tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-357697852024-03-21T20:30:16.365-04:00Edwin's MamaNote: Edwin is a catUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-22640441296973114682009-03-19T11:09:00.000-04:002009-03-19T11:25:32.733-04:00The virtue of bathroomsHere in Togo, bathrooms for public use are often few and far between. <br /><br />Unfortunately, because we do not tend to be accustomed to the local dishes, bathrooms are often a coveted item to discover. They come in a range: from real "african style" bathrooms (aka hole in ground) to gas station standard bathrooms in Canada (you know what I mean, the kind that are just a little sketchy but you'll use them!). We have found in our travels that whenever you come across a bathroom, whatever the standard may be, you use it, because you never know when you'll see one again.<br /><br />It's interesting to think of all the different mthods of creating a bathroom, and what other dual usages it can have...such as shower. Or place to store bricks. Or just the good old back yard. The oddest place I have used as a bathroom is the pavement behind someone's house. No word of a lie, I REALLY had to pee, and they couldn't get their outhouse open, so they just gestured to behind the house and told me to go. Let me tell you, it was weird. But when presented with no other option, sometimes you just have to go with the flow (no pun intended!) :pUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-17919755682277601822009-03-17T14:45:00.002-04:002009-03-17T14:58:22.374-04:00Lazy DaysLife here in Kpalime is nice. The pace is slow, the food is good, and we are getting a chance to relax.<br /><br />We had a chance to visit the waterfalls near Kpalime, they are called Kpime falls. There is a dam at the top of the waterfalls, and normally the dam is only open during the rainy season. Right now it is the "petit saison" (little season) between the wet and dry season, when there is a bit of rain but also a lot of just hot. Anyway, some piece of equipment in the dam is currently broken, so they had to empty the water to fix it. So to our luck you might say, the waterfalls were running very strongly! We got some beautiful pictures, Tim even pulled out his tripod to take a few shots. It was really gorgeous. A tall waterfall, and about halfway down it splits into two streams of water. I can not wait to share the pictures with you! But the connection is way too slow, so unfortunately for now, just words. :)<br /><br />We are doing our best to relax, and our plans seem to change daily. We had hoped to go to Lomé the capital on Monday and Tuesday, but then we were invited to a friend,s place for dinner Monday night. And then we had something come up today. And tomorrow a friend is coming to Kpalime from Lomé that we have to see....so maybe we will get there tomorrow night....who knows? Oh well....c,est le Togo. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-27537241050403898712009-03-16T09:29:00.004-04:002009-03-16T09:37:52.974-04:00First ImpressionsWhen Tim was here in Togo a few years ago, he was staying in a relatively small town, with about 50,000 people; içt is the kind of community where many people know each other and you are bound to see someone you know on the street on any given day. When we arrived in Accra, it was quite a different experience. Accra is a city that contains several million people. It is a loud, bustling, vibrant overwhelming city. We also visitied Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. Also quite large, and loud, and overwhelming; Not quite what I had anticipated.<br /><br />We arrived in Kpalime (the city I ,entioned before) it was a refreshing change! It is much more my pace. And not quite so loud... :pUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-69881171012358106522009-03-10T16:26:00.002-04:002009-03-10T16:36:29.053-04:00Hans Cottage Botel (Ghana)Tonight we are staying in a place called "Hans Cottage Botel". It's on the road between Cape Coast Ghana and Kakum National park. It's an eclectic place, with a pond-ish wetland that is inhabited by real crocodiles and there's bamboo forest and oodles of birds. You can actually hear them singing everywhere. It's beautiful. The restaurant is up on stilts overlooking and OVER the water. So you can sometimes see the crocodiles swimming around. Pretty cool. :P<br /><br />We spent today in Cape Coast and Elmina visiting the slave castles. These are castles/forts used by the Portuguese, English, Dutch etc who were a part of the transatlantic slave trade. It's where the slaves were brought after being captured/sold into slavery and traded with the Europeans by other black mercenaries for guns/gunpowder. It was a saddening, somber experience, and yet it brought hope to my heart. The Ghanian people that we talked with said that the slave trade was awful and inexcusable. And yet they said from it hope has emerged because it has created the world that we know today and the many very influential African descendents (i.e. Barack Obama) that we see in our world today. I found it all to be a very humbling experience.<br /><br />I'm really enjoying being here in Ghana. I hope to post more later. But I need to go wash some laundry. It really is stinkin' hot here. ha ha....you sweat a LOT.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-45209976140892898122009-03-07T04:09:00.002-05:002009-03-07T04:18:34.009-05:00Amsterdam AirportWell, we've started our adventure to West Africa. We left Friday evening from Toronto, not without adventure: my passport was inadvertantly left in the scanner at home and we didn't realise it until we got to the airport. Thankfully, one of our good friends was able to go to our house and pick it up and meet us halfway between the airport and home. (Thanks Heather!)<br /><br />The flight was great, I really like KLM airlines and would recommend them to anyone. We had television screens in the seatback of every seat, and had a choice between many many TV shows, movies, music and the likes. We could have even gone online or made phone calls if we'd felt like using our VISA. The food was amazing, the service superb, and we had all the free drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) that we wanted. It was great!<br /><br />We left Toronto airport at 6 pm, the flight was 7 hours, and we arrive in Amsterdam at 6:35 am their time. So you do the math....right now it is 10 am Amsterdam time, and I have not been to sleep. Oddly enough, I am not tired at all. Tim is sound asleep on a funky recliner type chair, there are little gatherings of these chairs all over the airport, and let me tell you, they're prime real estate! It took us a while to finally find some, but thankfully eventually we did. I tried to sleep, but it's broad daylight out, and lots of people were walking to and fro. And I'm excited. So eventually after about 40 minutes of trying to force myself to sleep, I resorted to walking around the airport. It's HUGE. A very cool airport, lots of shops and eateries, lots of neat architecture and windows. Dad, I think you'd really like it. :P<br /><br />It's cool, a nice place to be while we wait to travel to our final destinations...Ghana and Togo. I'm really excited, a little nervous, but mostly excited. I can't wait to see all the places I've heard so much about from Tim. I can't wait to try Foufou finally (Tim talks about it so much!). I can't wait to meet Amedzi and Christine and Fofo....someone said to me that it will be interesting to see if it all lives up to my expectations. I don't know if I really know what to expect, but I do know that as long as I'm with Tim, it will be wonderful. :)<br /><br />I'll try to post more later....running out of time. Love you all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-7707540657468337432008-09-18T22:28:00.007-04:002008-09-18T22:57:59.587-04:00What's in my Garden?So....as I mentioned in my last entry, we've invested in a large, fairly well-kept garden (if you don't count the month Tim and I weren't here, which led to a fair amount of weeds!). One of the struggles I am having is that I don't know what most of the plants are in my garden. Soo....I went around and took pictures of some of them, and I'm going to start posting pictures, in the hope that someone may know what they are. Here goes....<br /><br />Picture #1 - Small bush, about 4-5 inches tall, about 6-8 inches in diameter.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247555621200046034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-7eETskeURyGSkU7aMtDB6bilsZy2w51p-BflkdctdAgwp8u-jwnDXfQejleFlK3J0nvH8ySSeYHkqnAg41n9fUCHDXOKRE61dEHlQ4Q9i6G9874jfZsX3q1XYJzgCa_dNIL/s320/IMG_3237.jpg" border="0" /><br />Picture #2 - This is the flowers on a large bush, consisting of lots of green leaves, sort've tree-like, probably about 4 feet tall. I feel like I should know what kind of plan this is, but I don't.