winnipeg......

i do apologize for how much time has passed since my last posting. The end of the semester was really busy, i got sick for a bit, and then suddenly it was time to pack and jump on a plane. So here i am in Winnipeg. I flew in last night, and have already slept most of today away! I'm home for 10 days, so back in BC for New Years. I'm looking forward to spending some relaxing time here at home with my family. And of course, a few rowdy ping pong tournaments will be thrown in i'm sure!

I'll be sure to post some pics once i take some!!!!

christmas decorating!!

So while I was down in Washington for school this weekend, the girls and i decided it was time to decorate for christmas. However, we really didn't want to go out and chop down a tree. Hmmm....what to do, what to do...?? Well we're creative and crafty, so we decided to make our own tree! But a tree wasn't enough...so we needed a fireplace too. I mean, you need somewhere to hang your stockings, right?

We cracked out the construction paper and tape and set to work.

Here's Carrie working hard on the fireplace

Veronica sets to work on the tree. We not only used green construction paper, but also Mountain Dew cases....worked like a charm...lol
And of course, the naughty kitten started eating the decorations....

and the final product...

So our fire is almost done, so i took the opportunity to warm my hands....

The kitten was being naughty and eating the decorations so it was time to throw her in the fire....don't worry, she learned her lesson...
carrie and veronica warming themselves up by the fire. note the stockings hanging, ready to be filled
And here is carrie and veronica by the tree!

winter storm!!!

it's snowing! it's snowing! it's snowing! first of all, i'm glad i don't have to go anywhere today. there are far too many hills around here, and i'm pretty sure my little car - albeit a Manitoba native - would just not do too well. The extent of my venture outside has been to walk up to Pam's house, and then back to my house...that's only 10 houses up the street, but in this wind, it feels really far!!!

Doesn't this look like it should be Winnipeg??? but it's not....!! it's Abbotsford! This was taken this afternoon.

This was last night, as the snow had just begun to fall
always time for a snow angel....
...and a good old fashioned face wash...
And then, as you can see, this afternoon, i got bored..........so i decided to hang my head upside-down and hair spray my hair...pretty sweet, eh!!

Well i'm really enjoying this snow.....but only because i can stay at home and watch most of it through the window!! I guess i could always pull out the old cross-country skies and head down the hill if i need to!

'tis the season

Well since I spend part of December at home in Wpg, i like to start the season early out here in BC, so that i have a few good weeks of Christmas decoration enjoyment. I myself do not put up a tree out here, though i do put up a few decorations. However, Pammer and I decorated her tree a few nights ago. We tried to set it up by candlelight....in honour of our recent 36-hour power-outtage....

Our festive evening began with some coffee and ice cream, as you can see below

Here is the tree, all nicely decorated
And here is Pammer showing off the wreath for her front door
Good times! So now i have a good month to enjoy the tree, the lights, everything!

boring, but something...

ok i know i have been slacking on my posting....and i really have nothing interesting to report. I haven't taken many pictures lately, except of Carrie's cats......so i will post pictures of the cats because i have decided that posting pics of the cats is better than posting nothing at all. You may disagree, but really, it's not up to you.

This is Matilda sitting pretty (and then lounging pretty on the computer)


And here is the sophisticated Dr. Bombay doing a little evening reading...


I will try and come up with a better post next week...

pumpkin carving THIS year!!!

So last year i decided that I could be a master pumpkin carver....so i downloaded a pattern off the internet and after a long evening, produced the superb Jesus pumpkin you see in the next post. This year i had to carry on my tradition of masterful carving.........

In memory of Steve Irwin - the Crocodile Hunter -

pumpkin carving last year.....

And this is my Jesus pumpkin from last year (i think it looks better if you look at it from a bit of a distance).

what a delightful day...!

i chose these lovely cartoons to illustrate the things involved in my day.....

This is my one weekend in over a month that i have not had to go down to Seattle at all...it was nice to sleep in this morning and then settle in for some homework...

Also part of my day was laundry....i really didn't feel as miserable about it as this cartoon lady does, especially since i washed my sheets and i'm SO excited to sleep in a nice clean bed tonight!

I also watched some tv....i find it to be a nice study break. My afternoon programming of choice included Take Home Chef and Trading Spaces
And the reading...the endless reading....i was not as enthused about it as this little gaffer seems to be.......perhaps that's because it seems to be never ending.......
And finally, I talked to the mumsie....always good to check in back on the homestead to see how the parental are doing...
anyway now i've abandoned all homework notions for the evening and have settled in to watch the Canucks game....ahhhhhhh delightful!

another weekend in seattle

well i was in seattle again this weekend....and i kill time by taking random pictures. as you can see, my coffee was a nice little prop....i was going to make a whole collage of starbucks pics, but i thought that people might think i have an addiction or something crazy like that....lol

 

wedding fun!

