WammyBar

Too Funny Not to Share

2010-08-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

The story is here is that my mom got married the day this video was taken. My whole family was in Calgary to celebrate and Tony had DD'd for us when we went to the bar two nights previous. He had endured a lot from my family that night, but that's a story for another day. So, when the wedding day came, we all resolved to get Tony tanked, and clearly we succeeded. We all had an awesome time, especially Tony, and I hope he forgives me for plastering this video all over the net.

4 Years Today

2010-06-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that I miss Dave the most. Today is our 4th anniversary and the first one we have spent apart. (And hopefully the last!) I don't know how it went by so quickly, but thanks Dave for 4 fantastic years, and here's to many more!

#2 - Wide Sargasso Sea

2010-06-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys is book number two in my quest to read 100 classic books before I die. (Clarification so that I don't look like an ignoramus: I've read lots and lots of classic books but I've made a formal commitment to myself to read 100 more.)

Laura Fish said it best:

"Wide Sargasso Sea speaks of the history of cruelty and suffering that lies behind some of the West's accumulated wealth, a history which in Jane Eyre is secret and mysterious, and only appears in brief glimpses. This is a book that gives voice to neglected, silenced and unacknowledged stories, exploring different inflections of marginality – gender, class, race and madness. Where historical events, recorded in written discourse, have shaped the opinions of many of the people of the former British colonies and education is exclusively from a Eurocentric perspective, the recovery of "lost" histories has a crucial role to play in allowing access to events and experiences which have not previously been recorded. This idea of "writing back" by breaking down explanations for events and favouring more localised narratives and perspectives has informed my own work, especially in the voices of the former slaves in my latest novel. Wide Sargasso Sea is an inspiration. Certainly, before the phrase was coined, Jean Rhys was a post-colonial writer whose work reminds us that "there is always another side, always"."

For sage advice

2010-06-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

I am a college student, and have been for 4 years. What's that you say? It doesn't take four years to get through a two-year program? Allow me to explain. I have a job, I own a house, I have a spouse who is also a student. So things have taken a little longer for me. I have been working part-time on two completely separate programs, both of which I will be finishing in the next year, after which I will move on to university in pursuit of a BA. Majoring in? Don't ask, I don't know.

For those of you who are or have been students, you know as well as I do that it takes a great deal of work, time, and savvy to navigate the complex inner workings of the educational system. Majors, minors, which school, how much money, electives, funding, scholarships, GPA, transferring, and eventually The Job Market. It's downright exhausting.

I have done my best to work out some of these questions, often learning the hard way. Read: Taken advice from college career counsellors only to find it's about as useful as asking a garden gnome. (With the notable exception of Holly at NWCC - thanks for all your help!)

Over my years of digging for clues about my educational path, I stumbled upon an e-book-made blog called Give Me Scholarships . Don't be fooled by the title, he delves into all subject academic and responds to the questions posed to him by actual students. The downside: it's an American guy writing a blog about the American post-secondary world, so occasionally the answers don't apply to us Canucks. Anyway, if you read this blog, and you go to school, or have a kid in school, you should check out the site.

Josh, I would say you're welcome, but the thing is, no one reads this blog, so don't expect a flood of traffic. :)

Purple and Pink and Yellow

2010-06-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Pretty!!!

Homesick

2010-06-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

2010 thus far has been a year mostly consumed with planning, waiting, and tediously biding our time with one notable exception:

Dave is currently in China.

Yes, it is a rather large exception, but it does require some patience of its own, mainly the fact that I am currently in Canada.

A student of NWCC in the business administration program, Dave, along with his fellow students, were given the opportunity to take part in a 6 week cultural exchange in the city of Qingdao, on the Eastern coast of China. Several grants were made available which would cover the majority of the cost, and the exchange would provide him with 6 additional credits toward his diploma. Although we had a few hiccups along the way, it was really a no-brainer from the start.

After the initial few days of jet lag, activities and classes, I finally heard from Dave via skype, and have been keeping in touch with him that way very regularly. It hasn't been unusual for us to speak as often as twice a day, even with the 15 hour time change and his busy schedule. About a week after his arrival Dave divulged that he is rather homesick. Having visited India with a group of relative strangers, I have also felt the periodic ache for the familiarity of my homeland, and so I sagely told him that it would pass in a few days.

We are now at the halfway point, and not a day goes by that Dave doesn't fantasize about airplane seats and in-flight magazines.

This isn't to say that he isn't enjoying China. Much to the contrary. He loves his fellow Chinese students, and has been exploring as much as he can. Again, this is much the way I felt about India - it was a feast for the senses, a playground of history and cultural texture, and the people were kind, curious, and endlessly fun. But even so, I had a constant feeling almost like being trapped underwater and not being able to find the surface. Not of drowning, but just adrift where there is nothing to latch onto, anchor yourself with.

I know that once he is back, China will melt into a swirl of distant memory faster than he may realize. I also know that it will be a good memory.

Miss you too Sweetie. See you soon.

One Spring Morning

2010-05-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'm in a play! Again! It's called 'One Spring Morning' by Cherie Thiessen.

See if you can figure out what happens.

All photos by Nancy Stone-Archer.

Sittin' in the Garden Eatin' Worms...

2010-05-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's SPRING people! Even up here in the blizzardy Northern tundra, spring has arrived. And to celebrate its arrival, I have decided to end my regular evening rendezvous with the couch and a bag of chips try something completely new - GARDENING.

That's right. For the first time since purchasing a home of my own, I'm getting to know the dirt in which it sits. And what have I discovered you ask? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words:

Thrilling, isn't it. Rocks. Represented in the above photo is a miniscule portion of the rocks I have pulled out of my back garden bed in the last week. I am about three quarters of the way through pulling rocks, (and some weeds, but mostly rocks), and I'm honestly tired of it. That being said, marvel in my lemonaid making skills:

Isn't it cute? The evil, hateful rocks in the back turned into sweet, happy rocks in the front!

MORE TO COME!

Cute or Cutest?

2010-02-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

This was on Cute Overload - who on earth comes up with this awesomeness!!??!

THERAPY

2010-01-31T21:56:00.001-08:00

Until this morning, I had been baby-deficient. While I experience no shortage of toddlers, as many of our friends now have little ones, for one reason or another I have not had the opportunity to hold a newborn in YEARS. I don't know why this is. The friends we made in Terrace either don't have kids, or have kids that are walking and talking and mostly out of diapers. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE toddlers. They are so much fun and I always feel so lucky when it turns out they remember my name or want me to colour with them.

But holding a baby is a different. A friend of mine gave birth to a 5.1 pound baby boy last week. He is adorable. I don't think I have ever seen a baby quite so small - his fingernails were only about two millimetres across, like the tiniest little bit-size nubbins you've ever seen. He was either staring around with his brand new eyes, stretching, yawning, or sneezing the entire time. It was the head-exploding kind of cute that you don't recover from immediately.

Now, I'd just like to point out at this juncture to any family or personal friends that happen to be reading this: DAVE AND I ARE NOT HAVING BABIES YET NOR ARE WE PLANNING TO START HAVING BABIES IN THE NEAR FUTURE. I just need to throw that out so as not to mislead. Sorry peeps!

That being said, holding someone else's baby for a while is the best kind of therapy. And it's FREE!

Donation Opportunities

2010-01-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

As many probably already know, the Canadian government has offered to match donations from Canadians towards the relief effort in Haiti. They will match up to 50 million. Donations need to go through registered charities such as the Humanitarion Coalition, Red Cross, World Vision or Salvation Army.

Go Team Canada!

Retrotainment - This time even older.

2010-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Terrace may not have a lot of shopping, but I have yet to visit a town that has a shop that compares to 'Gold Diggers'. (Except maybe the Free Store on Hornby, but only because everything is free). It's a thrift/flea market store and besides having lots of video game equipment and games that works with our original Nintendo, we go there quite often because they have buckets and buckets of old computer cords. Dave is always looking for some cord or another, so while he rifled through the stash, I perused the vintage awesomeness.

