Our Prairie Home

Been a While

2010-02-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

~:.Hello My Friends.:~
It's been a while eh? Since my last post.
Since my last post, I have successfully moved from Edmonton, AB to Ottawa.
Jeremie has found work and I am apartment hunting! I'm pretty excited about that, and am very much looking forward to my own place again.

I had a lovely birthday since.
I received stationary from my brother and his fiancee, a vintage paper-doll catalogue from my sister and her husband, my favourite Lilac-scented perfume from my parents, and "The Green Bible" from my darling husband.
To top it all off, we went skating on the world's longest skating rink - The Rideau Canal. It was freezing and windy, but we happily sat at a picnic table in -13 degree weather eating Beaver tails and Poutine like the good Canadians we are!

In other news, I am desperately trying to grow out my hair.
My husband loves long hair, but since dating me, I have never had longer than mid-neck length.
The reason being that growing out my hair drives me crazy, and I always end up just chopping it off again!
So I got a perm to help me through that 'shaggy' stage.

I like it, and Jeremie likes it.

Hopefully it'll keep me from cutting my hair short again.

I know this is a short, little post! But I will try to update more regularly soon!

God Bless,

Jenny

Snowy Saturday

2009-11-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

What a snowy wonderland I woke up to this morning! It's not much, and since we are in the last few weeks of November, we're expecting much, much more.

Sadly there isn't enough out there to make a snowman, but probably enough to make a decent snowball or two.

It's a lovely sunny day, and maybe Jeremie and I will go out for a walk, but first there is the ever insistent packing that has to be done.

Yesterday while doing some Christmas shopping, I came across this stationary. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I have a serious problem with stationary. I love it! And this beauty was opened allowing me to feel the paper and envelopes.

Because I have such a wonderful husband, he didn't mind me taking this stationary home - as long as I used it to write Christmas letters!

I told him that wouldn't be a problem.

The blue reminds me very much of Wedgwood blue, though the photo's don't do the colour justice. It's embossed with silver and has a beautiful pattern on the inside of the envelopes.

Today will be mostly a home day, doing lots of packing and probably some letter writing. ;)
We are meeting up with friends later for dinner and games, but that will be a whole different post tomorrow.

- Jenny

New Look

2009-11-15T21:13:00.001-08:00

I have a bright and shiny new look. I thought it may be time to change it up again so I did some digging and came up with this!

I like it and I think it suits me. :)

I have been doing more packing and more preparing, that counter at the top of my blog is a good reminder of how few days (yay!) that I have left here in Alberta. It's motivation to keep me going and to have my eyes on the prize.

I came home from work yesterday to find the entire craft room packed and my crafting table taken apart and all the screws and nuts in a neatly labeled bag: "kitchen table."

My husband is absolutely wonderful - especially considering he took very well the fact that I had recently visited Value Village and got some new winter clothing. In my defense though, I did get him a rather spiffy, looking button-down that he quite likes.

I have been journaling more and have re-claimed my desk from the clutter that had been slowly taking over. It took me a while, mostly because of all the papers that had to be filed and put away properly, but I did it.

It's amazing how one area of organization can calm your whole demeanor - I find when my home is cluttered and messy, it makes me anxious and crabby. Like my mother I need a clean house to be able to relax.

Although don't assume that I can't have my couch-potato days! That can still come easily enough.

Church was good today - it's so ironic that as soon as Jeremie and I are packing to move we then find a church we both really like. It's called North Pointe Community Church; its quite large but the Pastor is very good.

The last two weeks he's been talking about 2012. The supposed "end times" that the media has been harping about. The sermons aren't about the end times though - he's more pulling it back to the Mayan calender and how even in the earliest history of mankind, we have been able to 'count on the stars' - and how God is a God of order and reliability.

And next week! I'm so EXCITED! Kim Phuc will be coming to speak - if you haven't heard of her, she's the young girl in the famous photograph.

Wikipedia Article: "Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born 1963) is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack."

She is apparently an AMAZING speaker and I cannot wait to hear her speak on forgiveness.
It's an opportunity I'm very blessed to been given.

Other than that things have been going quite well here - and I am looking forward to another productive week.

God Bless!

~ Jenny

Holy Crackers!

2009-11-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how close I am to the big moving day. It's overwhelming and I'm so excited.
We're still more than a month away from December, but when I was at the mall this afternoon, they were already playing Christmas music! Can we really be that close to Christmas already??

I walked through a few stores that I'm partial to - meaning I like their products and "look." Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie.
Both very vintage, classic clothing/decor stores.
We had to buy Jeremie some shoes - his old ones were two years old and were only $20.00 from WalMart.
So we got him some very attractive green Vans. A good company, quality wise.

It was interesting though looking through racks of clothing that I loved but not only were they overpriced ($90.00 for a cotton shirt?!?) but I couldn't help feeling guilty for wanting it, knowing that they all had their clothing produced en masse from poor countries, where they payed pennies to child workers.
Now I love clothing. Almost as much as I love books - I'm a huge clothes horse; so it can really feel like I'm torn in half.

Me: That skirt is adorable! I could get so much use out of that! . . . . . I wonder what poor child made that and how much money will be lining some company owners pocket.

It's a dilemma alright. I bought all my summer clothes from a fair-trade store this summer. But the clothing is all made from linen and lightweight. Most certainly not winter clothes.
I'll probably be going to some second-hand stores for some winter clothes soon after we move. At least it'll be reusing clothes - maybe I'll even be able to alter them.

I working on a lot of my Christmas gifts already - sadly I can't even tell you all about them because I know my family reads this and I haven't decided what is going to who yet!

Has anyone else starting their homemade Christmas gifts yet?

Well, I better be going - gotta keep workin' on those gifts.

- Jenny

Sunday Nature Treasures

2009-10-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful fall day. Cool and sunny - perfect sweater weather. Jeremie and I decided that today would be a great day to go for a walk, so we piled into the car and drove to Sir Wilfred Laurier Park, or better known as the "dog park."
It is an off-leash dog park and on a beautiful Sunday like today, it was packed full of people with their dogs. I felt a tad out of place not having a dog following our heels, but the park is so beautiful by itself and has so many nature trails that all we had to do was break off on one of the trails and we wouldn't see a soul for a good 10 minutes or so.

Jeremie loves nature, absolutely adores it. He's very knowledgeable and found me quite a few treasures today!

On one of the secluded paths, we saw an older gentleman with a small bucket collecting these bright berries. We talked only briefly as English was not his first language, but he did tell us that these berries lowered his wife's blood pressure. Huh. I took him at his word, but would never eat the things. I had always been told that berries that look like this tend to be poisonous. Possibly they are - but I brought a little bunch home to look up and find out exactly what type of berry they are. (the reference librarian in me is dying to know.)

Jeremie also found me this birds-nest. I have no idea what type it is, only that it's probably a small bird, like a chickadee or a finch. I was hoping to find some broken shells, but they had all been cleared away.

Jeremie has a particular fondness for wasps and hornets, so when he found a giant nest (about the size of his head) in great condition, he was eager to show/tell me all about it. This photo is of a hornet's nest, it had layers upon layers of that paper type weaving (pictured behind) and it felt like the most delicate rice-paper. It is, I learned, bark fibers and hornet spit. (great)
Deep inside the nest is the comb, much like a bee's nest, but instead of honey, it's more like bedrooms for little larvae to grow. Jeremie pointed out the white 'cap' on certain parts of the comb. He told me that, that's how you could tell if a larvae had hatched from it. If there was no cap - no new hornets.

Here is a tiny little nest we found, probably belonging to Wasps'. When I asked why it was so small, Jeremie told me that either one of two scenario's probably happened:

1) The Queen died no new eggs were laid, leaving the other wasps to die out.

Or 2) The original nest was damaged. If this happens the hive will move to a new location.
Jeremie told me that he would think latter happened. This new small hive was misshaped and hastily "slapped together." He said that when they first start to build they will take more time to secure the nest and make it 'pretty.

We walked for a good hour and a bit. It was so much fun having Jeremie there to tell me new things and watch him forage through the dense trees and undergrowth just to get me a birds nest. What a sweetie!

It got fairly cool as soon as the sun started to set - my hands were freezing and Jeremie was staring to get cold as well, it was time to pack it in, take our little treasures home and show them to you!

But tomorrow is back to work and back to packing!

Cold but happy,

- Jenny

Feelin' Rather Good About Myself

2009-10-23T18:23:00.001-07:00

I now have officially sorted and gotten rid of more than half the junk in my basement!! I am obscenely proud of myself, seeing as I had to root through all my precious books that had been stored away for safe keeping and decide what I would keep and what I would donate.

For some reason, all I could think of was the movie "Sophie's Choice." Deciding which books were more valuable than others hurt, but I got stronger and more decisive (or cruel) when sorting.

"I can get this at the Library."

"I hardly read this anymore."

"Yes! We can throw that one away! What?...oh, right..that's your book."

I was on a sorting, chucking, donating spree! And boy it felt gooood! I wouldn't say I'm a huge pack rat, but I do tend to hold onto a lot of books. I'm a re-reader. If I like it, the odds are I'll read it again - and working at Libraries means lots of opportunities to get my mitts on weeded books that I still want.

Of course, that being said, I had lots of books too that I "couldn't bare to get rid of." Or "Loved like crazy." Or "Wait! That's a classic and I'm sure worth something!" (yeah right.)

But I don't judge myself too harshly. I can get rid of lots of things easily, just books are difficult.

Jeremie was pretty good and only really started to shake his head a little grinning, while I explained how continuing to own this book was imperative to our future happiness.

Now that the basements done, the real challenge begins!

I have to sort through all the stuff in the rest of the house! We only have an 8x8x8.5 pod to pack this all in - so I have to be sure.

All the furniture will be flattened (excluding the couch of course), we will stack the boxes as high as we can, and are going to mark out the exact measurement of the pod in the floor of the basement with masking tape to make sure everything fits. (Great tip pop!)

The only "odd" items will be things like Jeremie's guitar and my spinning wheel, since we can't get those into a box.

Its funny going through the house, and evaluating its worth and deciding if its worth keeping or if we should leave it.

We've considered leaving the t.v., several bookcases, my desk, and even my bureau.

I really have to think of it all in tiny little steps, or I begin to get anxious and overwhelmed. So I plan out my days with 3 or 4 things to do, and I seem to be getting quite a lot done!

Lets hope it stays that way!

Still packing,

~ Jenny

Where Has Reality Gone?

2009-10-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this ad today - and I could not believe it.
This is a read ad by Ralph Lauren and frankly, it disgusted me.
Her body has been so distorted by Photoshop that she actually looks deformed or on her death bed.

Her head is actually larger than her pelvis. Who on earth could look at this and decide that this is what a person should look like?
Sadly, I wish this were a joke but this is a real ad, and Ralph Lauren has yet to post or comment on it.
Is our perspective on what reality is so twisted that this can actually be published and put out for the public to view and accept??

It's really no wonder that we have so many girls and now boys, suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Or teens who have to have plastic surgery because of how "horrible" they look.
Its creating an entire generation of people who automatically believe that they are unattractive and of little value because the media is setting standards that are not even humanly possible!

