Friday, January 27, 2006

Happy Birthday Mozart!

If you thought Robbie Burns day was special... Today is Mozart's 250th Birthday!!He was born on January 27, 1756! Happy Birthday Mozart!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Robbie Burns day!

Happy Robbie Burns day! People everywhere should wear their kilts (namely Brent!). Born on January 25, 1759 in Ayr, Scotland. Robert was the son of a peasant farmer who took to writing poetry as an alternative to working in the fields.As Scotland's national bard, he lived life to the fullest. The 200 year old celebration is a tribute to the life, works and spirit of the great poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796). (stolen from a website about Robbie Burns) So everyone eat some haggis and celebrate Scotland's greatest poet!

Monday, January 23, 2006

Election Night in Canada

We voted. Did you? The Conservatives won! This is the first time in my remembrance that the Conservatives have won, although not the first time in my lifetime. I hope and pray that they can make a difference in our federal government. One thing is for sure, Anne Mclellan (spelling?) is out. Stephen Harper is the new Prime Minister of Canada!

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Narnia

We watched The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe over Christmas with Brent's mom and dad, and I absolutely loved it. I would say (can I say this out loud??) that I liked it almost more than Lord of the Rings. It was gorgeous. I actually want to see it again in theatres...now I just have to convince Brent that he also wants to see it again in theatres... Anyway, today we found at Walmart not only the soundtrack but "music inspired by the movie". We ended up buying only the soundtrack because they were each twenty dollars, and that was more than we wanted to spend, but the second cd included songs by Toby Mac, Steven Curtis Chapman and Jars of Clay! I'm thinking we will eventually get it. The soundtrack is quite pretty, though. Not quite as epic sounding as the LOTR soundtrack, but not quite as scary either. More listenable than some of the scary tracks from LOTR. I'm certainly glad we bought it. It even has a song by Alanis Morisette on it--and she sounds quite appropriate, believe it or not.

Street performers, snow and running

We had a very adventurous Friday, Brent and I. After class we took the train down to Kensington to find running shoes for Brent. However, they didn't have the size Brent needed (surprise, surprise) so we walked down the street, across a bridge over the Bow River, and down through Prince's Island Park to Eaue Claire Market where another Running Room DID have the size he needed. Then we took the train to MEC and picked up some running tights for both of us. Mine were on sale for fifteen dollars! As we were waiting on the platform for the train to go home again, there was a street performer singing behind us. He had his guitar and an amplifier and he was lovely. He was like a cross between John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and my Uncle Pede (Sveistrup). He was selling CDs for seven dollars, but I didn't have enough for that, only two dollars which I threw into his guitar case. He sang "You've Got a Friend in Me", which was written by Carole King (pictured at the bottom) and was made popular by James Taylor(top picture). When you're down and troubled And you need a helping hand And nothing, whoa nothing is going right. Close your eyes and think of me And soon I will be there To brighten up, even your darkest nights. You just call out my name, And you know wherever I am I'll come running, oh yeah baby To see you again. Winter, spring , summer, or fall, All you have to do is call And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got a friend. If the sky above you Should turn dark and full of clouds And that old north wind should begin to blow Keep your head together and call my name out loud And soon I will be knocking upon your door. You just call out my name and you know wherever I am I'll come running to see you again. Winter, Spring, summer or fallAll you got to do is call And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? People can be so cold. They'll hurt you and desert you. Well they'll take your soul if you let them. Oh yeah, but don't you let them. You just call out my name and you know wherever I am I'll come running to see you again. Oh babe, don't you know that, Winter Spring summer or fall, Hey now, all you've got to do is call. Lord, I'll be there, yes I will. You've got a friend.You've got a friend. Ain't it good to know you've got a friend. Ain't it good to know you've got a friend. You've got a friend. I'll probably never see the singer again, which makes me a little sad because he created such a magical moment there on the train platform. I wasn't the only one singing along. He was smiling and seemed so joyful that he could provide music to the world. It was lovely. After we got home, we realised we were out of milk so we walked down to the grocery store to get some. By this time it was dark and snowing lightly. It wasn't cold at all, just beautiful. Then we decided to walk the other way and have coffee at a little coffee shop up the road called "Coffee and S'cream"--half of it is a coffee shop and the other half is an indoor playground. Neat place! Then we ran into Becky and Eric who invited us out for supper and a movie. There was a long time between supper and when the movie started, so we went to Second Cup (I had the best London Fog I've ever tasted). We sat and looked at Calgary fancy house magazines. We had a very good evening with Eric and Bec. :) Yesterday morning I convinced Brent to go running with me! We're going to run a half marathon together in the spring, so we've started training. I'm very glad for the company running, it makes it less lonely. Plus, it gets both of us out of the house and doing something active, which is very nice.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

