Birthday, Blessing, Beautiful

June 21st is a special day for many reasons. First off, it's the official beginning of summer, also it is the longest day of the year as far as sun exposure goes. But even more importantly, it's my mom's birthday!

So today we shall celebrate life with her! She is an amazing woman that is such an incredible blessing in my life. She is a blessing to her children and grandchildren and to all she meets.


{I absolutely love this picture of my mom and I... I took it as a quick snapshot in the bathroom and then realized the background wasn't good, so we took some in the room.. but I loved the bathroom shot the best. Makes it even more candid! And oh the wonderful lighting that a bathroom offers!}

I'm thankful I have a mother who loves to travel, because we have so much fun traveling together, but also because I know she will come out to visit me a lot once I move!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom!!

Banff, Birthdays, Being

Birthdays are grand. Some people dread them and wish they would not come as a reminder of one's age. Yet, I think there's something incredibly wonderful about them. A celebration of LIFE. A celebration of YOU. The blessing you are the others, the blessings in one's life, and just the fact that you are alive. So I like birthdays and I like to wish people a happy birthday and to enjoy their birthdays with them.


So, when Jenn told me she was planning a party for her birthday, I was excited, because I had that weekend free to come to Calgary and celebrate as grand as we could and to fill our time with adventure and spontaneity and fun.


To dance, laugh, chat, drive, enjoy beautiful views, eat good food, freeze to death, talk until the wee hours of the morning and so on. Life is beautiful and wonderful and it is delightful to celebrate it with those you love.


I arrived Friday night and after a lot of talking, we finally drifted off to sleep. Then after wishing Jenn a happy birthday 10 million times, we went out for Dim Sum with some friends of hers and with her parents. So tasty! And fun to meet new people as well!


And I decided I need to find a dim sum place I like back home. Because it's tasty and super fun and you can try random and new things. Like when I was walking out, I noticed chicken legs and feet. Maybe next time...


After brunch, we headed to Banff with lindie. I love jokes that keep going, make themselves into new forms and then you find signs about them. A few years ago, Lindie met a guy from bible school when we were in the states. And somehow in the course of the conversation, she told him "your state is kind of dumpy." Anyway.. we have not stopped bugging her since and when we saw this sign, we thought it was absolutely perfect.


Cedric also had fun walking around Banf, but he met some menacing characters...




This toque was exceptionally warm and perhaps would have kept me far warmer than I was. Wearing really thin sweatshirts in very cold weather = dumb idea.


Lindie was so excited to go to the candy store, until she found out she couldn't buy any pez.



Banff was chilly, but stunning at every turn and fun to walk around and explore and see waterfalls. I love the excitement of being with friends on an adventure and how the possibilities of what you can do open up and every single thing that is mentioned sounds great and after a while, every sentence is started with, "Next time, let's..." I love the prospect of next time and the wonderful fun things we shall continue to do and to simply enjoy the moment and the randomness of it all.








We were turning a corner, and suddenly a whole row of elk came out of the woods! How delightful and well-timed!




And since Jenn and I have a tradition of seeing nice country churches when we're together, we decided to stop at this historic spot for a couple photos!

And of course, one must always try on animal toques and take photos when they are around.

And funny glasses would be included in that category as well.

Then after getting good and cold (which only took 5 seconds, but why not let it really sink in over a few hours?), we went to Banff Hot Springs.


It was wonderfully warm and comfortable with a nice view of trees, mountains and dusk all around.


The best part? Cedric (the gnome) joined us in the pools and helped us meet some people. Started some good conversations and they even wanted to take a picture with Cedric as well. He's a pretty popular guy.


And then we drove to Calgary into very snowy random drifts and windyness. A part of the trans-canada was even closed because it was so nasty. Then Aussie Rules, a dueling piano bar in the evening, where we met up with a bunch of Jenn's friends. I got to chat with her friend who had been to New Zealand for a few months and loved it, so it was super fun to share stories and our joint love of such a beautiful place. Made me want to go back. asap.