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247555669103982610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXNBquCxeOMug8jWfAWJKqrvNU6Z-hsGi4IjPQkZalAiyXQ9jipWh73j-ACu1j5rwdqksHVXuN8UTrhlHARWGkh6c7jIkH7Jcx4FO4TvXStszgFYV2bJEzMKtBZjSt6koccwa/s320/IMG_3239.jpg" border="0" /><br />Picture # 3 - Small, fuzzy green plant. I'm wondering if it might be a poppy that has transplanted itself? Or the starts of a thistle...<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247555714132764994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRIk1r-rTqdumrqUmYqgtxOA6CwDCpkUQ4VvoToFULutECZyknbk2JvdF6RIUAhiGXZ5jreKd8BHy_oTAhWyxdrlMUGamEoQ-W9t2yJ9TTj8mXZ5WH4HFaCpDnzwultltv41X/s320/IMG_3242.jpg" border="0" /> <p>Picture #4 - This guy is in the planter in my front yard. Some kind of funky ivy maybe?<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247557371633872754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n1-B8JQ4DwsW6eNJTDmQK9MXlm0bJ3x5B14rdxz271I7LkO2AGYjglD4rTtlbc-WUfxb7ofp_iSHLbbl5G0-PCOwF4ngPvqSVZAEdgd0WigF34PjjZKfWgYz_NLnZ2mDcV94/s320/IMG_3249.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>Picture # 5 - Neighbour to the "funky ivy" is this mysterious green plant. I have no idea what it is, maybe if it had some flowers on it I might... :P<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247557379853555890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMXPS7jtJ5WDcBOCR-HigAa9RJSmIo3KFhC0QK7eMAqbqgTmD-jZorZs1u-F2a5CeGytBHmjIFb5lmR9MivasPexmuN70-T6ISq19-37H4nWwAHb58COFU4YkRZ6rovw7Hx9D/s320/IMG_3250.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>This is the end of round one of "What's in my Garden". Feel free to respond with what the plants are. Think of it as a fun game... :)</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-44529232689383467992008-09-17T19:55:00.002-04:002008-09-17T20:04:44.301-04:00Home Sweet Home<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcglXChsPI7S1y_KTz6kwSjmnxt8h-aRKrQyw0Pkci-yNneuJ_Mu2ezIHgF9y1jPQ-O8CoLHrfVDes2Kf4JK7BCbvFguYmZZH40vsujC1YDWQZw0BYNpaBcuq01w3sMvmkl2fH/s1600-h/IMG_3233.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcglXChsPI7S1y_KTz6kwSjmnxt8h-aRKrQyw0Pkci-yNneuJ_Mu2ezIHgF9y1jPQ-O8CoLHrfVDes2Kf4JK7BCbvFguYmZZH40vsujC1YDWQZw0BYNpaBcuq01w3sMvmkl2fH/s320/IMG_3233.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><br />We've taken the plunge and relocated to Barrie and bought a house! We've actually had our house for about a month now, and have been living in it for about two weeks. I have been spending most of my time unpacking boxes, organising where things go, and working in our garden. YES we have a garden. I'm learning lots...how to prune, what are weeds and what are plants, what humus is (it's the ideal kind of soil, not to be mistaken for the chick pea mash we love!)...it's lots of fun. The neighbourhood is beautiful and our neighbors are great! Here are some pictures from around our place:<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BKbSI62TLSiZkcrJ4WymZvg8AgoAsV_gbD3N6B5sy55B7Qwi2t7q6WV-Z8CdoNGP7i9qVqxKFqI4eVizh5qSO4Lvtda6FquQWZknaYmjp6A858vaWtdtzJROP1pR4GcjOfUr/s320/IMG_3248.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247144205991677058" /></div><div>This is our house from the front. Pretty cute eh?</div><div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_e3YQvhyphenhyphenVk_KPN5Pw4-p-4vycbPMGyoEMslrOI8TfPHeiIPWsPTp7JaLThFBbvd2TwBeXsaE0OUZ6VkCfSG1uPmkbJ0QgofIOqPtAZDgaM49aXnBztZ02k5cfoSQrwvzSJ6P7/s1600-h/IMG_3243.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_e3YQvhyphenhyphenVk_KPN5Pw4-p-4vycbPMGyoEMslrOI8TfPHeiIPWsPTp7JaLThFBbvd2TwBeXsaE0OUZ6VkCfSG1uPmkbJ0QgofIOqPtAZDgaM49aXnBztZ02k5cfoSQrwvzSJ6P7/s320/IMG_3243.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>This is one of the many spiders that calls our yard home. We have an absurd number of spiders. I'm not sure why, but they just seem to like our house a lot. I've had a few run-ins with the spiders, and I'm sad to say I did resort to some Spider-Ban (spider killer).<br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAlKbyK6kXOI_khazqhST4efMOZ00eJs531Itopz-X-v5htW-1-F_8A8m1vizZ78NJjSMgz8MGk3h2RCG0kW8UaNnWtUj2oeOCZvtoCSQSi4MySyKYsHbM3laXf7GpSd003b6/s1600-h/IMG_3246.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAlKbyK6kXOI_khazqhST4efMOZ00eJs531Itopz-X-v5htW-1-F_8A8m1vizZ78NJjSMgz8MGk3h2RCG0kW8UaNnWtUj2oeOCZvtoCSQSi4MySyKYsHbM3laXf7GpSd003b6/s320/IMG_3246.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wBtKC05luTPKRJqevP1pANkn46qoB22mb4WgXwdyI_SkdGH0Fr3BrHCVqUqnRLO1-LIC5YfabDDzgjTGGYtsuMCKh26dNRingwW_1-XP33N2joefqdmfteHBsXKEjBVC_t1X/s1600-h/IMG_3234.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wBtKC05luTPKRJqevP1pANkn46qoB22mb4WgXwdyI_SkdGH0Fr3BrHCVqUqnRLO1-LIC5YfabDDzgjTGGYtsuMCKh26dNRingwW_1-XP33N2joefqdmfteHBsXKEjBVC_t1X/s320/IMG_3234.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Our neighbours Ralph and Donna gave us these mums. Aren't they beautiful? And this is Ed, hanging out in his new favorite spot.</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VFiKlh1prPE51u-vQeVo8hxzhsdqHSwJipMzH66L3BDeEnQn2Y_T4orAIe6muztebXBJ0KVjHe93wQHukEQzXpbHUGAUaDnCF4iRyX2omOYztvqREKxDbOHJE7FoI2rykvti/s320/IMG_3251.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247144210357847122" /><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER">The funniest part....These are our neighbours that sometimes wander into the field across the street. </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-14206378980113232412008-05-30T23:12:00.002-04:002008-05-30T23:22:41.653-04:00AllergiesI spent several hours in the hospital last night. It was a strange experience.<br /><br />Tim and I were out at a dance party, we've been taking ballroom dancing for a couple of months now and every so often the dance studio hosts a party. So we were there enjoying the evening, or at least trying to. I hadn't been feeling well all evening, something about dinner just didn't sit well in my stomach.<br /><br />About halfway through the evening I popped a tums in my mouth because I really was feeling yucky and wanted to enjoy the night. About five minutes later my hands started to feel all warm and kind've stiff. I looked at them and realised they were swelling. Then I noticed that my lip began to tingle and then the inside of my mouth. I realised I was having an allergic reaction and told Tim we had to go right away.<br /><br />Thankfully there's a hospital about 5 minutes away from where we were, because by the time we got to the hospital, my lips were thick, my tongue was thick, my whole face was swollen and red and it was spreading down my neck and on to my shoulders.<br /><br />Within half an hour almost my entire body was covered in raised, red hives, my face, ears, eyes and nose were all swollen and I was having trouble swallowing. The doctor and nurses were excellent, they got me attached to an IV pretty quickly and started pumping me full of prednisone and benadryl.<br /><br />It's amazing how this happens, I don't completely understand it. Your body turns against itself almost. It's scary. This is only the second time in my entire life I've had an allergic reaction, and this time was quite a bit worse than the first time it happened almost 3 years ago.<br /><br />What worries me though is what triggered it. I ate a tums from a roll of tums that I've been carrying around in my purse for months and have eaten multiple times in the past. The last time this happened it was from a generic gravol product. I went through a whole bunch of allergy testing last year and they didn't figure out what made me react then. I'm hoping they have more success this time.<br /><br />In the meantime, I'm all doped up on prednisone and benadryl for the next few days to keep everything under control....guess I'll be investing in an epipen.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-56071626794557973942008-05-10T20:57:00.003-04:002008-05-10T21:08:25.458-04:00One of those daysLife can be funny sometimes. Without any reason, any trigger, you can be really grumpy. And not know why.<br /><br />Today I had a very grumpy day. I was in a fairly foul mood, and my poor husband had to deal with my short fuse and impatience. Why was I grumpy? I honestly don't know. I didn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed, nothing terrible happened, it sort've just crept up on me over the day. It's odd.<br /><br />Was it hormones? Maybe....Was it circumstances? It's possible...I never enjoy being in a car for long periods and we were in the car a lot today. All I can say is that when we got home tonight I was a big grump. And I knew it, and I felt bad.