My brain is smarter than I am?

I guess it possible, and probable.


While texting someone today I wrote out a word.

I didn't know what that word meant.

I had to look it up in the dictionary.

FYI: Dictionary.com is one of my favorite haunts on the world wide web.

To my surprise, the word meant exactly what I had wrote it out to mean.


I guess this comes from my years of learning new words through crossword puzzles.

I'm definitely not a "lol haha :):):) how r u?!" When it comes to texting.

My word?

tor·tu·ous

   [tawr-choo-uhs]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked:a tortuous path.

2.

not direct or straightforward, as in procedure or speech;intricate; circuitous: tortuous negotiations lasting formonths.

3.

deceitfully indirect or morally crooked, as proceedings,methods, or policy; devious.

My day.

When you have the time like I do, you just have to learn to enjoy it, rather than stress.

Relax.
Enjoy your favorite tea.

Pull out your camera and take a couple shots of your favorite model.

Take the whole afternoon to bake a batch of cookies.

From the personal notes of H. Lefebvre

Dear Diary,
Today I was super excited about life since I had a hair appointment to get a dye job.
Would you like some back story first?

My hair grows super slow. Imagine normal hair growth and then press slow motion x5. (note:this may be a slight exaggeration)
So, I should really think long and hard about ever permanantly dying my hair since I have to deal with the effects of it for about three years, that being around the amount of time it takes for my hair to grow out a decent amount.
But do I ever give it much serious thought? Well, meh, maybe some.

For the past 8 ish months I have been dealing with layers. Not the good kind of layers that you want a hairdresser to put into your hair. No, I am talking about the very defined layers of color that can show you the recent history of what I thought would be a good idea to have atop my head.

Starting at the very bottom we have the remnants of the black of many years past. Then a very dark brown, followed by a red, followed closely by a blonde which really should never have been there but I got crazy with the sun-in for a couple of days. And at the very roots you could somewhat(or I thought) see my natural which is a lighter brown.

All year I have had to deal with the mess of different shades, and all year I have been waiting for the day I could come home and book an appointment to get it corrected.

That day was yesterday.

I go in, she somewhat explains what is going to be happening. I really have no clue how this all works so I took her word and sat down to enjoy the process.
The process was enjoyable for the first half and hour while everything seemed to be going as planned but once things started to take a turn for the worse, I was not finding everything as relaxing as before.

Going into detail in a blog post is not really my idea of fun so I'll just give you the gist of it.

I went in to have her match my natural colour as close as possible and get rid of all the different shades I have. While at the same time getting rid of as much red as can come out.

I came out over two hours later. With a dark brown in my hair that is so dark it is black..and when the light shines on it it goes red, way more red than I had before.

I'm disappointed to say the least. But more than that is the fact that I will have to put up with it for the next three years while I wait for it to grow out.

It doesn't look bad. But it's just not what I wanted.

Before

After(!)

Hello Kamloops! Goodbye Kamloops!

Well, I thought I liked solo road trips.
But. Yesterday was agony.
Maybe it was the fact that all I wanted to do was get home.
Can't lie, I definitely went faster than is legal...in any province.

Another thing I didn't like about it was the amount of time I had to just think.
I mean, having time to think is probably a good thing. But not when you are coming off the tail end of summer camp with so many memories and having to leave so many good friends behind.

But I made it through. With the help of several things.

My new little friend.

LISTS! Can't live without them. Definitely would have forgotten one to do one of these vital (or not so vital) things.

I haven't gotten very far so this is not a recommendation at all.

I tried to start unpacking last night but my stuff which seemed like the equivalent of a small elephant when in my car grew to a giant elephant when in my room. There is just not space to put everything. And I really just want to downsize and get rid of most of it, but the sentimental/packrat side of me cannot let go of all the 'things'.

So if you were to walk into my room right now it would like a bomb went off. And there is no semblance of order. I'm not going to worry about it. Instead I'm going to head off to the cabin for the long weekend.

So. Excited.

I have not been out there in the summer for a very long time.
Exactly a year. And even then it was just for a night.
This time I get to spend four days out there.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cannot contain my happiness right now.
I'm going to learn how to wake board.

P.s. Three hours later: I couldn't deal with the mess anymore so I cleaned and unpacked everything and now I will finally post this.

Happy long weekend everybody!

The little things (version two)

Not only can little things make me very happy, but they can also make me very upset.
Maybe a little explanation is needed on this one.

Have you ever had one of those days where technically you should be happy cause nothing majorly bad has occurred but on the other hand, a whole bunch of little things went wrong and they stacked on top of each other and by the end of it you just want to crawl into bed for a couple hours and cry?

If it's not the fact that I stupidly gashed my thumb it could be...
People giving other people stupid haircuts just to annoy me (you don't deserve to have your name mentioned,hun)...
Or maybe having to stay awake 'til two when I wanted to go to bed at nine...
Getting pushed into the ocean with my clothes on...
With my cell phone in my pocket...
Being told(and honestly at that) that I look like I'm 8 years old.

Sometimes it's just too much for a little Hannah to handle.

On a day like this I just want to take my car and drive really fast for a really long time.
But the fastest you can legally go on Quadra would be 60 and I really don't want to make my day that much worse by getting pulled over and ticketed.

So this is me in my grumpy pants.

