Quote for the day....

Start by doing what's necessary,

 then what's possible, 

and suddenly you're doing the 

impossible 

- Francis of Assisi - 

Fire-damaged Ethiopian eatery to reopen on Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue

Fire-damaged Ethiopian eatery to reopen on Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue

Elizabeth one of my friends from church! I'm so glad that their restaurant will open soon!

Stepping out of our Comfort Zone

Liz Longley - I love you!!

Ok..I think I have a new favorite artist....sigh.  Liz Longley!!

I heard her on coffeehouse and can't get her songs out of my head!

Just had to share...

What do you love?

I kind of stumbled on this fun searching service by Google.

What do you love?

It's kind of fun and VERY addicting - well for me anyway.

I searched...

  friends names,

Jesus,
My name,
sex 

(I couldn't help myself! try it! seriously it's funny)
rainbow,
double rainbow,
Israel (very intersting)

Check it out...  www.wdyl.com 

Why do I waste my time blogging?

       Tonight I just read this article... Why on Earth would you waste your time writing a blog? Well, I personally don't think I'm wasting time, but I know a few people who do, and I have to admit I don't have too many friends that write one just because.  I mean I have my photography blog and that has a purpose to draw more clients and build rapport, but using my blog as an online diary?  Is that cool?  I was seriously starting to doubt, but that article made me feel like I'm not alone and there are probably other people who have a lot to say, and nobody to say it to.

        I can't imagine this being my job, I would love it, because I always seem to have something to write about, and I pride myself on being able to tackle any subject.  (In fact I did a newspaper article in college about this race that was run naked!  I loved  the challenge of trying to put a politically polite spin on such a racy subject.)

     I think what draws me to it is that I've always had pen pals growing up, someone to share my heart to.  People still tell me years later how much they enjoyed reading my letters, that they were so long and full of detail and that they were never boring.  I can't imagine writing a letter anymore.  I think the last REAL letter I wrote (handwritten on girly paper, where I obsessed over my handwriting) was six years ago!  Actually no, I had a sponsor child in Africa for a while and her and I wrote back and forth for a whole year.  I was really sad to give her up, she had so much potential I loved encouraging her and sending her stickers.  :(

     I've written to people from all over the world, penpal in Brazil, Ireland, Missionary in Mongolia who moved to Malaysia, and then just friends that I met at youth conferences or on my trip to mongolia.  I still have all my letters from when I was in Bible school from my friend Bridget.  Even when we were apart, we still kept in touch and I couldn't wait for her envelope to arrive. I guess it's been my way of processing the world. I'd be on my way home from a trip, immediately I'd start writing a letter to someone, then someone else till I had a stack of letters for the post office.

      I always tried to think of something new that was small that could fit in the envelope.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  One time I put different colored fall leaves in and they apparently crumbled and when my friend opened them they looked nothing like leaves.  My favorite was the skinny sticks of Juicy Fruit gum (love that gum!).

      I've been thinking about writing another blog about the daily events of my totally fictitious life.  I would have in mind from the very beginning where things were going - like in a book, but I would do it all online.  I meet people all the time who I think would be great characters for a story and I wish I could use them somehow, bring them to life in my vivid imagination.  I don't know if I would tell anybody about it, because it would not be censored and it would might offend some people - which is one thing that keeps me from writing an actual book.  I totally get it when Anna Nalick sings in her song "Breathe (2 am)"

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

Christians aren't kind to each other - especially of someone's interpretation of life.  Alot feel like they have analyze and judge it to death.  Makes me sad and sick at the same time. But i have to admit that Christians are getting better, and getting more real - we have to.  I think because we're seeing how we're being portrayed on T.V and we feel embarrassed and want to change that.  I know I do.

    

Cool music videos that I love....

These are some music videos that I love. 

 Not only do I love the song, I love how creative and unique the video concept is.  

I'll tell you why I love each video...

I love the acoustic sound of Jack Johnson and how soothing his voice is.
I love this video because it gets you from the beginning,
you HAVE to find out how that big mess started!
I don't know about you, but that's what got me the first time.
I didn't really like the song, but I had to watch the video over and over again.