It would seem that we have been tagged...

This is a concept I have never before encountered--"Tagging"--a spreading phenomenon very much unlike the Avian Flu. :) I will follow the tagging principles as laid out in Marco and Kristin's blog, and answer for myself, as it would seem the tagging bug has bitten me, not Brent. :) Four Jobs you have had in your life? 1) Lab rat, cloning potato plants...my stint as a scientist (haha) 2) Retail semi-manager, Majak Gardens bedding plant greenhouse 3) Outtrip camp counsellor, Camp Silversides...that reminds me, I dreamt about camp last night 4) Sheep farmer, both on my parents' farm, in the meat end of things, and on my uncle's farm, as a milker in the dairy end of things. Four Movies You Would Watch Over and Over? 1) Mary Poppins...Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, what more needs to be said? 2) Pride and Prejudice, BBC/A&E version, because I wish I could talk like them--got the set for Christmas!! (Thanks Kev!) 3) Fly Away Home. Filmed in Ontario, set in Ontario, beautiful music and lovely story...not to mention the Canada geese! 4) Marx Brothers' Night at the Opera...great witty humor, love that they stick it to the man Four Places That You've Lived? 1) On my parents' quarter section dairy farm 2) On my parents' acreage, about a mile west of the old farm 3) Onsite and offsite Camp Silversides (that counts, it was for three whole summers) 4) Farm near Lindsay Ontario Four TV Shows you love to watch? 1) CSI: Miami--Horatio is my hero 2) Corner Gas--the best comedy show ever 3) ER--well i loved it in high school 4) Survivor--we don't get that channel here, but last year we watched it faithfully Four Places You've Vacationed? 1) Kamloops, BC 2) Staffenbach, Switzerland 3) Jasper, AB 4) Lacombe, AB (I don't get out much) Four Website I visit Daily? 1) FAM message board 2) University electronic blackboard 3) CKUA website 4) Marco and Kristin's blog Four of my favorite foods? Hey I blogged about this recently... 1) Cranberry sauce 2) Curry anything 3) Sandwiches: tuna, ham and cheese, peanut butter and banana (not all on the same sandwich) 4) Anything Brent makes Four places I would rather be right now? 1) Out running 2) In Jasper or generally in the mountains 3) In Nepal 4) At Red Deer College

Monday, January 16, 2006

Brent and I watched March of the Penguins last night. It was a documentary about...you guessed it, penguins. Emperor Penguins to be exact. I highly recommend it. It was so darn cute and the landscape of Antarctica was incredible also. Baby penguins are so darn cute. Also yesterday we went to the Zoo because we wanted to see the new hippo that is visiting from Quebec. He's the grandson of the two hippos that live at the Zoo. We didn't expect this new guy to be so small! He is about the size of an almost full grown pig. Very cute little guy, well worth the visit!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

December's Race

Here is some pictures of Rachel and I at the Catch the Elves Race in December. It was a beautiful day and a fun time. We finished in about an hour and two minutes as you can kind of read on the clock over top of the finish line. We're both looking forward to a half-marathon in the spring. Crossing the finish line. Here we are in Eau Claire Market afterwards.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Food

Three food items I cannot do without: Peanut butter (peanut butter and banana sandwiches and peanut butter on toast) Tuna (tuna and pickle sandwiches NOT tuna casseroles) Cranberries (cranberry sauce makes a very good breakfast) Potentially, I think if I was put on an isolated desert island, I could survive with these three things for a very long time...maybe with some bread and fresh fruit and milk thrown in there from time to time). Female 1/2