I had been satisfied with picking out a few old pins (which are kept in a wicker basket that weighs a hundred pounds, I shit you not), when I found THIS:

Attached was a little note that said they were from 1967, and they are in nearly perfect condition. Now I just have to learn how to play Rummy!

Character Building?

2010-01-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Dave and I went ice fishing with a few friends. Don't ask me why I agreed to this fiasco because I couldn't give you one good reason, especially given the temperature outside lately.

As it turned out, it was a gorgeous day on the lake and it was well worth the scenery, but it was FREEZING. I spent most of the time running in circles and trying to convince my dog to stop stalking the nearby children and huddle with me for warmth. Of course, no amount of cold temperature or hurricane-force winds could have taken away Sierra's joy at making sure the children remained under her tight fist of control.

Stalking her prey.

Sizing up her opponent.

Ooooh, now I see why they say this is so much fun. (No.)

Don't worry mum, I'm looking after the shovel.

Presents!

2009-12-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, Christmas is about family and spending time together and all that jazz...but LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT FOR ME!

2009 LOOT:

Thanks Mom! I really like the way it looks against our blue couches, and it's suprisingly warm.

Thanks Jon! I'm about 40 pages in right now and it's hilarious!

Okayy...thanks Dad...looks, um, fun.

Wait a second, this looks like it has some potential. It also looks slightly reminiscent of lower Thornhill.

Redneck-hance!

We played this game on boxing day with some friends. I laughed so hard I had a backache the next day.

And now, the Pièce de résistance :

That's right ladies. MY HUSBAND bought me a K I T C H E N - A I D M I X E R.

THANKS HUNNY!!

A Kick in the Pants

2009-12-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

I realize I have not posted in...some time.. Ahem.

I have been mulling over my own reasoning for this. In some ways I feel that my life isn't really interesting enough to write about day in and day out and expect people to be interested. Some days I feel like it's a self-inflicted obligation in the midst of a flurry of REAL obligations. Other days I can't wait to write about a funny moment in my day, or vent about a frustration.

In any event, I received my birthday gift from my mom today, (fyi: my birthday is in October!) and the magazine to the left was part of said gift.

Isn't it puuurdy??

So I guess I have to read it and use it to BLOG.

Here Comes Halloween!

2009-11-01T17:03:00.001-08:00

We hadn't planned on dressing up or doing much of anything this Halloween. Both of us were feeling tired and lazy, and neither of us wanted to be hung titties in a church pew. That being said, when the big day came, we both felt like we shouldn't be without costumes so we took some last minute help from a very seriously jam-packed closet that will remain anonymous.

We carved our pumpkins on the 30th, while watching the movie 'Orphan', which was a TERRIBLE movie. Painfully predictable and just poorly done. We fast forwarded the last 20 minutes of it and didn't feel like we had missed anything important.

Okay, so there were only two or three people that actually correctly guessed my costume. I'm not going to tell you what it is, because even though these pictures aren't very good, YOU SHOULD KNOW what I am dressed as. I'll even give you a very, very, VERY BIG HINT. Please, for the love of god, tell me that you get it now. IF YOU STILL DON'T GET IT.

Dave is dressed as a pirate, which is not very clear in the photos, but was otherwise pretty obvious.

Secure in his manhood.

2009-10-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday on Friday and Dave bought me a lovely gift and saw to it that I had a special and memorable day - like the fabulous husband that he is! However, I am writing this post to highlight an unexpected bonus - THE WRAPPING PAPER.

Dave broke into my scrapbooking supplies to wrap my gift.

Exhibit A:

And inside was this...

Romantic right? This book is on my list. Dickens is a little intimidating, so I'm not sure how soon I will read this, but I'll let you know when I get there!

I live in Canada, therefore I eat turkey in October, mmmkay?

2009-10-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart has never failed me before. Her recipes are unfailingly easy and reliable, her crafts are cute, creative and simple, her site navigable, her readers plentiful, and her information punctual....If you are American.

I HAVE BEEF!

Martha, what you fail to understand is that you have CANADIAN READERS! I PAY MONEY for a subscription to your magazine and I have even given subscriptions out as gifts to other Canadians! I visit your website regularly and I have purchased your cookbooks! To withhold Thanksgiving recipes, decor and craft templates from us until November is UNFAIR. WE REQUIRE ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

This morning I spent two hours on your website searching for craft ideas and recipes. While I was able to find some information, you have the whole Thanksgiving portion to your site that does not open until October 26th. What am I supposed to do, save the info and wait until next year?

It's a good thing I'm creative and can think up my OWN decorations and recipes. I don't NEED you Martha.

There, I said it.

A Saturday Morning Giggle

2009-10-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

My good friend Diana linked this to me in a recent message.

Enjoy.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

The Dave - Perception of Self Edition

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

This evening Dave and I had a slight misunderstanding about the time we were supposed to arrive at a friend's house, which snowballed into a bit of an argument, because I was taking too long to get in the car. A classic, you might say. The details of said argument are insignificant - we arrived at our friend's on time, and I had been able to apply lipstick, so all was well.

All that was to set the stage for a most memorable little gem that Dave let slip later on, when expressing that he may have overreacted about our punctuality.

"I'm like God. I'm merciful, but don't fuck with me."

That is what he said.

I can hear you laughing, but be careful, he might smite you. You don't know what he is capable of.

Fall - The 'It's Moving Way too Fast' Edition

2009-10-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

Only a week later and look at all the golden leaves! It's beautiful, but it serves as a reminder that winter is just around the corner...

Fall - Late September Edition

2009-10-05T18:50:00.003-07:00

The maple tree in our front yard has begun to change colour. I'll post a new pic of the tree once a week to show its progress. It is beautiful here in the fall.

lovelovelove

2009-09-26T21:00:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been adjusting to SCHOOL and I've also been sick. SO SICK.
Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with the details of SO SICK. I recently discovered Our Broken Garden on a site called The Black Cab Sessions, which is very cool.

lovelovelove.

RETROTAINMENT

2009-09-06T14:05:00.001-07:00

Dave is a SHARPSHOOTER!!!

A Garage Sale Run of the Decade

2009-09-05T14:06:00.001-07:00

Labour day weekend! For me this year, a celebration of a last and a first. This weekend is the last time I will have two days off in a row until Thanksgiving, as I will be going back to school and restructuring my work week to fit everything, much to the chagrin of my days off. As I ordinarily work on Saturdays, this was the first one this summer that I was able to spend with my husband. In preparation for this momentous occasion, we both did a lot of thinking about what we should do together. And of course as the passionate romantics that we are, we settled on garage-saling.

I proceeded to make a map (which I later discovered I couldn't print, damn you Google terms of use!) that would enable us to efficiently visit every sale in a tidy circuit.

View Terrace Garage Sales Sept 5 in a larger map

Having successfully overcome the obstacles of The When and The Where, we proceeded to search for little gems amongst the usual clutter that is the Garage Sale.

Exhibit A:

Two to three years worth of reading, all great books, most of which were already on my reading list.

Exhibit B:

Let's get ready for some good old retrotainment!

Exhibit C:

A SNOWBOARD. The guy just gave it to us, literally. He was like, 'oh, you're just learning how to board? Here, you go, it's yours.' Karma? I don't know. Bindings are awful, but we have another set, as well as boots. I'm officially OUTFITTED PEOPLE!

A Dumping Ground Free Home

2009-09-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our first home, it was clear immediately that the spare room needed a little sprucing up. The walls were a horrendous color of peach, accented with mullberry blue curtains and trim. Horrifying.

The old ceiling tiles are sagging and we were planning to drywall, as well as remove the carpet in favour of laminate.

In light of the amount of work needing to be done, we didn't take the time to create a usable space. Instead, the room became a place to dump the laundry when we didn't feel like folding, or hide things that you didn't really have a place for. A bedroom sized junk drawer, in an already tiny house.

A year and a half later, we still have not done one ounce of the work that is needed in the spare room. One reason could be that we haven't really ever had enough money to supply materials (which isn't reeeeally true), or that we aren't using the room anyway, so why fix it?