<br /><br />So I went for a walk for about 40 minutes, all by myself, not going in any particular direction, without a particular goal, just to walk. And I thought and I talked to God. And it was good. My foul mood has improved, I think something may be weighing on me. I'm not sure what, but at least I am aware of it and can pray about it. And I'd appreciate your prayers to, if you're inclined to do so.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-16982476850733515662008-04-22T17:45:00.006-04:002008-04-22T19:10:18.342-04:00Home Made Yogourt<div style="text-align: left;">I have now made home-made yogourt three times.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It has actually turned out quite well. Firm enough and very yummy tasting. The only trouble I have had with it is that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey">whey</a> separates from the yogourt, so I tend to have to mix it back in once I've scooped a bit out. Here is the recipe I've been following (the original ingredients and the modifications I've tried). Feel free to try it out, let me know how it goes for you and what cool modifications you've tried.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ingredients:</div><ul><li>4 litres homogenized milk <em>(I only use 2L and 2% milk). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "></span></em></li><li><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">175 grams starter yogourt 10% Milk fat <em>(I could only find 6% milk fat; <strong>after the first batch you can save 1 cup of the yogourt to use as a starter for your next batch).</strong></em></span></em></li></ul><p>Directions:</p><ul><li>In a large pot, heat the milk, stirring constantly. Heat to at least 180F (82C) but do not boil. Once desired temperature is reached, take off heat. </li></ul><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhou_kgFvxYklDp7spgMbpJzBYxDIIBPk2oR_m4pSKeE4hi-xCOBuRwSQEnELfbAYucDxVw7Vip4Wlx0IBKFus6RtJeBqT824qq_5xk6H6-xg0RwCu8nocnkfL-3KBxDUQ6HFbx/s320/DSC_0490.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206162389862690" /></div><ul><li>Allow the milk to cool to 110F (45C) or less. </li></ul><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1CC53SMlUgtXoEwcT8j49YtnEPfzi0CSVp9jLFaiaxYWHRMUyClnVd37QfkMJv4Czk1zf1NeEXFW8NPxOFqufuok9w-c_DLT3oVZz2T5kucoZQK66wK0JbRhhk7BtO_XJ7Q8/s320/DSC_0491.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206175274764594" /></div><ul><li>Transfer to a clean bowl, preferably an earthenware dish such as corningware.</li><li>Mix ~1 cup of the warm milk with the starter yogourt until smooth. Poor this mixture back into the rest of the milk, mix in.</li></ul><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15Rl7Quc2MRfswsEUYmfydX6oI4jOnd1L2F1z22lpVXdwTa3hqxcz2n0ziExlH88Ew15wkpJ9NFJYmnG9EFqo324KkZTL8U8G9ruciD-aqW3CKgIZYo-iW8VI53P0n7M-4X-9/s320/DSC_0495.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206183864699202" /><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Pj-_PbqyW-rxwUajoFRSU-hnHvLDJmT_M4h5suQfLyOqfh7racTjJVQSzekfKMbzvd9YumWqFTysCxYYimOtVh8QMwKKQeLkQNERGplbzvK6zkYo9mBvoVb0c4IeExXwXPri/s320/DSC_0496.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206196749601106" /></div><ul><li>Put lid on dish, insulate well (I usually wrap it in a couple towels, you could use a blanket too) and place in a warm spot to try and maintain the temperature as close to 45C as possible.</li></ul><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1P6zkoC3v8l21fnyWyRYsomEEGCVuQqP0oWZm26dYgeaBDGT_3i8QYLfghZLLp3tQ55Je5ebbrhQrJPchgcosu_k0SkQNAfiZ3C55NG5cjKytNa-RBB7BZh-5mt3_lhgHyLJ/s320/DSC_0498.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206205339535714" /></div><ul><li>Let sit for 20-24 hours.</li><li>Remove from insulation, put in fridge.</li><li>Once chilled, eat and enjoy!</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYW_0BIJfAXH_dIRG-L9Ei7YNGyWiua-x_NjZKl7aiUrLFTax6j490zCoOrhAKrhaGDXuvb-rN0E8Cx1nf4rhuRGWfw8FNANCXO_WU2XMXKundFocoEmLwUUImMPCWKpbkS7Al/s320/DSC_0500.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206703555742066" /></div><ul><li>We've eaten this yogourt plain, with fresh fruit and as a special treat with a couple spoonfuls of sugar and fresh strawberries (but the sugar really isn't necessary).</li></ul><p>*I've been thinking of trying this recipe with a couple teaspoonfuls of vanilla but haven't tried it yet.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng2YAGueqIAPGN_VKy07CMl-Fyg6-yc9c_jtDwiJcjK95_hBTpnIr9y29DrCrE7Gc4s34Pbau2w6LDSpfp5kqXMUGyzXQ43Mc7KG6l2sm5FVhI1L3Oq3Lu5VJd9__rqnWEFfg/s320/DSC_0505.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192206767980251522" /><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-6823973697615024652008-03-16T21:16:00.003-04:002008-03-16T21:45:19.378-04:00Raisin Bran GoodnessIt's funny how some things don't change. It doesn't matter how old you get, or where you live, or what you have become...some things are just as good now as when you were a kid.<br /><br />For instance, my grandma's raisin bran muffins. She had this great recipe that made large quantities of muffins, and you could keep the batter in the fridge and scoop out muffins as needed and bake them. My mom used to make this recipe all the time, and I can remember as a child sneaking into the fridge in our basement where the extra batter was kept and swiping some of the batter. It was as good then as it is now. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-maV80RbeKKX8F_b2wr0PmhY9cdMf3Y2APFSWJiyiByY_TtyXgiCpewUGS9MMdooc9oRCE6_jCZbMYoThh7TMfXtg8JPnyj__eYpU0bRUXTXu59D7ZSdolh0AelaTpcRCMmmq/s1600-h/IMG_3026.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-maV80RbeKKX8F_b2wr0PmhY9cdMf3Y2APFSWJiyiByY_TtyXgiCpewUGS9MMdooc9oRCE6_jCZbMYoThh7TMfXtg8JPnyj__eYpU0bRUXTXu59D7ZSdolh0AelaTpcRCMmmq/s320/IMG_3026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178520535552532050" border="0" /></a><br />I decided to make some of grandma's muffins today. Now I have a fresh batch of muffins on my counter and a whole lot of batter in my fridge for future batches.<br /><br />I thought I'd share the recipe with those who might like it. They're yummy, full of fiber, and the batter can be kept for 4-6 weeks in the fridge (although they are usually all made and eaten long before then...)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Raisin Bran Muffins</span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />2 cups white sugar<br />1 Tbsp salt<br />4 eggs<br />1 1/2 cups cooking oil<br />2 cups All Bran<br />2 cups Bran Flakes<br />2 cups raisins<br />5 1/2 cups flour<br /><br />1 liter (quart) buttermilk<br />8 tsp baking soda<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mix all but the buttermilk and soda in a large bowl. The batter will be dry and lumpy. Add 1/2 liter of the buttermilk to the dry mixture, combine well. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To the remaining 1/2 L buttermilk, add the soda into the carton. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Close the carton, shake carefully as the mixture will foam.</span> Pour the buttermilk/soda mixture over the batter, stir it in. Add a small amount of water to the carton, shake it around, add to mixture. </span><br /><br />For ideal muffins, let sit in fridge for 2 days before baking.<br /><br />Cook at 400F for 15-20 minutes. Makes ~4 dozen muffins.<br />Will keep in fridge in a well-sealed container for 4-6 weeks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-86313310659420586782008-03-09T14:22:00.011-04:002008-03-09T18:45:47.792-04:00Home Made Yogourt and Other AdventuresIt's been nearly 6 months since I've posted an entry on my blog. I'm not sure I can adequately express all that has happened in my life since my last entry.<br /><br />The rest of the Europe trip was fun and exciting. :) Maybe I'll add another entry about Paris at some point....<br /><br />I started working at a complex continuing care hospital in town.<br /><br />I graduated.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_FW2t4syeYMGNMBloXprj7Yh4sKOKk5SiGcHMfaRKPTQP86I39C0b0TkY68MZp3BVuvPT1uu7a-ZngqEt7tpOLGrIpuziEkWH73WffG9gaUVadfw6LNrOk9MaVE8dHYz8wcB/s1600-h/DSC_0808.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_FW2t4syeYMGNMBloXprj7Yh4sKOKk5SiGcHMfaRKPTQP86I39C0b0TkY68MZp3BVuvPT1uu7a-ZngqEt7tpOLGrIpuziEkWH73WffG9gaUVadfw6LNrOk9MaVE8dHYz8wcB/s320/DSC_0808.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175852682256883170" border="0" /></a><br />I went snowboarding with friends at Tremblant and family at Blue.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRRxrwcc5C1wK4x9k2tKB8fPLAb6lLk3dcHk5f-u4vxVgNZySIJJhW6sP8ZTa7P2ssQB7l7drzLfeCO2R5a8bvLxPL0FICmdFksS4Lgt4zTOkvzpVfunEUy62AHfybWY1dRu_/s1600-h/IMG_2902.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRRxrwcc5C1wK4x9k2tKB8fPLAb6lLk3dcHk5f-u4vxVgNZySIJJhW6sP8ZTa7P2ssQB7l7drzLfeCO2R5a8bvLxPL0FICmdFksS4Lgt4zTOkvzpVfunEUy62AHfybWY1dRu_/s320/IMG_2902.