This guy...I don't really know his music,
but someone shared this video on facebook and I love it!
Like who would of thought of making fish out of socks and clouds out of pillows!
Genius!



Pomplamoose is made up of only a guy (Jack) and a girl (Nataly).  
They make incredible full band sounds -
 just the two of them by recording each instrument one by one.
Very cool.  I love their version of Telephone, because I love watching Jack play the drums.
Reminds me of Animal from the Muppets.  
There are so many of their songs that I like, but I thought I would limit it to one.




Well...1) LOVE Kirk Franklin.
 He's cute, he's hot and he can dance.
(I mean that with all due respect! facts are facts.)
2) This song makes me happy.
 Everyone is happy, their dancing (WAY better than I ever could),
and you HAVE to check out that sound board?!
Looks like a nice place to hang out and dance.



I kind of stumbled upon this song,
and it's one of my favorite (if not my favorite) winter song.
The animation is so cute with the hearts
and I like that though the song starts off a little sad sounding,
it ends positive (which I think all songs should - at least the ones that I write do).

"Is love alive..is love alive...is love alive!!"

Ok that's all for now.  I have to get back to work.

I love James Blunt

K I just like these songs..haven't actually watched a whole music video of his.  

"Same mistake" is on the P.S. I Love You soundtrack - one of my favorite movies.  

"Same Mistake" is my favorite song on that album.

I honestly put up the first video because I like his new haircut.
Nice upgrade :)

"If you want to go places you've never been, you have to do things you've never done."

An Olympic athlete I saw on CTS today.

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness means

giving up all hope

for a  better past."

Lily Tomlin

What a crazy last few days!!  If you saw me, you would see the proof.  I have beach hair (crazy tangled...nothing sexy about it), a slightly sunburnt face, and exhausted, but I've had so much fun.  I really just need a few hours to myself to recharge and do nothing.

so  here's the scoop.  My mom and dad went to this BBQ with the whose who of Prince George.  They were going to have lobster and ribs sounded amazing, but we went to my auntie Laura's for supper and she made us the BEST supper that my girls could have imagined!  It wasn't fancy, but to my kid's corn on the cob is the ultimate and she had a rounded bowl full.  There was also ceasar salad, which my girls also love.  She made a three cheese casserole which is a tomato base with parmesan and cubes of cream cheese hidden inside and a baked with a crispy cheddar crust on top.  Emily had thirds of the corn on the cob AND the casserole.  She doesn't like cream cheese and I wasn't going to tell her that was eating it.  we had the first dessert (yes, first!!) watermelon and then second dessert (!!) was fresh stawberries and peaches with vanilla whipped cream.

     We then went to the park around the corner from her house and I found a whole bunch of saskatoon berry bushes and showed them to the girls.  They aren't usually ripe at this time of year, but with all the rain, they were the biggest, plumpest saskatoon berries that I have ever seen.  Ally went crazy and had purply-black lips and thumbs because she would squeeze off the tops.  It thought it was interesting that she would do that.  I just always put the whole thing in my mouth and ate.

   We came back to her house and had 3rd dessert!  Maple walnut ice cream and she made tennille and I her special iced coffee.  i got to take home some of her homemade coffee syrup!!  I can't wait to try!  The kids went downstairs to watch a movie and Tennille and I played "Sticks" with Auntie.  Sticks is a card game where you have a bag of sticks and you have to get what's on the stick and discard to win that stick.  The person with the most sticks wins.  My sister has had so much good luck at that game, and me..not so much.  But that night I won! I won 9 sticks!  Everyone else had 7 - it was close though.

  I woke up at 6:00 the next morning to drive home, minus one special girl.  Emily gave me some long hugs.  She's staying for 10 days with my mom and dad.  I got to Jasper at 11:00 am and that was better than I had hoped for. But realized that there are more passing lanes going east than going west, so I didn't get stuck as much.