P.s. Mom, if you read this...my cell phone is not working. I put it in rice but...it might be dead. So I prolly won't be calling you until the day before I leave. And it will be call collect. Be ready.

These are the facts.

I was in a bad mood.
For most of the day.


I am terrible at starting fires.


Here is the story.


So, we as support staff(story on that coming later) had to make fires around the camp for hobo dinners.


*pause*
A hobo dinner is where the children put together potatoes, carrots, meat and a few other items together into a fire proof tin foilish type dish and they put it straight into the coals of the fire to cook.


Again I repeat, I am terrible at making fires, so I had to get a CIT to help me.
The bell had just rung and I was freaking out because our fire had not even been started yet and to properly cook the meals you need just coals.
I sent the CIT to start the fire with the little kindling we had made and I would chop some more and follow.


Again I repeat, I was in a bad mood.
A lesson for all you kids out there: Please don't try and chop kindling while you are mad and frustrated.
I really can't recall how it happened exactly, and the fact that the axe I was using is quite dull scares me.
But all I know is I gashed my thumb with the axe, and it's a good thing that Josh was downstairs cutting wood with me or else I might have just crumpled into a ball instead going to get it cleaned and checked out.


Blood freaks me out. This is coming from the girl who when she was 9 wanted to become a nurse. I guess it's a good thing that in the 9 years since I have convinced myself otherwise.
When it is my own blood it is made just that much worse, I have to deal with the pain and blood at the same time and I always blow things up to be bigger than they seem.


Maybe not so much in this case, cause apparently they were that bad. Not as bad as they could be, of course. But bad enough that both Josh and the nurse agreed that I needed stitches.


So that started the adventure of three friends hanging out for the last time.

Me.

Joel.

Jolene.

Although for this story I almost feel as if I should call them Mom and Dad, cause they certainly acted the part.


We managed to leave camp with enough time to catch the ferry(one of the down sides to living on an island, you kind of have to plan your accidents around the BC ferries schedule.


Straight up to the hospital we went.
I had been doing pretty well up 'til that point anxiety wise, but arriving at the hospital kind of got my heart racing again.
It's not really the stitches I was concerned about. It was the Anesthetic. I have a pretty big problem with needles. It didn't help when he told me it would hurt alot. Haha, what kind of doctor says that! He already knew I was uncomfortable with the idea of him sticking a sharp object into my body. But once the freezing took effect I was fine and dandy, and I actually spent the time he was stitching me up...laughing.

As a nice consolation prize for getting 5 stitches in the side of my thumb, we went to McDonalds for supper.
Let me tell you, a hot fudge sundae has never tasted so good.

Waiting for the Doctor to work his magic.

P.s. I really wanted to show you a picture of it, but I felt that might be to much. It does look pretty bad.

Also, blogger is not being my friend so I'm sorry if there are large gaps or the pictures are all over the place. I'll try to fix it once I have more sleep in me.

It's the little things...

Its the .83 cent blow up water toy that you just can't get over.
It's reading a book for the second time but still enjoying it as much as the first.
It's having naps everyday.

It's receiving a text that really isn't all that spectacular but it still makes you smile for the whole day..and several days in a row.

"When you are embarrassed you smile and I like when you smile."

Happy Friday Everyone!

Things I love Thursday!

1.Clannah
2.Seeing friends after a long time.
3.Cleaning.
4.Reading.(rereading a Harry Potter, so good.)
5. Discovering new music that I fall in love with.
6.SLEEP! A big hurrah for two hour naps.
7.Daydreaming.
8. 10 painted toe nails.
9. My loverly tan line.
10. Original Burts Bees.
11. Mail. Especially the unexpected time. (is it just me or does it seem that I blog about loving mail alot?)
12. Swimming in warm lakes.
13. Surprising people. Like me..surprising people, in case you were confused.
14.Inpromptu dance parties with myself...brb :).
15. Crayola Scentsations.
16.Panic season discussions in the kitchen.
17. Rice Krispie Squares.
18. Canoeing at sunset with super calm water.
19.Working.
20. Well, I was going to say reading Harry Potter, but apparently I already have that covered.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm very sorry that I have not been keeping you updated.
I don't really have an excuse.
As a matter of fact, I have sat down and opened the computer several times for the very purpose of blogging, but I never actually post my writings. Just not in the mood.

The thing I like the most?

K, a little bit of a lie since I have many, many things that I like as much as this.
But this is the one on my mind right now.

MAIL!

Especially when it includes my new drivers license AND a Starbucks card.
Thanks mom!

I think getting fun stuff in the mail is going to be the thing I miss the most when I move back to Kamloops.

I heart Ranch Camp.

We are almost done July already. Crazy.
And it doesn't even really feel like I have been a part of many camps yet, but I know is HAS been a steady stream of busy, and I'll try and give a brief update here.

The first camp was Eager Beavers. Roughly ages 6-8, although why any parent would want to send away their 6 year old is beyond me.
I was so excited for this camp.
Ask anybody here, I had been talking about it for all of spring pretty much.
But then it came.
And it wasn't really as great as I had hoped for.
Okay, to be honest, it kind of tanked.