Ugh, it fires me up so much, and makes me madder then I'm even willing to admit.
It just leaves such a horrible taste in my mouth.

Oh, and by the way - this model was later fired for being too 'fat' at 120lbs. This she told interviewers herself.

Anger and sadness thats what I feel when I think of 12 year old girls being exposed to all of this - I can't imagine what they must feel.

Full Article
Another Impossibly Skinny Ralph Lauren Model (don'cha just love seeing the model's ribcage through her shirt??)

- Jenny

Our "Prairie" Home No Longer???

2009-10-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

It seems that a big change will be happening soon to my little family.
Jeremie and I always have planned to move back to Ontario after our lease was up on the house we were renting.
We would rent a UHaul truck and make our way through Canada in April. That was the plan anyway.
One thing I've learned very well since being married is that no matter how much I plan, rarely does it happen that way.

A week ago we received a "Happy Thanksgiving" phone call from my family in Ontario. It was a nice chat and it reminded me again of how much I miss my family and cannot wait to celebrate with them again.
I was surprised when my Mum told me that Cory - my brother-in-law, wanted to chat with me.
We haven't chatted in a while, and normally our "hello's" are sent through my sister to him.
But happily I agreed to chat.

Cory told me, rather convincingly, that Jeremie and I would save money if we moved down at Christmas instead of waiting for April.
He listed a whole bunch of reasons that sounded good to me, but, of course, Jeremie would have to hear it too.
So I put Jeremie on the phone with Cory, never thinking that just one week later, we'd be all set to move to Ontario in just a few short months.

Everything seems to be falling into place, it will be work and I cringe at the amount of packing I have to do - but it'll be all worth it when I climb onto that plane knowing that I won't have to return to Alberta after just a few short weeks.

Jeremie and I prayed, talked to parents and to Jeremie's sister and her husband, who share this house with us. Everybody saw the logic and sense the move made.

I am simply on pins and needles waiting for December now. I never thought I'd get what I really wanted for Christmas - to be with my family again, and start putting down some roots.
We have work to do, but it will all be worth it in the end.

All this talk about moving back to Ontario and being able to really "settle" has inspired me to start thinking of my own home.
I came across this book in the Library.

It's a beautiful decorating book, full of bright vibrant photographs. It's such a unique style, but fit me perfectly.
I have always loved the retro/vintage/antique look, but never really knew how to combine with my own love of country decor as well. In this book, Robin Brown - the founder of "Magnolia Pearl" interior designs, takes you on a guided tour of her own home.
I was in heaven! She talks about 'layering beauty' and not being afraid of too much colour. How brocade, silk, lace and velvet can all be used in the same room and bring it together beautifully.

She designs from the heart and is not afraid of being proud of what she "loves" even if not everyone else shares her opinion.
It's very reminiscent of the Victorian style of "clutter" but more refined.
This book also gives some great "How to's" like tea-dying lace, how to make a carpet Mosaic on your wall and how to distinguish between junk and treasure.

I hope to incorporate some of those techniques into my own home.

Well I better go, lots to do and it seems like too little time in which to do it.

~ Jenny

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

We've had quite the snow here lately. Flurries have been on and off for the last three days; it seems we missed Fall altogether and went straight to Winter.
The trees were taken by surprise, and just started dumping their leaves without even bothering to change colour.

I took these pictures this morning. Only Jeremie and I seem to be excited about the snow, the others in the household not so much.
I am very thankful for my winter boots, hats and home-made mittens right now!

I suppose some people would be upset at having a snowy Thanksgiving - even the news man said that this has been the coldest Thanksgiving weekend in 50 years!
I'll believe that!

So we are all snuggled down on this Sunday morning, while it's snowing outside, the house quiet except for the furnace which will humm now and again.

Today seems like the perfect time to work on a few home-made Christmas gifts, get my Pumpkin pie bakes and ready for tomorrow and maybe bundle up for a quiet walk in the snow with my husband.

Happy Thanksgiving!

- Jenny

Snow Today?!?

2009-10-07T15:51:00.001-07:00

Crazy, but true!
Jeremie and I were just stepping out of the car to go into the Gym, when he pointed out the first few flakes. They were tiny and few and far between - but they were there!
I was excited, snow means winter, winter means Christmas and Christmas now means back in Ottawa for almost 3 whole weeks!
I really was not expecting to go back to Ottawa for Christmas this year, since we're planning on moving there come Spring, we decided it would be most frugal to stay home this holiday and save for the move.
However, my family had different plans it seemed! I found out, only about a week ago that my entire family chipped in to buy Jeremie and I plane tickets to fly down for Christmas. Such an amazing, generous gift!! We are both so spoiled with wonderful families.

Sadly, the snow had ended when Jeremie and I left the gym to go home and start supper.
Together we made my Mothers "Baked Egg Casserole" the ultimate in easy casseroles and unbelievably delicious!

This is the casserole before I threw it in the oven for 45 minutes at 375'.

I found the recipe accidentally when looking for my home-made Peanut Butter Cup recipe. I hadn't looked through my old Recipe Book in a while. I believe my Mum and Dad gave it to me on my 16th birthday.

My Mum always writes such lovely things on the inside of books whenever she gives them as a gift, and this recipe book was no different. It's such a great keepsake because of it.

I have found a wonderful store in downtown Edmonton called "Notables Stationary." Quite a deadly place for me as I am completely addicted to stationary of any kind. Cards, Papers, Journals, Pens, Inks...anything really!

I did however splurge on this paper when I saw it. 100% cotton and so soft! I prefer to write with a dip-ink pen when I write letters because I feel it makes it more personal. So I got some Chocolate brown ink to go on my new paper.

I do love my colour too however, and I try to use my two little ink bottles of bright blue and red whenever I can. Not to mention I love the bottles themselves and the illustrations on them. It's so kitchy!

Well, I smell that casserole a'cookin, so I better go check on it.

Love,

Jenny

Fall Fair at Fort Edmonton and Catching Up

2009-09-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while - things have been pretty busy here! My work at the Library is going very well and I'm really enjoying my job.
Fall is in full swing here, easily noticeable by the high of +13 degrees today. The wind has been crazy; we had a wind storm three days ago and the wind is still going strong.

A few weeks ago, Jeremie and I went to Fort Edmonton for their Fall Fair. It was a glorious sunny day with a cool breeze. Jeremie and I got to watch soap making, spinning, live musicians, historical demonstrations and were able to participate in free classes such as "Wheat Weaving." It was so much fun! Below are a few of the many pictures I took while we were there:

(He was kind enough to pose for me mid-song.)

(This lady was in the middle of making bannock. )

(A live black-powder gun demonstration - which scared the heck out of everyone when it was fired. )

A few days later, Jeremie and I visited a corn maze with friends. It was huge! We made the mistake (on purpose) to go at night. We were wandering around a huge corn-maze in the pitch black and all we had was the light from my cell-phone, as our flashlight decided just then to die on us.

This farm, however was not just a maze. It had a petting zoo, a boutique, a BBQ, little classes on how to make corn-husk dolls, and a haunted house!

This was at the corn maze, the poem reads:

"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater, had a wife but couldn't keep her.

So he stuck her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her very well."

Jeremie and I picked up this bird feeder today. I wanted to get something for the birds that stayed here over the winter, which are especially harsh here in Alberta.

It's right outside the kitchen window, so we can watch the birdies closely, and so it can drive the cat crazy. :D

Well, that's it for my quick catch-up! I will try to post again soon!

God Bless,

~ Jenny

Picnic Time

2009-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jeremie and I had a lovely picnic today in Hawrelak Park. It warm, but with a cooling breeze and very quiet - no busy, crazy families today!
We went to the grocery store and bought our favourite picnic food: Kaiser Buns, Cheese, Ham and Potato Salad; we brought grapes and apple sauce from home
A big old comforter was spread out and a couch pillow finished the set-up.
With us came books, my sketch-book and a writing tablet.
It's funny how we always bring so much to "amuse" ourselves with, but all we end up doing is lounging and chatting.
Before we knew it, two hours had flown by; so we packed up our gear, threw it in the car and went for a nice walk.

It was so nice sitting by water again, even if it is just a large pond. The sound is always so soothing and I would have fallen asleep lying there in the sun, had I not felt a tickling on my face and had to fight a long piece of grass out of Jeremie's teasing hands.

It was a very nice day indeed. I wish I had remembered my camera, but this post will have to do for now.

- Jenny

My Art Room

2009-08-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

I have successfully turned ugly room into a fairly nice crafting room. It has since become my place of refuge and peace. When its messy, crazy and loud in the rest of the house I find myself holing up here and relaxing.
Here is a picture of my desk - well, technically table. My sister-in-law and her husband recently bought a very cool retro looking table, so mine was no longer needed.

I have my sewing machine, my books and pencil crayons all ready!

This is my bookshelf that currently wasn't being used either. I have here an unfinished sock monkey, an unfinished sock goblin and Mr. Bunkins, who unfortunately cannot be seen from behind the sock goblin.
My little stereo is lovely for playing music while I work or listening to books on tape.

My mother would be so proud! I folded and organized all my material. Previously it was all either in a plastic bin or plastic garbage bags! This is definitely an organized step up!

I have recently (very recently) taken up water-color painting. I bought this small palette of paints and two brushes to add to my already existing collection of brushes. I have a new found and deep respect for watercolor artists. It is unbelievably difficult! And I would be the first to tell about my own horrible ability concerning any art with colour. I have always been a strict black-and-white girl. But I wanted to try something new.

This is my first pitiful attempt. I seriously considered not to post this as it hurts the pride more then I'm willing to admit, but it's good to see your development. If you're wondering what that writing is in the top-right hand corner; it's notes. Notes to myself. Here's my first entry:

"My first attempt. Pretty horrible, feeling discouraged.
Jeremie says I need more practice. Maybe."

This is my second attempt. A landscape scene. It still makes me cringe.

My third attempt. Finally some encouragement! I tried my hand at some flowers.

I decided then that maybe I should stick to Flowers for the time being. I did these two and was pretty happy with the result. They didn't look like blobs and that was good enough for me! :)

I did this one today - and it was crazily difficult despite the easy-looking composition. The background I'm not happy with, but I like the shading on the building and the foliage.

Jeremie has been my biggest supporter. Even when I wanted to throw the sketchbook out the window and just admit defeat, he's been so encouraging and helpful. Reminding me to just practice, and how no matter how critical I am of my artwork, he always seems to find so much in it to compliment me on. <3

We'll see if I can keep up the trend of slowly getting better with each piece of artwork. In the meantime I'm reading every watercolour book I can get my hands on, and just remembering to stay encouraged.

- Jenny

Tale Of The Missing Wallet and Heritage Day '09

2009-08-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last week was Heritage Days in Edmonton. 5 days where you can walk around one of our parks and visit the entire world (more or less) by visiting the booths and vendors all run by people representing that country.
Despite being a rainy, cloudy day, it was the most fun I've had yet at any of Edmonton's many fairs.
Here's Jeremie and I sitting outside of the Eritrean booth.