I realized that acoustic guitar music really does fit the Rockies.  When I was a kid, dad would play Simon & Garfunkel.  It was so relaxing.  I ended up finding a Simon & Garfunkel CD and put it on my ipod and that's what we listened to.  I didn't rush getting home.  I liked being able to listen to my favorite satelite station - The coffeehouse.  They do all acoustic, and have musicians come in and do acoustic versions of their songs.  My favorite of the trip was "everybody wants to rule the world - tears for fears" and "half of my heart - John Mayer"
Travelling with my girls gets so much easier each time, less bathroom breaks, less emergencies. All around, it was quite relaxing and we had swarms of mosquitoes to greet us while waiting in constructions just outside of Edmonton. wonderful.

    I went to see brian at work and he took the rest of the day off.  He went and got supper while I went to crash in bed.  I don't think I was in bed for 30 mins when he wanted to get me up and take me to a movie.  I told him I was TOO tired...but since it was Telus tuesday and I'm too cheap to pay full price we went to see Harry Potter.  Our movie started at 9:00, but then realized for only $5 more we could see it in 3D with reserved seating we waited till 11:00.  So we had 2 hours to kill.  We walked across the parking lot to Indigo books which was closed, and then went to the arcade.  He was going to buy overpriced tokens if I REALLY wanted to, but I couldn't let him do that.  So I let him buy me a frozen yogurt and we just sat and talked for an hour.  It was nice.

    The movie was amazing and I want to see it again.  AMAZING!!  We didn't get to bed till about 2:30 and brian woke me up at 7:00!!  We were going to drive 2 hours north to Long Lake to spend time with his hunting buddy and his family at the lake.  i was skeptical...but when we turned the corner into the national park and saw that there was so many trees, and the beach was so sandy, this just might be a nice alberta lake!  The Nortons camp every year right on the water and the locals are all jealous of their spot.  They made us the best breakfast with big chunks of black forest ham and slice of cheese and an egg on a hamburger bun.  SO good!  I had two and half (what ally didn't eat).  Went swimming and I pulled out my snorkel set.  I didn't care how ridiculous that I looked, it's fun.  I'm so out of practice though, and I didn't really see anything.  algae.  but not as bad as pigeon lake which had big gobs of it floating in the water, but you swim anyways because you just crave water.

  Went fishing for wall eye and haley caught 7 and one jackfish!!! Brian and I caught two, but mine were bigger.  haha. it was fun, and brought back memories of fishing with my dad and uncle.  Ally didn't want to fish, she just wanted to touch them when someone brought them in.  Darcy then showed us the lake and went really fast.  Ally put her arms up like it was a roller coaster and "whoo hooed" all the way.  We had supper and I had to chug a drink because I lost track of time!  Ally and I slept in back all the way home while.  And I didn't get out of bed till 11:00 today.  It was nice to just have some quiet and not have to be somewhere or work with someone else's schedule.    I really have to do some work now, because I haven't worked on pictures for a whole week, and I'll probably go at it for a whole week straight on and off to catch up.

Yesterday's Adventure:
      Walking to Superstore -(which isn't that far away from my mom's house) with 4 kids. It was fun.  The air was so fresh because of the rain and I got to show my girls again the elementary school that I went to. Riley decided halfway through the school field that he didn't want to go and that he wanted to stay at the park.  We just kept on walking and hoped that he would get lonely and decided to join us.  I have to say that I was a little worried, because the field was quite large and from the other side he looked so small and who KNOWS what is going through their head at that age?! (he's 4)  I'm so thankful that he decided to join us...(phew!) and when I pointed out that emily was at the front (which is always the case when we go on walks of any kind), he tried to beat her, but she just wouldn't let that happen.  So we got to the store quite fast after that.
      Shopping with Riley was quite the adventure.  I had to remember what I used to do- which is be creative, think fast and bribery ...i mean incentives... never hurt anyone.  I needed a time out at the end of it though.  One funny thing though that happened.  We went to the toy section first thing, because that was how we got Riley to want to come to Superstore is because they have toys.  Well they were looking at toys and one end panel there were some books.  The one that caught my eye was titled, "150 Secrets to a Happy Wife"

   Well, of course I start reading, to see if this guy knows what he's talking about.  One was, "Let her have control of the remote not once but from now on"   awwwww.  I can't remember any other ones.  But what was funny was, as I flipping through, another lady came and put her copy away.  I laughed because she was doing exactly what I was doing!!!  I don't know, it seems like a great book, but I can't see the men that REALLY need to read that book actually picking it up.  The only men that would read it, would  probably be pretty much perfect and wouldn't need it - in fact they could probably write a book on the subject!!!