I'm not sure if I just wasn't prepared in the right way, but it just seemed for the most part that I was always have to deal with problems and never had time to just enjoy my girls and have fun.
So by the end of that short week I was feeling pretty discouraged. And when the opportunity came to be Crew Chief rather than be a counselor for the day camps, I jumped at the chance.

As Crew Chief I did my favorite thing, CLEANING! And I even got to boss people around, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the rest of the week.

The next week we had our first family camp of the summer. And it was a lot of fun. I didn't really have much to do besides helping out in Chapel group ages 5-8, oh and I taught my new favorite activity PLASTER MOTTOES. Pretty sweet since it's pretty straightforward how to paint them, so I just sit around talking. Best. Job. Ever. :D

But also during the week I was able to see some familiar Kamloops faces which of course made my week that much better. Nothing like seeing a little bit of home to make you smile.

But in the way of best weeks of camp ever, I would have to say that this week might top the list. Although I better not say it now since we are only two days in and I might jinx it for myself.

Before I explain how sweet Ranch camp is I will pause here for a commercial break.

"Have you ever wondered how it possible to run a summer camp on a tiny island that is only commutable by ferry? Wonder no more! With just one simple click you will be redirected to the camps very own blog written by the one and only Rita Harder who just so happens to be the wife of the camp director. In the particular post you will be able to read about all of the four different camps going on right now, and how we manage to keep it organized."

So. Horses.
Before I came to camp I had not been around horses much at all. And I was quite fascinated by them. I would up to the barn as much as possible to help out and to ride them. Then in April I had a not so pleasant experience and I hadn't been up to the barn since. Quite sad if you ask me.
But Monday I went up there for the first time. It was...a bit of a stretch but I made it through and I even petted some of the horses. I hope slowly I will be able to get back to being comfortable enough to ride again.

But yeah, my girls are super sweet. And for the most part well behaved. And they are old enough that I don't have to be worrying about them or instructing them through a step by step process of getting ready in the morning. I've had so much fun already and we have not even had two whole days together yet.

Probably my favoritest wrangler ever.

Wearing my own cowboy hat. Thought I would never see the day.

A little bit of an addiction?

I brought this game to camp.
It's called Munchkin Booty.
We have played it every night this week.
It's just that fun.

p.s. I'm sick.
p.p.s. Mom, I tried phoning you once but I think you were having bible study.

Vents? Yes please.

Girls frustrate me so bad.

Okay, don't misunderstand me. I am not frustrated with any particular girl right now, but the gender in general. Especially me. Actually just me.

Dripping taps also frustrate me. The place where I am living right now has three sinks and two showers and no matter how hard you twist the faucets when you go to turn them off they will always start dripping, but not at first of course, it has to be ten minutes later when you are already in bed and then can't sleep because of the continual dripping.

I guess in general I am getting frustrated with just seeing all the qualities about myself that are less than pleasing that I would dearly love to change in an instant but it just isn't that easy.
And the way I keep telling myself I will change things but it never happens.

Okay, Debbie Downer, enough negativity.

Happy side of life:

I sent the down payment of my bible school tuition today. It was a big moment. And now my bank account is feeling a little bit...emptier.

One of my bestest friends came home today after being gone a week. And I hadn't really realized how much I missed her until I heard her voice and saw her face. And I couldn't stop hugging her for the rest of the night :).

I cleaned today. That always makes me feel good. Although it makes me miss cleaning my brothers house, cause that is one of my most favoritest things to do.

I realized today that I am super shy.
Well, when I am getting to know people. And it's a little annoying cause anybody at home would not believe that I'm like this. But anybody here would not believe that I am as outgoing as I am in Kamloops. It's just a complicated mess of things.

Anyway. This is probably the last time I will post anything for a couple weeks. Eager Beavers starts up in two days and then the summer is just jam packed with all sorts of crazy adventures.

I will just end with one positive statement.

The last 5 1/2 months have been interesting for sure. Growing up, moving out, learning to deal with things whether I want to or not, sticking it out even though all I want to do is give up. Let's just say it hasn't all been happy happy happy. And even now I'm not far enough past it that I can see the all positives but I know that day is coming. Day by day I am learning a little bit more and even though it might not look like it at this exact moment, I know those good qualities I'm hoping for are getting formed.
So, yeah. I know that God is working in me as I write this and I am super stoked for this next year because honestly, traveling in Europe for 2+ months...I don't think there is anything much better than that.

Except babies. I was holding Tate today...and my love for babies was just huge.




p.s. I'm ready for my braces to be taken off. Too bad I have to live with them for another couple months.

Possibly the worst...

So, if you know me at all, then you know I love to cook, and bake.
But not for large amounts of people at one time. I found this out today.

Our cook went away for the weekend and a bit and he left his 'favorite kitchen helpers' in charge.
I just happened to be a part of that happy lot.
So we divided up the meals and all that.

After which I realized that whilst everyone else had the easy things like premade lasagna where all you have to do is stick the pan in the oven, I had the only thing that required at least two hours of work. Great.

Let's just say I have a deep respect for chefs. I actually did have this respect for them before but it has only deepened with actually experiencing what they go through.

I was definitely freaking out the whole time. Worrying there wouldn't be enough, or wasn't cooked enough.
And Dan, who was helping me, just laughed at me the whole time. I guess I'm glad that I offered entertainment.

Yahoo!

Now you see it.

                                                                 Now you see me looking especially happy. Because...