Finally the time came when I couldn't take it anymore. We needed to stop wasting the valuable space, ugly or not. My wardrobe has recently outgrown my closet, thanks to a generous friend who provided me with an enormous number of closet-castaways. (A good friend, indeed). We needed to buy a wardrobe, and while we were at it, I was really ready to get my books out of the prison of cardboard they had been in for the past two years, and to do that we were going to need bookshelves.

As stated, the room is still extremely ugly and we have in no way abandoned our plan to renovate. (We actually are hoping to claim some writeoffs from renovations, and we could easily spend over a thousand big ones in this room alone). So, before Christmas, CHANGE WILL COME. In the meantime, we have this:

A Very Special Day

2009-09-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

This photo is one of just a few that I have of David's Grandma and Grandpa Hannon, (which is ridiculous, considering how many pictures get taken when we are all together!)
Regardless of the quantity of photos that I have in my possession, this particular image perfectly captures their silly, loveable nature, which is not reserved only for their many grandchildren, but also for eachother.

Happy anniversary you two!

Black Beauty - Sewell

2009-08-29T11:35:00.001-07:00

The first of my 100. 'Black Beauty' by Anna Sewell.

A beautiful, eloquent novel written from the viewpoint of a horse, Black Beauty, and spans his life and his experiences, which range from pastures in the country to the cobblestone streets of Victorian England.

Sewell draws attention to the mistreatment of horses, emphasizing that while horses may be 'dumb animals' they are no less affected by the treatment of their masters.

"I said, 'You used to stand up for yourself if you were ill-used.'

'Ah!' she said, 'I did once, but it's no use; men are strongest, and if they are cruel and have no feeling, there is nothing that we can do but just bear it - bear it on and on to the end. I wish the end was come; I wish I was dead. I have seen dead horses, and I am sure they do not suffer pain."

The first of many

2009-08-29T10:47:00.001-07:00

I gifted myself with this lovely handpainted bookmark in order to christen my journey through 100 classic novels. I am sure I will use a great many bookmarks along the way, but this one will always be the first.

A Personal Goal

2009-08-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am a person of lists. They give me a feeling of control in my life, of intentionality in my decisions. I make lists for my grocery shopping, my every day to-do's, my personal finances, wish lists, and most recently I have decided to make a LIST OF THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE. (The inspiration for this list came from MightyGirl, check it out).

I won't disclose the contents my list at the moment, but I will say that one of the items on that list is: Read 100 Classic Novels.

So naturally, I made a sub-category list of classic books that I want to read. So far there are 63 books on this list and I am needing assistance to fill in the remaining 37. I am very interested to hear what your favourite classic novels are, and I'd love to add them to my reading list. Please comment!

The Horror Part Two: The Disclaimer

2009-08-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

The first thing you should know about Vampire-Field-School-of-Hell-2009 is that, well, parts of it were really fun. I know you guys are all looking for a good rant, and you'll certainly get one, however I consider it is only fair to say that there were moments, even hours, that remained miraculously unscathed by the administration's fastidious work at crumbling the foundations of my education. Usually these shining moments occurred when the teachers were either missing or their power was usurped by provincial park workers.

If you would like to read the original post click here.

One more disclaimer: If, by some incredible fluke of the internet, you happen to be a student of NWCC and are reading this, please bear in mind that I am writing an exaggerated rant on some of the lower points of the 2009 "Kitlope" Field School. I originally signed up for this program because every single person I spoke to who had been said that it was an absolutely incredible, life-altering, revelatory experience. Please don't let the rantings of a morbidly over-opinionated blowhard change your mind, because you would undoubtedly miss out on the event of a lifetime. Even having experienced some of the lower moments of NWCC staff that often resulted in a lot of frustration, I have every intention of signing up next year for the Haida Gwaii field school and so should you.

Phew, now that that's over, let's talk some smack!

Just give one of these to Kim Jong-Il

2009-08-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend Elizabeth grew up, and still lives, on a farm. When she first told me this I remember feeling kind of bad for her, like, that's too bad you never got to do x-y-z in the big city.

My feelings changed in that regard the first time I went to her farm and met her many nuzzleable and smoochable 'pets'.

Three weeks ago the family golden retriever Missy gave birth to 10 puppies. Yep, count em, 10. So of course when she invited me and a few friends to come over and, ahem, inspect their pedigree, I jumped at the chance.

I may have screamed 'PUPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEES!' and lept into her arms, I don't really remember.

Does not compute

2009-07-30T16:42:00.001-07:00

Posting has been light lately for a number of reasons. Reason number one is that we have been having a tropical heat wave here in Northern British Columbia and, as much as I feel a duty to satisfy my readership of 4 people, posting from an air mattress on the Lake is not as easy as it looks.

Reason number two is that my laptop is on the fritz. It's broken. It really sucks. Right now I am posting from work, shhh. I have a bazillion pictures that I want to show you of the awesome summer we've been having, plus I am acutely aware that I have not finished telling the gruesome tale of the college's Hellscape-Neverending-Daymare Field School of Satan. Don't worry, it's brewing, and once I can access my pictures it will be unleashed upon the interwebs.

At the moment I am waiting for a new battery and power cord for my laptop to arrive in the mail. As neither of mine work, I am obviously unable to turn it on and everything that is on there is trapped in the limbo of computer-memory-storage-land and will not see light of day until my shit arrives. Not being able to access my documents and pictures, and my inability to sit with my laptop, feel its radiant warmth....let's just say I've developed an eye twitch and I've been spending way too much time with the toaster.

FAIL Blog

2009-07-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

While I was surfing the interwebs this afternoon I came across a most exciting new development, one that has the potential to become a regular installment of my daily timewasting routine. You may have already experienced the ridiculously epic entertainment value that FAILblog has to offer. (Not to mention the incredibly valuable public service they provide). If you haven't, I suggest you click the link to your right and get yourself some educations.

What is this new development you speak of? It is none other than a new blog by the good people at FAIL entitled 'emails from crazy people'. Catchy right? Well, I just got my daily ab workout from reading the first few posts and I can tell you, it is worth getting busted by your boss for sluffing off on the web at work, so GET TO IT PEOPLE.

That is all.

I has a windoooooooww!

2009-07-20T20:42:00.001-07:00

On the way home from New Aiyansh after a busy day of frolicking.

Summer Activities - Waterfall Edition

2009-07-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday night Dave and I and a few friends decided to check out a waterfall near the Extew River. It was a hefty drive down an old logging road, but once we were there it was only a short (but steep!) hike to the falls.

We brought Zoe out on a hike for the first time, (we've always been wary that she'd disappear never to return), and she did marvelously, although she promptly fell asleep for the night once we got back to the vehicle!

Kieran - Always ready for a sudden bear attack.

Kieran - "Wait, you've never shot a rifle before?!"

This is the very bottom, where the waterfall lands.

photo courtesy of Heather Roberts

There was so much spray we might as well have gone swimming.

Photo courtesy of Heather Roberts

Photo courtesy of Heather Roberts

Somebuddy's tie-tie...
Photo courtesy of Heather Roberts

Summer Activities

2009-07-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Dave's first catch, a little trout! He was out fishing with friends for the evening and I was at home writing a paper when he called to say that he was going to cook dinner (at 10pm) and we were eating fresh trout. I would have to admit that it wasn't exactly a full meal, especially shared between us, but it made for a good evening nibble.

Canada Day Bliss

2009-07-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Aaaaah, Canada Day. The celebration of our world domination, safety from our Southern enemies, emancipation from our British overlords, peace and shared prosperity between the English, the French, and the Natives...well, maybe not exactly. But still, a fun party.

We went to the old-timey, fun-time, log-cabin-and-mounted-buffalo-head heritage park for some celebrations.

Kitlope, no, something, whatever, Field School

2009-06-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Eight months ago a friend of mine told me that there was this really amazing field school that NWCC puts on in the Summer where you go to the Kitlope. The Kitlope is a ways down the Douglas Channel, past Alcan, past Kemano and into the wilderness where the 1st Nations people used to have villages before European contact. Sounds great right? Even better is that the course is two weeks long and is worth 6 credits, a geography and an anthropology. Right up my alley. I went straight down to registration and signed up.