We walked around all day and was thrilled when the sun decided to make an appearance. We ate ethnic food and drink. Did a bit of shopping and watched the many presentations that day.
Here the women of Lao are dancing. It was all very cool.

However one of the most interesting and amazing presentations was the Dragon dancing. It was spectacular. The aerobics and stunts these young children can do are mind boggling.

Their show lasted a good 20 minutes. When it was over, the boys under the dragon were sweating buckets - I don't blame them!

The dragons themselves were completely adorable, and did everything from wink, flutter their ears and wag their tails!

Not only did they preform, but they did it all standing on small poles and stilts!

Here I believe we were in Africa, but it may have been the Congo. I told Jeremie we should get one of those masks to hang on the wall, but he said they "creeped him out". Lol! I wanted the Zebra one. It's almost right in the middle on the left, with the strips and little ears.

So the day went by wonderfully until we got home and Emilie and I decided to get a Starbucks iced tea. I went to pay and I felt my stomach drop to my toes.
My wallet wasn't there! I have a pretty deep purse, one of those sling/bag types and I just about dumped my purse in the Starbucks to find it.
Emilie was kind enough to pay for my drink and encouraged me by insisting it must be in the car. I ran back to the car and dug under all the seats - Jeremie (who was waiting there) asked me wide-eyed what was wrong.
Almost crying now I told him I lost my wallet.

This was monumental for me. I've never lost my keys, my purse, my cell phone and definitely not my wallet. Needless to say, I did when I generally do, and freaked out.

But I called my bank and cancelled my credit card and debit right away. As it was a holiday I couldn't phone the police or call the Registration office.
This was a big loss, not only did my drivers licence and health card reside there, but my SIN card and birth certificate was in there as well.
The chances of my wallet being returned if a good Samaritan found were even slimmer as the address on my license was my old address, previous to Edmonton.

I knew it'd take months to get all ID back not to mention the mound of paper work I'd have to fill out.
That night I had a nightmare about my lost wallet, and I woke up relieved, then had that horrible sinking feeling again.

I slouched to the computer and checked my email. An interesting email appeared from the youth pastor of my former church.

"Jen - I got a weird phone call from a lady who needs to get in touch with you immediately. ..It could be about your wallet??" He gave me the name and phone number.

Holding my breath I dialed it right away and was soon was talking to a nice woman who said that yes she did have my wallet.
I could have kissed this woman - I did a happy dance while writing down her address and had a fit of hysterical laughter that brought most of the house questioning my sanity.

An hour later I was on my way to the house with a bunch of flowers as a "thank you." Jeremie and I were greeted by a lovely older Mexican couple who invited us in and gave me a good talking-to about not having all my ID in one wallet.
They apparently had looked for an hour for me, online, the yellow-pages and my ID. They had found my youth pastors photography card and rang him. And he knew how to contact me.

Truly the power of prayer!

- Jenny

Cookin' Time

2009-07-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today is my day off - so I have time to make a good dinner tonight. I'll be making Chicken with a sauce I got from the blog: "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" It's simply called "Yummy Sauce for Chicken," and it sure looks like it!

I've also been creeping all over http://www.allrecipes.com/ again. I keep forgetting that it's such a great site. I found this recipe for Creamy Rice Pudding which will be dessert tonight.

I also made, from that site a Triple Threat Fruit Smoothie. I used all fresh fruit: Kiwi's, bananas, blueberries, then added orange juice, ice and vanilla yogurt.
No sweetener added, just all the fruity-goodness.

I made two large glasses and put them in the fridge, the top covered with Saran-wrap. I wanted Jeremie to have a nice shot of fruit for the morning, which worked out well. Except that the fruit and the juice separated. Once stirred it was fine, but it definitely wasn't as sweet and fresh as when I made it the night before.
Is it possible to keep smoothies overnight and have them nice and fresh??

In other news I got some fun stuff from the library. I was able to borrow "Hell's Kitchen Season 1" for Jeremie, he just loves that show.

And for me, I got "Project Runway" - unlike America's Next Top Model, this has nothing to do with catty, prissy models.
It's all about the poor designers that have to work with them.

A group of 12 designers, ranging in age from 22 to 45, are given challenges to complete and at the end of the challenge have to show their clothing on the cat-walk in front of judges. (using models of course.)
These people are amazingly talented - creating a wedding dress in two days, a new outfit for Banana Republic in one day, or a bathing suit in just 5 hours!
The skill astounds me, and it's so great to watch.

So I'll be cooking and watching fashion today! Good day to me. :D

- Jenny

Getting Organized - A Lovely Day Off

2009-07-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I was lucky enough to have the day off and get myself organized.
I was relaxing and enjoying the quiet morning when I realized I had not prepared anything for dinner - or had anything planned.
Quickly I strode to the freezer and glanced at the clock. Only noon - Good I have lots of time. Hubs wasn't expected home until 5:30 - so most of the afternoon was free for me to make a scrumptious dinner - If I had the ingredients.
My face fell when I saw the two pounds of hamburger meat chilling. I had just made meatloaf a few days ago, and didn't feel like making another loaf.
I thought and thought, before finally remembering I had a honest-to-goodness live recipe book with all the answers just a phone call away!

"Mom?. . . I have two pounds of ground beef. What should I make?"

"Well you just did Shepherds pie right?" Darn! I did too! "What about meatloaf?"

"I made that just a few days ago!" I said dismayed.

From the background noise I heard my sister yell: "Meatballs!"

I thought for a moment and realized I had pasta and sauce, I supposed I could throw in a few meatballs to spice it up.

"What about Sweet and Sour Meatballs on rice?"

"Perfect! But how do I make it?"

We figured it all out, and apparently I had the recipe in my Company's Coming Crock-Pot Recipe book.
Bizarrely I even had the cranberry sauce in the cupboard - a left over from Thanksgiving it seemed.
Everything went smoothly until it told me to broil the meatballs before placing them in the sauce in the crock-pot.
I called up mom again.

"Jen - there's three ways to make meatballs: Broil them, Bake them or Boil them. Boiling being the quickest."

Since it was now 2:00 and the crock pot recipe called for 4 -6 hours of cooking time, quick sounded pretty good.
I carefully placed my meatballs in the boiling water, my expectant face furrowing when I saw all the floating bits of onion and meat.

AHHH! They're falling apart!! It was a big deal! I was on a time limit here! I didn't have time for crumbly meatballs!

Well, they didn't crumble completely, but they sure seemed a lot smaller out of the pot than when they went in.
Sadly I dumped them into the crock-pot and gingerly tried to coat them in the sauce. The delicate meatballs however burst apart at the softest touch from my wooden spoon.
Completely upset now I called mom.

"Jen it's okay! It'll all taste fine - don't worry!"

Well, it sure didn't look like the picture in the recipe book, but it did taste pretty good.

"Jen, just call it sweet and sour beef on rice" Nessa suggested.

I had to laugh - okay, I guess I could do that. Jeremie loved it regardless, just like I knew he would, and now we have very nice lunches for tomorrow.

My other accomplishment today was organizing Ugly Room. We had moved into that room a week ago, but due to work and general busy-ness, it never got done.
Well I had finally had, had enough of tripping over baskets of laundry, and my little woven baskets of knick-knacks.

Here is the end result:

I even hung a little picture - It's amazing what a little colour in a white room can do!

The end of our bed, and dresser that fits quite nicely between the two closets.

A lovely rug I bought at Safeway for an awesome $39.00

So all in all it's been a very good, organized day!

- Jenny

Taste of Edmonton

2009-07-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I finally ventured to "Taste of Edmonton 2009." It was actually really fun.
You bought tickets then spent the tickets at different vendors which would give you a sample of their food. There was generally two choices per vendor.
My favourite was the rice pudding from a Korean restaurant, Jeremie's favourite was the pad thai.

We both had a bunch of fun, there were people everywhere though. The crowd was huge, but still manageable. There was a live band playing and a wading fountain to cool off in.
It was a stinking hot 33 degrees, but it didn't seem to stop people from eating hot food on the sweltering sun.
The hottest thing I ate was a deep-fried Mars bar. I remembered my sister telling me once how amazing it was - and it was delicious, but I think I would have appreciated it more had I myself not been melting in the heat.

I've been going to "Planet Organic" a lot. A local organic market - I do have to be choosy of course, as Organic tends to be quite a bit more money. But for things like fresh veg and some fruits, I find it worth it.

I bought Jeremie a light cotton shirt, and he's been just living in it that past few days. Like any fair-skinned person, he burns easily, so when he found he could be covered and cool, it just took the cake.
It's tan coloured and tunic-style with a small collar and three buttons that go halfway down his chest. With his shaggy wavy blond hair, he looks just like a hippie. It's pretty funny.

I borrowed this book from the Library a few weeks ago - I had seen it at the bookstore, but decided to borrow it first before buying, and boy, do I love it.

It reads so well, and is interesting from cover to cover. It's informative without being full of lingo and resourceful in a very practical way.

Did I mention it's also Canadian?!? Heck yes it is!

I've already recommended it to Mom, but I thought I'd share it with everyone else too.

It covers everything from beauty/bath products, food, clothing, personal hygiene, cleaners for your house - everything! All backed with Internet sites, resources, and store guides. It talks about different chemicals and ingredients without being confusing, and talks about how alot of "organic" labeled isn't quite as organic as it sounds.

So if you're worrying about what you're eating/cleaning/absorbing into your body, I would check out this book. You won't be disappointed.

Well, enough babbling from me!

- Jenny

Mouse Rescue

2009-07-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

It all started innocently enough. I was simply going downstairs to do some laundry, that cat following faithfully in my wake.

I was enjoying the quietness of the house, being home alone for most of the day and was looking forward to getting some of my "to-do's" done.

Laundry being one of them.

I'm filling up the washer when suddenly Lyon the cat starts darting around the boxes on the floor. I didn't really pay any attention, thinking the noise of the washing machine had just made him hyper, when he pounced on something and stalked quickly out of the room.

Uh oh. I thought. I wasn't afraid of mice and I hadn't even seen it in his jaws, so it must be a little mouse, even if it was a mouse.

I followed Lyon to the family room and getting a bit closer I noticed a mouse tail. So it was a mouse! Lyon looked up at me triumphantly, and I was about to leave him to his meal - he did catch it after all, and if he ate it, it would mean less clean-up for me - when suddenly the little mouse darted away from Lyon and straight at me.

Ashamedly, I did what I always mocked women for doing - I screamed bloody murder and tried to climb the nearest bar stool.
Lyon was quick though, and in no time he had the mouse back under his paws, and giving me a condescending look.

I made a face back at him and watched for the next 5 minutes as he played "catch and release" with this tiny mouse who couldn't be more then 2 inches long, including his tiny tail.

Finally, more out of worry of Lyon losing the mouse, then killing it - I decided to finish the job myself.
I walked back to the laundry room thinking: Why is there never a man around to do this stuff?? and tried to find a small box to trap mouse in.