My car needs a wash!
Or because I have officially been removed from the graduated licensing system!

I actually passed that stupid road test.
Not without worry or frustrations.
But I told myself I would only talk about the bad stuff if I didn't pass (trust me, I had started that blog post in my mind before I took the test.)

So I will only talk about good things right now.

Like the fact that I got accepted to the Bible school I applied for. SO STOKED! There is still a lot I have to do for that before everything is completely worked out...but I'm at camp so I'm not going to worry about that right now.

Speaking of camp,  we just finished Homeschool Family Camp. That was a delight.  I had some great times teaching Riflery and hosting talent shows and having great slip and slides.

We are starting staff training tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to learn how this camp works, and to get to know all of the new staff coming in.

But I should probably go now...since the weekend is supposed to be the time to catch up on sleep.

Sunburnt and happy.

What is not fun: Drunken men paying way too much attention.

What IS fun:
A Saturday that I actually sleep in.
Doing nothing ALL day.
Suntanning.
Getting burnt.
Iced coffee and watching shows.
Getting dressed up.
Eating yummy desserts.
Laughing. Lots of laughing.

Hypocritical speech, anyone?

So, I'm not very good at this sort of thing. But I have had it on my mind for...like months now and my theory is that if I actually write it down and get it out there than it will float away and never return again.

It's like a combination of God and spelling...okay and pet peeves.
Bah.
This is already going downhill.
:).

I would have to say that English was my favorite subject in school. Either that or History. And I like to think that I am pretty good at spelling and words and such. So, it's pretty annoying to me when people misuse or misspell words.

There is one word in particular that when misused I want to stranglehold the speaker. And this is where to hypocritical part comes in because, honestly speaking, I use this word all the time too. But I do usually cringe when I say it, and I say it for lack of a better exclamation.

Awesome.

There. It's not that big of a deal, eh?
But let's pull out some Greek and Latin.
Just kidding.  Maybe just some dictionary

awesome
[aw-suhm]
-adjective
1. inspiring awe: an awesome sight
2. showing or characterized by awe.

Okay...so what's Awe?

awe
[aw]
-noun
1. an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures.
2. Archaic. power to inspire fear or reverence.
3.Obsolete. fear or dread.

Somehow I'm thinking the new movie that's at the top of the box office sales is no longer in that category. I'm sure there are those who would argue with me on that though :).

It just frustrates me when people use the wrong words for things. And sometimes just plain not knowing what they are saying.
Guys, I never went to school a day in my life and even I know these things!

Okay, Hannah's pathetic rant is now done.

p.s. this is what is truly awesome.

Pictures!

My life update through pictures.

Applying for school and thinking about sailing.

Having my first dip in the Homewood Ocean.

Playing guitar, taking pictures.

Playing lots of hearts. And I mean the card game when I say that.

Wishing for my Kamloops library.
I went to the Quadra one and was disappointed. So I tried the Campbell river one...more disappointment.

Making some fun new friends.

Watching people play Settlers of Catan ALL THE TIME.

Pet peeve.

I'm not going to say much on the matter.
One simple question should suffice.



Does it not annoy the crap out of you when you find the perfect scent of deodorant and you get all comfortable with it and then All of the sudden they go and change it on you?

I'm very upset about this. But I did find a dwindling supply of the old stuff at Superstore tonight so I stocked up. That should last me while my complaint letter makes it to Colgate-palmolive canada headquarters.

TILT on Thursday.

1.Cleaning to j biebz. (it's like an angel came by and took me to heaven,cause when I stare in your eyes it couldn't be better.)
2.Serious conversations...when I'm in the mood.
3.having time to nap.
4.watching twilight with friends.
5.hanging out with kids.
6.getting mail.
7.going to bed at a reasonable hour.
8.the  uncertainty of the future.
9. discussion
10. make sweet random cards for people.
11.LAUNDRY
12.Having weekends off.

...Sometimes I get homesick.

Okay, that's a lie.
I don't get homesick.
So this is a first for me.

I miss my fam jam.

Knock on wood?

Yesterday I jinxed myself.
I told someone in the morning that I was really happy and nothing could change that.
I spoke too soon...way too soon.

I had to instruct some children on Archery in the afternoon, and while I was stringing one of the huge bows it sprung back and smacked me in the face. It hurt so much that I thought I was going to have a huge egg stucking out of the side of my chin. If that wasn't enough I starting playing with a hangnail and it began bleeding. Of course it didn't stop bleeding for like another hour and a half. On the way back down to the lodge I tripped and stubbed my toe really hard, and later when I was playing games I collided with another girl full force and all of her weight went itno my stomach and left me breathless for 15 seconds, scary stuff. Oh, and I went for a run after that so my body was sore from excercise and my shin splints starting acting up again.

Some days just aren't my day. Hopefully today will end better.

Happy Birthday/600th post!

*Reggie with his bd present in his new residence 'the bunkhouse'.

One year later and the babe catcher is still alive.
This is definitely an item to put in the history books, folks.
Hannah actually kept a living thing alive for an extended amount of time!

Now, I know I don't treat Reggie as well as I should.
Heck, I joke about eating him every other day.
But in my heart of hearts I have a deep love for him. Not deep enough that I would cry at his death, though. We haven't gotten there yet...maybe at two years.