Monday, January 09, 2006

Newsy News

Happy second semester! Classes for me are as follows: HTST593--History of Violence Against Women HTST 439--Canadian Western History post-1886 HTST 423--Marriage in Feudal Society ENGL 444--Continuation of first semester's Victorian Lit. GLGY--Intro Geology It's going to be another challenging term to say the least! Yesterday, Brent and I took a trip out to Nanton to visit my friend Rachel and her husband Tyler. They live in an ooooold ranchhouse on an acreage in beautiful southern Alberta. I gained a whole new appreciation for the southern prairies and ranchland yesterday. There is an incredible amount of history there. Rachel's great grandparents started a huuuge ranch there and large parts of it are still in the family including a piece on which the family's summer house and sometimes dude ranch dwelling is situated--which we got a tour of. I am really looking forward to spending more time exploring that country. Rachel and Tyler were most hospitable as well, and I learned how to trim a horse's hooves. We were around horses quite a bit yesterday and I didn't get sick (praise God!!) Maybe I'm growing out of my allergies?? Yoga starts tonight for Becky and I. We're taking a beginner's Hatha class for the next thirteen weeks--as long as it's not booked up entirely by the time we get there tonight. Also, I started running again today. I don't start school eleven on M/W/F and at two on T/R so I've got a fair amount of time in the mornings. I'm going to start training for a half-marathon for the spring. There's on in April here in Calgary, one in May in Red Deer and another in July here in Calgary, so I'm hoping to participate in at least one of them. That's all the news for today I think. Except, we bought a kitchen cart thingmabob at Ikea the other day and it is wonderful to utilize it for our microwave(thanks Mom and Dad)/toaster(thanks Tim and Amanda)/coffee maker(thanks Jorgen and Kalie). We feel very blessed with everything we have and relieved for the organization that is beginning to appear in our home. Female 1/2

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

New Year!

its january 4th and i haven't posted since december 1st! this time has flewn by so very fast. where did i leave off? i think after my last post i got terribly sick, with a sore throat. so very wierd too, it felt at times like i had a knife in my throat, and almost like i had a cut in a very specific spot. wasn't fun, and i'm sure it made me very cranky :) to make matters worse my sickness came just before my exam week, but i made it through very well, with many prayers and lots of salt water! exams went very well. i just wanted them to be over so that we could go "home" for the holidays. in a way it seemed like i flew through them, and i had second thoughts for a while until i found out my final grades. as of this point i've got a 4.00 gpa. not sure how that is possible, but i got an a+ in ever one of my classes. i blame it on easy classes, and my prior knowledge, so we'll see how my second semester goes here. we made it through our exams, and then packed up and went "home" for the past couple weeks here. its been great, i've been able to work, and Kirstin has been able to do homework and see quite a few friends. we both had a list of things and people we wanted to see, but as the past two weeks have gone by our lists remain. we had so many things planned, but got to lacombe and just needed to relax i think. we feel so blessed by our parents on both sides of our new family. they just love us and care for us, its been an awsome visit. but by the end here things seem to be dragging and we're ready to head back to school! gasp, never thought, two weeks ago, that i would be saying that, but its true. monday we took two brothers and headed out to nordegg to do a day hiking trip on coliseum mountain. it was great, the weather was awesome, and with little snow it wasn't so hard to climb the mountain. me and kirstin had attempted an ascent last december, but only made it part way up cause of a blizzard coming in through the mountains. it was so much easier this time around, for the first time brought a foot and a half of snow, but now with only a few inches, most wind packed, we made it up in great time. the youngest brother had a harder time than the rest, but he made with it some encouragement, and was glad he did when we made it. the hike is quite easy. we barely were out of the tree line on the top of the mountain. here are a few pics from the day: view from part way up the mountain the men looking out over the mountain (the summit can be seen behind us) four of us on top of the mountain silly brothers running off the edge me doing a little bit of boot skiing heading back down the trail my lovely wife!