So there I am, totally set, 8 months in advance, I booked the time off work, let everyone know what I was doing, and didn't really think about it for another 7 1/2 months.

Then what happens? I got a phone call from the college, two weeks before the class began, letting me know that it wasn't looking good. There were some problems happening between the college and the 1st Nations group that was supposed to take us and it looked like we were going to have to do something else instead.

So, like a trooper, I'm like, ok, no big deal, I trust that we'll do something interesting and worthwhile, and I guess it'll cost a bit less, so that's a bonus. NO WORRIES.

Ok. So there has been some give and take. Our first field trip consisted of a cancellation of our hike at Glacier Creek because it might have been flooded, but no one was sure either way, so instead we drove the 20 minutes to Old Remo to look at culturally modified trees, but SURPRISE the road was flooded out, so we had to turn around and go somewhere else. (Oh, did I mention we had already left late because the teacher had forgotten to book something for the next day so we had to wait for her to get her shit together?) Where? 30 minutes out of town to a deactivated logging road that had completely grown over. We had to trudge through solid bush, shoving juvenile spruce trees out of our way and braving steep, muddy, embankments. Not a trip for the faint of heart, or knees. We then arrived on the bank of the Skeena, and apparently we were looking for culturally modified trees and cache pits, which were used by the 1st Nations to store food during a hunt. We walked around for about 20 minutes, didn't find them, (because of course the INSTRUCTORS didn't know where they were), and decided to leave, because OH WELL I GUESS THEY AREN'T HERE.

Most of us decided to walk back on the tracks because the trek in was beyond ridiculous, until we heard a shout in the woods from the teacher saying that they had found them. We then hiked it back in so that we could look at, wait for it, a bunch of holes in the ground. Holes in the ground that contained food 300 years ago. HOLES.

This is my two weeks of holidays for the entire YEAR, PEOPLE! Sigh.

Summer Activities

2009-06-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been gorgeous for the last three weeks and although we've been enjoying it immensely, we've had a rather limited amount of time available to get out and enjoy it. So after much griping and moaning on my part, we took the day aside. In the morning we did loads and loads of yardwork and cleaning and then we went on a lovely little jaunt down the Centennial Trail and then up the Bench. I road my bike and Dave rollerbladed. It was a great day and we got to enjoy some breathtaking views while panting and hacking from overexertion.

The view from the top of Kalum Hill

Dave looks miserable but he's just exhausted.

Me!

A Little Glimpse of Nonna

2009-06-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

My Dad's side of the family is Italian. And when I say 'Italian' I mean, live across from Giovanni Cabotto Park, shop at Spinelli's, attend Santa Maria Goretti Catholic Parish and drink wine with an alcohol content resembling screech. I mean the dish-flinging, over-bearing mothering, plastic sheets on the 50 year old 'chesterfield', singing O Solo Mio while drunk at 400-plus guest weddings kind of Italian. When I'm with my Nonna and Nonno I love every minute of it. That is, until Nonna starts fretting over me and asking when I'm going to move back to Edmonton and why doesn't Leannie have a boyfriend yet and why isn't Jon in school and while we're at it lets talk about grudges that originated over 40 years ago but are still going strong.

Oh what the hell, I still love it then too.

One of the most distinct things about my grandparents is their house. All of their furniture is exactly the same as it was when I was growing up. Most of their belongings remain as well. They have blush pink couches bearing intricate dark wood detail. Their coffee table is a dark wood with space in cubbies for trinkets and little statues, of which there are many. The china cabinet, kitchen and dining room table, their bed and dresser have all been in that house since before my birth. Their belongings are so distinct, (tacky), that whenever I (or my sister or my mom) see "Nonna" stuff, whether that be decorative items or clothing, we always take the time to stop and point it out. Often, one of us will stop and cry out at a particularly sequined, colourful confection, "oh god, that is SUCH a Nonna sweater." And the rest of us will stop and admire.

Not having had this experience in quite some time here in Terrace, I had to stop and take pictures of these "bouquets" that I saw at a local shop here. Nonna has these EXACT displays in her home and I was shocked to see they still sell them....somewhere.

Self - Help by Norm Foster. Pics Volume One.

2009-06-10T12:26:00.001-07:00

The show closed on Saturday night with what was undoubtedly our best performance. For those of you who couldn't be there, some pictures will have to suffice. Too bad for you.

These are from opening night and were graciously provided by my one of my colleagues, Gloria, and her man, Sandy.

"Mr. & Mrs. Savage, the people who live here."

"Okay, time to switch to plan B"

"Flatter you be damned!"

"Is it because I said Mitchell Quinty was a pantywaist?"

"Please Detective, call me Ruby."

Style

2009-06-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

If you aren't already familiar, definitely do some research on Shepard Fairey. He's the guy that did that very famous poster of Obama with the red and blue hues. Fabulous artist, and he has some really cool posters and prints for sale. Getting to understand this guy's passion and vision is worth a couple hours of internet surfing.

Skeena Flooding?!

2009-06-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last summer, I swear to you I nearly died from a vitamin D deficiency. It was, hands down, the worst summer EVAR. With only a couple weeks of sunny days, inerspersed with rain, clouds and more rain, I tell you, there was more than a few times where I nearly dropped dead on my computer desk at work from the heartbreak of it all.

Meanwhile, this being my first summer in the Northwest, everyone in Terrace was saying, "Oh, Amber, no, this is such unuuuusual weather, this neeeeeeever happens, we always get hot summers and it's just so great and wonderful and we don't understand why this summer is in the shitter...."

Needless to say I was skeptical.

It seems however these local yokels may have actually been genuine in their defense of Terrace weather. For the last 6-7 days we've been having 30 degree heat! YAY! It's been fabulous. And I don't think I've ever heard so many conversations starting with the sentence: "Hot enough for ya?" Love it.

It seem however that in this area, heat like this all at once comes with a fairly heavy cost. THE SKEENA. Everyone is freaking about how high it is, understandably, because with all this hot weather the levels are ridiculous bordering on 'run for your lives!'

To view a handy mathematical chart that outlines the water levels, click here.

Video of 'The Flood of 2007', to which all things are compared.

Sunday Style - Thursday Edition

2009-05-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

I read "How to be a Canadian", by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson, on the train on my way to visit family in Edmonton. I immediately wished that I was reading it alone because it took a lot of effort not to belly-laugh my way across BC's interior. That said, it was such an entertaining read that I chose to make due with the curious stares.

An excerpt:

"Population:

There are 30,000,000 people in Canada - all of whom have, at some point, frozen their tongues to the side of a chainlink fence or flagpole. Even though their mothers told them not to. Indeed, at any given time of the year, it is winter somewhere in Canada and someone, somewhere, is stuck to a flagpole. "Hap me, hap me. Tumbuddy, pwease hap me."

Average I.Q.

See above."

Late Night Homecoming

2009-05-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

Opening night for "Self - Help" came and went with extraordinary ease. We had no major catastrophes and though it was a small crowd, people seemed to really enjoy themselves. Tonight I get to do it all again and I hope to improve personally on last night's performance. I'm a star now, you see, and I have a reputation to live up to. *Sigh,* the obligations of fame..

When I got home from the show I was informed that for the bazillionth time Zoe had slipped through our grasp. It was getting close to 11:00pm and it was dark. Finding her in the dark has been an unsuccesful venture in previous experience, so we all went to bed, hoping to get a call from someone who would perhaps find her in their yard in the morning.

When we got up this morning Zoe was snuggling with a pillow in the spare room. For a few minutes Dave thought that she had been home the whole time had been hiding under the bed or something - until Anthony and Margaret got up and let us in on what happened.

Apparently at about 3:30am Margaret could hear Zoe barking. She and Anthony debated for a short time about whether it was actually her, and then Anthony ran out into the street and looked around. There in the dark he could see Zoe running from door to door on our street barking at each house, terrorizing all of my neighbours in the wee hours of the morning. By the way, IF YOU'RE READING THIS I'M SO SORRY!!