  Tennille went to work and I watched Riley for a few hours.  I ended up taking the kids to the park and I read my book.  We went to school park, and I showed the girls the exact spot where I went to kiss a little boy when I was in grade 2 (the girls were trying to kiss the boys) and I caught this boy and leaned in to kiss him on the lips and he stuck out his tongue at the last minute and I kissed his tongue!!!!   EWWWWW.... I was mortified, and when I told my girls they were also grossed out.  I think they learned the lesson...don't kiss boys. (well... lets hope they did). I told them other stories.  I can't believe I remember so much!!   

Today's adventure:
    Jumping in a van and taking 4 kids to the train museum to see Thomas the train.  Riley and Allison were so excited.  But, as soon as we got out of the van and were waiting in line to pay admission, it began to pour!  OH MY...  Riley and Allison were so disappointed and trying to tell that we were going to come again tomorrow was quite the challenge.  I think I said quite a few times to ally that if she didn't quit the attitude that she wouldn't come back at all.  I was not happy.
     I went to my aunt's house and took pictures of her B&B for her website and facebook.  She has such a beautiful house and garden.  She came over for supper tonight and after supper, and we played the Game of Life with Haley and Emily.  Riley always seems to decide halfway through any game that he wants to play.  This time he wanted drive one of the cars on the board game.  We let him do it for a little bit.  Then he wanted two cars instead of one.  We had to say no, because there was none left.  He THEN wanted a red car - which happened to be Emily's and had to tell him no.  He was not happy about that. It was quite a stressful game.  And I kept all the frustration inside because the kids were having so much fun.  Emily had SO much energy tonight, and had a hard time waiting for her turn to come.  AHHHHH!!  I was happy when the game was over. I'm not sure what we're doing tomorrow.  We're not going to church tomorrow because Westside doesn't have childcare for the summer and I'm not brave enough (or don't have the patience) to deal with it.  So who knows what we'll do.  I think I'll need a vacation after my vacation...and looks like hiking in the Ancient Forest will have to happen another time.  oh well.  Off to bed.  need to rest up for whatever we end up doing.

Off to Prince George tommorrow!  Brian and I tried something new tonight.  we decided to go for a walk every night after supper, well tonight was our first walk and we got eaten by mosquitos!  We are starting to reconsider. The upside, we got in 7,486 steps!  It was nice to connect and talk again and it's cool is that we never run out of things to talk about.
  Anyways, I should go and finish packing.  I have a daughter who is very worried that we won't be going if I don't finish.  So I will go and ease her mind by showing her that I'm working on it.

Update:  the girls were so excited that they said that they we're going to sleep.  So they didn't stayed up past 2:00.  I think it's a good thing that they are excited to see your grandparents.  I was never too excited to see mine as a kid.  Off we go!

 Update to the update:

I didn't leave as early as I like to we ended up driving through Jasper Park during the busy time of the day.  We got behind this one guy just on the other side of Jasper and he was going like 60 km in a 100 zone!!  that really drives me crazy...especially when I have 4 more hours to drive.  There was long lineup behind him, two semi's, an SUV, and a couple small cars and then me. Long story short...I passed them all thanks to my trusty jeep.  It's really good for highway driving...especially passing.  LOVED it for that!  Lots of power when you need it.  So, I learned my lesson and I'm going to leave early when I'm coming home.  NO stopping again this time.  I usually like to take my time and stop a couple times.  Once in Jasper and once at either Overlander falls, Rearguard Falls or Maligne Canyon in Jasper park or Mount Robson .  Nah..now that I'm thinking about it, I probably will.  They are all so pretty, I have to do at least ONE of them!

Captivating...