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175855701618892322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Me, Tim and Sherri at Mont Tremblant on the ski lift. It was a cold day, but we had fun anyway!</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl3rakEEuUgzQvVbv3oKA2CNvZ2g_EEsjvDZa_KYax3AkO9ZcMCNm69vs6mya67vUaZPOHSB3OvVTkgTv4OMw5XPIZHrh7R6lv3hXvf8LKXrYd_rCE22wMV0IqSdivK58Ic4z/s1600-h/IMG_1416.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl3rakEEuUgzQvVbv3oKA2CNvZ2g_EEsjvDZa_KYax3AkO9ZcMCNm69vs6mya67vUaZPOHSB3OvVTkgTv4OMw5XPIZHrh7R6lv3hXvf8LKXrYd_rCE22wMV0IqSdivK58Ic4z/s320/IMG_1416.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175854919934844434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Tim and I at Blue Mountain. We spent the weekend there with Gary and Sue, and it was lots of fun!</span><br /></div><br /><br />We had a wonderful (but short Christmas) - it's amazing what having a job does to your holiday time!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TWPb76KHP6ivNGCOkMR3YHqDxYzfJp7Mrd9mGSfMOjEJ5XXmtG2h7_ewVPChWqCBfXDgah-_6VY0Kv-6IEO5vuc4WaThQw1R61bLMCEPSEZmR-FIvFvFZiYhNz8IFjI7mgC9/s1600-h/DSC_0929.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TWPb76KHP6ivNGCOkMR3YHqDxYzfJp7Mrd9mGSfMOjEJ5XXmtG2h7_ewVPChWqCBfXDgah-_6VY0Kv-6IEO5vuc4WaThQw1R61bLMCEPSEZmR-FIvFvFZiYhNz8IFjI7mgC9/s320/DSC_0929.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175874870057934402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Tim got a cool circular saw for Christmas! :)</span><br /></div><br /><br />We have a wonderful small group that we get along well with and have a great time hanging out with!! :D<br /><br />I turned 26...and Tim gave me ballroom dancing lessons for my birthday, which we are currently doing, and having a great time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmspG3ZKp9JbFsCAjiOXxSQcJh89OShwKL16h7dr8Dd6ZXfuvjKl-0h_Lc_S0uCM4CLubuvSQKT8fTgb3YSZE4nNC9zjlfFevGeL1XOg3yyg8UknRpZQEmZIl6jaugNlhiCWv/s1600-h/DSC_1235.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmspG3ZKp9JbFsCAjiOXxSQcJh89OShwKL16h7dr8Dd6ZXfuvjKl-0h_Lc_S0uCM4CLubuvSQKT8fTgb3YSZE4nNC9zjlfFevGeL1XOg3yyg8UknRpZQEmZIl6jaugNlhiCWv/s320/DSC_1235.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175849787448925634" border="0" /></a><br />Life is good. :) My latest adventure is that I am attempting to make home-made yogourt. I''ll let you know how it works out. In the meantime, enjoy these few pictures from the last 6 months...after all, pictures are much better than words.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-11943298223826902802007-09-26T15:12:00.000-04:002007-09-26T15:29:04.846-04:00NiceI'm a little behind on posting, it's been a busy few days and accessing an internet cafe hasn't been as easy as i'd anticipated. Here's an overview of our time in Nice France, which I wrote out while I was on the train on the way to Paris.<br /><br />Nice was, well, nice. :P We arrived in Nice around 10:15 am, then we stood in line at the train station to book our train to Paris. It was a good thing we did too, because the night train we'd hoped to take to PAris had a full quota of Eurail passes (they only reserve so many spaces for Eurail) and the early train to Paris the following morning only had spots in 2nd class left. So we booked those nad set out in serach of a hostel. WE'd gotten some names of hostels from the trousit information place, so with map in hand, off we went.<br /><br />The first place we found was nice, it had a courtyard with palm trees, a little cafe and glassed in eating area, a kitchen where we could prepare food AND a 3 person room available with ensuite shower and sink!!! So we took it.<br /><br />Unfortunately we couldn't check in till 3 pm, so we went exploring. We discovered that right down the road was a full on grocery store (Monoprix)!!! It was like a fancy Fortinos with pharmacy and LCBO and clothing store included. So we picked up some meat and cheese and croissants for lunch and went in search fo the beach. WE cound it along with a nice park where we had lunch (the croissants were the freshest, best I'd ever had, I am FOREVER tainted! ha) WE strolled along the boardwalk and looked into some of the shops lining it. I had a chocolate from a little chocolate boutique, we looked at some clothing stores, then we returned to our hostel to check in.<br /><br />Once we were into our room, we secured our valuables in one of the lockers and put on our suits. THe beach was not too packed, but it was different because it wasn't sand. It was all smooth stones ranging from the size of a penny to a CD. We laid out our towels and basked in the sun (since it was after 3 pm, sunburn was unlikely - but we still used suntan lotion). The temperature was a glorious 32 degrees, but with the wind off the ocean it felt a lot cooler. We even went in for a swim, which was pretty cold, but we couldn't come all this way and NOT swim! It was great.<br /><br />After the beach we picked up some penne noodles, sauce and Emmanthal cheese and a bottle of red wine, which we made up for dinner. It was as good as any dinner out (especially since we were sitting at a table in a glassed in porch) but MUCH cheaper.<br /><br />I had a GREAT sleep that night, we even slept in till 9 am. Then we ate the breakfast provided by the hostel. It was composed of cereal, orange juice, hot drinks and fresh bread with butter and jam. Very good!<br /><br />The rest of the day was spent shopping, eating and lounging on the beach. While we were at the beach we got swamped by a HUGE wave while lying in the sun. No one was too worse for wear, Denise's camera was ok, we didn't lose our shoes (although they did float away a bit). It was hilarious. Wish we'd had a video of it.<br /><br />We went to bed in good time again, woke up tired but refreshed from our 'vacation from our vacation' and hopped on the 7 am train to Paris.<br /><br />As I'd said before, when we reserved our seats for this train, the woman at the ticket counter said there were no first class spots left. So we had to reserve 2nd class seats, which is a bummer because we paid for first class tickets. She said when we got on the train to ask the conductor and if there were spots we could move to first class.<br /><br />Well our tickets ended up being a saving grace. One of the men in our compartment in 2nd class had the worst BO and it was making us all nauseous. We had to wait until all the pick ups had been done to see if any first class spots were left, but thankfully there were and about halfway through our trip we were able to move up to first class. The rest of the ride was spacy, comfortable and BO free!!! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-68311515614182986082007-09-22T14:54:00.000-04:002007-09-22T15:28:00.537-04:00Bella RomaRome is such a fascinating city. It's a combination of ancient and new - you can walk along a street and all of a sudden you'll see ancient roman pillars or a wall - and a church or some other building will be buyilt into it. It's so intereting. Rome was fun, but I really think you need a week or two to do it justice.<br />We stayed in a hostel that was a little off the beaten path, it was away from the old city and therefore the hustle and bustle of all the tourists. It was nice to be able to escape that in the evening and go to a place we could hab g out and relax. There was even cooking facitliites and a fridge, so we went down the street to the grocer's and deli and got supplies for sandwiches for lunch and dinner as well as bananas and yogourt for breakfast. Rome was expensive so it was good to find some ways to save a little $$. OUr food was very yu7mmy and I still partook in daily getlato! I wish we had it on every street corner in Canada. :P<br />We used A LOT of public transit to get around in Rome , and let me tell you,m some of the subway trains were pretty sketchy. Not becuase they were less safe (there were 3 of us and we looked out for each other) but moreso because ssome of them looked like they were on their last legs and some of them drove like it too. There were a few occasions where we had a little bit of worry that we might break down before our stat6ion, but everything turned out OK.<br /><br />As for what we did , on Wednesday we went to the Vatican (the pope was giving a service) so we sat out in the courtyard with throngs of people to check it out. It was pretty neat to see where people came from, therew was a large group of men and women from Senegal who walked in singing and dancing. There were women from Trinidad, people from Hungary, and many other places. It was almost like a rock concert, there were definitely thousands of people there and when the pope drove in on his "pope-mobile" the crowd went wild. It was quite an experience.