The nice thing about it was that Zoe was trying to find her home!! Anthony called to her and she charged at him and nearly knocked him over by attempting to leap into his arms. Anthony said it was the happiest he had ever seen her! (Perhaps she got lucky??)

Mystery SOLVED.

As if my life wasn't chaotic enough already..

2009-05-20T12:05:00.001-07:00

Allow me to set the stage:

For the last two weeks we have had three couchsurfers staying in our trailer and garage while they look for work and other accomodation in Terrace. Two brothers from Ireland and one girlfriend, from Arkansas. They are absolutely lovely and though they were originally only going to stay for a few days, we have extended our home to them for as long as they would like, primarily because of their fabulous cooking, dog walking, and pub stories.

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal for the show I'm performing in with the Terrace Little Theatre, which I have written about here and here. My life is now fully and entirely dictated by the needs of the theatre as we set to embark on the first of 9, (yes NINE), shows tomorrow night.

Zoe is in heat and has escaped about five times (we've lost count), most recently this morning, and continues to evade our attempts to keep her in the house and yard with her wily female tricks.

So, with all this, as if my life wasn't already balancing on the fringe of utter disorder, OUR PLUMBING IS ON THE FRITZ.

Two days ago, I noticed that the bathroom sink wasn't draining as quickly as normal, and when the tap was on there were gurgling noises coming from the other drains. I immediately let Dave know that we should call the plumber, to which he responded, "no it's fine, there's nothing wrong. Besides, the plumber will cost too much."

Feeling strongly that it was a problem we should pay attention to, I pressed the matter several times throughout the day, until he finally told me that it was alright to call.

I left work at 5:30, in a hurry to make it to dress rehearsal which began at 6, and came home to discover that the bathtub was lined with a quarter-inch of black sludge. I immediately assumed that the plumber had come by and had left this disgusting mess in my bathroom (which I had spent an hour cleaning the day before). Thankfully I was able to keep the contents of my stomach inside my body at the sight of this and I managed to clean it up. This left me with 3 minutes to get to rehearsal so I had to run out the door, after giving the plumber's emergency number to one of the Irishmen, just in case.

Dress rehearsal came and went, and afterwards I got a phone call from Dave explaining that the plumber had made things worse and now the tub wasn't draining and they couldn't use the water. I was shocked, thinking that the problem had been fixed, but I was distracted by a second phone call coming in from a person saying they had found Zoe. Who we DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WAS MISSING.

Sigh.

This morning, when I called the plumber, all geared up to ream them out for the mess they left and for not fixing our problem, when they informed me that had not come by yet.

Gasp!

My tub backed up on its own! EEEWWW!

All morning my coworkers have been regaling me with horror stories about roots digging through pipe, entire yards being dug up, thousands of dollars gone!!! (So comforting, the people I work with).

Anyway, the plumber has promised to go by today, and have also promised not to let my dog out, and hopefully are going to solve all my problems, preferably without taking any of our limbs or firstborn children!!!

Sunday Style

2009-05-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Back when I went to ~~prison~~ Christian School, the only redeeming feature was this game. The student body was 99% Dutch and introduced it to me (shocked that my young Italian self hadn’t heard of it before!) and it was loads of fun.

I forgot about it for years and then Dave was introduced to it when he was in Winnipeg recently. We’ve been playing it all the time and it’s been a blast. Also adorable.

Coming soon to the Stage...

2009-05-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

ENJOY!

The ZOE

2009-05-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

When David and I moved to Terrace, one of the local vets had just died of cancer. Very sad, yes, but for us it meant specifically that we couldn't get a vet for our little love child, Sierra. The two other practices in town immediately stopped taking new patients after getting overwhelmed with the overflow.

So what do we do? We adopt an unspayed pitbull that has no known medical history. Sounds like the perfect solution right?

Shortly after we added our new bundle of joy to the family, Zoe started exhibiting some odd behaviour. Like being extremely hormonal, and having giant, udder-like nipples that get in the way of everything. And running away constantly. We've picked her up at the pound, the post office, an ice cream shop, a neighbors kitchen, "Harlem" (read about that here), and one time she came home on her own with icicles frozen to her lips.

So of course, Dave and I discussed what to do. Should we have her spayed? Well, probably, but we can't get into a vet. Should we try to find her another home? Well, sure but no one wants a lactating, boy-crazy pitbull.

Sigh.

Nearly a year later, I started calling vets again and found that one was taking new patients and I promptly made an appointment for the both of them. The vet seemed concerned about Zoe's abnormally large mammaries and strongly suggested that she get spayed as soon as possible, and of course I agreed. He went on to say that it would cost somewhere between $450 and $650 and possibly on up to infinite to get the procedure done because apparently she has a ginormous uterus and could suffer complications.

I managed to stop my stomach from climbing into my mouth when I heard this number. I immediately began to calculate...tuition, mortgage, food-on-the-table...perhaps we could trade our firstborn...if only we had a firstborn...what to do....

I booked the appointment - then started looking for a second opinion. The other vet in town still has a one-year waiting list to get an appointment so I called the vet in Prince Rupert who I found to be very accomodating and quoted me $250 all in. YAAY! We'll book the day off and spend the day in Rupert and eat sushi ALL DAY LONG. It will be wonderful. Maybe not for Zoe, but for us it'll be nice.

The Swine

2009-04-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Normally this type of newscast doesn't really worry me. Possible pandemic of a relatively mild case of the flu? Oh well. I do live in THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD so there is a good chance I'm going to be all right.

And then I remembered that my Dad and brother are in Mexico.

Oh shit, that's right.

So, I call both their cell phones, both are off or disconnected or some situation where I can't leave a message.

Then, I write on Dad's, Josh's and (wonderful family friend) Tony's facebook pages and...Nothing.

So, desiring to quell my anxiety, a nice lady that attends my Dad's church and also has a son in Mexico, wrote me a message saying that everything was all right, the church has been in regular contact with the group and is keeping a close watch.

So then I'm like: EXCUSE ME? My FATHER has been calling the CHURCH to let them know they are all right and he hasn't once bothered to comfort my Mother about the welfare of her son.

Wait...really???

My Father is not exactly the best communicator, but this is pretty bad.

So I called and gave my Mom both the good news and the bad, and then proceeded to write my Dad a scathing email of 'domineering women' proportions.

I wait with bated breath for his reply.

Self - Help

2009-04-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

It seems that blogging has fallen by the wayside over the last while - sorry. First it was the trip to Vic, then exams, then playing rockband 2 with all my spare minutes - I can only do so much ya know? Anyway, my last exam is tomorrow, which means it would only be natural that rather than studying I would be facebooking and blogging. I mean, what else would I be doing? Other than cleaning my house, reorganizing my DVD collection and, well, playing rockband 2. I tell ya, exam week is fabulous for getting things done.

In any event, I would like to formally announce via the Great Internet Machine that I am making my debut on the stage! I was cast in a Norm Foster play called 'Self-Help'. The Terrace Little Theatre is putting it on under the direction of Chris Stone and I am very excited to be a part of it. It is being performed at the McColl Playhouse on May 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 30 and June 4, 5, 6. Ya, I know right? NINE shows. It might just kill me. But I wouldn't know would I, as I am a theatre virgin.

If you are in Terrace, tickets are being sold at Uniglobe or at the door.

If you're not in Terrace, then you can just suck it.

The Dave

2009-04-12T21:33:00.001-07:00

Dave: Hey

Amber: Where are you, you've been gone for over an hour.

Dave: Oh, I'm just at the beach playing the guitar with some hippies.

Amber: You're what?

Dave: Ya, there were some hippies down here and we're just hanging out.

Amber: You must be joking. You wouldn't do that. You can't be serious. That's not what you're doing.

Dave: Oh, you don't believe me? Here, let me put you on the phone with one of them.

Amber: NONONONONONONOIDON'TFUCKINWANTTO

Lotus: (Lotus!??!? Seriously?) Hi.

Amber: PUT ME ON THE PHONE WITH MY FUCKING HUSBAND!

Lotus: You should calm down.