Sunday was a relaxing day and then we went to my friend Jacquelyn's for tea in the afternoon and then for dinner to one of my most favourite restaurants (glad I have fave restaurants in Calgary) with my cousin and her boyfriend.

Then I headed to the airport where flight delays made me happy for once in my life because I got to see my dear friend Anne who was passing through the airport on her way back to Edmonton. And after saying goodbye to her and boarding my flight, I got to see her an hour later, when I had to get off my broken plane and wait to board a different one.



All in all a delightful time in Alberta. I arrived in Saskatchewan at 2:00am in the wee hours of monday morning. -16 temperatures and snowyness welcomed me and I embraced them! And spending 3 full days with an old roommate whom I love dearly sounds delightful! I think we shall perhaps even go visit a giant moose soon!! Yippee! :)

Hope you are all enjoying your week!

Twenty-Six, Travel, Thinking

26 things for my 26th year.

Since I just had a birthday, I have been thinking of what I would like 26 to be like and what I want to do during that year.

I recently spied someone's list of 30 things they wanted to do before they were 30. I love making bucket lists and such, so I figured, why not make a list of 26 things I want to do during my 26th year.

So here goes:
1. Take a picture of the stars
2. Travel to Asia
3. Finish Writing my book
4. Get a business license
5. Expand my volunteering time
6. Lose 50 pounds
7. Learn how to play guitar
8. Take a spanish class
9. Attend an aquafit class
10. Spend a weekend in Seattle
11. Go Camping somewhere new
12. Discover a new lake (to me.. i'm sure there have not been many made in the last year...) to canoe on
13. Reconnect with an old friend
14. Memorize Colossians
15. Swim 200 lengths in a row
16. Jog 5 kms
17. Make a photo book for my 25th year
18. Take a painting class
19. Learn how to stretch canvas
20. Write my sponsor kids
21. Learn how to pickle things
22. Go spend a day reading on the beach
23. Go on a picnic
24. Learn how to stop while skating
25. Bake bread
26. Go on a roadtrip

So there you have it. I will keep you updated as I cross things off my list...

Twins, Together, Time

This week is birthday week. Known by some others as the week before Christmas. All very fun and exciting! But a little crazy how fast time flies.

I love having my birthday in December! Well, besides combined gifts and people not really caring it's my birthday, I like all the decorations and all the festivities all at once! It's fun because I happen to have a lot of friends with December birthdays too! In fact one weekend I had invites to 4 birthday get - togethers!


Last week, it was my friend Vanessa's birthday. We affectionately refer to one another as twinsie, as we have some convoluted story about how we are actually twins separated at birth who happened to be born 9 days apart. Only to have our families let us be friends as children and until now. Brilliant story. Touching really. So this is my twin sister Vanessa and we celebrated her birthday in style! She's leaving for Australia next week and I will definitely miss her!



It was fun to meet some of her friends as well! The following day we were able to go for lunch as well which was special to be able to hang out together one on one before she left!


On Saturday my mom and I met in Vancouver where we went to the Canucks game. Apparently she likes laughing at me. But we had a wonderful time and afterwards I took her to the best Japanese restaurant in Vancouver (that I know of). Afterwards I was able to see some friends in Van as well which was wonderful!


This last week has been interesting as I feel like I have been coming out of my season of being a hermit. But it's been delightful to connect with friends and to find a newfound balance of refueling time for me and time with friends!

Tis all for now! Off to enjoy some more festivities of birthday week!

Cameras, Chilliwack, Club

Yesterday was one of those wonderfully lazy days. As was yesterday. I decided I needed one more. The days when you go with the flow and all is well (funny enough when I look at my day, it was still quite full! haha)


The day began with a drive to Vancouver to pick up the newlyweds. Unfortunately, thanks to our summer construction traffic, I was about 45 minutes late picking them up- oops! Then I enjoyed lunch with a friend.