The plan was simple, catch in box, bring outside, smush with Jeremie's work boot. Done.

I couldn't find any small boxes, so I ended up grabbing an old-school pencil box. It was small and plastic, should work right?
Bravely, I crouched near Lyon and after a few mis-fires had the little mouse under my box.
My triumph lasted very shortly however, when I realized I had no idea how to pick the mouse up! The pencil box had a hinged lid - I couldn't close the box without letting little mouse out.

So! I ran back to the laundry room and ripped off a piece of cardboard, figuring I could slide the cardboard under the pencil box and little mouse and carry him outside.
But no matter how I tried, mouse would not get on top of the cardboard.

I lifted the box up just enough for a peek.

That was my undoing. I saw little mouse, cowering in the corner shaking, his little beady eyes looking right at me, blinked once, then he let out the tiniest little squeak.

Oh, SO not fair! Don't look so cute at me - you're vermin! But no matter how much mean-talking I did, I knew I couldn't kill little mouse anymore.
Sighing, I told little mouse that if he stepped on the cardboard, I'd take him outside and release him...beside my neighbours house.

Well, he stepped right on and we made a quick jog to the front door, where I went out into the front yard, in my pajama's and crouched beside a shrub fence.

He was a little shell-shocked, all of a sudden being in the sunlight and fresh air, but after a little nudge with the box he darted off into the grass.

"And don't come back!" I told him.

- Jenny :)

Bookish Me

2009-07-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today has been beautiful - the cool weather has once again turned hot but at least its sunny and not muggy anymore. I actually enjoyed the bus to work, the walk to the stop was pleasant and the bus was cool due to all the open windows.

I returned back to the Library "Little Mosque on the Prairie". I had watched a few episodes here and there, but since recently loving and watching all of "Corner Gas" I thought I'd give Canadian sitcoms another go.
I loved the series! My sister in law and I watched it all in one evening while folding massive baskets of laundry. I'm ordering season 2 which will hopefully be in soon.

Speaking of interesting books; while Jeremie and I were at the theaters the other day I saw a trailer for a new sci-fi movie called "Surrogates" .
Basically humans have 'hooked up' to android copies of themselves and can experience all of their "surries" (surrogates) feelings and senses.
It's like virtual reality overload. You can even have your surrie smoke a cigarette and feel all the same emotions you would if you actually were smoking, but without any of the harmful effects.
Interesting idea eh?
Well the basis for the book is basically that someone is killing surries, and somehow it actually kills the operator, even though they're only connected mentally to their drone.

To make a long story short, it was first a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.
The Librarian in me couldn't resist. I'm in the middle of it, and it's pretty good so far, but we'll see.

In other nerdy-news, my friend Teri found this site today at work. "Awful Library Books." Apparently this blog was started by a Librarian who was in charge of 'weeding' their collection, and in doing so came across some ridiculously, hilarious, horrible books.
We spent most of the afternoon laughing and justifying the books the Librarian posted; complete with book review and photos. I would check it out if I were you!

Well, have a nice day!

- Jenny

My Sunday

2009-07-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

My Sunday was nice and relaxed. It's a nice, breezy 18 degrees out, a relief after the +30 degree weather we've had over the last two days.
The hot weather broke finally last night when a huge storm rolled in. Thunder, wind, lightning the whole deal. We had a severe storm warning even!
Anyway it cooled the temperature substantially.

I made a nice minestrone soup for dinner tonight - it turned out really well, though it probably could've used more tomatoes in retrospect.
Jeremie certainly enjoyed it.

Jeremie and I were planning on going to "Taste of Edmonton" but with the weather still be rainy and dreary we decided to go see a movie instead. We decided to go see "The Proposal". It was hilarious, both Jeremie and I loved it.

I would definitely recommend it.

Just as a side note - I love "The Big Lebowski" my parents got it as a Christmas gift for Jeremie last year, and it is hands down one of his favourite movies and beginning to become mine as well.

Well, work tomorrow! And hopefully sunnier days.

- Jenny

New Banner

2009-07-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

A new banner made using Picnik. What a great little program :D Just a little update.
Now off to get ready for work.

Quick Post

2009-07-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

Poor Hubs is sick today - he was painting all day yesterday and though he was wearing a mask the fumes really messed with his head (dizziness and light-headedness) and his throat is completely raw.

I don't know what kind of mask he was wearing but clearly it didn't do the trick.

He's pretty sure that he'll be fine tomorrow though. In the meantime, I'm feeding him lots of tea with honey and just letting him relax.

Good thing I borrowed all those movies from the Library recently. He'll have pleanty to choose from, which is good because I'm going to be all over the city today.

It's my day off and I thought I'd be busing, but since I unexpectedly have the car I'll be using that.

I plan on checking out that organic grocery store "Planet Organic" it's supposed to be quite good, and there's one right in the north end, so not too far away either.

I need to go to Dollarama to get some more cheap paints for my altered book which is turning out swimmingly! I can't wait to post some photos.

And, as much as I hate to, go to Walmart. Jair and I decided to move into "ugly room" we just need the space! So I'll be getting a floor-rug to cover some of the ugly and some hooks and shelves.

The good news is, I'm going to be turning our new guest-bedroom into half of my crafting room.

True, there really isn't much room, but enough for a small table, a chair, and a closed door to keep the cat out of my paints. Sounds pretty good to me!

Well, better get going.

- Jenny

Why Is There A Dog In The Library?

2009-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Not a question you hear very often.

Today has been a busy day from the get-go. Navigating the buses, getting to work on time, a two-hour meeting first thing - Phew! No wonder I'm tired.
But the strangest thing happened when Mel, the head Librarian, came in from her lunch break carrying a small copper coloured, wiry-haired dog.
Apparently the dog had crossed 118th (a four-lane road) several times carelessly, before Mel saved the pup.

It was collarless but very friendly and happy to see people.

It seems, the only thing Mel could think of to do was to bring it to the Library! So for most of the afternoon "Franny" (the dog had originally been nicknamed "frank" by the staff, until we realized "frank" was a girl) ran around in the back getting under people's feet and stopping to be petted and loved.

All was going well, and Mel had decided to call the SPCA when Franny bolted out of the back room (someone had left the door open accidentally) and happily started to sniff around patrons and beg for pets.

The patrons took it well - and most enjoyed seeing 4 Librarians dashing out into the relatively quiet Library to wrangle down a puppy.

It made the afternoon go by quickly. :D

Oh! And this morning was interesting too! Anyone walking by the Library at 9:00 AM would have been pretty confused to see two Librarians laughing their heads off, one of which is lying on the ground, the other, unsuccessfully trying to trace her with chalk.
We had a detective children's program running this afternoon, a live "Clue" game for the kids to play. Teri, my co-worker was organizing it and volunteered me to be a "dead body" for her to trace around in front of the Library.

So there I was lying on the pavement at nine AM, thankfully on top of my rain coat because I refused to lie down on goodness knows what! and in the basic 'dead-body position' right leg bent out, one arm raised above head etc.
And Teri laughing at the ridiculousness of tracing me with thin chalk-board chalk, because she couldn't find her sidewalk chalk.

So all in all, one heck of an interesting day.

In other news, our high was +16. That's right. Plus Sixteen.
It felt like October when I went to go catch my bus, I was almost in the mood to go get a pumpkin to carve.

Please warm up Edmonton!

- Jenny

Whyte Ave Art Walk

2009-07-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Again,

I'm so happy to have a sunny day; for the last week its been constant cold drizzle. The rain and storms have been relentless, and we even got a tornado warning a few days ago! Thank goodness there were no sightings or I'd be hiding downstairs under the staircase for the rest of the day.
As it is, today was gloriously sunny and warm. A perfect day to kick off the "Whyte Ave. Art Walk."

The art walk is basically local artisans who have displayed their wears on the sidewalk outside shops that run along Whyte Ave. A well-known 'artsy' section of the city. Not only do they sell their artwork, but the majority had easels up and were painting right beside the passersby.

Jeremie and I, as well as Vince and Paula (dad and mom-in-law) walked along the streets for a good few hours. Although we did lose each other a few times and would suddenly spot each other, wave like mad-people and dodge across the street to meet.

There were so many things I would have loved to buy - but most paintings were approx. $80-$400 dollars. So not happening any time soon.
However, I did get this lovely necklace for $15.00.

It's hard to tell, but the pendant is actually a domino piece. It's painted on one side, stamped then varnished.

I loved it right away.

It was so much fun talking with all the artists about their work. Finding out the mediums they use and how they do it.

I found a really cool artist who did "Altered Books" and I wish I could post a photo here, but, as a courtesy, I didn't take along my camera, as most artists prefer not to have their work photographed.

It's basically an old, fabric book turned into a journal by painting over pages and decorating the page before journaling.

I'm hoping to take a class in Fall - though I will probably try it by myself before then. ;)

Tomorrow we drive Vince and Paula to the Grayhound station for their long bus-ride back, and then work tomorrow!

God Bless,

~ Jenny

2009-07-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Again!
It seems there's never a dull moment at my house! The in-laws are visiting, and it we're dog-sitting a little westie by the name if "Rigby" - well, technically "Elenore Rigby" - but Rigby, Riggers or Rigger-Roo for short.

She's a cute little mutt - but having been raised in a condo - means she has some trouble with remembering to do her business outside. Thankfully she has little "puppy pads" that do a pretty good job when she does forget.

More exciting events! Both Jeremie and I received employment in our fields in the same week!
Jeremie is back in a welding shop, doing what he does best - and I'm back among my books and loving it!

It's amazing really; both Jeremie and I were so stressed about money, especially since he was almost done his EI and my meager earnings in retail wouldn't cover our expenses.
We prayed and prayed - and stressed.
Well, really it was me who stressed the most. Jeremie was calm as ever, he admitted worry of course, but always ended it with: "God will provide, Jen."
To which my response was always scoffing or depression.
And sure enough, 3 weeks before EI finished we both got phone calls asking for us to work right away.
I was amazed and demanded how Jeremie knew this was all going to work out, he just shrugged and gave that grin that half drives me crazy and I half love, and said: "I just knew."

Go figure.

I'm pretty sure now that God is trying to teach me trust and patience and I keep ignoring the lesson. I hope this time it got through my thick skull and God can stop testing/teaching me!
A break would be nice! :)

Speaking of breaks - my new job is allowing me to have more time at home, and I'm starting to cook regular meals again.
Something I realized, had to change.
I had grown up on rich, healthy, grown right from the garden food (or in the field) for most of my life and since getting married and moving, I had fallen, like most people, into the hole of convenient instant food.

It's so horrible for your health and I knew it - I just didn't know quite how to make the change.
My mother-in-law is a homeopathic doctor and quite knowledgeable in nutrition and healthy eating. Between her and my own mother's wonderful, home-grown advice, I was able to come up with a new eating plan:
Basically a mix of "The G.I. Diet" and "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon.

I like the simplicity of the G.I. diet and the natural recipes in Nourishing Traditions. So far I've been going by some simple rules:

- 5% or less of fat per serving.
- 5% or less of sugar per serving.