Oh, and 600 posts. W00T.
I sure only about 50 of those are decent, but what can you do.

The calm before the storm.

This past weekend was sort of the last couple days off we will have for a while.
On Sunday we will be moving downstairs to the Bunkhouse with no kitchen and no private bedrooms, so that will be fun getting used to.

The weekend was pretty relaxing. The beginning was at least. Today was so busy and tiring that I feel as if I need another 4 days just to recuperate, unfortunately I don't get that so I'll have to make do.
Friday was really low key. Just hanging out around camp, tanning, breaking up my garden bed, having a pizza night. Saturday I went to town and spent a couple hours in Starbucks. Made a couple pies..sort of a fail.

Sunday I went over to CR for church, it was my first time doing that. The Baptist Church there is quite large, it was an enjoyable time but maybe a little too big for me. I came home, cried along with 'P.S. I love you', planted my garden and then had an amazing easter dinner at the Harders house(camp director and family).

Today I woke up at 7. Who does that on the last day of a long weekend? Silly me. I paid for it all day too.
Then me and Linn finished up our awesome signs for the ball hockey game. Hid some chocolate eggs for the camp kids easter egg hunt.
We took the ferry across at 4 and me and Linn hung out in CR having a pretty great time, getting stoked for the game.
I don't really want to talk about the game itself. They played well, for their first time together. I expect better things next game, although they are playing the best team to it's a guaranteed fail :D.

The product of our  Linns hard work. Almost 4 hours worth.

Note: next time let tshirts air out before you wear them. I feel sick from the sharpie fumes and I still smell it even though I took the shirt off an hour ago.


What's up and cool right now? Reese's new chocolate bars! Check 'em out, they are quite delish.

So stoked on life!

I'm happy.






the kind of happy that comes from realizing as I'm going about my day that I'm blessed, content and just okay to enjoy where I am in life right now.

you should try it, it's quite the feeling.

Of course there are other reason for being so happy. There is excitement for what is to come. Let me tell you. I have a two/three year plan in front of me. Not totally sorted out, but in it there is 'school', traveling, living in other countries and branching out from the norm. of course the excitement of now will turn into the panic of tomorrow, but I'll deal with that when i come to it.

For now I'm just STOKED. thinking about future plans and also enjoying the moment as I putter around creating my tiny flower garden.

Happy Easter Everyone!

What make a Sunday a happy day.

1. Not working.
2.Sleeping in.(only half an hour, but any extra sleep is always a good thing.)
3.Taking two hours to get ready, cause I can.
4.Not getting ready in enough time so there is a panicked frenzy right before I leave.
5.Church on Quadra. (Definitely something you need to experience, if only for the worship.)
6.Free Starbucks internet that actually goes relatively fast.
7.Watching my long awaited TV show.
8.Shopping for Birthday presents.*note* MAY 1ST! Mark it on your calendar. It is Reggies FIRST birthday, and also if I did the math right my half birthday. Now you all probably think that these things are trivial. But I love making a big deal out of nothing especially if I get presents because of it.
If anybody would like to send some birthday greetings for us we would love to hear from you
 our address is,
 Hannah and Reggie Lefebvre
Box 40
Heriot Bay
British Columbia
V0P 1H0

9. Feeding my incurable addiction to buying dresses.
10.Shortening was on sale!(at walmart, $2 for a block, quite the deal.)
11.McDonalds fries for the first time in almost 4 months. It felt so good.
12. Hot. Fudge. Sundaes.
13.Getting in bed at 8:00.
14.Sleeping at 9:30.

Stay tooned for the next in the series, 'what makes Monday a happy day'...

on the subject of readers.

Lately I have been pondering how many people actually read my blog. Of course there is no way to know for sure, and I'm not about to ask for a round of comments just to give myself a pat on the back at my extreme blogging talent(can blogging be a talent?).

I have noticed a few of my blogging 'buddies' have tried a different ploy in order to surface their closet readers, some people might have noticed the way they entice you with free books or other such goodies if you only comment on the post.
We all know what you are really up to... But I would not stoop to such a level in order to make myself feel better about myself. Well, that and the fact that just because it would be free for you does not mean it would be free for me. Price of book, add in postage and the effort to actually put it in the mail, what can I say, I'm a procrastinator, you would probably never even see the prize in real life (hey, now there is an idea :).

Another new clever feature blogger has set up for those of us paranoid writers...STATS.
The best thing to be invented since automatic car starters!
A page that shows you how many visitors you have had that day, week, month etc. And it can even pin point what website they came from.
Now that is the scary part.
I have actually had people I know find out I creep their blog because of this...so really it's not all genuious.
But alas there is another flaw, it doesn't seem to be all that accurate since I have been on quite early in the morning before and it tells me that 17 have already viewed my blog that day.
I'm not that popular, folks.

So, since I'm not the begging type I will not plead with you to leave a comment. In fact, please do not write a pity comment.
I will just delight in the fact that I have 25 followers.
Of course since I actually only 'follow' about 5 people and I do read a great quantity of blogs I can only assume that 25 really equals 75.
Now I feel good :).

A peace offering.

It's nice to be reminded sometimes that underneath there is a little bit of gentlemen hiding in every guy.

Sometimes you just need comfort.