Calvin and Elisa - friends from life group - got married this weekend. It was a pretty fun wedding, despite the fact that as a life group, we got ropped in to a heck of a lot of set up and take down responsibilities...ah well, someone's gotta do it and a few late nights won't kill me (they'll just make me tired..lol)

i'm looking forward to seeing all that was wrapped up in big boxes and pretty paper....they're so lucky...they get to open a whole lotta gifts!!
 

more adventures in everett

first of all, i'm trying a new collage mode in picasa...second of all, let's talk about the fun times in everett this weekend. So we went to Target, always a good time. Carrie got very excited to wander through the Halloween stuff and clearly found a mask she liked. Also fun...well, not really fun, but something we did, was take kitten to the vet for some shots. Kitten did not enjoy the exprience so much and looked very concerned on the car ride there. However, she was a real trooper and it was nice to have a somewhat subdued kitty around the house in the evening!!!!
 

flower fields forever....

So lately i've been a little obsessed with taking pictures of flowers...that, and using the macro mode on my camera...lol. anyway, i finally have put a bunch of my pics in a collage (have you notice my other new obsession....collages??!!) for you all to enjoy!!

 

ahhh seattle....

so i had some fun with my camera while i was in seattle this past weekend. of course there are the ever so popular space needle pics that need to be included. there's this little garden thingy full of flowers right across the street from my school, a little bit of green in the middle of seattle cement.....it's called the p-patch as you can see below and a few of pics i've included are from there. also you will see the loverly cruise ship that i stare at while i eat lunch....every time i'm down for school the ship is there, taunting me, saying "ha ha you don't get to go on a cruise..."

anyway...enjoy!



 

sunset in everett

I took these pics a few days ago while in Washington for school....I stopped at a park near where my friends live and while i just missed the sunset, the sky was still pretty cool....and i love that there was a lone sailboat out for an evening ride 

elk mountain

pam and i took advantage of the amazing weather this long weekend and challenged ourselves with a hike up Elk Mountain. Whew did we get a workout.......but it was well worth it! the views were amazing, though i must apologize for the lack of clarity and the foggy valley below us.....welcome to the smog that settles in the Fraser Valley after many straight days of sunshine.

After dragging ourselves to the top of the mountain, we had lunch in the shade (the birds would come eat right out of your hand....see photo above), lounged around a bit and then gave our quads a good workout coming back down (thank you chad and theresa for letting us sit in your hot tub last night.....)

what a great day!! 

clearwater bay adventures

Well i just spent a great week at the lake with my family, though my dad had to go back to the city and work for part of the time. Here are a few pics of some things we did, places we went, etc etc

This is one of a few times my brother and I canoed mom around.......this time we decided to paddle around our island before the sunset....but mom and I had just poured our daily gin & tonic...so mom brought hers along for the ride......i myself could not paddle while sipping, so mine stayed in the fridge for later

Ah Kenora....home of the world famous Husky the Muskie, a giant fish on the waterfront as you drive into town.
this was a bit later on the canoe ride mentioned above.......we didn't quite make it all the way around the island by sunset, but it was all good....we even saw a deer
Here I am in front of the main cottage
Ah puzzles......lake entertainment on rainy days that turns into "can't sleep, gotta finish the puzzle"......my dad and I worked on this crazy puzzle off and on for about 2 days and finally finished it at 12:30am

ah the joys of the lake............!!!

the scenic side....part 1

I took many many pictures while I was at the cabin and had a lot of fun experimenting with sepia, b&w and macro modes while trying to capture things with somewhat of an artistic flair. I'd say some worked out pretty darn well!! I'll try to choose my favories otherwise i could post a TON of shots..lol


that's my bro looking at the sunset

i think i took sunset pictures every night, though some days the colors were better than others
out for a canoe ride in Beaver Bay...this is an old rope swing that someone put up years ago
Ok i realize there is not much color to be seen in these shots but i have discovered that i LOVE sepia....lol...anyway, look at the next blog where there's more color to be found

the scenic side...part 2

Ok, so basically it was too hard to choose only 5 favorites, so i am making a second posting of purty shots....hope you like them!

first of all i thought it was pretty impressive that i took this canoe shot all my myself in the middle of the lake........second of all, i think it looks cool

So we had this crazy storm that suddenly blew through the first night we were there, and then the sky went all colorful. This (and the next shot) is looking out from the guest cottage


So we went to Kenora and i had some fun taking pictures of the flowers on the waterfront