And following the "green light" food.
Jeremie, who wants to lose weight as well as get healthy is only eating from the green section; because I don't want to lose weight, but get healthy, I can eat from the green and yellow section.
He's doing so well giving up sugar and his salty cravings.
But we're in this together - and I am trying to cut back on my own sugar intake (the main culprit in my diet) and have gone to skim milk.
Not quite the 2% I'm used to - but not horrible either.

I bought organic sugar cane granulated sugar and it seems to be doing a great job.
Lunch foods consist of:

whole wheat bread
1/2 fat mayo (with no trans or fatty oils)
roast beef
Swiss or mozzarella cheese
mustard
alfalfa sprouts
boiled eggs
sugarless yogurt
sugarless applesauce
fruits
Kashi granola bars

Etc. So we're certainly not starving, but even making those few small changes can help you lose weight and get rid of all the nasty junk you've got in your body.

I got this at my new Library, we're selling them for one dollar even. They're wonderful bags and I love what they have printed on them.
My new goal besides eating healthy, is to try to buy only fair-trade, sweatshop-free items.
Jeremie was more than encouraging - and it took me a moment to wonder why the enthusiasm, when it hit me: This would reduce my shopping habit immensely, and save more money.
Ahhhh...it all comes together now. Lol!

True to my word, for the past month and a half all my purchases have been fair-trade, sweatshop free.
I got this little coupon holder for a dollar-fifty, and have started keeping it in my purse to hold all my receipts, lists and papers. I has come in handy more then once! Not to mention, I feel so organized! ;)

This shirt I bought at "Ascension." A local clothing/accessory store that sells only sweatshop-free products.
The shirt was made by the "Ark" company - a fair-trade company based in Nepal. I already own several items from them bought in Drumheller and was happy to find a source here in Edmonton.

Cost: $25.00
100% cotton

I love this shirt to death. Even on the hottest days, this shirt stays cool because of the cotton fibers.

Even Jeremie wants this fabric in a mens shirt - which I'm almost positive they have. :)

This little guy is a frog in case you're wondering. He's made in Africa and is fair-trade. *yay!*
You run that stick over the bumps on his back in an up-ward motion and it makes the most convincing frog sound I've ever heard.
It reminds me of being home in Ontario and driving through the road by the swamp and hearing all the peep-toads singing.
I just couldn't resist.
He's pretty big too - probably about the size of a baseball.

Well I better get to bed! Almost 10pm and I have work tomorrow.

God Bless!

- Jenny

Ugly room

2009-06-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today I got a good reminder from my mother to keep blogging.
I know it has been awhile, but at least this time I have a good excuse.
Since I last blogged we were thinking about moving; well, we up and went to Edmonton.
Right now we’re splitting a house with my sister-in-law and her hubby. It’s a lovely house – three bed, two bath, half finished basement.
However it has been without tenents for a year and does need some serious TLC.
There’s one master bedroom and two smaller ones. Right now Jeremie and I are in the smaller room, as we gave the master to SIL and hubs since he’s going to be in school full-time and will need the study space.
Our small room, however, is proving too small. It’s seemingly impossible to keep clean, I clean it and the next day someone puts a shirt on the ground and the room is a bomb again. (It’s really quite amazing.)
The third unused room, we affectionately call it “the ugly room” for a reason.
Apperently the previous tenent decided to start a home salon in her house and turned that bedroom into a hair studio.
Horrible blue and flaked white linoleum covers the floor, stapled in even in some places. A large yellow ring sits dead center in the middle of the room, apparently where the styling chair was, and for some unknown reason, she spray painted the closet doors that textured black, so that it looks and feels like asphalt.

Hence the “Ugly room.”

Previously it was full of unpacked boxes, toolboxes, a keyboard and several suitcases, but we’ve since cleared it all out and scrubbed every inch of our ugly room.

Thankfully our landlords agreed to pay for (almost) any renovations we decide to do. We have been given full permission to fix up ugly room and paint the house, all out of their pocket.
So Jeremie and I are hoping to clean up ugly room and move in there before too long.

Right now it’s an ugly guest room.
Thank goodness that it's family who is visiting right now. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are down right now, and they can overlook the 'ugliness.'

God Bless!

~ Jenny

Moving and Working

2009-02-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

I am currently in Edmonton, using my sis-in-law's laptop to write.

Jeremie and I are looking to move down here, and he is dropping off resume's all this week. Thankfully Jeremie's sister Emilie, and her husband live right downtown and are letting us stay the week with them.

They visit us quite a bit, even though Edmonton from where we currently live is a good 3 hours away. We like taking turns coming over and visiting at each others houses.

It's a little different now, looking more at living here, rather then visiting.

Brad (Emilie's husband) grew up in Edmonton, which is a blessing, as he'll be able to help us look for housing in good areas and know which areas of the city to avoid.

Right now, Jeremie and I are just doing a lot of praying. Praying about work, moving, money - all those earthly things that can bother us so much.
It's a huge relief to know that our loved ones are praying just as much!

Just thought I'd post a note. I know I'm overdue for a good, loooong post. And I will! You'll see!

God Bless!

~ Jenny

Time To Bake and Make

2008-12-10T16:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend,

Today I did more Christmas baking - with the help of my friend Rachel; we made: Chocolate 5-Minute Fudge, and my family's Chocolate Truffles.

Jeremie and I got our Christmas tree and decorated it all prettily. It's slightly "charlie-brownish" but then again, we're not spending Christmas in Alberta anyway.

I am just happy that we were able to get a tree for my first Christmas as a married person anyway.

My mother and father have a tradition where every year they buy a new ornament together; I decided that I would like to follow this tradition as well! Jeremie and I bought that little knitted stocking as our first ornament together. The reason we picked it is because...well...it was the only one we could agree on. *laugh*

I adore my nativity set, it's by the "Willow Tree" company, and I have been able to collect it over several Christmas' and birthdays as gifts. The only thing I'm missing now is the stable.

Christmas is coming quickly upon us, and I'm thrilled. If I don't post before Christmas, Merry Christmas to all of you, and God Bless in the coming year.

~ Jenny

Moroccan Chicken and My Relaxed Weekend

2008-11-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have officially fallen in love with my crock-pot. It makes meals so much simpler, and I have not come across a bad crock pot recipe yet!
I took out a bunch of books from the Library on slow-cooker recipes, and have now tried recipes from 2 out of 3 books, and they've both been awesome.

A few nights ago I tried "Moroccan Chicken" it was flavourful, easy and went wonderfully with some hot couscous!

I've been asked to supply the recipe, so here it is! :

Moroccan Chicken:

1 Tbs. Oil
1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 Garlic clove, crushed
2 Carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. ground Turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground Ginger
1/2 tsp. ground Black Pepper
1 large can of Chickpeas, drained
12 oz. Sweet Potatoes, cut into cubes
2 c. Chicken stock
Finely grated rind of 1 Lemon
1 Tbs. lemon juice
8 Chicken thighs, skinned

Heat oil in large saucepan, add the Onion and garlic; cook for 5 min, stirring occasionally until beginning to turn golden brown.

Stir in Carrots, Salt, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Ginger and Pepper. Add the Chickpeas, Sweet Potato, Stock and Lemon rind. Bring just to boil and transfer to slow-cooker.

Arrange the Chicken on top of the veggies, pushing them gently into the liquid.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Stir in Lemon juice just before serving.

I then just served it with some couscous and it was a lovely meal! Also, a great leftover; re-heated it almost tasted better!

I am very excited! Jeremie and I have our tickets to go back to Ontario for Christmas! We'll be down for about 2 weeks - a nice long visit, perfect for visiting all of our relatives and friends.

The house finally stopped smelling of paint, and I'm hoping today I can get my painting re-hung on the wall. I also dug through my photo's and I'm putting out more photo's of my family. I have hung a few on my fridge and I'm going to use up some of my many, unused frames and hang some nice ones on the walls.

I have also finished my Christmas shopping! YAY! All finished and it's not even December yet! My mother would be proud. :) I even started Christmas baking.
I had some girlfriends over to help, and we made "Butterscotch Confetti" , a wonderful Christmas recipe from my Mother. It freezes beautifully and keeps well until that busy December season.

My Husband, however, found out that he quite liked Butterscotch confetti, and now I need to make another pan! But I can't really point fingers, as I'm just as guilty....They just taste SO good!

Today is a relaxing Saturday. No plans this weekend, just hanging out and vegetating. Jeremie took me out for Breakfast this morning to our local Mennonite restaurant: "Country Cousins." It was a nice treat.

I just took this photo - Jeremie is trying to watch his Ottawa Senators (hockey) play, a rare treat out here in Alberta. Normally we just get local games. Notice the intense attention he's paying to the game. Lol, he loves his Hockey.

Have a good weekend, and God Bless!

~ Jenny

Painting Day!

2008-11-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Well, it's November. Cold winds and snow have already visited my small town, giving warnings to the freezing winter that is starting to settle around us.
I decided this would be a good time to paint my little apartment; we're in a sub-level apartment, and I knew that once winter was here - I'd go squirrely with all the white, bare walls. I painted my living room and half the hallway a bright not-quite-neon green. I absolutely love it, getting a tinted primer really made the difference.

My kitchen I wanted bright and cheery, so I got yellow. In truth I wanted it more golden, but I'm still happy with the result.

My dining room and other half of the hallway is a rich Burgundy. I can't wait to see our Christmas tree against it in just a few weeks!

I wish I had taken a photo of the "painting crew" that showed up at my house. It had started with the youth pastor at my church offering to help me paint. (which is awesome, considering he used to be a professional house painter!) He then enlisted the help of another young man, whose wife I am good friends with.

Lance, the youth pastor helped me buy the right paint and primer as well as the proper amount - he said he and Paki (the other young man) would be by at 8:30 am to start painting.

Sure enough, they showed up at 8:30 on the dot and got right down to business helping me move furniture and clean the walls.

Jeremie, unfortunately had to work that day and missed out on the painting adventure.
A few hours into the painting, Lance got a phone call from the Pastor, who offered to help as well.

Now I had three people painting my house! Lance wouldn't even let me paint, he said they "got it covered."

A few hours later I got a knock on my door, happily I invited another mutual friend of all of ours, James, who had heard I was painting my house, and as he "wasn't doing anything" decided to come over and help as well!
I had four men painting my house - my only job was coffee runs and making "man-wiches" for them at lunch.

None of them would accept any payment, instead they all agreed they'd like a hot curry dinner instead, at some point....So! I told them that I would be happy to feed them dinner next week.

They painted and put all the furniture back in the time period between 8:30am to 5:30pm.

It was absolutely amazing! I love my apartment so much now, and Jeremie really liked how it turned out as well.

Today I did my grocery shopping and took care of Jeremie who is suffering from either food poising or the stomach flu. He's been so sick and has no energy, as he was up almost all of last night. I made him some chicken noodle soup and bought him the proper drugs, as well as easily digested food like applesauce.

Oh! Speaking of dinner I should check my soup!