And on lazy summer days, what a better way to spend it than in between the hot tub and pool with family? Delightful. As is the leg across the above picture. And here I am using my new underwater camera since my old one seemed to have gotten water in it and is now broken {go figure}. And to answer, Kelly's question, I am thinking about getting a Canon 7D. And right now I have a Canon 40D with 3 different lenses that I will be able to transfer over {one of which is a wide angle which I absolutely LOVE playing around with}. And in answer to the other question, I am headed down under for 5 and a half weeks. Crazy long time! And all that is planned so far is that I have a flight to Australia. Haha.. I'm counting on spontaneity and adventure for this one.


Then I drove out to Chilliwack, to enjoy a BBQ with more family. It was my cousin's son's birthday as well, so it was fun to be there to celebrate with him. And we figured since we were at a wedding in the rain on the weekend, we could stand a bit of drizzle during our BBQ.


Then I headed to prison which was great as per usual {if you're ever interested in volunteering every other Monday night, there are a lot of women who are waiting for matches!} It's funny, because I have now played crazy 8's there quite a few times and every time I forget how to play. I'm thinking I will remember next time hopefully. My time there is always inspiring and truly thought provoking.


After, I went to Sharks Club to join Kristen and her friends in a farewell to Kristen who left early this morning to head down to grad school in California. Her and I got through our undergrads together with a lot of fun and craziness! She was one of my main university friends and I am thankful that I have a lot of great memories and laughs I can share with her!

Today I am heading to the lake for some more canoeing {have I mentioned I love my canoe?}

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Candles, Candy, Cooking

Yesterday night was nacho mountian night with some of my friends from my Trinity days. I like that I have friends from university that I still connect with. I wasn't incredibly social at university, but it's nice that I came away with some great and solid friendships.

We always use our new favorite kind of chip, which is the spicy quesadilla tostitos! So good!!
Best quote of the evening: "Do these gummy glo-worms actually glow? Because I don't think that would be very good for you." :) I love my friends. :)

Enjoying good food and company and great musical talent afterwards as we ended the night with some incredible rockband action!
I keep feeling like things are wrapping up but there's lots going on still. Just finished a large stack of marking. And I was reminded of how much I enjoy it, especially because I get introduced to a variety of really great ideas, with a lot of academic backing and research and it is so interesting to read about what other people think about a variety of really interesting topics. Definitely gets me thinking! And after handing in the stack, I received a new, smaller stack! Oh well, I will just embrace it and keep going! Hopefully will get another stack next week!


Yesterday would have been Leon's 30th birthday. That's crazy to me (well especially because that means I'm a lot older than I actually think I am). As I look at pictures of his friends and their get-togethers and lives, I wonder what life would look like if Leon were in it still. What his life would look like. And how my life might be dramatically different from what it is today. I know it's not good to totally dwell on these things, but in remembering, I pictured what life with Leon would look like. And with that thought, life became a bit fuller and better. And it made me miss him a lot, wishing he fit in the way I envision he would have.

Off to Vancouver for a day of adventures with Maia before she heads off to South Africa. Who knows what adventures we will run into? But it should be wonderfully fun! Enjoy your Thursday!

Seasons, Swimming, Sr.

Yesterday a new season began, today a season of my life came to an end.

Tonight was our last official youth night for the year with me being on staff at church. My contract is up end of June. It is weird being done, but funny too because I know I will be doing some of the same stuff in the future and will still be quite involved, it will just look a bit different with not as much responsibility.

Tonight we had a BBQ and pool party and it was a lot of fun! Just great to be together and hang out and enjoy youthfulness.
I love my underwater camera. :) And so do most people! It is fun seeing what photos are on my camera at the end of the night.
Group underwater photo. Best ever. haha

Yesterday I had a wonderful time hanging out with this little guy-can't get enough of him. Even snapped a few pictures.. He snapped some as well. Only because he was mesmerized by the sound the camera made when he pushed the button.


And dinner and cake for my mom's birthday last night with family! Always great to just spend time together and enjoy being with one another. I'm generally fairly busy and have a tough time stopping and simply being.
I couldn't quite find 57 candles, but I figured 10 would do. Close enough.

And so I welcome this new season! Hooray for summer and nights of enjoying being outside in the warm night air. And hooray for a new season in life. One where in some ways I'm doing a lot of the same things I was doing before. But it feels different in oh so many ways.