This whole living away from everything that I love is getting to me.
I love where I am right now, and I'm having as much fun as possible, but still...I'm not a ten minute drive from my brothers house and I can't text my best friend to sneak into a friends hot tub with me.
So, in comes the comfort stuff.

Books:
When I was home on break I was going down memory lane by revisiting the boxes of my books that I packed away a couple years ago.
Wow, every new one that I grabbed out of the box was an old friend and there was a lot of screaming and dancing around remembering fond memories. Some of them were just too good and I had to bring them along with me for another reading.
And while reading them I was amazed by how a little ten year old girl had been able to read these books and comprehend them. But I was always ahead of my time.
I've done a lot of reading in the two weeks I've been home.
5 books to be exact.
But I think I will start slowing down now or pretty soon my stack of unread ones will be gone.

Pastry cookies:
A very familiar food around my house. And so easy to make.
Just make up some pastry like you would for a pie. cut it into cookie shapes and bake until slightly browned. For the icing, mix water, icing sugar and a couple drops of almond flavouring. BAM! a delish snack.
I have eaten way too many this week.

Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy boy?

Oh yes she can.

Maybe not as fine looking as she would have wished, but apparently it tastes good.

But you can't blame the girl, when she has to deal with knives as pastry cutters and a glass jar as a rolling pin.

I've got a feeling, that tonight was a good, good night.

Today in general was pretty agreeable.

Trail clearing, forest cleanup, huge bonfires.

And then it was the weekend.
I put a dress on right before dinner, just for fun, and convinced the girls to dress up too.
Then I went for a mini photo shoot and we did our hair and went out to a fancy restaurant for dessert.
We came home and had another photo shoot. It was so fun.
Everything was happy happy.

These are days that I love more than fruit gushers and pepsi put together.

Irony is...

when the couch set that you and your brother picked out, the one that was supposed to arrive the week before, arrives on the same day you leave to drive nine hours away, not to return again for an extended period of time.

I am not a big fan of change, but I am very good at adapting. Which means I do not usually get homesick, at least, not when I am away from home. However, I do get quite homesick when I am at home realizing that I have to leave all that I love behind.


Are you ready for the amazing list of all that I set out to accomplish this past week and a half?
And barring one I did accomplish?

hem brown sweatpants(k, well I cut them shorter.)
make:
coffee cake muffins(yum)
carrot muffins(they looked super healthy, but tasted really good.)
potato bacon chowder(YUUUUUUMMM. So worth the time it took to make it.)
icecream(Hmm, I'll need to try that again sometime.)
rice krispie squares(it was a family affair. *note*never let mom be in charge of the vanilla)
japanese chicken salad(a good late night prep session before taking it with me on the way back to camp.)
raspberry jam(homemade goodness)
put new bible on spuds ipod
buy:
black leggings
hoodie
one day contacts(what a pain that was, but I no longer have four eyes.)
drink champagne (that was a let down.)
give Nadine money for road trip $50(hehe. The road trip that happened 1 1/2 years ago.)
Road trip to Vernon
catch up on all shows
fix ring
watch Audrey Hepburn movies
put all my music on computer
go through clothes. be strong.
taxes
bring back guitar strap
knit dishcloths
watch a sunset (it didn't happen. But it wasn't really my fault.)

So, suffice to say I had an amazing time at home. Too good maybe. Now that I'm back I'm just getting into routine and trying to be happy in everything I do. So far it's been okay.

Ooooh, and today I rode a horse all by myself for the first time ever. It was fun.

tilt

1.)Ice cream and
2.)chick flicks
after a long stressful, tiring day.

Honey, I'm home!

*NOTE* This post was written over the course of...3(?) days. So it might seem a little wonky.
The internet here is ridiculous. You click on the page and it appears just as quickly as you click. It still is amazing me 24 hours later.
Ready for a tale of the last couple days?

Wednesday morning I went to bed late. That's right, I was so excited about coming home that I didn't get to bed until very very late. It didn't help that I had to wake up early which meant that my internal alarm clock starting waking me up starting at 4:30.

I had gotten everything ready to go the night before so all I did was get dressed, brush my teeth and I was out of there. A kind soul had woken up early to drive me to the ferry(love you, buddy) and I conversed with a boy on the trip over. All the while feeling like death since my body is getting quite used to going to bed early..and sleeping late.

On the other side I had some time to kill so I had my first mcdonalds meal in over two months. Yumm. Normally I wouldn't eat there, but I am a sucker for their breakfast menu.
And I got a cocoa cappucino from Starbucks to keep me going through the day.

Can't say there was much in the way of interesting events on the trip, and I don't want to bore you with all the little details. I did have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Vancouver, but I spent almost the entire time in a mcdonalds staring into space. So no excitement there.

I got in to Kamloops at 11:20 pm. Mama picked me up. Got home and..nothing had changed.
Just a little bit disappointing. I tried to go to bed as quick as I could but when I finally settled down I could not sleep. I don't know if was because of the three cups of caffeine I had drank that day or the fact that my mattress here is way softer than my mattress at home(camp) and it was actually so comfortable it felt uncomfortable for me. So I got back up out of bed and starting organizing and decluttering my room. At about 2 am I crawled back into bed and managed to drift off.