God Bless,

~ Jenny

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:53:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

While Jeremie and I didn't celebrate too large this year, we still put out our pumpkin and I had some chip bags nearby, in case we had any little visitors.
Even if we don't get any, I'm sure Jeremie will appreciate the extra snack of Doritos in his lunch for the next few...months. *It was a BIG box.*

The last few weeks have been more than busy! Last week I was down in Ontario visiting my family. It was wonderful being able to cuddle my little nephew and go out for a "girls day" with my mom and sister again.

The week before that I was flat on my back with a horrible cold/flu. It really hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a scratchy throat for the morning and afternoon, but by the evening I could hardly talk.

The next day was so horrible that Jeremie stayed home from work to take care of me and drive me to the hospital - I thought I was coming down with either strep or laryngitis, both of which I'd want the antibiotic for as soon as possible.

It took a good week to get over, but many Popsicles and orange juices later, I was myself again.

Today I woke up feeling good and refreshed. I decided that I wanted to try making a pie.
My Father's an awesome pie-maker and for years I was his 'right hand man' making pastry and fillings from scratch.
So I decided on an Apple Pie Recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com . It seemed simple and had awesome reviews.

My big dilemma came when I had to peel the apples - anyone who knows me knows that I am not very handy with a peeler. But, I do own a "Rotato" , an electric potato peeler. Apparently it works on Apples too! *laugh* It didn't core the apples for me, but I was happy enough just getting them peeled!

So I cut up my apples and started on my pastry. It went well enough, no little catches and the pastry felt right. I remembered all the little tips my dad showed me and sure enough I had a bottom crust!

Now the Recipe I used asked for a "lattice top" on my pastry. I knew what it looked like but had never actually done it myself. I went first, to my "Joy Of Cooking" and sure enough, there was a written description of how to do it....unfortunately it really didn't make any sense to me.
Being the resourceful Librarian I'm supposed to be, I went to my next best source.

YouTube.

Sure enough, after a quick search on "Lattice top pastry" I came across this video the chef explained clearly what he was doing and filmed it step-by-step. Perfect!
Clearly he had good instructions, because I was able to finish my pastry top, and feel pretty good about how my first attempt looked!

It really does look much more complicated than it really is. The trick is to keep the bottom crust edges long enough to tuck up and over the edges of your strips. But not too long that it's too bulky. *which mine was, but meh, it's yummy crust, who cares if it's thick?*
About 15 minutes at 425' and 45 minutes at 350 later I came out with this!

I was very happy with it - and so was my husband! ;) It turned out better then I thought it would, and now I know better how to make my crusts for next time.
I'll be posting the recipe later for anyone who's interested!

Have a Happy Halloween!

~ Jenny

Happy Thanksgivings!

2008-10-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Canada!

Today starts off my busy Thanksgiving season - I'll be heading off to Edmonton with Jeremie to visit my sister-in-law and her husband.
We'll be down from Friday to next Monday, a good length of time I think, not too short but not too long either.

Because of the long drive, Jeremie and I decided I would go to school with him, and from there leave straight to Edmonton, effectively cutting almost an hour of driving.

He's in the middle of a welding test and I'm hanging out in the library - which I must say is very nice. Much better then my old college's library!

This morning, it was -5 and the weather has called for flurries this afternoon and evening. The high today is only 2 degrees!
I know I'm more north then Ontario, but getting snow already?!

In Ontario it would at least hold off until mid to late November.

I have already pulled out all the winter gear such as our coats, hats and mitts.

Our landlord said that someone would be coming around soon to re-do all the windows in our apartment. I am really looking forward to that - this week we had a wind storm and I could hear it howling through and around our kitchen window.
Jeremie has told me that he's woken up to a small snowdrift sitting on the windowsill through last winter.
On the plus side, heat is included in our rent, so if we need to crank it up, at least it's not on our dime.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and for you Canadians, I hope you have a good Thanksgiving!

God Bless,

~ Jenny

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

2008-10-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's happening already! In fact, here in Alberta it's almost finished! The trees have all turned bright yellow (some orange - no red :( ) And most of the leaves have fallen. My entire backyard was covered with leaves.

We have some young boys (ages 6 & 7) living in the apartment beside us, today they were out "raking" the leaves and, as they explained to me, making an Igloo out of leaves.

I wanted to go help, but groceries had to be bought! So I wished them good luck with their igloo building and went on my way.

Last week was beautiful weather, warm 20's and 25's. I would drag out one of our large blankets and all the pillows I could carry, and Jeremie, my friend Amy and myself would sprawl out in the backyard reading, talking and in Jeremie's case, attempting to study.

My new floor pillow's really came in handy! ;) We would spend a few hours watching yellow leaves fall off their branches and the little boys would come and visit, telling us all about how their day at school went.

I would have my sketchbook out ~ I'm currently working on some "Art Noveau" style poster art that was so popular during the 60's, coloured simply with bright markers.

Today, though beautifully sunny out, had a nip in the air. Winter is creeping up, and all the locals can feel it. To me however, it was a perfect "airing out" day, all the windows got flung open, I washed all the bedsheets, including the duvet cover while the duvet itself was airing out on the line. *laugh* I'm really looking forward to crawling back into bed with all my fresh smelling sheets!

It's amazing that Thanksgiving is next weekend! It's even more amazing that it was exactly a year ago I came down to visit Jeremie and meet some of his family, never thinking in a million years that I'd be living there!

Time can fly so fast sometimes.

But you know what they say: "Time flies like an arrow.....fruit flies like a banana" (*laugh* well my dad would appreciate that one, even if I can hear you rolling your eyes from here. ;) )

But I digress..my Thanksgiving will be spent in Edmonton with some of my family-in-law. I'm really looking forward to it and the awesome food I know that's in store for me. (even though no one can beat my mom's stuffing or my dad's pumpkin pie)

I work with a young Korean boy who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, he's seven years old and adorable.

Jaisa mostly just seems like a hyperactive child, but loves to play and has a passion for cars - he can hardly speak English yet he can ramble off every car make and type perfectly.

I basically am just there to play with him and speak to him in English.

His mother, Sunyi, is a lovely woman who can speak passable English, but always talks to Jaisa in Korean due to convenience.

We've become good friends and she's offered to teach me how to make some traditional Korean meals.

...I hope she knows what she's getting into, I'm horrible at making rice. I burn it all the time, even so far as to ruin one of my mothers pots. (sorry mum) Even at home Jeremie makes the rice! If she can just teach me to make rice without burning it, I'll call it a smashing success!

So that's where I am! In the middle of Fall and surrounded by piles of leaf "igloos"

God Bless you and yours!

~ Jenny

Badly Timed Projects.

2008-10-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

I generally tend to do this - start projects at the worst time possible! I decided a few weeks ago I would make use of my wonderfully large window sills by getting some plants. Herbs would be nice, I thought.

I found out however, that practically no one has any plant or planting projects in October.
But, after making some changes to my plans I found that I could still start some plants from seeds, and I was able to find (three hardware stores later) some clay pots at a second hand store!
My friend Amy, who is up for the week from Ontario helped me paint the pots with acrylic paints found at our local dollar store.

Because of my off-season project I was able to get 5 for a dollar seed packets.
Two herbs and some flowers.

I also started my "floor pillow" project. I was able to find a couple good pillows and some great on sale material! The total for the fabric only came to 18.00 and change ~ I was very happy! The pillows themselves are pretty nice, but I really wanted my own fabric that I could take off and clean if need be. One is a cotton Indian paisley, the other a golden light upholstery fabric.
I'll hopefully be sewing them next week.
I love the smell of incense, if it's the right type. There's a funky little store in a town about half and hour away from me. Amy and I went on a day trip and ran into that store, where I bought 6 sticks of assorted scents. I got Egyptian musk, sandalwood, jasmine and a few others.

So! Thats where I've been so far!

God Bless,

~ Jenny

Keeping up!

2008-09-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

My sister told me today that she's sad I haven't been blogging regularly. I guess I feel like I need to make my blogs fancy and complicated, but she just wants to know whats going on in my everyday life!
So I am going to try my best to post, even though they're not as pretty as I would like them to be!
So what has been happening lately:

I had my sister-in-law and her husband come down for a few days. It was so much fun, they're a great couple!

I also went to the Ladies Bible Study kickoff potluck. It was lots of fun, full of chatting and great food. I'll be attending the bible study led by the pastors wife, who is a lovely woman.
We meet every Thursday and the third Thursday of every months is spent doing community work, like making a meal and dropping it off to families in the community who we know could use the food.

This weekend will be a busy one too! My friend Amy will be down for a week and we plan on taking a day trip to the Edmonton Mall and just catching up in general.
Today I received a wonderful gift in the mail - my sister sent me a "sister necklace" - it's a beautiful silver sparrow, courtesy of "Jeweled Blossoms" http://www.jeweledblossoms.com/

A card was included along with this poem:

Song Of My Heart

"Quietly humming along

like a sweet sparrow's song

the song of my Heart.

Every moment of every day

while she is away

I look to the sky and wonder why

it should ever be this way

I close my eyes and make a wish

exhale softly and let my thoughts adrift

to sail across the warm breeze

carrying to you a wish from my lips."

It was so sweet! My sister is so wonderful to me!

I'm also working on maybe painting the apartment - I'm thinking of some Indian boho colours. Like yellow golds and rich plumbs.
I'm also taking on a sewing project, I realized with my family over that if we have more then three people in the house we have no where to seat them! So I'm making some big "floor" pillows.

Nice cushy ones that people can sit comfortably on. I realized that it'll be cheaper to buy a big pillow at WalMart and re-cover them with material of my choice, rather then buy the batting for the pillows.

I was so excited! I was invited by a girl friend to an Organics party, everything from cleaners to candles but unfortunately it got moved to Sunday - the day I'm taking Amy to Edmonton, so I'm missing out on that. But I think she and I will still hang out Saturday and just go out for coffee.

She's a new stay at home mom, and she tells me she gets bored sometimes, so I think I'll start hanging out with her more. (her little one is absolutely adorable too!)

So that's what I've been up to lately! Lol!

God Bless!

~ Jenny

J'ai froid! (I'm cold!)

2008-08-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

Amazing how the weather can swing from such heat to such cold! It's only a high of 7 degrees Celsius today! It was rainy, cold and windy! Jeremie and I went to church and came home to some nice hot home-made chicken noodle soup. It turned out pretty well, I think it needed more chicken flavouring, but it was still pretty good. I made a lot so it would serve as some lunches for Jeremie. He starts his final session of schooling on Tuesday, just 2 months and he's a full Red Seal Welder!
The apartment was chilly so we broke out the nice warm blankets, including the super warm comfy one my mother knitted me a few years ago!

I just started taking "lessons" on the jamba! It's a standing hand-drum like the bongo's....sorta. It's alot of fun and the young guy teaching me is one the worship team at church - he's a bachelor at the moment and agreed to exchange lessons for home cooked meals.
It works out well, he'll come over to our place for a lesson, stay for dinner then the three of us head out to college and careers at the church.
It's not that difficult, just takes practice. I was able to borrow this jamba to practice on, and Jeremie and I have been having a good time playing together. He'll start on his guitar and I join in!