(It should be noted that at this point my rage was beyond all control. Like seriously, what little bitch would tell ME to calm down when she is hanging out with MY husband at the beach in Sooke, when he should be at my mom's house visiting for Easter. Like, WHAT THE FUCK!)

Amber: PUT ME ON THE PHONE WITH MY FUCKING HUSBAND!!

Lotus: Can you calm down?

Amber: PUT ME ON THE PHONE WITH MY FUCKING HUSBAND!!!

Lotus: (to Dave) She's really mad.

Dave: Hi.

Amber: You need to come home NOW.

Dave: Ok.

Sunday Style

2009-04-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

I realize that winter is (hopefully) over but when I saw these I nearly fell off my chair.

SOCUTEIWANTONE!!

Etsy Shop Bean Town Handmade. Check it out.

(I also want a boston terrier...)

The Pahty

2009-04-05T00:09:00.001-07:00

Good times in the Hansen Residence.

He doesn't actually turn for a few days yet but we had a party anyway!

Serenity Now

2009-04-04T14:54:00.000-07:00

I often get overwhelmed when my to-do list is long, I have a deadline, and at least one item on that to-do list is something I've been putting off. Usually homework. I often get even more overwhelmed if blocks of my time in order to complete this ever-growing list are eaten up by periferal things, like work, for instance.

We fly (knock on wood with my fingers crossed, throwing salt over my shoulder and jumping on one foot) out of THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD on Wednesday morning.

In between now and then I have to:

Complete my last math assignment
Write a 1500 word paper on the treatment of Jewish immigrants in Canadian society
Clean my house and do the laundry
Throw a wild party for Dave's 27th birthday
Pick up and mail my taxes
Attend church so that I can sing in the church choir and do the powerpoint
Attend 2 two-hour play rehearsals
Go to my last English class
Read a play for my last English class
Go to work on Monday and Tuesday and pretend to not be writing my paper
Pack
Explain to my dogs that we aren't abandoning them
Eat
Sleep
Shower at least once

SERENITY NOW!

Sunday Style

2009-03-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

1. Springtime Swallow Hand Tag Set by Oak Hollow Primitives.

2. Heart Gift Tags by Makalewakan

3. Swedish Design Wooden Gift Tags by Makalewakan.

4. Little Red Riding Hood Gift Tags by Crow and Iris.

5. Bohemian Rhapsody Tags by Figure22.

I love Etsy.

This has been keeping me from doing homework all weekend...

2009-03-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of the 99 Things you Should have Seen on the Internet Unless you are a Loser or Old or Something.

Eloquent.

Boom Goes the Dynamite changed my life. Seriously.

Eat your heart out Sierra!

2009-03-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

This week in unconventional art:

And this is Sierra's best documented herding experience:

Honey, you just got taken to school...

ART.

2009-03-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Starved for some participation in ART up here in THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD, I joined the church choir. There are about 20ish members, who are all just lovely, and the director, Melinda, has a real sense of humour and reality about what the small group can reasonably accomplish, which, not to sound terribly elitist, is mostly very basic, 4 part block harmony. Sadly, this is a far cry from the 150 member community choir at UVic I used to have the priveledge of singing with. (And an intimidating priveledge at that!) There is something about singing in harmony in the midst of a massive, single-minded group that is nothing short of magical and staggeringly moving.

Melinda has chosen some beautiful charts for Easter and for other future choir exploits. That being said, I just really miss the sound that is produced from a MASSIVE GROUP OF UVic VOICE MAJORS!! *sigh*

A piece by the Oxford Choir, a group I should listen to more often while lying on my living room floor and directing with my fingers after a few glasses of good wine.

Enjoy.

video courtesy of treblechoir99

Llama Sunday

2009-03-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I had the fun opportunity on Sunday to visit my friend Elizabeth's farm. She has llamas!!

It was best therapy I've had in a long while, holding a lamb and kissing a llama.

The Dave...

2009-03-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

Amber: When we have kids, what would you like to do as a family?

Dave: hiking.

Amber: What else?

Dave: swimming pool.

Amber: Give me something original.

Dave: Dumpster diving.

Sunday Style

2009-03-21T10:44:00.001-07:00

I've been browsing Etsy shops quite often lately and I've been surprised and delighted every time to find so many beautiful items for sale. Of course, I've been sticking to my budget (curses!) but I still enjoy the 'window shopping' as it were. Here are some finds.

1. Clutch purse by Little Ellie called The Lily Clutch in Mist Floral.

2. Wallet by Little Ellie called The Almost Everything Wallet.

3. Chasing Elephants Wallflower reversible Pixie Bag.

4. Green bag with shell buttons by Creations by Eve.

5. Red Daisies Classic Tote by The Craft Pantry.

I'm quite sure we can all tell what season I'm looking forward to...

Unpredictable at best

2009-03-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

This is what my street looked like at 10:00 Wednesday morning.

Feast your Eyes, Bitches

2009-03-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is what I get to come home to.

The Trekkie

2009-03-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

For about two months over Christmas, I put Dave through what at first seemed like his slow death by making him watch almost every episode of The Office with me. Once I had seen EVERY episode, he bought me season 3 for Christmas and we enjoyed one more round of reruns, deleted scenes and hilarious Dwight Bobble Head antics. Those were the days.

It seems that Dave decided to have his revenge on me when he downloaded several seasons of Star Trek: the Next Generation, which we have been watching almost every night. At first I protested, wondering what pull the seemingly dorky series could have on him. Now...well, it seems that I like Star Trek. Just like Dave now likes The Office.

I guess we are finally rubbing off on eachother.

Pam Beesly - Dave's favorite character of The Office.

Commander Data - my favorite character of Star Trek.

That's what she said

2009-03-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Dave: Amber, do you want some pineapple?

Amber: Sure *goes in kitchen*

Dave: Here *hands Amber massive hunk of drippy pineapple*

Amber: It's too BIG!

Dave: EAT THE GODDAMN PINEAPPLE!

Amber: ok

Dave: I should have said 'that's what she said'

Amber: what does 'that's what she said' have to do with pineapple?

Dave: When you said, 'it's too big!'

Amber: *chokes on pineapple*

Terrace is your Sunday Style, bitches

2009-03-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Words can't describe the excitement surging through Terrace as the winner of Hockeyville was being announced last night. The energy was palpable and spirits were high as participants headed down to the voting centre, or to their favourite haunt to watch the results.

Mr. Mikes restaurant was full, but you could hear a pin drop as every eye focused on the screen, awaiting the results. I was absolutely terrified, gripping Dave's hand and gritting my teeth.

Of course, when we saw the card with the name of our little town on it, the whole place erupted with cheers and whistles, while people pounded their hands on their tables in celebration.

The moment we left we heard the celebration taking to the streets from the voting centre, people were cheering, everyone was honking their horns and sporting their hockey flags and jerseys.

The voting centre was still packed when we arrived and everyone was smiling and laughing - or weeping with joy. I admit, every time I watch the announcement I get a little weepy. My god! Terrace! I am so proud of you!

Sierra put it best - `We are all acting like we just won the Miss America Pageant!` and I have to say, even in my ponytail and hoodie, I sort of did feel that way. WAY TO GO TERRACE!!

Pins and Needles

2009-03-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

The voting period is over. We can no longer do anything to change the course of events, but the entire town is shaking with the anticipation of Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow. After the first period they will be announcing the winner of HOCKEYVILLE and we all think that we're it!!!

Dave and I and some friends will be going to Mr. Mike's tomorrow night to watch them announce the results and rumour has it that the CBC is going to be in town...can't keep anything a secret in Terrace, the sooner you learn that the better.

Voting tallies anyone? Mine was 3000 via my cell phone. I know a lot of people who did better though, so speak up!

Molten Light

2009-03-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

My sister, who lives in THE BIG CITY and is in ART SCHOOL, sometimes gets to fill me in on cool new art that she gets to see and I do not because I live in THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD.

Most recently she told about a musician/artist named Chad Vangaalen. I'm not sure how to describe him...he has the ability to take a simple, pretty melody and make it eerie and haunting. He is also an animator and does all his own videos and album art - very cool.