BAM!
Do you know what is wrong with getting into a healthy sleep pattern of going to sleep at a certain time and waking up at a certain time? It means that even when you go to sleep really late one night your body will still wake up at the early hour it is accustomed to, even if you feel like death!
I started the death off right with a nice breakfast and began to plunk away at the massive to do list that I started writing as soon as I figured out I was coming home last month.
One of the biggest things on this list was all the food I wanted to make.
You see, I live in an apartment to technically I could do alot of baking and cooking but A. It's sad cooking for one. B.I don't want to go out and purchase all the ingrediants myself. Here I can just use the neverending supply of product that my mother keeps in her kitchen.

After lunch I went into town to..SEE MY NEW CAR! My lovely brother Cade works at a mechanic shop in Valleyview and one of his clients decided that they didn't want to pay for all of the work to be done to a car, so they sold it to Cade(in a round about way) and Cade managed to find a way to fix it for basically nothing. Of course he is still going to do some work on it but it's like the cheapest this car could possibly be for the year and make it is.

I then went to the Orthodontist. Yay. That's always fun. He told me that my teeth are where they should be and my jaw is where it should be but for some reason there are still problems so I will stuck with my brace face for at least a couple months longer. I'm okay with that.

I had only put 3 quarters in the parking meter and I was already 20 minutes late so I picked my sandals up and hightailed it back to the van in my barefeet. Thankfully there was no ticket. Wouldn't that be ironic if I got a ticket my first day back driving after two and half month.

I ran a few errands and then headed to the University. I had a reserved table for one at one of the Bistros the culinary arts programs puts on as a sort of test for the second year students.
Of course it was not by accident that I went on the night that my best friend would be cooking.
I would have had some pictures of the food I had, but...someone I know came in and sat at a table next to me. And although taking pictures of food in front of strangers is okay, in front of people you actually know is a big NO :).

It was actually quite fun. *Almost* all the food was amazing. And the appearance of it was so elegant, it was like dining at a five star but only paying for half a star.
And don't worry, Bestie didn't cook the one thing I had a problem with.

Thursday night after the dinner I did shome shopping and headed over to my brothers house to pop and in say hello before heading home for an early bedtime. But what was supposed to be a quick hi turned into a long discussion so I didn't go to bed for awhile even though every part of my body wanted me to be off in slumber land already.

Friday morning I finally went for my car. I got it transfered to my name and bought insurance but then spent an hour just wasting time in the waiting room of Cades shop. I don't know if it was because I didn't want to attempt standard after being off it for so long, I didn't want to exhert the energy of screwing the license plates on, or I actually like hanging out in a dirty, stinky mechanics shop? But being back in a standard didn't feel weird, it actually felt pretty good.

Later that day I went out shopping with Behn. Oh my gosh. Just thinking back to that trip drains me of energy. A little bit of back story:
I am the caretaker of the boys house. I clean it, organize it, take away the recylables, tell them to do things. So before I left in January I got this fabulous idea that Behn should buy a cutlery set. And MATCHING DISHES! So I told him this before I left, thinking that since I got the ball rolling he could continue on his own. But that so did not happen.
I texted a couple weeks later to see how it was going, this is the reply I got, "I think I am just going to wait until you come home, I might end up picking the wrong ones". Um, they are for your house, buddy, how can you go wrong if you are picking the kind you like?
I didn't say this to his face...or to his phone, but you can now see why my brothers need me in their lives. So, all this time I have anticipated coming home and going shopping with Behn when just a few weeks ago a thought dawned on me. Behn is pretty well off, and the couches and table are not so well off, so maybe I can weasel him into replacing those too!
I am an excellent lawyer, I made an amazing case, and those items were added to the list.

Although four lines on a to buy list might look small, when you are actually in the process it takes a long time. Like 3 hours long time. The couch part was pretty fun, even kind of like a cardio work out. Walk, walk, sit, walk, walk, sit. I had it down to a science. I sit down, give it about two seconds of consideration and if it isn't holding my attention I move on. Ironically, we ended up choosing the first couch Behn sat down in...but we didn't come to the decision until three stores and 2 gazillion couches later. We got a table and chair set at Jysk. I already made up my mind that we were going to look there and only there for a table so if we had to settle we would have to be okay with that. And it was a good deal, although when we stupidly checked prices at Citywide we found a better deal. Oh well.

The cutlery set was a steal. Like literally a steal. Awkward pause..ha ha just kidding, we aren't that poor. And the dishes look simple amazing on the new table (can you tell this sort of thing makes me super excited?).

The rest of the night was pretty much just building the table and chairs, it's harder than it looks, folks. Oh and trying Champagne, cause that's on my spring break to do list.
Except Champagne isn't really called champagne it's called sparkling wine, and so it didn't seem as magical. I stayed up 'til 2 am purposely cause even though I was beyond super tired, I really really really wanted to sleep in the next morning so I had to push myself as far as I could.

Luckily I did sleep in. It was nice. And the rest of the day I just chilled out. And hung with Bestie. We had fun, like always. And watched a classic movie for the first time.
Who even enjoys 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'? I just could not get into it.
But like before, it was on the to do list so I had to suffer through it.

And now, here we are at Sunday. I went to church, played soccer, hung out at C&C.
You are officially caught up on my Spring break so far.
At the end of the week I am going to post my to do list. Everything should be crossed off by that time.

L.O.V.E.