I just finished my first week of training at the Library! I did get the job as a casual, the ladies there are wonderful! And I had a fairly interesting conversation, I was viewing the schedules and I noticed that the Library was open on Sunday, but only from 2-5.
"Oh good!" I said casually. "That leaves time for me to go to church and get here in time."
Susan, the woman interviewing me smiled. "Well as it turns out, all the women working here are Christians, so we all need Sunday mornings."

My jaw almost dropped - I had never worked anywhere where all the employees are Christians. The women all go to different local churches, but its still wonderful working in such an environment.

The weather looks like it'll be staying cool - between 7-18 degrees all this week. But I'm sure it'll be a good week.

God Bless,

~ Jenny

Mail Surprises!

2008-08-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

I was picking up my mail at the local post office when I noticed I had a parcel stub - going over to the counter I was happily handed a mid-sized bubble envelope.
It was addressed to me, and so I assumed it was more of my families little gifts.
I was surprised when I saw that it was from Illinois! I stood there and thought for a moment: Who do I know from Illinois? Somebody from my DH's side of the family?? No...

Finally I remembered my mother's good friend Bren, who she had gone to visit during their road trip this summer.
Quickly I trotted home and tore into the parcel. My smile was huge as I read Bren's kind card and unfolded her lovely gifts.
A hand-quilted table runner:

And a beautifully made vintage apron: It's yellow terry (I believe) and has an embroidered honey-brown and gold honeycomb design.

It's absolutely beautiful Bren, Thank you VERY much. What a wonderful gift! I know that both will be well used. :)

Today is a busy day - Jeremie had a long weekend this week and it spoiled me, having him home all day for three days, but today it's back to the real world!
I need to make my menu plan and do the grocery shopping for the week. I also am looking forward to my interview later on today with the local Public Library.
It's just casual, but that works perfectly for me. At first they offered if I'd be interested in a 2-3 year contract, which would include running the staff, planning the programs and helping start-up the volunteer center.
A job I would have loved, but I had to admit that I doubted Jeremie and I would be here past Spring. So, I turned down that offer, but they countered with a casual circulation work.
I really hope it works out - it would be a huge blessing to have some income coming in while Jeremie is in school for the next two months. God's timing is perfect!

Jeremie and I are constantly meeting new people through our Church, we met two other young couples and Jeremie hit it off immediately with one of the young men there who helps lead worship. Jeremie is pretty musically inclined himself and is a pretty good guitarist. We were talking about instruments and I have never been able to play them myself - but on Sunday during worship one of the young men was playing a bongo, after being introduced and chatting for a while I asked if it was difficult and if it would be possible for me to play it as well.

He shrugged and couldn't think of a reason why not, he said that I just needed to start playing around with one - apparently one doesn't really need lessons to be taught how to play.
He (Jared) suggested that Jeremie and I come over one evening this week and we could all play together. He'd show me the basics and he and Jeremie could play on some guitars.
I thought that was kind of him, and Jeremie thinks it could be pretty fun too. So we accepted but no date has been set yet, as the woman who is interviewing me this afternoon asked (if everything went well) if I could start training immediately.

So between interviews, possibly training, college and careers group as well as visiting and the car being in the garage - things have been keeping me jumping.
It's nice though and I am enjoying getting to know more of this community.

~ Jenny

Our Weekend

2008-08-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Jeremie and I had a good weekend, the weather continued to be scorching. Even today the high is 34 degrees Celsius.
I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am worried for Jeremie today, working in that hot shop where the temperature will be above 40 degrees.
I told him to come home at noon to hopefully catch a cold shower and cool down a bit.

We went to go see a movie and Jeremie happily spent his boot and tool allowance and invested in a new pair of work boots and a big red Mastercraft toolbox.
My big buy was a number "4" for the front of our door. Our poor friends kept getting confused about what apartment we were, as none of them seem to be numbered.

Right now I'm a "stay-at-home" wife, and enjoying it. However I had been praying that the Lord would point me in some direction so I could do more service work to Him.
Having only been here 3 months and still fairly new to the church, I don't know anyone that well; it also doesn't help that it's summer and the church family is scattered all over with vacations and trips.
But an opportunity did arise! I was driving my way into the next town to pick up my library books and drove past the church - I noticed that some of the youth as well as the Pastor and Youth Pastor were doing a "clean-up" of the church grounds. Mowing, weeding, raking etc.
I pulled over thinking: "Okay God, I've been asking for opportunity and here is some right in front of me...I'd be foolish to drive by it."
I turned around and pulled into the church parking lot - after a quick introduction of myself I volunteered to help and was quickly pulling weeds chatting with the youth Pastor.
He told me about the great College and Careers group at the church and invited Jeremie and I out to it, which we will be going to this Tuesday.
I also got to meet his wife, who after weeding, invited me to go Raspberry picking with her at a local farm.
She's a great woman, and we chatted easily for an hour or so until noon when we were to meet all the other helpers at a local restaurant for a "Thank you" lunch.

It was so wonderful being able to put everything else aside and just serve like that. I had no idea that the majority of my day would be spent talking and laughing with more of Christ's family and getting to know more of the community around me.

It's amazing how much you can learn by just pulling weeds.

This week so far the only thing we have planned is going grocery shopping on Monday and hitting the gym and pool for a few hours.
Hopefully we'll be able to get together with another couple and get a good game of Bocce Ball going too!

God Bless!

Tuesday Morning Round-Up

2008-08-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hello! Sorry for my lack of posts, but things have been quite busy here at my little home.

The weather has been swinging back and forth like crazy! We had half a week of sweltering heat (32' C) then half a week where the high is only 19'C.
That duvet is so nice in the cool mornings - we keep the windows open all day, it helps air-circulation in our sub level apartment and keeps it nice and cool on the hot days.

Jeremie and I bought a great game this week: "The Farming Game"

It's a square board with different months posted around the board, a full year is once around the board. The game starts with you having inherited 20 acres of land from Grandpa and you want to farm it full-time, but unfortunately you can't afford it and so, also have a part-time job in town.
The point of the game is to have enough money to quit your town job and farm full time.
But you start off with only five-thousand dollars and another five-thousand in debt that you owe to the bank. You can choose to buy and harvest, grain, hay, fruits and beef. There also comes along options to buy a tractor or a harvester.
The game is looooog though! It can take you up to 7 years (7 times around the board) to make enough to quit your town-job (250, 000$) and if you call an audit too soon and don't have that much, you automatically lose.
Jeremie and I are addicted to this game - it's been living on my kitchen table set up like this for the past 3 days.
And I know my mom and especially my dad would love this game. And no you can't buy it. ;) I almost didn't mention it in this blog because I know you two will be tempted to buy it and try it.
I can probably bring it down in October when I visit...maybe ;) .
So! That's been a lot of fun - even though Jeremie /always/ wins. I seem to accumulate too much debt trying to boost my harvest income while he gets out of debt as soon as possible and wins in the long run.
Even in games he's good with his money - - what a wonderful husband!!

I've also started my Christmas gifts. As a family we try to make gifts, especially when money is tight. I have received some lovely home-made gifts over the years, and I love making them for other people too.
I started this one only a few days ago:
I am almost done the frame for it - and I while I'm not sure who it's for yet, I couldn't say anyway. It's very difficult being secretive in a blog when your whole family reads it, isn't it?? ^.^
I love the design and I know the person I'm thinking of giving it to, will love it as well.

I've started reading a very interesting book: "Under The Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets Of America" ~ Mike Yankoski
It's a non-fiction book Mike wrote about his choice to live, willingly, as a homeless man. "He needed to know if his faith in God was real -if he could actually be the Christian he said he was apart from the comforts he'd always known." ~ Excerpt from back of book.
I've only just started it, but it seems very good so far - encouraging and challenging, but we'll see how it goes!

God Bless!

New Old Things

2008-07-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

I love sewing - that being said I'm still just learning and more "fooling around" and having fun then really stressing over my skill level.

I prefer to do "subversive" sewing, rather than getting a pattern and paying for the fabric. Subversive sewing is just making something from something else. You'd be amazed what you can make out of second hand store clothing.

And not just women's clothing either! I have a top-pattern made from men's dress pants of all things - that I think would be neat! ^.^

In the picture above I had a pair of hole-y pants but I didn't want to throw them out just yet.

So I went to the local 2nd hand store and asked to buy their reject clothing (as I planned on just cutting it up and using the fabric) the lady gave me a garbage bag full of clothing that didn't quite make the cut - and refused to let me pay for it.

I shlepped it all home, washed the clothes and ripped open the inside seam of both legs of my jeans - giving me a flat piece of fabric to work with.

I then cut the fabric into patches and different shapes and sewed it right onto the front of the jeans using fun bright red and lime green threads.

I now love those jeans more then ever! :D

I also started making little plushies or toys, I suppose you would call them.

I found a book: "Cute Dolls" ~ Aranzi Aronzo

And loved the simple, adorable patterns. After making a few of his dolls - I started to see other little toys and could figure out how to make them from sight.

A few of my favourites are:

My little Onigiri plushies - I even have a little nori (seaweed) sewn on!

(onigiri is a rice ball snack common in Japan)

My little bunny
super soft from the flannel/polar fleece remnants I found.

My little Pocket Ninja
(I saw these at a popular toy store in the city and was shocked at the
$27.00 price tag. I decided to make my own ^^)

Today I was feeling rather creative as well, so I re-made some of my old t-shirts. I wasn't wearing them anyway so I might as well make them fun to wear again!

Sorry it's dark! I made some "iron-on transfers" and ironed them on! Nothing could be simpler. The first shirt I re-made was with this graphic. It's two lemons and one (with the medical hat and stethoscope) is yelling "Rescue! Rescue!" and the other lemon is in obvious distress.
Get the joke yet?? .....Lemon-Aid.. Ba dum ching! ....yeah corny I know. ^^

This one is onigiri again with different facial expressions. I wish I could tell you what the Japanese symbols mean - but I can't. Lol, I have no idea!

So that's what I've been working on today!
Now I guess I should work on some supper eh?

God Bless!

~ Jenny

Wonderful Surprise!

2008-07-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

I walked to the post office to collect our mail, enjoying the nice sunny day - which got even better when I picked up a parcel sent to me from my mother.

I knew it was coming, but I had no idea what was in it! As I was walking I thought that maybe I should wait for Jeremie to be home before I opened it . . .but I was too impatient.

Eagerly I walked home and as soon as I could I ripped it open.

What a lovely surprise! Inside was a card from my mother, as well as a set of serving spoons, a magnetic pin holder and four beautiful place mats that she had found in Pennsylvania, and thought would look good with my dish set.

This really is such a handy package to get! Mom knew I hadn't any serving spoons yet, or place mats. Both I was looking for. And only last week I was in the local fabric store and contemplating getting a magnetic pincushion, I put it down though because it was 20.00$ and I didn't need it that badly!

Thank you so much mom and dad! I love the gifts very much!