This one is my favourite - creepy and beautiful at the same time. A true artist.

Cute with Chris, round 2

2009-03-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

I took some time aside to think about the error Chris had made in posting a pic of Sierra and calling her 'Zoe', alongside my horribly bruised ankle. At first I felt excited that my pics had been posted, and on my first submission! However, the more I thought about it, and the more I read the comments, which expressed a certain doubtful quality about Sierra's ability to injure me without the help of drugs or alcohol coursing through my system, the more I felt I had the right to defend my position on the site.

So I sent more stuff.

And it got posted THE SAME DAY I sent it. I'm 2 for 2, bitches.

Sunday Style

2009-03-01T17:31:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. Cleaning products are not stylish. But hear me out.
I've been using method cleaners for about 1 year. There are a wide variety of products available from laundry detergent to wood polish and all of them are non-toxic and naturally derived. The bottles and packaging are all made from 100% recycled materials and the cleaners themselves are biodegradable. You won't be breathing in damaging chemicals and all of the products I've tried work like a hot damn.

My mom visited last year and used the Method all-purpose cleaner to take oil off her car and it worked better than the industrial cleaners she had just used at the car wash. How's about them apples?

Website here.

The Clubhouse

2009-03-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

Our house is a teensy 980 square feet. A living room, kitchen, bathroom with a washer and dryer inside, and 2 bedrooms, one of which is a sad dumping ground for lack of storage. There is no utility room, mudroom, basement, entryway, storage (not even a hall closet!), or SPACE for Dave and I to relax away from eachother.

Not that we don't like eachother - we do - but when you spend virtually all your at-home time in the same room, it can get a little tense.

Dave had a brainwave. He decided to turn our small garage (our van won't fit through the door) into a hangout room for him and his guy friends. (Not only is this a fabulous idea, but it also frees up our spare room to turn into MY space, which will be the next project).

He's pretty much finished - and the best part? He did it for under $100.00, including paint for the walls and floor, all the furniture, the TV, and even the drumkit! There's a lot to be said for resourcefullness.

More photos here.

Spreadsheetmania

2009-02-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

I used to wonder where all our money was going. Then I decided to count up all the 'spending' that was going on in our account - only the food spending. Now I know. We (*coughdavecough*) spent in the month of February, $500 plus on lunches, snacks, and possibly cigars. Ahem.

Needless to say, we now have a budget. I spent the better part of my day off creating a colorful, well-organized, multifaceted spreadsheet that will (hopefully) help us control our money a leeetle better.

As a result of this fabulous new plan, I found a bunch of money that I think would look really good in an account labelled 'Vacation', in addition to the 'New Car' money and the 'Date Night' money.

Stay tuned for our future vacation plan. It's going to be AWESOME!

Kraft Hockeyville 2009

2009-02-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

Kraft Hockeyville 2009

Check this out. Terrace is in the running for the coveted title of HOCKEYVILLE 2009, a contest put on by Kraft and CBC. If we win, we get ultimate bragging rights, $100,000 to put towards our arena and an NHL pre-season game gets played right here in town. (PLEASE GOD, LET THE OILERS COME TO TOWN!!!)

Anyway the important thing is that you all VOTE AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE!!!

CUTE WITH CHRIS POST BITCHES!

2009-02-22T14:32:00.001-08:00

I recently sent in a picture of my hideous ankle in to Cute with Chris, along with a pic of Zoe and one of Dave and Sierra snuggling. And to my enormous surprise, when I viewed his site this morning he had posted it! OMG!! The only crummy thing is that...he posted the pic of Sierra snuggling with Dave, calling her Zoe and blaming her for my ankle, which couldn't be further from the truth. BUT STILL! SO EXCITING! I can't wait to show Dave his internet-fameousness.

Sunday Style

2009-02-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Adria Vasil's 'Ecoholic' is a succinct yet informative guide to a wide variety of eco-friendly products and services. It is also a CANADIAN book, so...we can actually get the stuff. There is a large amount of up-to-date info about scary stuff that you may not know were in your make up or your food, as well as healthy alternatives from old-timey non-disposable shaving to ethically and environmentally responsible mutual funds to fair trade tea.

The websites for the products and services mentioned are printed in green as they are mentioned in the writing as well as in a handy index at the back. There is also a guide of stores that carry said products, by city.

I do have a criticism: There appears to be one glaring omission in the area of Fair Trade Coffee. Please take the time to check out Level Ground Trading, which is not mentioned in 'Ecoholic'.

The Oscars

2009-02-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make: I LOVE looking at the best/worst dressed lists online. Although I'm sure the feelings of some actresses have been hurt in the making of these lists and the cutting commentary that sometimes comes along, I feel that in some way, this secret hobby of mine helps me to be kinder.

You see, there is this THING in all (most?) women - this snappy, aggressive, under-the-surface competition that goes on. Who is skinner, prettier, more talented, has a more successful/better looking partner? Who is a better mother or who is raising their children the "right way"? Who has the "correct" political, religious, ethical, or moral leanings? Who has the biggest/best decorated/cleanest house, who cooks the best tasting/healthiest food? It seems that these competitions can be based on anything. ANYTHING.

So it's only natural that I enjoy critiquing the most glamorous of them all. As shallow as it is, perhaps it helps me get that snappy, ugly side of me out of my system so that when I'm with my girlfriends, my thoughts don't deviate, finding reasons to internally criticize the people I call care about so that I can smugly and irrationally feel superior. Or is it simply mindless entertainment turned to self-awareness? I don't know.

The best/worst list is most certainly not the only facet of Hollywood that I succumb to.

I LOVE movies and I have a memory for names. My husband often complains that I know too much about the stars, that I pay too much attention. I just know their names is all. I have a bit of a memory for previous work, I enjoy seeing and appreciating the diversity in people's careers, especially when they are used in widely differing roles.

In any case the Oscars are tomorrow. We do not have cable so we are heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's to watch the big event and I have made it my business to watch nominated films all week in preparation.

Perhaps I will start posting regular movie reviews as an outlet for this little hobby of mine.

And if this happens, POST A DAMN COMMENT. Your silence is killing me.

Happy Valentines

2009-02-17T11:55:00.001-08:00

The cupcakes were a hit, thanks to the voracious appetites of my co-workers.

Thanks be to Martha.

Style Experiment

2009-02-17T09:47:00.001-08:00

I'm not really sure if anyone is reading this blog other than my mom, (thanks mom), but if anyone out there is interested, I plan to start posting regularly about products that I really enjoy using. I think for now it will happen once a week, perhaps on Sunday.

I bought this lotion at the local drugstore because it is paraben-free, phthalate-free, propylene-glycol free and dye free. I thought, hey that stuff gives me cancer, so I should buy lotion that doesn't have it! Little did I know that it would also smell amazing! This one here is 'Lemon Cream' and it smells exactly like lemon pound cake, you know, the kind with the sugary glaze on top? EXACTLY like that.

I love it so much that I went back the next week and bought a lavender scented bottle to use at work. It seems that whenever I use it, the realtor's offices simultaneously empty as employees start drifting towards my desk in search of the source of the scent. It's lovely and I don't mind sharing.

J.R Watkins website here.

Along with Cupcakes

2009-02-13T11:17:00.003-08:00

Valentine's day has come and gone, but I thought it would be nice to mark the occasion with some goodies for the office. I recently started a property management business under the love and protection of the real estate office in which I work as a receptionist. I can take no credit for the initial success of this venture, since the people here have pretty much held my hand through the entire process, and have been the source of ALL my clients.

Yaay for cupcakes and home-made cards!

Still working on it.

2009-02-13T11:17:00.001-08:00

Eventually I will mail this card, with the corresponding gift, to its patient and gracious recipient. Perhaps I will squeeze the word 'belated' in there.

CaRd

2009-02-13T11:16:00.001-08:00

Meet the Dave

2009-02-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

Amber: David, what is your full name?

David: *sideways glance of disdain* you know what my full name is.

Amber: How would you describe yourself?

David: Awesome.

Amber: Anything else?