     I don't know why, but I just haven't been myself lately.  Life just is boring, and there's just no adventure.  mundane.  There's lots going on, but it always seems to be the the same. predictable.  I'm starting to get weary from fighting the same battles day after day.  Is that ok for me to say that?

      I wish that I had the luxury of going off to "find myself" as Elizabeth Gilbert did - author of "Eat, Love Pray", but lets be realistic - 3 kids and... enough said right there.  I don't know how, but I was daydreaming about when a guy I knew in bible school (before brian - of course) said to me once.  He told me I was captivating. sigh...   It was a storybook moment.  I know what your thinking, he just said that because he wanted something.  Perhaps, but what girl doesn't want to be told that they are captivating?  To me, it was the ultimate compliment. I remembered last night that I have the book "Captivating" written by John & Stasi Eldredge on my shelf and I haven't read it!  

      I used to be apart of a woman's book club at the church when the girls were little, the funny thing is i would never read the books, but I would always join in the discussions.  If you want my opinion, I always have something to say - I just don't always share it. Anyways,  I tried, but I just wasn't a fast enough reader and just plain too busy.  So I saved all the books for a day when I wouldn't be so busy, and I'm so glad that I did.
     I read the first and second chapter and by the end of them my eyes were moist.  There is so much that I could tell you from what I read, but I'll pull out a few things that got me.  First off, that we are made in the image of God and the woman, Eve was the crescendo of creation.  That the earth wasn't right, Adam wasn't right until Eve came.  
     Women long to unveil beauty.  I know that some will deny it, but if they are really honest with themselves they desire to feel beautiful and to have someone mesmerized by them. Girls gravitate to dressing up, fairytales, princess stories.  I remember the Christmas that Brian was winning the Sleep Expert of the Year award.  I wanted to make sure that I had the perfect dress and I didn't care how much I spent.  I had always been on a budget and always bought dresses that were modest, but I wanted something that was over the top gorgeous - red carpet worthy.  I ended up buying a navy gown with so much chiffon that it gathered in around the waist and draped down past my feet.  I shopped for the perfect gold wristlet purse with rhinestones and gold leather.  The party was at the Fairmont Hotel and I felt like a princess.
  The funny thing is that when people describe meeting God, they have no words to describe the beauty.  John had to use word "like" to describe what he saw.

            "Right then the Spirit took control of me, and there in heaven I saw a 
       throne and someone sitting on it. ³The one who was sitting there sparkled
       like precious stones of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow that looked like an
       emerald surrounded the throne." Rev 4:2-3


He sparkled like precious stones...the things that women long to wear.  I thought it was funny when I read that, the jewelry that I wear and make is all semi-precious stones - amethyst, citrine, topaz, rose quartz, flourite.  I don't know why but they make me feel princess-like even if I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
  I think that if we realize that we are royalty, as sons and daughters of God then we will behave like it.


                 "⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's]
         own purchased,special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds
         and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of 
         darkness into His marvelous light."  1 Peter 2:9


I once wrote a song for my girls and in the climax - the bridge I put everything that I was gone what I wanted them to remember - one of them was that they are royalty.  Princesses don't give their love away to just anyone, they save it for someone special.  They wait for someone who is willing to wait and earn their love.  Fight for them.  Someone strong and whole, who when your around them, you want to be better and you feel you are better for just knowing them.  I could keep writing, but my mood has changed just from reflecting on the book and I think I'm going to read some more before bed.  writing...so theraputic. :)


Here's the song I was telling you about.  It's kind of rough, because I have instructions for my worship team at the time.  We used a full band. So...imagine a really cool guitar solo at the end of the bridge.  To bad I didn't have a  video of the performance. oh well.





The days go by so fast
you blink and then they're past
and all you have is memories
and pictures if your lucky

I try to make them last
but all my good intentions
won't keep you here
one day you'll fly away

Chorus
And if there's one thing I could say to you
Is I love you  more than words could say
Your always in my heart
I hope I give you all the tools you need
To make it through this life
Most of all, I hope I've shown you Jesus

Ring around the rosy hide and seek
Patty cakes, belly aches, runny nose, dirty toes
Rush through my head like lightening
And sweep me away

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible and your mommy tells you so
You are no more than three
Snuggled up on my knee

Bridge
Now listen...
He's closer than a prayer
His love is all you need
When times get rough He'll be your anchor
Remember you're His child
You're royalty
When pressures come he'll take you higher
You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength
More than a conqueror because He loves you
and gave his life for you.

