St. Lawrence Market

Toronto has been blessed with beautiful weather! With highs of 25 the last 2 days I’ve been getting out and seeing a bit more of the city. I forgot my camera visiting Kensington market and china town yesterday, but today I went down to St. Lawrence Market. It reminded me a lot of our Granville Island in Vancouver. It has been open since 1803 and there were tons of cute little shops and vendors. I walked away with fresh red and green grapes, some delicious olives, fresh cheese, and a sour dough baguette. All in all in was a wonderful day!

Happiness

Today I was musing what it is to be happy… There are many things that can affect our happiness, but only if we let them. At least this is what I’ve been told. My father raised me with the belief that attitude is everything, but can a positive attitude really change a crappy situation? When talking to a friend it bemused me to think that a slight change in the wording of something could theoretically change one’s perspective. Rather then saying “I miss you” its “I look forward to seeing you next”. I’m not sure I could keep that up, because I assume a part of me loves the self-pity that comes from the heart ache of long distance. If I had to be positive about that all the time what fun would that be? But happiness… What gives us it? I have recently joined a new yoga studio and am actively taking part at least 5 times a week. This has given me a surge of vitality and has restored me to a somewhat sane state. It has become my happy escape from life. And perhaps that’s what happiness is. Something that mixes things up, changes things around, makes you feel as though more things are possible and your life is what you want to make of it. It seems to be the slightest change in people’s lives, I’ve been observing, that can cause a total 180... I can’t explain why it happens, but the obvious remains certain - it’s a good thing.. Well I don’t want to sound like Martha Stewart, so.. it’s a GREAT thing =)

Look-a-like much?!

Ok yes this is random, but I just want to know who thinks Kerry Bishe (from the new Scrubs) and Leighton Meester (from Gossip Girl) look alike?

To the left Kerry, to the right Leighton

What do you think?

Oh Canada...

2 weeks are down of semester 3 and I am starting to feel a bit in the swing of things again. Going home was amazing as always but non-stop and super busy! I loved the spring time feeling as I woke up to a chickadee’s romantic song and the colours appeared as if I was Dorthy waking up in Technicolor. The sky was a beautiful baby blue, the grass a lush green, and cherry blossoms were preparing to make their entrance into the world. I enjoyed the festive Olympic spirit that my wonderful Vancouver had to offer. I had the good luck of seeing the torch make its way along the street well on a random excursion with Ayla. I also got to enjoy my love of Benny’s with Alyse, and I’m not going to lie.. The ever so delicious “Sweet Revenge” may have also been a stop with her too. They make an incredible crème brulee with pear! Getting to see my Chuckie-puppy and take him for a walk around my old neighbourhood made me reminisce of how my life use to be. Then up to Kamloops where the mountains appeared abnormally dull brown. Normally there is beautiful scenery up there too but winter still had it’s grasp on the land and everything was dull brown. I had a bit of a busy time there as I made a beef stew for friends with dumplings in it. Alas my poor Marky got sick so after weeks of telling him it was just a while till I could cook for him he missed out on my accomplished cooking skills… Oh well, at least this gives me more time to practice different recipes! After a few days there he and I joined my parents and aunt in Whistler and had awesome skiing at Blackcomb mountain. All the pictures from that are on my mom and aunt’s cameras so they may come later. But being there made me feel a true pride to being Canadian. When I finally got back to Toronto a snow storm hit the very same day… The weather here has started to co-operate a wee bit more, but I am left longing for my home town. On Sunday night was the great gold medal game of men’s hockey: Canada vs. the U.S. When Crosby scored the winning goal in overtime the response of the city was darn near deafening! It was fascinating to hear the rumble and screams that erupted from Dundas square and vibrated all the way up Yonge street. Horns wouldn’t stop going till late into the night. The Olympic hangover as it was named left the country with an exhaustion, but hardly anyone could hold back the smile of our Canadian pride. I think that’s all the exciting news for now… I joined a new yoga studio this morning and took two classes.. It seems to have a great amount of variety so I’m excited. I miss all my friends and family, and its only 36 weeks till I am finished here (its longer then it sounds)!

Olympic entertainment

Ayla and I

The Olympic Torch

Driving to Whistler... I LOVE OUR MOUNTAINS AND VIEWS!