David: mmmhmm. I would describe myself as a warrior class adventurer trapped in a 21st century North American culture who doesn't know where to go or how to get there.

Amber: Interesting.

David: You're welcome.

Amber: Favourite color?

David: White. And black. Because white holds all the colors and black hides them all.

Amber: If you were a car what make and model would you be?

David: No idea.

Amber: Really, you got nothing?

David: mm mm. (That's like the no version of the grunt).

Amber: Please complete the sentence: I will always remember...

David: a specific pain I have in my heart.

Amber: ...ok. Chocolate is...

David: for weak people.

Amber: You're going to look like such a weirdo on here. I don't understand...

David: corruption, no wait, I do understand corruption. I don't understand...(getting distracted by watching batman)...I don't understand why....why....I don't understand why....I don't understand...are you just writing that?

Amber: yes

David: *scratches head...pauses batman...why good people that are aware of bad things don't do anything about it..as a generalization.

Amber: What do you propose?

David: Let's not think about it and watch batman.

Sprinkles?

2009-02-09T22:23:00.001-08:00

The snowflakes are not snowflakes. They are white, and appear to be made of half-frozen water, but they are perfectly round. And all identical. All the way to work this morning I was staring at the ground, at the snow piling in tiny peaks on the tips of my boots, trying to figure out what it was I was walking on. It was dry and almost squeaky, like styrofoam packing peanuts. It rolled and crunched under my feet and I realized the little beads were slightly smaller versions of those round sprinkles that come on doughnuts or Christmas cookies.

Wouldn't it be fun if they snow came down multicoloured like those sprinkles, although it would probably raise a few serious questions about the environment and climate change.

I hope that is what I dream about tonight. Rainbow-coloured sprinkle-snow that doesn't melt, but is perfectly healthy and is used as a flavouring for foods, like powdered sugar or maple syrup.

mmm.

It's creeping up on me...

2009-02-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

My homework is starting to push me into a corner. It multiplies faster than rabbits, piling up in the corner of my living room. Behind me as I play 'asteroids' on the xbox and watch old episodes of 'The Office', next to my bed as I cuddle with the pups in the morning after Dave leaves for work, littered across the kitchen table as I eat my breakfast and read the morning news.

It knows.

By Saturday I had no other choice. I completed some history, some math, if only so I could leave behind the nagging feeling of being watched, stalked by a hungry predator.

This morning I will be done with English whether I've conquered my foe or not, the mid-term starts at 6.

Elizabeth helped me wage the battle on Sunday, as we waded through words, theme and hidden meaning alone in my kitchen. Without her, well, I wouldn't be here today.

Until next time, college papers, math assignments and history reading. Until next time..

THE FLOODING

2009-02-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

The weather in Terrace is unpredictable at best.

We moved in March and had a beautiful, cheery spring that I thought would gradually evolve into a beautiful, cheery summer.

Nope.

We had about two weeks of hot weather the whole summer. Every other day was cloudy, cool and sucky. For me, most disappointing summer on record, hands friggin down. It was especially disappointing when this was our first summer in our own home - a home with a big, south facing, grassy yard and high fences. Any guesses at what I wanted to be doing?

This winter has been no less odd. During the fall months, every time I mentioned that we were from the Island I was greeted with knowing chuckles and warnings about blizzarding cold minus 40 temperatures and the mountains of snow. (Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Terrace was North of my previous home, thank you for enlightening me with your infinite wisdom).

However, all the dire warnings I received about so-called "Terrace Winters" were bunk.

Instead we get big dumps of snow, about 2 feet at a time. Sometimes this will happen a few times in a short span, leaving us with precariously creaking roofs. The lovely added bonus about Terrace is that the snow plows leave a fully concrete windrow that is impossible to drive through (believe me, I've tried) in front of the driveway, blocking me in. Or out, on occasion.

But the kicker here, is that this type of insanity only seems to last for a few days, until you get an entirely new crazy-maker: Rain.

Yes the Rain. You'd think that with all the "minus 40 temperatures" people seem to think we get up here, we would not be able to get rain in the middle of winter. The thing about this rain is that when it comes, which is always a few days after a large snowfall, ensuring that the ground is completely frozen, it comes in sheets and torrents, causing FLOODING.

My house, so far so good. Other peoples houses, like the ones I manage professionally for my JOB? Not so good.

Flooding=Amberslowlygoingcrazy123456...

Swag

2009-02-01T13:37:00.001-08:00

Love this stuff!

Nostalgia

2009-02-01T13:34:00.001-08:00

This photo is of my Nonno and Nonna holding my dad as a baby. My favorite thing about this picture is my Nonno's wicked stripey socks.

Kermode Moose

2009-02-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Being the ignorant city girl that I am, when I moved to Terrace I was surprised to learn that there is a special type of bear up here called the 'Kermode bear' or 'spirit bear'. It's basically just an albino black bear, but there is a larger than normal population of them up here. I remember the spirit bear figures that were painted and displayed all over downtown Victoria a while back, but at the time I didn't realize that they were actually a real type of bear, unique to the Northwest Coast.

My bad.

It's a pretty big deal up here. A few months ago some people managed to snap a few shots of an albino squirrel and it was on the front page of the Terrace Standard for 3 days.

A sign of both the priorities of Terrace citizens and of how little happens here.

I know it wasn't spotted in Terrace, or in BC for that matter, and certainly not by me, but here it is folks, courtesy of Cute with Chris, take a look at your first Kermode Moose, bitches!

Surfing in Tofino

2009-01-29T12:49:00.001-08:00

I hate this page. But it is what it is. Sometimes when I scrapbook I feel so completely uninspired...I think I need to take a break for a few days.

sibs

2009-01-29T12:47:00.001-08:00

This pic was edited with some fancy digital scrapbooking program by my mom. I'm actually not sure how I acquired a copy of it.

Husband Stealer

2009-01-28T22:49:00.001-08:00

This is what I found last night when I came to bed.

Apalling.

Nass Valley Visit

2009-01-28T08:53:00.001-08:00

These pics are from last summer when my family came to visit. We went "up the Nass" as they say around these parts and checked out some of the natural and First Nations history. It was really awesome, I can't wait to go again this summer and camp out.

Sistas

2009-01-28T08:50:00.001-08:00

This is such as awesome picture of my sisters-in-law, Becky and Mary that I just had to scrapbook it. I love bright colors of their jackets.

I think I know what kind of a morning this was...

2009-01-28T08:47:00.001-08:00

I did this page a while ago but I thought Leanne might like to have a looky...

These pics were taken one morning when I was still living in Dad's basement suite. I busted into Leanne's room on a Saturday morning and snapped these. She wasn't very happy with me.

The day Zoe tried to kill me.

2009-01-28T08:33:00.001-08:00

So the other evening I attempted to walk our pitbull-lab 'rescue dog' Zoe, who is a puller. And by puller I mean she's an 85 pound steam train aiming to thwart my every attempt at a reasonable pace.

We had only made it about three houses down from home when she yanked so hard on my arm I lost my footing and rolled my ankle.

So what does my cuddly, loving, loyal family pet do?

She abandoned me. And not only did she abandon me, she ran across the street into 'Harlem', dragging her leash gleefully behind her.

Make no mistake, she knew she was in the deepest of shit when we found her.

I think it's time for a special leash so that she can't pull. But for me, I think I'll just walk Sierra instead. Overall I think I prefer zig-zagged unpredictability to abandonment.

Proof.

2009-01-25T23:50:00.001-08:00

As stated in a previous post, my dog Sierra thinks she is the wife. This was clearly evidenced this evening when she approached Dave, who was unsuspectingly lounging on the sofa, jumped on him and, while gazing in my direction for a glimpse at my reaction, spread 'em. The gall.

Dave sees this as playful banter, but I know the truth.

Fine. Be that way.

2009-01-25T19:39:00.001-08:00

Alright, I will.

please mummy

2009-01-25T19:35:00.001-08:00

sierra 2, originally uploaded by dahansen85.

Sierra giving me her 'I wants you to throw my saliva-soiled, pink mop-head' look.