<br /><br />WE didn't stay for the service, basically as soon as the pope had given the blessing, we headed over to the sistine chapel. All I can say is WOW! What a glorious and beautiful place. To get to the sistine chapel you actually7 have to walk through the vatican museum - rooms and rooms of paintings and tapestries so beautiful; you could spend the day examining the detail in any of them. It was glorious. Rooms and rooms of murals by artist like Rapheal that depict events in the Bible. It was so neat. The sistine chapel was all that it held up to be: overwhelmingly beautiful. You can't take pictures, but Michealangelo's scenes will be forever imprinted on my mind. The creation of man, the last supper and every story in the Bible in between seemed to have a place on the walls in the church. And marble floors, ancient and beautiful, rich in colour and worn so that you could actually feel beneath your feet the grooves between the marble. Go. All I can say is go and see this place some time in your life.<br />After the chapel we tried to get into St. Peter's basilica (big vatican church where they hold services) but the line was too long. So we went and wandered the streets instead. We saw the Pantheon (a former Roman temple to the god Romulus that had been converted to a church); a beautiful and huge fountain that had been sculpted by Benini in the 1500s; a beautiful old church, all made of marble where Andrea Bocelli had performed and Michelangelo's Christ stood; and all sorts of other amazing buildings and coman architecture we came across. It was truly an experience.<br /><br />The second day we spent in "old Rome". We visited the Colliseum, which was huge. Amazing, interesting, huge. Then we visited the ruins and the Palantine (right next to the Colliseum, a former residence to Senators and other important people in the Roman community). What was so interesting about these sites is that they were right in the middle of town. You jumped off the subway, walked up to ground level and there they were, the colliseum, the ruins, surrounded by modern buildings. Both of these sites were very interesting and breathtaking. So neat.<br />After the ruins we went to find Circo Massimo, the site where chariot races supposedly took place (think Ben Hur). We wandered for quite a while, and when we finally found it, what a let down! It was just a bare field witha bit of a dirt track and a few ruins at one end. We had to laugh.<br />After Circo Massimo we caught a bus to the outskirts of town where we went to explore the catacombs of San (can't remember the rest of the name). These were the graves of ~half a million Christians (many martyrs and a few popes were buried there) from the time of the Roman Empire. This was another location where we couldn't take pictures, but it was very neat. All of the bones in the area we were touring had been relocated into a lower chamber of the catacombs.<br /><br />On the way back to town, we accidentally took the wrong bus further out of town, so what should have taken about 20 minutes ended up taking over an hour. But it was an adventure. Our last stop was trying again to get into St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Since we hadn't planned to go, I had worn a tank top, and apparently the dress code is fairly modest. However, we thought my shirt was modest enough, but we were wrong. When we got to the "screening point" at St. Peter's, I got turned away because I didn't have something to cover my shoulders with. So while Sherri and Denise when in, I had to stand and wait for them. It was pretty surprising actually how many people they turned away. It made me sad, that a church would turn people away based on what they were wearing. Sherri had worn a tank top under her t-shirt, so once she was done she came out and gave me her t-shirt. I went to go back in and they tried to say my skirt was too short (when it was about an inch above my knee!!) and I gave them a look of exasperation, so they let me pass. :P St. Peter's was beautiful, probably one of the biggest and nicest I've seen, but I didn't feel in awe or happy - I was saddened that this building housed practices of judgement, that a person could be turned away based on what they wore.<br /><br />Overall Rome was a good experience. We got back to our hostel, grabbed a panini at the paniniria down the street and then headed to catch a night train to Nice France. Beaches here we come!!! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-91438040792860149952007-09-18T11:58:00.001-04:002007-09-18T12:07:12.482-04:00UpdateLife has been pretty hectic the past couple days. We spent two days in Vienna, one very hectic and crazy, we seemed to pack most of the activity into one day and then our second day we took it a little easier....then we caught a night train to Florence (first ever night train!). We arrived in Florence just after 6 am this morning and spent the day there. Then we caught the train to ROMA!!! So as I write this I am sitting in front of a computer in the lobby of our hostel in Rome.<br /><br />Some of the experiences we've had include:<br />- being in a compartment on our night train to Florence with a man from Chile who only spoke Spanish, and I ended up being the interpreter<br />- we stayed in a dorm-style room for our two days in Vienna (as opposed to a private room), and it was fine, so we tried it again for Rome....I'll let you know how it works out<br />- Italy is expensive (especially anything to do with the trains or touristy stuff)<br />- people in Germany and Austria seem to be pretty nice (whereas our impression so far is people in Italy aren't so much....)<br />- Michealangelo's David is worth standing in line to see<br />- There are A LOT of churches in Europe<br />- we seem to be taking less pictures as we go along<br />- travelling is fun, but very exhausting (I think I'll need a week to recover when I get home!)<br /><br />I'm having fun though. Please pray for continued good health and good weather.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-65364454770351843642007-09-15T15:37:00.000-04:002007-09-15T15:58:02.959-04:00Munich and SalzburgIn the past 48 hours I have been in 4 European cities. Yesterday we did a blitz of Munich, we were planning to stay in Munich for two days but then decided it would be fun to see Salzburg as well so we changed our plans.<br /><br />Munich was an amazing city, the architecture was so interesting, I think it might be Roman? All the buildings were 4 or 5 stories high and no highrises. They were all stucco in different pastel-type colours, very square and boxy but at the same time beautifully ornate with designs around the windows, on the walls. A very neat city. We hit up a bunch of churches, to be honest, I can't remember the names of them right now, but they were beautiful. Really cool....man do the catholics ever invest a lot of $$ in the decor of churches. We also explored the English gardens, which is a HUGE park that has a beer haus, a really neat river, lots of green space, and something really cool - a place to surf!!! Right near the entrance of the river to the park there are these crazy waves that I think are made from the speed of the river coming through the bridge that goes over it. Anyway, there were at least half a dozen wet suit clad men taking turns surfing the waves. It was really neat to watch. <br /><br />Munich was fun, we spent most of the day walking around, taking in the beautiful architecture, there was a neat archway that entered into the old city, cool statues etc. We even went to the HB beer house, one of the oldest in Germany, and believe it or not, I drank a beer. It wasn`t even that bad. However, our waiter was not good, and he even took his own tip from our change and didn't let us decide what we'd tip him. Weird eh? Anyway....we stayed the night in Munich and got up bright and early to catch the train to Salzburg.<br /><br />We almost had another close call with the train when I went off to put a few postcards in the mail and the girls waited for me outside the station, but I had thought we said we'd meet inside, so needless to say there was a lot of running around trying to find each other and we literally found each other a minute before the train left. We had to run....again....with our big packs. HA HA but we made it and pulled into Salzburg Austria just after 10 am.<br /><br />We were all excited to be in Salzburg because of the sound of Music, but it is famous for several other things. It is a very musical city, everywhere we walked there were musicians singing, playing instruments or the dozens of church bells were playing. Actually, as soon as we walked into the centre square we came upon a group of men singing....probably 20 or so, and they were so beautiful. It looks like they were tourists because they were there with their families, but we thought maybe they were in town to give a performance, were sight seeing and decided to do an impromptu concert in the town square. In front of the statue of Mozart no less. Pretty darn cool.