Looking Towards the Future

And so it goes, another semester is coming to the end as we finish our final exams at school. This will mark my half way point through the program and start the last 9.5 months I have to serve in Toronto. It seems bittersweet right now because I have succeeded in so many things here that have allowed me to move on, but as with the end of every semester, the impending departure of some of my fellow students is starting to look more certain. Its always hard saying goodbye. But worse then that is not being able to say goodbye at all because things end before you know it. Its also given me a reflection for life. No matter what you are going through, there are aspects of your life that are still bright. You may be having a bad day, but somewhere someone is sick, someone is starving, someone lost their home, someone has died. These seem like the obvious stereotypes that would be mentioned, but if you look around you can find them anywhere. This musing isn’t meant to be depressing, but rather more for the purpose to evoke a new appreciation for the opportunities that God gives us each day. We may not always be privileged enough to have everything easy, but we can look at making each day what we want it to be. I feel like I need to remember that more, and make my future as bright and happy as possible…

My Visitor

On Saturday I had another visitor to the city of Toronto. My dear friend Darwin decided to come say hello on route to Cancun. Words can not describe how jealous I was as we envisioned the warm air he would soon be embarking to as the degrees here dropped to minus 19 (oh cruel world!!)… It was nice to have a blast from my (not so long ago) Vancouver past. It has made me miss and reminisce about my beloved city, but has also done well to pump me up for my impending trip home! 8 SLEEPS! Hurray! There I know I will have much to do (what with the manis and pedis and vintage shopping with Ayla… Oh what a tough life?) .. Not to say it won’t be well deserved after this semester! But in the meantime as I am going into exams, many hugs and loves are sent out, and I am seriously missing all of my lovies! Xoxo!

Darwin and I half asleep as it was early in the am and he had just come off a red eye flight.

But hurray for visitors!

What came first? The Chicken or the Cook?

In Toronto I have decided to try and learn some new things. Dental hygiene and teeth aside I have decided to try and make myself slightly more domesticated. This involved a 2 for 1 sale at Metro, a new found desire to be able to cook as well as a 1950s house wife, and the newly 4 whole chickens I purchased. Well 3 of them now reside in my freezer I took the first one as a chance to practice my new found art of channelling Julia Child and my inner chef. Can you tell what movie I may or may not have watched recently? Anyways I soon learned I needed to invest in a pan and a rack and a few other odds and ends. Though it was slightly stressful and took far longer then the 1 hour the internet recipe had promised me, the results were not disastrous. Henrietta (so I named my chicken) was ever the loving bird and joined me for dinner. I waited a few days before I posted this to ensure that food poisoning did not find me, and now I am assured I am still healthy and alive! So voila! Here is Henrietta in all her glory! (And aside from bragging that I made my own gravy from the drippings… the meal… was amazing!)

Fresh out of the oven!

I have never carved before so I was excited it came out so flawlessly!

And my yummy dinner!

A Sandbox Day

Today has been sort of a rough day. I won’t elaborate on the various things that all seemed to come together to collapse every hope and dream I’ve had for myself over the next few weeks, but will simply leave it as a day I wouldn’t much want to repeat.

(Saw this on the internet and it reminded me of my brother's cities)

It makes me think about the sandbox. My father built one for my brother and I when we were little and it was an amazing place to play. I always loved to come to the sandbox and see all the amazing cities and tunnels that had been built. Then to relieve my stress I played Godzilla and crushed them all. The only problem was I was never the one to build the city in the first place. Dexterity was not my greatest concern at 3 years of age. My older brother would always return to see his hard work and toil spoiled by his younger sister of 5 years.

(Another from the internet.. who doesn't love city crushing?)

The point of this memory is that not only was it a carefree time for me, but one of great adversity for Jason. So many days I wish that I could go back to being younger and not have to deal with what seems like the weight of the world, and yet there is a time when we are all going to have to deal with it. Jason kept building the cities no matter how many times they got knocked down. And taking a page out of my 3-year-old-self’s book, there’s nothing I couldn’t conquer then, so why let it change now? Especially when you have God’s help.

Oh Milo Where Art Thou?