He loves you
He's passionate about you
I love you
I love you

© 2008 Lyndsey Greenhalgh

Canada Day Long weekend...

Well Canada Day ok.  Yes, it was just ok.  I'm usually extremely patriotic but I don't know why this year it just didn't hold the same excitement that it usually does.  I remember last years fireworks, we watched them with Ric and Roz, they were so excited about the news of their new baby and we made plans for when I would do their maternity pictures.  That's exciting.  This year it was just us, and no friends or family.  I don't know, maybe I'm just missing my family.  

Anyways, we went downtown on the LRT.  Haven't done that forever (like 4-5 years ago) and went to city hall to look at the Works art festival and the booths set up.  There was lots of  handmade jewelry, I got lots of ideas, but couldn't imagine paying their prices because I know where to get everything wholesale.

  There was this one booth that the most amazing paintings.  I was drawn to them because of the vibrant colars and I liked the subject matter for the most part - the same stuff that I like to take pictures of - butterflies, flowers, seascapes but all in a fantasy, otherworld.  How she painted her subjects is how I usually like to edit my pictures. That's how I see them.  I talked to the artist for a bit and she started talking about her take on religion and how she got her inspiration was from all the feminine energy in her life and she channels that into her painting.  

I just smiled and nodded, and let her tell her story.  I found it interesting because she said that she thought traditional religion was becoming obsolete and that people are coming back to revering women as gods.  \ What?! I let her think that, and just kept on going..

Next stop was the Legislature buildings and we hadn't been there for Canada Day since Emily was 18months and Haley was 2!  The girls loved it and Allison keeps asking when I'm going to take her back to the place with the waterfalls.  

On the LRT!

The Legislature Grounds

Allison and Emily

The girls and I

Experimenting with cameras & glowsticks while waiting for the fireworks.

The next day we took the girls to the town of Gibbons! I once had a penpal who lived in Gibbons when I was a teenager, met her at a youth conference in Edmonton.  I never knew where it was and didn't realize how small it was.  I told brian that I would consider living there.  It was a nice size and close enough to the city.  He didn't say anything, which probably means no.  

The whole reason we took the girls to Gibbons, AB was to take them to the Jurrassic Forest. 

 It was so beautiful and natural.  I loved how much natural plant life there was.

The girls got a little tired of me lagging behind, but I was so mesmerized.  There was of course dinosaurs there, but for they were kind of boring.  Brian loved them, and took so many pictures of them.  For me I could have come back just for the plant life and scenery.  I would even consider doing a photoshoot there.  The plant life reminded me of something that you would see close to Jasper up in the mountains, but no it was in the prairies!  