I made buns and a loaf of bread today. The buns are for dinner tonight, and we needed bread in the house for Jeremie's lunches. Although lately I've been blessed enough to have him home for lunch, which is much more fun then eating alone, and I know he likes to relax at home before getting back to the sweltering work shop.

My mom taught me a great trick for separating the sticky dough into buns. I always had trouble pulling the dough away from the lump and trying to slice it away. But watching my mom, I learned that the easiest way, was to use scissors. It's cleaner, quicker and much easier then using a knife.

I've been writing letters to friends as well. I've always loved writing and I enjoy sending off letters or cards to my friends; and I know they enjoy receiving them. I wrote two last night and plan on writing more.
I have a love for stationary and own tons of different papers and card - and I really should start using them up I think.

Well it's about time to start that roast.

God Bless!

Menu Plan Monday

2008-07-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yup. time to get the menu all planned out - which I did with the help of The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook!

Tuesday

Easy Roast Beef with Onion Gravy, fresh buns and boiled potatoes

Wednesday

Bistro Meat Loaf with mixed veggies

Thursday

Crispy Baked Chicken with a garden salad

Friday

Fettuccine Alfredo with garlic bread

Saturday

Whatever we happen to have time for! :)

Sunday

Roast Chicken Dijonnaise with mashed potatoes and beans.

Today was a big clean day - I find my mondays generally are. But I got done everything I wanted to - my vacumming, dusting, bathroom and bedroom are all done, and my laundry is all caught up! YAY!
Tonight Jeremie and I'll will be heading into town to do some grocery shopping for the week. He likes to come with me and push the cart. He said his father always pushed the grocery cart for his mother when he was a boy - so he likes to help me that way too!
And I am not arguing, not after he sees the looong grocery list we have!

There's a new baby in the house, and no, it's not a baby.
Last Saturday we finally replaced the 5 year old computer, with a new faster model.

I know enough about computers but not too much ~ All I know is that it has the newest, fastest graphics card available right now and tons of memory. This is a huge factor because both Jeremie and I like to play computer games, and the old computer would just shut down when it got overloaded.
So I have a very happy hubby right now.
I'm pretty excited too - because we got an HP Pavilion we also got an all-in-one printer, scanner, photocopier deal.

That means I can start scanning in some of my drawings again and printing off photo's of my family, and lots of Henry! (my little nephew - he's a superstar in our family ;) )

It's nice having a quick computer again that doesn't lag or take forever to upload one photo.
I am very thankful for it.

God Bless!

Dear Friend

2008-07-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had a wonderful visit with my Aunt Cheryl and cousin Laurel - they drove two hours just to come for an afternoon visit! I'm blessed with so many wonderful people!
They stayed for the afternoon and I took them to our favourite Mennonite restaurant, "Country Cousins" which they enjoyed immensely.
The best part of this restaurant easily is the Peanut Butter Pie - - It is sooo good and addictive! Since hubs couldn't be there, I bought one of the pies to take home. Just as I thought it was well received, and made a great snack to take to work the next day.

The weather here has been wonderful lately. After such a cold few weeks the warm sunshine feels so nice and Jeremie and I have been going for walks around the park.
I even made him stop so we could play in the park a bit - one forgets how much fun a simple swing set can be...especially when you get to be pushed!

Today I'm pretty excited - I get to go on a tour of where Jeremie works. He's a welder in a large manufacturing factory, and never having seen welding or any type of metal construction, I am excited to see what it's really like.
I'll head over in a few hours when he's on break so he can give me the grand tour himself.

I'm a little tired today, but that makes sense as I hardly got any sleep last night. I woke up abruptly at 1:30 in the morning - I could smell food, or more like something toasting or burning.
Of course I got up right away and went to the kitchen, sniffing all the way.
But no, the oven was cool, as were the elements. I unplugged the toaster and the breadmaker and still couldn't identify what that food-smell was.
I did notice though that the smell lessened as I went into the family room.
We never figured it out, but we assume it was the apartment above us, as our bedroom was the smelliest room.
I just turned up the fan and opened the window more and soon was able to get back to sleep.
....I think Jeremie might've stirred once during the whole ordeal. He's a heavy sleeper!

I'm looking forward to this weekend a lot - due to some technical difficulties during the Batman movie that we saw last week, everyone in the theater was given a free-pass movie ticket. So we're thinking of going into Calgary and catching another movie.
Not sure which one though . . hmm.

I've been re-reading my mushy Janette Oke books. I'm in the middle of "A Gown Of Spanish Lace" - they're cheesy and predictable, but I think every woman needs a mushy romance every so often. I like that Janette Oke is Christian, so I don't need to worry about content. I can just sit down with some iced tea and just float away on my romantic cloud. It's so unrealistic, but thats probably why I like it.
After I finish this book, I better read something with a bit more "meat" on it...hmm...I have so many books. (I had to unpack over 7 large boxes just full of books when I moved here!) As a Librarian it's a hard temptation to resist!
I think the next on my list will probably be "Memoirs Of A Geisha" by Arthur Golden.
Well I better get going,
God Bless!

Phew!

2008-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Today has been one busy day!
It's absolutely beautiful out - not too hot and a nice cool breeze, perfect to hang my laundry out!
I stripped the bed today and washed them all, I was excited to get them on the line. This, I'm sure my mother passed onto me.
She has an obsession with fresh smelling, line-dried clothing; I don't blame her! My sister too likes to do . . . oh what does she call it?....Basically freeze the house.
Vanessa will throw open all the windows and the doors in -17 degree weather to get the house smelling fresh.
I always remember her bedroom being freezing, but now she can freeze a whole house! ^.^ Alas, this action too, I am guilty of.
I guess the habit just passes down from one daughter to the next.

I even was able to throw my duvet over the clothes line - for just a few hours of sunlight and fresh air.
I'm reading the most wonderful book: "Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House" ~ Cheryl Mendelson

It reads almost like a novel if you're interested in such things like keeping house. There is a whole chapter on "Sleep" and the details on how to do such things like, turn down a bed, air a bed, make the bed, etc.
It shows you how to do mitered corners on your sheets and how to keep the blankets and pillows free of dust and other allergens.
Oddly enough this is my sister and my favourite chapter - I think its because we both like to sleep a lot. ;)

Our bathroom still isn't finished yet, it's still concrete flooring and dry-wall. I found a huge difference though when I scrubbed the bathroom. It smells nice and clean and even I can ignore the dry-wall if it looks and smells clean.

I had a lovely visit from one of the ladies I knew in Ontario, she came with her husband to Calgary and drove out to see me for a visit! It was a lovely afternoon, she spoiled me with a bouquet of beautiful lilies. The visit was over too quickly though, and soon we had to say goodbye - it was so nice seeing a familiar face again.

Last weekend Jeremie took me to Edmonton, where he and I was well as my sister-in-law and her husband went out to see the new Batman movie as well as go visit "Fort Edmonton"

I had so much fun - it's about the Ontario equivalent to "Upper Canada Village" - which has all the actors and people actually working in the trade shops and stores. However, this attraction was huge. It had a large steam train that took people around the village.

The village itself was separated into centuries from the 1800's to the early 1900's.
All the stores and buildings weren't just for display purposes, almost all of them were real stores you could purchase things from that were in line with the century they were representing.

We went inside the fort and Jeremie and Brad (my brother-in-law) taught me how to play a game that was very popular, and first played by the natives.
Basically it was like lacrosse, but instead of a stick with a net on it, it was literally, just a long stick. The ball was two leather sacks, filled with pebbles, with a thinner leather thong attaching them.
The point of the game was to fling the "ball" from your stick, and for your teammate to catch it.
I wasn't very good at it, but it was a lot of fun to play!

I just found out tomorrow is going to be another busy day! My aunt and cousin are coming up for a visit! Whew! When I prayed that I wouldn't get lonely out here - God sure delivered! I don't think I've been this busy since before the wedding!
..Oop! Time to put the casserole in. I have a hungry husband about to be home!

God Bless!

Mom's Christmas Sticky Buns ...In July

2008-07-15T18:31:00.001-07:00

I have been making bread for a while now using my new lovely breadmaker. I decided that I would like to try making my mom's sticky buns.
She normally only makes these at Christmas, but for some reason I've been craving foods that remind me of home and family.
After a quick phone call to my sister I had the recipe.

Mom's Christmas Sticky Buns

Frozen Buns
1/2 c. Butter or Margarine
1/2 c. Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 pkg. Butterscotch Pie Filling (NOT instant pudding)
1/2 jar Maraschino cherries with juice
Pecans

Grease Bundt pan. Add cherries and pecans in bundt pan, then place frozen buns in. Cream remaining ingredients and spoon over buns. (the mixture will not be runny, but thicker and can be crumbled over) Cover with saran wrap and let rise overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes.
Place cookie sheet below bundt pan in oven to catch sugar - runoff.

Of course, remember to flip the bundt pan onto a tray so you can enjoy your sticky buns properly.
It's an easy recipe that everyone enjoys - I know hubs sure did!

I've made an amazing discovery this week, one of my friends from Church actually makes wonderful sculpted puppets. She loves fairies and fairyfolk and most of her puppets are of these wonderful little creatures. She lent me one of her favorite books: "The Faeries Of Spring Cottage" ~ Wendy Froud & Terry Windling
It's a lovely children's picturebook and all the illustrations are photos of the fairy puppets Wendy Froud created.

She is also accredited with the creation of Yoda from the Starwars movies!

As an artist myself, (well artist may be a strong word ;) ) We showed each other our work and it seems I've been commissioned to create an ink drawing of their dog - they offered me money for it, but I asked instead for one of her puppets as payment. She does sell them, but due to the materials involved, it can be expensive. So I found this a nice little window in which to perhaps get my own little fairy.
She was very happy to agree to that and said that she'd much prefer to trade art for art then use cash.

I am much looking forward to that, and I find myself more inspired to draw because I am looking forward to owning one of her puppets so much - - nothing like a little motivation to keep me going!

God Bless!

Settling In

2008-07-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me that only 22 days ago I was married. It's even more amazing that not even a month ago I was single, living in my parents house and living three provinces away from where I am now.
Thing have changed!
Living in the Prairies is . . . well different. I noticed of course the lack of trees, especially since I lived in a very wooded area in Ontario for many, many years.
Due to the small town I'm living, most of which is populated by Mennonites, I have not been able to find work yet - though that being said, I haven't tried that hard.
I'm enjoying falling into the routine of being a wife and keeper of the home.

The biggest challenge of keeping my home clean is my husband! As a welder when he comes home from work he is covered in black smears and instantly heads to the shower. But no matter how careful we are, these black smears always end up on the walls and doors and door jambs somehow.
They're easy to remove, but I still tend to follow his footsteps around the house once he's in the shower and wipe everything down again.

The storms here are also very different from the Ontario weather I grew up with. You can see this large dark ominous clouds rolling across the sky and you hear severe weather warnings including things like hail and chance of tornadoes.
...At this point I'm hiding in the house under the bed covers.

But through it all, I do love it here and I think I would love anywhere I am, as long as I'm with my husband.

~ Jenny