We have been subjected to it before. Ads and campaigns that lead us to note the similarities in physical characteristics between us and our pets. I never figured Milo and I looked much alike, but I have noted similarities personality wise. Its a chicken and the egg question - does us living together for years make us like each other, or is it that we just possess these qualities naturally?

I have been super busy with school and haven't given much attention to Milo lately. Two days ago I came home and he tried for 2 hours to get my attention. Finally he peed on my curtains. I know I deserved it, but was still annoyed. Musing why he does sadistic actions towards me I reflected my own immature behaviour. When my wonderful boyfriend wasn't picking up on my subtle hints that I was annoyed one day, I may or may not have tossed water on him while he was taking a nap. I assure you he was just as annoyed with me as I was to Milo. Neither the cat nor I came out ahead in our actions.

But personality also shines through. I can never believe how much Milo tries to talk to me. When I moved to Toronto and my mother put him on the phone I cried as he meowed his complaints of her sub-care (according to him) and what I would like to assume was his perpetual missing of me. Now that he's here, when I come home from school, he comes to the door and tells me (what I assume is in excessive detail) all about his day. I would complain about this non-stop banter, but there is the realisation of just how much I like to talk. The only difference is I have technology (such as my lovely blackberry) and friends (including those in different time zones) to aid me in my excessive need to communicate 24/7.

The list can go on and on, but the third thing I would like to note is how much we both dislike our current living situation. Toronto (as fun as it could potentially could be) renders us lifeless. Living here and going to school has deprived me of the joy of my social life, old friends, and my boyfriend. Milo is also feeling the crunch. He no longer has the freedom to spend his days outside catching rats and taunting birds; he doesn't get to walk to the park and see the new sights; and worst of all: he left his life-partner "Spiffy" behind. (Yes, Milo is a homosexual and its quite alright thank you very much)! .. (and no, we don't have that in common)... (Although... we could put another common interest as men...?) Anyways moving on...  We have decided that living in an apartment may not be all its cracked up to be, and at least for us, living right down town in the city.. well... we can do without.

Currently he's beside me having some sort of nightmare and growling in his sleep.. I wonder if his are of his teeth getting extracted and of gingival mutilation? ..No.. we probably don't have that in common either.. At least we both know at the end of the day we can curl up together and find some comfort that we still have each other.

Christmas in the Creek

A very merry Christmas to everyone! (Or whatever your preferred holiday is). I had a very busy holiday break in which I headed back to beautiful British Columbia to the sweet little town of Cache Creek. There I got to spend an amazing vacation with my boyfriend and his family.

There were many fun activities to keep us busy! Everyday was a hockey game on their frozen pond out back, sadly I am a figure skater and am still learning to skate in hockey skates. (Which I finally have my own pair! Hurray!)

Two days in a row we set out cougar hunting and I learned how to identify different tracks and how to determine if they were fresh or not. On the third day Mark and I didn't go and that was the day they caught the cougar. (Lucky for me as I'm still not willing to witness any shooting). It was amazing how many fires were built while we were out there too! The second day was more fun because Mark drove us on the quad and everything looked like a perfect winter wonderland.

Day 1 Cougar Hunting: Blaze and Anika driving the truck

Hounds waiting for the hunt

Starting one of several bon fires

Jake chopping down a tree

Tracks

Day 2 of cougar hunting, beautiful nature views on a quad

The next adventure was snow mobiling in Revelstoke.. but getting there wasn't without its difficulties...

Flat tire on the trailer

Getting the truck ready

Luanne getting pumped

Big oops...

The truck almost went over the edge

4 sleds piled on top of each other.. and surprisingly little damage

Rhett and Brent thought it was pretty funny

But despite everything we finally made it!

Just a little chilly!

Back at the house Jhett fights and cries like no tomorrow while being put into his snow suit.

Until he realizes he gets to go play in the snow!

NYE hot dog and marshy roast

The big bonfire

Blaze hunting for more marshmellows

New years day: Clay pigeon shooting

Leah and Blaze

The Flett Family and a few plus ones :)

So that has been the last few weeks! Now I'm back in Toronto with Milo working hard to finish semester two... Only 5.5 weeks left till I get to go back to Vancouver! I can't wait!