Midnight musings

    I hate it when i fall asleep on the couch, wake up and it's like 2:00 in the morning.  I could go back to bed, but it's so quiet and peaceful.  It's the perfect time to think or do something around the house without being disturbed, but i know I'm going to pay for it in the morning.
  I was creeping on Facebook tonight looking at pictures that people have posted-(i don't know why I feel guilty when people post it for you to see!) just thinking how fast the time is going by.  I always seem to do this at the beginning of school and at the end of school year for the girls.  I once had a conversation with my dad, telling him how I felt that life was going by so fast- sometimes too fast and that I wished I could slow it down - like when I was a kid.  He told me that he remembers feeling that way- especially when we were younger (my brother sister and I), and that for him, life eventually began to slow down again when he became a grandparent.  So...I guess i have something to look forward to.
   Today I decided at the last minute to go on a field trip with Allison's class to Elk Island National park.  Personally, for a national park, it wasn't all that impressive for me.  In fact, it was quite the let down to be perfectly honest.  Sure we saw bison - like three, but it was mostly trees and bush.  The "lake" was a big dirty big pond with tons of leeches in it. To me, a lake is a body of water that you can swim in.  If you can't swim in it, it's just not worthy to have such a title.
  Our first activity was to go on the dock and each parent had a station and groups of kids would go from station to station with their butterfly nets dipping them in the water and emptying the contents in the basin.  My station was apparently the one with the leeches and egg sacks, sadly no frogs, but lots of tadpoles. Other stations were catching minnows and frogs, nice things, but now I had to get the one with the gross stuff.  I made the mistake of revealing to one little boy how disgusted I was with the leech that he found - it was at least 5 inches long and half an inch wide in one part. He chased me, put the net right up to my face...it was awful and he was so delighted with my reaction.  horrible!
   I don't think it helped that the day before I was flipping through the channels when there was some story that caught my eye about how hospitals use leeches to get rid of excess blood to body parts that are swollen and won't drain the blood properly.  Did you know that they have three little jaws and bite in the shape of a "Y"?  I didn't and that wasn't comforting to know when it was crawling around in this little girls net asking me how to get it out.  I just wanted to tell her that the leech would never be coming out of her precious little net and that she should accept it and just throw the net in the water, let it sink and not worry about it!  I was hoping that the teacher would have picked up on my terrible discomfort, and hopefully relieve me from my station but he didn't and we ended up doing this for 45 minutes!  Oh the things we do for our kids!
  I would have been happy not knowing what was in the water, though I have to admit, it was amazing to find out how full of life it was.  On the surface the water looked so dull and placid, but if you looked our basin, it was teaming with life.  Being by the water made me long for home. There is a fresh water lake at least 30 minutes in each direction and each one is swim-worthy!  (Not to mention the rivers and creeks also.)
   I'm hoping to get home to Prince George this summer.  This is the longest that I've been away - a whole year!  I'm trying to make plans with mom, but our schedules are just not working out so easily.  Mom wants to go hiking in the ancient forest- something that I've wanted to do since college.  I found this book in the library once, when i was 16 about hiking.  I was very big into it because i had just come back from Mongolia, and had to buy alot of my supplies for the trip at the army surplus store (camping store).  I was itching for information on anything that had to do with the subject.  I read a book by a couple who had hiked the Appalachian mountain range in Eastern US with their baby. (I thought it was very impressive, until i had a baby of my own- and that was a different story!  I never let Haley be exposed to the elements till she was about 10 months, before she totally covered up, over-layered and always indoors.)  I read another book about hiking in the Rockies - daytrips around Jasper. I loved reading how each author packed for their trips and the tips they had for survival in the elements.
  Anyways one day i found a book written by the College of New Caledonia hiking group- the college in Prince George.  They had made maps of all the local trails and rated their difficulty.  There was explanations for what to expect and if you needed a compass - which apparently you need one on some of the trails - they are that unspoiled. I found it so exciting, because it was something new for me to explore, because I felt like I knew Prince George, and found everything there was to know about it. I think I rode almost every back trail at least once.

So.... I was waiting till I was either old enough to go by myself, had some friends who wanted to do it with or have a husband to take me.  Well, when i got old enough I was too busy with other things - like jobs and didn't quite make enough money to buy myself a car.  Of all my friends only on liked hiking and that was Bridget.  We were separated for a year because she went to Bible School and I was stranded in PG.  When it switched, I went to Bible school and she stayed home, well she ended up finding a husband.  Well, I did find a husband- that first summer at Bible school actually, but he was such a city boy that camping/hiking didn't have much of an appeal unless you had a tent trailer and HOW would we afford a tent trailer?!  I'm slowly easing him into it, and he's coming around, but when it comes to summer time sometimes it's just not fast enough for me.
   I should really go to bed.  It's nice to know that I don't have to get up if I don't want to.  Get all stressed because someone can't find a matching pair of socks, or there is no school snacks because Allison ate them all, or better yet, have to run to Walmart to buy milk at 6:30 because there is none!  Those mornings are done for, at least for a couple months.
  I feel good. There has been times when the end of school year fog has lifted and I was unhappy with how little I had accomplished with the kids and how fast they are growing.  I'm happy to report that I'm content.  I'm thinking it's because I'm busy doing things that make me happy, instead of waiting for them to happen one day.  I'm putting in the effort daily instead of being passive hoping that one day I'll be able to accomplish.  And anything that I haven't done, well i feel that there is still time and we definitely have another school year to start over brand new.  I can't give up....too much living to do.

