Thursday Smiles (No.3)

Now I know you weren't expecting this! A come back after missing two whole weeks of a supposedly weekly blog post that is supposedly supposed to make me blog more...if you couldn't tell, it doesn't seem to be working... (my deepest apologies to those I have let down)

Anywho, I have been smiling a lot lately so I thought I'd better get on here and share before the moments fade into oblivion.

Firstly...THIS GUY!! Because my lil' nephew ALWAYS makes me smile and especially on this uncharacteristically warm day in the park, all geared up in a cool jacket and sweet hat from his grandpa. You gotta catch and love precious moments like these.

I've been finding some REALLY odd things lately and snappy pics with my shnazzy new iPhone as I see them. Decided they are well worth sharing because they defs made me smile! I mean come on! A dancing teapot?!?! Kissing pig shakers!?!? The giant "love" blob things...I have no idea...ask Target :) That M&M pack is just...And those little toy animals are actually close to frightening.

Lastly, some Instagram photos I snapped along my travels of the past week. Moments like these are just grand.

Beast Canadian :)

"I am man. I get out of the car on the highway and have a conference about what the hold up is."

 

John Deere Camo hat, Quicksilver T, purple plaid sweater, and cowboy boots...LOVE

Look around you.

Notice.

Smile.

Snap a photo.

Happy Thursday people!!

Also, yesterday was "leap day" and that's worth a whole pile of smiles all on it's own!!

Off the beaten path

I hear it's good to pave your own way,
to be original, to break the mold.
Apparently it's not admirable to just follow the trends,
stick to the easy road.
SO I decided to try it,
to push aside my inhibitions,
to venture beyond my comfort zone,
to branch out.
I stepped off the beaten path...

into a foot of snow
which quickly spilled over into my shoes
wet my socks and froze my ankles.
I almost fell over, gave a slight cry of shock
and scarcely missed jabbing my eye out on a tree branch...

as I scrambled back to the safe route.

And so I've decided to wear boots next time I go on an inspirational jaunt.

A Sad Day

The Stanley Cup FINAL! Game 7! Canucks vs Bruins!

Hockey with my buddies = best times

I don't think I have ever been this excited, anxious or stressed about watching a sport. Seriously, I've never been really into watching sports, much preferring to play but when it comes to hockey and the Canucks actually doing really well, well, I had to join in the spirit. I mean, maybe being Canadian does have something to do with it because though I've never really cared much about the sports world, when it comes to hockey, my interest is piqued. I've always cheered for the Canucks but never been a very good fan, I'll admit it (however, after this year I'll probably always be engaged in the whole thing because I've come to really enjoy watching them play).

Megan is Burrows, Gabriella is Kesler and Danae and I are the Sedin twins of course!

Anyways, all this to say, I've been hosting parties for most of the games the last series of the playoffs and had a blast hanging out with my friends and getting excited. So of course, game 7 we were gathered once again at my place to watch in horror as our team fought a losing battle. It was probably harder for us all because EVERYONE predicted a win for the Canucks and our hopes were so high only to crash down even harder. I mean really, it didn't affect me that much, but for the moment of sadness. It's definitely a good reminder not to make hockey and the Canucks into an idol...because...well, they will ultimately fail you in the end. (No, I'm not being pessimistic about future Canucks attempts at the cup, but just pointing out that it will not bring you happiness even if they do win.)

still keeping our hopes up

Anyways, so as anticipation mounted throughout the day, I made a fabulous Stanley Cup cake which...didn't really look like the Stanley Cup, more like a little boy's birthday cake...Danae and her friend blew up balloons, Mom and I made spaghetti for everyone and people started showing up. We were all so sure things would turn out just swell, but after the first period...well, we tried to stay positive.

facing the inevitable

As it turned out, the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup but you know, I don't even mind when I think about it because, my favourite part of the whole series was the chance to hang out with my friends and just get excited about something. Besides, we still got to eat my delicious chocolate cake, so all wasn't truly lost!

