure how to prepare it, so I peeled it and cut it up.
It has a nice dark pink color and some small seeds. It kind of tasted like a drier version of watermelon. Was interesting to try, although probably not my favorite. So, if you're feeling adventuresome, look for a cactus pear and give it a try! :)

Fat, Flowers, Filter

I started a new blog.

It took a long time to get to the point of actually starting it, but it's been an idea in my mind for a long time. Not sure what it will all entail or where it will go or even what all the content will be, but feel free to join me there. I titled the blog "Diary of a Fat Girl". This may seem a harsh title to some, but I thought it was catchy, and that's what it's about. It's a blog about my journey of being overweight, losing weight, but also discovering more of who I am in the process and viewing it holistically. I would love for you to visit and follow the blog and would be delighted to hear your comment and feedback along the way. So here's the link: Click here to go read!


Yesterday I saw these beautiful roses and figured I would buy them for myself because why not? :) They are beautiful and smell amazing and add a nice brightness to my kitchen (not that it wasn't bright in the kitchen in the first place...)

And here's a helpful household tip for those of you who are like me and have no idea what things need to be regularly done in a house.. Okay, I assume most people know something like this... but I just learned it the other day, so thought I'd share my newfound knowledge...
Air filters for your furnace should be changed every few months.. not every two years. Oops. Here's a picture of the old, slightly dirty one and the nice new white clean one! I'm expecting my furnace efficiency to be incredible now!




And here is a picture of my latest purchase. I have wanted an elliptical for a while now, and saw an ad in the paper for Flaman Fitness and their promotion event of "Pay for your pounds." Intrigued, I read on...

At the time of purchase, you weigh in at the store. Six months later, you weigh in again and for every pound that you have lost, they pay you $10 up to the price of the machine. So you can earn a lot of your money back and the exercise machine is fairly affordable then. So, I figured I'd give it a shot! My goal is to earn 600 dollars, so we will see how that goes!! :) But kind of fun motivation. And nice for when it's rainy outside.

And that's it for this post! Hope you enjoy the new blog and go change your furnace air filter!

House, Home, Hectic

Seven months have passed since my basement flooded and my fun with renovations began. Now all that remains (for now) is one strip of paint in my kitchen and finally this season of renovating and chaos is finished! Of course, I could still change all the light fixtures and do some other things, but I think I've done a fair amount for now and am going to sit back and enjoy my home. It began as a house I bought, but over time as I have made it my own, it truly feels like my home and that is such an incredible blessing to me! So here is a little tour of the befores (sorry there was a bit of a lack of photos) and the afters!

Here is the kitchen before:


And after:


The Living Room before:



My office/library (sorry I couldn't find any before pictures.. but it used to be light yellow with really light carpet and metal blinds):


And here are my two guest rooms. Once again no before pictures, but they were both light yellow with light carpet.. apparently the previous owners liked light yellow haha):


My bedroom before:


My bedroom after:

My bathroom before:


Bathroom after:



The basement before:


The basement after:


So there you have it! A tour of my home! Obviously it looks way better in person, but that's a little sneak-peak into what it looks like! Hope you enjoyed the tour! It's been a lot of work but it feels fantastic! I feel like I live in a new house! Have a great day and enjoy the sun! :)