<br /><br />We walked all over town, got to see the house where Mozart was born and grew up and the house where he did most of his composing. We also visited this amaxzing fortress that overlooks Salzburg and used to house the Archbishop who was also considered the prince of the time. We visited the Abbey where the REAL Froline Maria had taught and studied to be a nun. We also visited St. Peter's church (which is composed of several courtyards and churches). As well, we visited Salzburg Cathedral, where Mozart used to play as an organist. Man oh man....was it beautiful. So many amazing paintings and ornate statues, I honestly can't imagine what the cistine chapel must look like, because this place was amazing. We finished the day with a giant pretzel (mmmmmmmmm) and sat at a cafe, where I had an excellent mocha. Considering how much we saw, it was actually a fairly relaxing day.<br /><br />I really enjoyed Salzburg, it was so beautiful....right after we came out of the cathedral all the bells in all the church towers started ringing, and they rang for about 5 minutes. It was glorious. I love Europe. :P<br /><br />We caught the train early in the evening, and as I write this I am sitting in an internet cafe in Vienna. We just finished dinner from a place down the street (pizza) and picked up some food for breakfast from a grocer. Now we'll go back to our hostel and plan for the day tomorrow, relax a bit and go to bed. I hope you all are well. I miss you. Cheers!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-35731707237523701412007-09-14T15:26:00.000-04:002007-09-14T15:38:11.099-04:00HeidelbergOur first night's sleep was great. I think we were all so exhausted from all the travel we could have slept anywhere. The room wasn't too bad, small but clean, smelled a little musty, but I canät complain. It was a bed. I think our only complaint was that it was quite cold in Heidelberg at night, and our room was pretty chilly. And despite promising online that our rooms came with linens, they did not. I had a sheet, and it worked, but I was a little chilly.<br /><br />We slept in Thursday morning, till about 9 or so, so by the time we got up and on our way it was after ten. We stopped at a little bakery just down the street and had yummy pastries for breakfast. Then we walked around the city to explore. Heidelberg is a fairly large town, and within it there is an 'old city' which is where we were that includes a castle, some beautiful old churches and lots of pedestrian only walking streets.<br /><br />The castle was up on a hill, so we had to hike up this loooooonnnnng flight of stairs, it was numbered in some spots and I think it worked out to more than 300 steps. We spent well over 2 hours exploring the castle. It was beautiful....it was a ruin so lots of areas of the castle had actually fallen away, but it added to the character. The grounds were large, with beautiful big old trees, statues, fountains and all sorts of neat little off buildings. It also gave a great view of the city.<br /><br />We also visited the churches, which were both beautiful, full of neat architecture and paintings - one of the old churches had just undergone extensive renovations so it actually had old architecture but was all re-done in plaster. It was still beautiful and the plaster just gave it a modern look (although I still prefer the marble/stone look) :P<br /><br />Oh! and there was a beautiful old bridge that went across the river (I believe the Rhine) which was really neat. There were trails on both sides of the riverbank, so we were able to cross the river, stroll along the banks, enjoy the architecture around us and then cross again further up. Very cool.<br /><br />Then we spent quite a bit of time wandering in the pedestrian walkway - eating gelato, we found a cute little grocer where we bought apples and bananas for snacks and breakfast, and another cool bakery that sold GREAT sandwiches for 1.39 euros - which is very good. We even picked up some pastries for the next morning because we were getting up at 6 am and catching a taxi to go to the train station to catch a train for Munich.<br /><br />Overall it was a very good start and relaxing...a good way to ease us in.<br /><br />More to come.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-81416911650893175952007-09-13T11:17:00.000-04:002007-09-13T11:41:50.912-04:00Safe and soundWell, it's been a long while since I posted on this thing, I've been super busy this past month with finishing up placement and moving, Tim and I are in a NEW apartment. But the neatest thing going on in my life is that currently I am in EUROPE with two good friends from school. We arrived here safely on the 12th of September and will be here and touring around until the 28th when we fly back to Canada.<br /><br />The trip over was loooooonnnnnng and full of adventures. We flew out of Toronto International at 6:45 pm and landed in Glasgow international airport at 6 am (their time). We actually had a huge tail wind during the flight so we had to wait an extra 25 minutes before we left Toronto and still landed 30 minutes early! (Btw, I'm using a german keyboard, so if you see any odd symbols or z's where y's should be, it's because they're in the opposite spots). Anyway, once we landed in Glasgow we had to get to the Prestwick airport, which is about 30 minutes outside of town. So we took a bus to the train station (rode on the other side of the road!) and then took a train to the airport. Since this airport only services one airline, and since our flight was so early, we ended up arriving at the airport 4 hours before our next flight! Needless to say, since it was 12 am (our time) and we had to sit in an airport for 4 hours with very little to do, it was hard to fight the sleepiness and stay amused. Somehow we managed.....and caught our flight to Dusseldorf Germany. The fun thing about this flight was that you had to pay extra to pick your seat, so the majority of us hadn't, and there was a mad rush of people when we were let through the gates to get seats. Denise was our hero in this department, boogying her butt through lots of people and getting us good seats behind the wing so we could see stuff. It was good. :P<br /><br />We landed at the airport near Dusseldorf Germany at like 2:50 pm (another time zone over from Scotland) and had to book it to the train station to catch our train to Heidelberg. We took this fun taxi/van with a nice man who explained what we'd have to do once we got on the train to authorise our eurail pass, because we hadn't yet. He said all you had to do was show it to the conductor and he'd sign it etc. Well, we discovered that Germany operates on an honour system, because there was definitely no conductor on the train, so we rode for over an hour to the main train station before we got it validated. Ha ha....<br /><br />From the main train station (I think it was in Dusseldorf) we had to take 3 different trains. The first transfer was fine, we made it in decent time, the second was ok as well (we even had time to grab some water). The third transfer was CRAZY! We pulled into the station and the conductor said over the loudspeaker that our train was leaving from platform 8 at 19:26 and it was 19:24 and we were on platform 5!! With our heavy, heavy packs we had to run through the station to platform 8, at which point we realised our train was on platform 9 across the tracks. We had to run like mad back down the stairs, down the hall and up another set of stairs (well, they were actuallz escalators but might have well been stairs because we were running!). Anyway, we made it, but the train was actually closing their last set of doors and we started yelling and the conductor saw us, so they re-opened them for us. But it was nuts....we almost didn't make it there.<br /><br />We arrived safe (and EXTREMELY tired 24 hours in transit is alot) in Heidelberg....grabbed a quick bite to eat and went straight to sleep. We found out we had to pay extra for linen though, thank goodness I brought a bed sheet....it came in handy! I stuffed clothes in my pillowcase for the night, but today bought a bright pink pillow with german writing on it. She said it was a missing heart pillow i.e. I miss you Tim!!! :)<br /><br />We are heading out to Munich tomorrow morning, so hopefully I will post some stuff about Heidelberg and our adventures here somewhere from Munich tomorrow. I'm running out of time on the computer....so it will have to come later.<br /><br />Sorry there are no pics, thereäs no memory card slot in this computer....