A Woman Should Have...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....


enough money within her control to move out

and rent a place of her own even if she never wants

to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her

dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to

retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black

lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who

lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone

else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a

recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

HOW TO QUIT A JOB,

BREAK UP WITH A LOVER,

AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,

the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

whom she can trust,

whom she can't,

and why she shouldn't

take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...

be it to her best friend's kitchen table...

or a charming inn in the woods...

when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day...

a month...and a year..."

— Pamela Redmond Satra

Israel.. recap.

It's crazy how fast life can go from boring to exciting in a second..and then back to boring again.  I can't believe how much I've done in just a couple months.  It all seems like a dream...too good to be true. Israel was better than I thought it would be.  I didn't let myself expect too much because I usually - with my crazy big imagination get let down.  For instance, there was this trip that Brian and I took back to Ontario.  It was the first time back since we left and I was so excited...looked forward to it for months.  I thought about all the people I would see..thinking that nothing had changed, that all the friends I had would still be there...but they weren't.  They had all moved away.  I didn't get to go the places that I wanted to because i was dependent on my husband's family.  And well their idea of entertainment wasn't mine. It was such a let down in so many ways.  So I learned not to get my hopes up and have healthy expectations that way I don't get disappointed.

Well, I have to admit that looking at books and websites I started to get really excited. Talking to friends who had gone, looking at their pictures I was able to be convinced that maybe what I read in the travel book could possibly be true.  It was weird sitting in the Edmonton airport at midnight, all by myself, waiting for my plane to board.  I'm always surrounded by people and if I'm not, I always have something that I have to do.  It was weird to just sit and wait and not have a computer in front of me.  I have to say that I had a hard time with it, but by the morning I eased right into it.  I met my mom in Toronto airport and we had breakfast together and just talked.  If that's all I had done, I would have been happy.  But no, I got to go to another country and see a different culture.  While I was there for the first few days, I enjoyed myself, but by the end of the 10 days, I didn't want to leave.   I silently protested on the beach...hoping that it would convince the to sun to not set and that my time there would never end.  But sadly no...and here I write.

Toronto Airport

Catching up with mom....

A glimpse of what lies ahead. (I miss seeing signs in Hebrew)

First glimpse of Tel Aviv after 12 hours of waiting.

We made it!

The Via Dolorsa

Jerusalem  - old city

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

Jerusalem - Jewish quarter

Church of the Nativity - Bethlehem 

The Dead Sea from Masada 

The big wall - Bethlehem

Via Dolorsa - Jerusalem

Old City market - Jerusalem

boy, that guy has a really big gun.

shopping in the market

catching up with old friends. 

We used to live in the same apartment building a floor apart in Ontario.

Happy Camel.

Garden of Gethsemane

Jerusalem

by the wailing wall

Tel Aviv - 

Ceasarea Martima - 

Mom and I in the Mediterranean

Sunset on the Mediterranean

I hope I can go back...if not, I'm happy to have had the chance to go and I'll always have the memories.

Rhema Soul - "Good start"

This is what happens when I have a semi-clean kitchen...

I bake! 

These are so easy to make.

• Roll out a package of puff pastry into a 10x10 square, cut it into 4 squares.
• Put dollop of pie filling of your choice (I chose E.D Smith apple and cherry - yes I made two packages worth!)
• Put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
• Brush them wish one egg lightly beaten
• Put in preheated 400F oven for 15 minutes
• Turn down to 350F for 20 mins until filling is warm and bubbling
• Take out and enjoy
• Drizzle with lemon icing (2 tbsp icing sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice)

They turned out really good, every time I make them they get better each time - imagine that!
Tomorrow making "Candy Bread".