There is someone I love very much. He's not quite grown up and ready to assist in day to day trials,  but I like him that way and he is a good companion when going pumpkin picking or wildlife park viewing. But wait, if your day to day trail has anything to do with star wars or canucks trivia he would be a great help.*

There is someone I love very much. He's good to hangout with when we arrive at an event and nobody else shows up for 45 minutes. Or laugh together about groceries, cutlery and tuesdays. And he is kind enough to rebuild fences for me when I knock them over with my bad driving skills(heh heh funny story...).*

There is someone I love very much. He is good for anything in the way of car maintenance really. Or a good person to call when your co worker needs a car part delivered right away but the car part stores only deliver to auto shops, he will  order it and drive it over on his break just for you. Oh, and if you are ever in the need of partner when you are playing the pretend sermon game he would be the one you should pick(don't ask, it was a VERY long time ago).*

There is someone I love very much. He's good for cheering you up whenever, going to concerts with, being there to hold you when there was no one else to call on your darkest day. He'll drive anywhere to pick you up, and buy anything you think his house needs :).*

There is someone I love very much. This one can make you smile just by saying that crazy nickname that was born one day after eating too much of one type of candy.
He's a great companion when climbing intense mountains and knowledgable on all things related to outdoor equiptment. And I do believe one of these days he will make a wonderful traveling buddy.*

There is someone I love very much. SHE is probably the best thing ever. Someone you can vent to about the same things over and over and over and over again but she still at least pretends that she is interested. She would probably knit anything in the world for you. And is pretty good about paying for the things you sneak into the buggy while she isn't looking.*

There is someone I love very much. He volunteers for hours each winter just so you can ski for free(well, thats the story I made up for myself and I'm sticking to it :).
He has a nickname for me that makes me feel like I'm five again, but I'm okay with it.
Oh and a very lame sense of humour sometimes, all you can do is roll your eyes and say "oh, dad."*

So as you might have guessed by now...I'M HOME!
And being home has gotten my emotions going so of course I had to blog about the enormous amount of love that I have for my family.

I have a lot of to say about a myriad of things that are going on but I'll leave that until tomorrow.
My sleep-o-meter needs to get caught up.

*this result is not intended for all viewers. some many restrictions may will apply.

I have been holding out on you guys.

So I actually have this huge piece of information that I have been withholding from you.
I'm sorry.
I did want to mention it, but blogging just hasn't been at the top of my list for the last...month..and a half..so you can understand why I haven't gotten around to it.

Okay, here goes nothing..


Roomie left.
March 4th


Figures that only roommate I have ever had would leave after living with me for only two months, doesn't look too good for future hope of marriage.

Okay, so it wasn't all my fault.
Actually it wasn't my fault at all. But of course my ego would want to be at least part of the reason.

She left for good reasons, and I'm happy for her although I'm sad she is gone.

On the other hand I do enjoy having a room to myself.
I have arranged it to my liking and surprise surprise I have managed to keep it clean ever since.
Partially because there is not much else to do beside clean here. That's mainly what I do...clean and early bedtimes. I need a hobby...

Anyway before I say goodnight here is a picture of the *updated* living quarters.

I think I would do quite well at the 'student living in a tiny dorm room' life.

Well, minus the student part :).

Happy Monday, Everybody.

What makes a day?

Rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain.

Waking up to the sound of that rain pounding on my roof.

Dancing in that rain.

Playing hockey for the first time in months.

Drinking pink,bubbly juice.

Having Swedish coffee time with Linn.

Korean Elvis.

Being incredibly excited for some amazing things that are about to happen.

Going to quaint little churches.

Linn's Life Lessons.

Lesson #1: How to make Swedish pizza. (really, Swedish pizza is just regular pizza made by a Swede, so I'll never be able to perfect this recipe.)

Spooning on the homemade pizza sauce.

Leaving plenty of space on the edges so's your fingers can have room to hold on.

Do you see what I see?

For the most part these days, I read books to relax or unwind, so rather than hit the heavy thinkers I  prefer lighter, happier novels. An area of books that my mother labels as fluff books.

Well, the last book I read was as 'fluffy' as the rest of them but it did have some interesting information as well. I learned about the Romany and Anthropology and a bunch of other things.

The girl from the book had some trauma happen to her as a girl which caused her to go totally colour blind,
Which is why I did all the pictures like that.
Can you imagine having to live life with no colour?
Makes me feel a just a little more thankful for everything I have.

Btdubs:The book in the picture is the one I'm talking about in case you are interested.

Maybe a little bit o...c...d...

I love order. 

I like organizing.

Guess what I did today?
I cleaned and organized.
I really wish I had taken before and after pictures since the effect is really quite amazing.
But luckily I have some back up before and after cleaning pictures so just imagine this was an office instead of a dining room.

There is something about cleaning and making things pretty that gives me a thrill.
I admit it's one of my favorite things to do at any time.
And in a way I think it calms and relaxes me.
Although I don't think I could ever work at at job that that would be my main objective.

I should probably give you a update of my life one of these days.
Just not today, cause I'm bored of typing on a computer already.
Just know that I'm healthy and for the most part happy.

And fishy is doing better than ever.
If I could only capture his excitement when he sees me coming with his food.
He actually recognizes me and understands I will feed him, I am sure of it.