<br /><br />A few prayer requests - my camera, specifically the battery, has been acting up - my camera keeps thinking that the battery is dead when it's fully charged, so I have to turn it off, take out the battery and put it back in, then it's fine. Pray it stops doing this.<br />- health and safety for me, Sherri and Denise<br />- good sleep for us the entire time<br /><br />I miss you all<br /><br />LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-9887349084125800832007-07-29T09:06:00.000-04:002007-07-29T09:07:44.905-04:00Time with mom and dadOn Saturday, after Tim and Vanessa's wedding, I went home with my parent's for the week to relax and get away from the busy city.<br /><br />We had a good drive home, the weather was a little wet, but otherwise, traffic was good and moving well (thank goodness we missed the 400 north traffic you get on Friday nights!) We even convinced dad to stop at the Cookstown Outlet Mall just north of Toronto, and we spent about an hour enjoying all the different stores, looking at shoes and purses and cool clothes....so much I wanted to buy! I can't wait till I'm working and can buy a pair of shoes or a purse on occasion without feeling buyer's remorse. ;) There was a Cadbury store in the Mall, and despite all the cool stores, the only thing we ended up buying was a week's supply of chocolate!!! :D<br /><br />On Sunday after church we went out to the cottage, which I have to say was not anything like I remember it. My parents are in the process of re-building the cottage, and a lot of trees have been taken out as a result, and the yard is all dug up and mounded up everywhere. It was an odd feeling, I could close my eyes and clearly see our cottage as it used to be, and then I'd open my eyes, to see a completely different scene. I know the new cottage will be fun and beautiful, but I was sad to see how different it had become...sometimes we don't like change. :) The day was full of nostalgia; we went for a tour around the lake in our boat and then we went to "Blueberry Island" our favorite place to swim and camp. Me and mom even went for a swim....dad sat and watched us, not envying the slightly chilly water we were swimming in. But we had a great time! It's so nice to be able to do fun things like that. :D<br /><br />The rest of the week was very fun....On Monday mom and I did some shopping, had a picnic at the waterfront. and then rode the miniature train and carousels. I wish I'd had my camera with me, it was great! We spent an afternoon at the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday Dad and I went and played 9 holes of golf with a friend of the family Len....we needed a fourth, so we were joined by a young guy, his name was Jeremy. On Thursday we headed down south to Kingston to spend the weekend with Gary and Sue (Tim's parents) at their cottage. All in all, I spent a wonderful week with Mom and dad..... :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-73675069899634580782007-07-28T11:45:00.000-04:002007-07-29T09:05:03.541-04:00Well it's been an exceedingly busy couple of weeks. Since I last posted on here, me and friends from class (Anna, Melissa and Sherri) completed our research project, on July 12th we presented our findings in our LAST DAY of class! It's exciting to be done school! :) All I have left is my clinical placement, and them I'm DONE forever!!<br /><br />I've done tons and tons since then, but today I'm going to talk about Friday July 13th....my little brother Tim got married to a very sweet girl, my new sister-in-law Vanessa. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, it was warm (but not too hot) and I have to say, it was a neat experience being on the groom's side of the family. All of the weddings I've been involved with thus far were for the bride's side, and it is SOOOOO stressful....being on the groom's side, you could just relax and take your time. I got up in the morning, went for a run, had a shower, got to go help run some errands with my mom and brother, and then we got ready for the wedding. Had some swiss chalet for lunch.....overall a very relaxing morning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_EqV20sxd0EqMpff5QsXkbimj5sb6FEZOZl8jcEE1QrPLyzcT2MhDXgw9pCQcvL9G0DwW2ArAuen2JQZi62eGKITpI_zGVA29VXpY5lwN04DO9dzZhCntmViXzfQxEryZHZW/s1600-h/DSC_0300.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_EqV20sxd0EqMpff5QsXkbimj5sb6FEZOZl8jcEE1QrPLyzcT2MhDXgw9pCQcvL9G0DwW2ArAuen2JQZi62eGKITpI_zGVA29VXpY5lwN04DO9dzZhCntmViXzfQxEryZHZW/s320/DSC_0300.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092596957976615442" border="0" /></a>My mom (in blue) and Vanessa's mom lighting the "family candles" on the Unity candle table.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPO-8bk1d1pDeVov3hcgQKwblod6yoE7KM_EJjzL7C-2QU1hpBvC8VjEHEcAT7i8-Gog25Y-WxfuKFhgMS844SLHh9R-IbjGXWzEtBM3egIaR0gKVr6_OvQUOyCq2uvcbA-n52/s1600-h/DSC_0326.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPO-8bk1d1pDeVov3hcgQKwblod6yoE7KM_EJjzL7C-2QU1hpBvC8VjEHEcAT7i8-Gog25Y-WxfuKFhgMS844SLHh9R-IbjGXWzEtBM3egIaR0gKVr6_OvQUOyCq2uvcbA-n52/s320/DSC_0326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092596970861517346" border="0" /></a>Vanessa's dad giving his daughter one last hug.... :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38T7XFlHM-ikIdZijWYla93KQuYFE15kuWoqQGXXh-Gi6S3U3fdpgzOdFiJzE5LuNf2_37z_wCkmLC5ETU9VN8opucl9qpIv32_-rcKojwEgoAbJOKNBY3y2X6TJSp5s7Iyft/s1600-h/DSC_0333.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38T7XFlHM-ikIdZijWYla93KQuYFE15kuWoqQGXXh-Gi6S3U3fdpgzOdFiJzE5LuNf2_37z_wCkmLC5ETU9VN8opucl9qpIv32_-rcKojwEgoAbJOKNBY3y2X6TJSp5s7Iyft/s320/DSC_0333.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092596996631321138" border="0" /></a>Vanessa's bridesmaids - my sister Alissa is the second one in from the left<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGY8l7HbAUFYQSHyKwECtmJwOA1EjAHhYY0fEruJQ5o_waVUc3-JTk4N5xx3SbxtuvyJj9-syrJ4gAxaGfyizK-oRCM47kHsL5dqdRXK5cd5CHhinsUQeV7bOKw_J7EO5dyghq/s1600-h/DSC_0342.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGY8l7HbAUFYQSHyKwECtmJwOA1EjAHhYY0fEruJQ5o_waVUc3-JTk4N5xx3SbxtuvyJj9-syrJ4gAxaGfyizK-oRCM47kHsL5dqdRXK5cd5CHhinsUQeV7bOKw_J7EO5dyghq/s320/DSC_0342.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092598190632229442" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ14Q0jQ0PD9pfZeh07OpwdmlZdCmawJGjfT2L2GwSNo6g7arXrxYMirFOgTu_-kqaRY5vOy8CuQs57-VjVZdFqvQ9hM7O-uu4ODjS5Uzp_pfZz6uYWtqTDJ1DRETw7jyv4JE/s1600-h/DSC_0348.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ14Q0jQ0PD9pfZeh07OpwdmlZdCmawJGjfT2L2GwSNo6g7arXrxYMirFOgTu_-kqaRY5vOy8CuQs57-VjVZdFqvQ9hM7O-uu4ODjS5Uzp_pfZz6uYWtqTDJ1DRETw7jyv4JE/s320/DSC_0348.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092598199222164050" border="0" /></a>"The Kiss" - sorry it's not cropped....I'm having trouble with Picasa and currently can't do any photo editing.....so as a result you'll just have to deal with the back of Richard's head! :P<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lnp9oiAyv9EQQiRB2Y21Q17nCRjVA84ISHTpETlONUHf5yDF10JzXchN-q7qHHyKq-05g19mJ10PDn_5OfxCTDuFQTUjIpI6VOZiDy3_ebchvsSXxMJ8ncfJLrv3F62wqqZs/s1600-h/DSC_0356.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lnp9oiAyv9EQQiRB2Y21Q17nCRjVA84ISHTpETlONUHf5yDF10JzXchN-q7qHHyKq-05g19mJ10PDn_5OfxCTDuFQTUjIpI6VOZiDy3_ebchvsSXxMJ8ncfJLrv3F62wqqZs/s320/DSC_0356.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092598212107065954" border="0" /></a>The wedding ceremony was very nice, my husband Tim was a groomsmen for my brother Tim, so I have to admit, although the bride and groom looked good, I was slightly distracted by the handsome groomsmen a little to the right. :P<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3UTYRnSC4YiLIHvISSt9zMENAt9uqp7_jI_J-xA73xzuUmegq0xETE42JL62t2zC4jahJfpoQjgUwFgk3M4ocbkcM77kVphEAuDakFaocTwW8tdw8xhkKRMc7hSnzE5wl9Tb/s1600-h/DSC_0308.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3UTYRnSC4YiLIHvISSt9zMENAt9uqp7_jI_J-xA73xzuUmegq0xETE42JL62t2zC4jahJfpoQjgUwFgk3M4ocbkcM77kVphEAuDakFaocTwW8tdw8xhkKRMc7hSnzE5wl9Tb/s320/DSC_0308.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092602927981156978" border="0" /></a>There he is! Second guy in from the right.....isn't he handsome? I think so! (Again sorry about the picture, couldn't crop it because of stupid Picasa!)<br /><br />After the ceremony, we went to the waterfront in Burlington for pictures. Since I wasn't in the wedding party, I was only in a few pictures, and for the rest of the time I got to take video of the wedding party and family during the picture time. There were some great moments, the groomsmen attempting to flip their canes, the bridesmaids getting picked up by the groomsmen, the mothers posing with the groomsmen......all in all, quite enjoyable!<br /><br />We had dinner at the Indian Wells' Golf and Country club - we ate filet mignon, herbed chicken, beans, potatoes, salad and cream of broccoli soup (in the reverse order) as well as all sorts of yummy desserts. It was a great time, the music was nice, the company was wonderful....all in all a great evening! Congrats Tim and Vanessa!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-14732294460228568082007-07-06T13:50:00.000-04:002007-07-06T13:54:56.183-04:00Veggies :)Well, it's been a busy week,I've been all tied up writing a research paper with a few classmates (our last official school project!!!) :) <br /><br />We didn't get our veggies till Wednesday, so I'm a little behind on posting them. Here's what we got this week:<br /><br />- Kohlrabi (again - I'll have to try cooking it or something)<br />- bunch of carrots<br />- a bag of loose leaf lettuce<br />- a head of boston lettuce<br />- a bag of peas in the pod<br />- green onions<br />- some kind of funny leafy green shoots (no idea what they are)<br /><br />It's a real quality order....very yummy :P<br /><br />Oh, and by the way, I made some mint sauce, I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but I'm thinking I'll have to pick up some vanilla ice cream tonight and give it a try! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-83350629096760171352007-06-26T22:31:00.000-04:002007-06-26T22:38:34.350-04:00Veggie dayDelivery of the week:<br /><br />- radishes (a bunch - about 6 i think, they still had the greens attached)<br />- (another) big bag of spinach<br />- bunch of garlic scapes (like green onions, but it's garlic)<br />- kohlrabi (weird mystery vegetable, kind've like a turnip apparently, the only reason I know what it's called is because we got an email with some of the veggies we'd get this week)<br />- bunch of swiss chard (red, white and yellow!!)<br />- another good sized bag of peas<br />- half a head of romaine<br />- oregano<br />- weird leafy vegetable - a little bunch, i'm wondering if they're dandelion leaves maybe?<br /><br />Every basket is an adventure! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-77655591322688093382007-06-24T21:51:00.000-04:002007-06-24T22:10:14.971-04:00The many faces of EdI got a camera for my birthday this year, and I'm really enjoying taking pictures. One of my regular subjects of interest is my kitty Edwin, so here are a few pics I've taken that have been of particular interest or enjoyment. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJ8E7L0LX1D6486L45SDVSnUPyvwlcij0Ep2IzuRTfux4DLbIhmxhoJuATShit2knkyfbunEH4iX3OQUpfqAod0W0ZFcEQLc3B9Mxvhww6JpS-6nRn17UzbOMK6uV68sCEFl_/s1600-h/059.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJ8E7L0LX1D6486L45SDVSnUPyvwlcij0Ep2IzuRTfux4DLbIhmxhoJuATShit2knkyfbunEH4iX3OQUpfqAod0W0ZFcEQLc3B9Mxvhww6JpS-6nRn17UzbOMK6uV68sCEFl_/s320/059.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079815795067560866" border="0" /></a>Ed making himself at home in our laundry...it doesn't really matter where the laundry might be, whether it's in a laundry basket or being sorted on our bed, he'll find it and sleep in it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhZ86VjbCedIbY94JBlOLRpDTrvZ_x90tLgE2FW2cNMzwZ7yX5eOWrzcBMiAYjYSKCmC9JwJ-YEPSZZz2ol2yQf1ZBOjw206_Ll27Z2LccYTxUNgS5VaXsDe8-KLIJTNIAsCj/s1600-h/071.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhZ86VjbCedIbY94JBlOLRpDTrvZ_x90tLgE2FW2cNMzwZ7yX5eOWrzcBMiAYjYSKCmC9JwJ-YEPSZZz2ol2yQf1ZBOjw206_Ll27Z2LccYTxUNgS5VaXsDe8-KLIJTNIAsCj/s320/071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079815799362528178" border="0" /></a>This is a Rubbermaid shelf unit we have in our study...he found his way in here all by himself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvsYDWE_97ulTGoQJEUm8qunTzb6I3X0CUshhbJl0s1-855PEp_4ih90SlFh3WgaZB_LCoffz4GuJPWnz8_t0qzEkgKHOp0shgf0MFU0O_QO6KmMwjhPQJh5n3-6KJkoMH4qj/s1600-h/IMG_0818.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvsYDWE_97ulTGoQJEUm8qunTzb6I3X0CUshhbJl0s1-855PEp_4ih90SlFh3WgaZB_LCoffz4GuJPWnz8_t0qzEkgKHOp0shgf0MFU0O_QO6KmMwjhPQJh5n3-6KJkoMH4qj/s320/IMG_0818.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079815812247430098" border="0" /></a>Another testament to Ed's love of laundry...if only I could teach him how to fold it...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuZiXKklUeBwFID_n78zRgk33iu1m3rcKQsFClsTX9eHg2UNEMutBRjYICL-Prg0f_UvFKw3xCj5GpqsRYpwt-aa7vwwLwjqxC63dIWHMQx4hYjUGZs205N29ISL5iHY41mBU/s1600-h/IMG_0834.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuZiXKklUeBwFID_n78zRgk33iu1m3rcKQsFClsTX9eHg2UNEMutBRjYICL-Prg0f_UvFKw3xCj5GpqsRYpwt-aa7vwwLwjqxC63dIWHMQx4hYjUGZs205N29ISL5iHY41mBU/s320/IMG_0834.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079815816542397410" border="0" /></a>Takin' a snooze with his favorite Tim...<br /><br /><br />The last two pictures are my favorite.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyg1K7SqVzrEbmAEao208U_U8QP6xrZdfO9E6zEQzAGhh8yx-JM-jM1LlsttXkBE7Zo06stvdITplK0NXCt5Tt7NWYknONhCbGZC4ObgAYiY6ePxe8QGsE3gS4erjZoAtBR3Q/s1600-h/IMG_0775.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyg1K7SqVzrEbmAEao208U_U8QP6xrZdfO9E6zEQzAGhh8yx-JM-jM1LlsttXkBE7Zo06stvdITplK0NXCt5Tt7NWYknONhCbGZC4ObgAYiY6ePxe8QGsE3gS4erjZoAtBR3Q/s320/IMG_0775.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079815807952462786" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF5vnGDguHKqkN23wP6FJzl-8K3wSw0PiyS16XN4weTec62fN4pMXCXqkzJnJctAUusgNGzwugcRUteJK2GqeU2i2-TqpCTEceWiiihh2eBLfbdVSB-k40RCOjIZICeQMQqj4/s1600-h/042.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF5vnGDguHKqkN23wP6FJzl-8K3wSw0PiyS16XN4weTec62fN4pMXCXqkzJnJctAUusgNGzwugcRUteJK2GqeU2i2-TqpCTEceWiiihh2eBLfbdVSB-k40RCOjIZICeQMQqj4/s320/042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079816121485075442" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-71794429566370288282007-06-21T20:41:00.000-04:002007-06-21T20:51:43.087-04:00Job InterviewWell....today was my first grown up, adult interview. First interview for a job to be a physiotherapist. I was nervous, I was excited, I was wearing a suit in 26 degree weather... :P But it was good, it went well.<br /><br />They asked alot of tough questions, things I may not have thought about before, but I was able to answer all of them and I was relatively calm in the process. It's cool, because despite my nerves before the interview, afterwards I felt pretty good. :) I realised that if I'm not meant to get this job, I won't. And there will be other jobs. So I'm happy I have peace about it. I'd love to work at <a href="http://www.stjosham.on.ca/">St Joe's</a>, it would be cool, but I know there's lots of other great opportunities as well, so I just have to have faith that the best job for me will come along, whether it's this job or something else.<br /><br />It's weird though, looking for a job, thinking about having a career.....Having a structured schedule, going to work 9 to 5 (or 8 to 4)....I've been in school for so long it doesn't seem real to me that I will soon be done and will be leading a semi-normal adult life. so crazy....<br /><br />But it's good....change is good. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35769785.post-53224840327622134782007-06-20T12:21:00.000-04:002007-06-20T13:33:02.057-04:00Vegetable TuesdaySo Tim and I have invested in a farm for the season.....<br /><br />Curious how?<br /><br />Well, friends of ours told us about <a href="http://www.goldbook.ca/goldbook/hamilton/Health-Foods-Whol-Mfrs/manorunfarm.html">ManoRun Farm</a>, which is an organic farm in Ancaster that you can buy "shares" in and in return get a delivery of vegetables every Tuesday. The price was very reasonable (only 225 for the entire season (June to October)) so we decided to try it out.<br /><br />Last week was our first delivery, and we got a giant bag of spinach, another large bag of leaf lettuce, fresh mint, another random spice, chives and rhubarb. Apparently this was a "small" delivery, but Tim and I were barely able to finish it and only did so by sharing with some friends and family.<br /><br />Yesterday was delivery #2, and in our basket we got:<br />- generous bunch of Bok Choi<br />- another giant bag of spinach<br />- a bigger bag of leaf lettuce than last week<br />- swiss chard<br />- a HUGE portion of fresh mint<br />- beets<br />- green onions<br />- sugar snap peas<br /><br />It's kinda fun, because every week is sorta like Christmas, you don't really know what you'll be getting, and even when you do get it it's a surprise!<br /><br />I plan to try and post what vegetables we get every Tuesday, because there are a variety of veggies I don't really know what to do with....and may need suggestions on how to prepare/cook it (I'm looking at you Richard!)<br /><br />So feel free to post ideas on how I can cook my veggies, and stay tuned for the variety of good stuff to come!!! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1