"the cake is a lie"

The saddest part of the whole thing was what happened in Vancouver that night. I think it's ridiculous to blame the hockey game because the people who started those riots came there intent on doing so no matter the outcome. It sickened me to watch the images of my fellow human beings lighting cars on fire, smashing windows and worst of all, beating other people. As I watched the terror unfold on my television amidst smoke and flames and broken glass tears welled in my eyes and slid down my cheeks. It's scary to witness a world without God. How we are to be saved from ourselves, for I am sure, without His grace, the whole world would dissolve into such chaos. It is sad that whenever I think of the Stanley Cup or hockey, those images will come to mind; sad that a few dozen drunken idiots can incite thousands to rage and rampage; sad that even one person would throw a brick in unbridled violence; sad to think of the life they have lived which would lead them to such a state. It was indeed a sad day, not because Canucks lost, not because our hopes were crushed but because we saw humanity in such a state of sinful, violent, evil display.

just chillin after the game, not doing anything illegal...unlike SOME people

For Just a Moment

For just a moment, I thought I saw the change arriving

I thought things would be different

For just a moment, I saw the light dawning

All was new and alive and lovely

For just a moment, the air sparkled with anticipation

The melody of birdsong was heard on the breeze

For just a moment, there was warmth

Bright smiles and laughter from all

For just a moment, I thought...Spring had arrived

Campus, April 22

But not yet – for the snow has fallen again

Not yet – for the cold has set in once more

Not yet – for the frozen ground resists new growth

Not yet – for Winter has yet to surrender his last grasping tentacles,

by sheer stubbornness holding the world in submission

Campus, April 25

All in good time, Spring flowers will persevere through the snow

All in good time, Spring sunshine will rebuke the biting wind

All in good time, Spring will have victory

For now, it is still Winter

For now, I must wait

For now, it's okay...for now...

Going to court

So today Lish, Jen, Cally and I went to the courthouse.


Wouldn't it be great if I just left it at that!?!? You'd all be like...WHAAAAAT??? WHYYYY??? ...or you might not really care and just move on...either way, I will tell you, don't panic! The reason was rather simple, Lish wants to get her passport so that she can come visit me in Canada (YAY!!!) and we tried getting the application from the post office but the person there was not of the highest intelligence and gave us the wrong paper SO off to the courthouse we went...so begins our story...

We walk in and see a sign saying "For Passports go to the courthouse on ....S. King St." so we are like...what? Where is S. King St. and WHY do they have TWO courthouses in this teeny-tiny town. So we ask the very nice helpful ladies there and they point out the front doors down this side street to the grey building. So we get in the car and head over, yelling at Cally (who is driving) that she passed it and we have to turn around and it is all quite hilarious. So we park and walk over to this very imposing building with big white columns and locked class doors with a sign "Push bottom to open door" and an arrow pointing right. So I go over to the right and there is like a little intercom thingy button and I go, "this button???" (of course there is also a little sign directly below it with an arrow pointing up which says quite clearly "button". No joke, the sign is there...so I press the button. We wait. Jen tries the door. A little short lady, dressed in severe looking clothing opens it asking what she can do. (we all immediately feel guilty and ready to turn ourselves in, like seriously, she was scary even in all her tiny shortness and I was like "AAAHHH IT WAS THE WRONG BUTTON" - in my head) Lish tells her we are looking for passport stuff and she points up the street to the other grey building...

So we head off to the THIRD COURTHOUSE, laughing our heads off at the whole situation and walk in to find a guy with like a big security scanning machine and computer and he asks what we are looking for...passports...and (hallelujah!) it's the right place. Upstairs we get the application and head out again (laughing of course).

After more conversation and debate in the car we head to DQ for icecream. As we drive in, Lish gives Cally a heart attack with a SUPER excited exclamation about a puppy she saw and (with more laughter) we make it into a parking spot. Now in  DQ, the guy at the till made our day with his witty statements and teasing as we make things complicated for him (Lish NEEDED a raspberry milkshake but it wasn't on the board so we had to ask and THEN she had to add pineapple to it.. luckily they have this ability at DQ so all was good). As usually happens when eating ice cream, the conversation moved happily through many amusing topics from Oreos to Canada to my brain to politics to ice cream to hugging the till-man (don't ask) and other such things.

All in all, it was a fantastic little excursion to town resulting in much enjoyment for all parties involved.

Find your Inner Woman 11: the old lady

As one should in collage, we had a crazy, random, hilarious party last night in which those age 25 and up had to dress young and those under 25 had to dress...elderly.

From baby to grave...

I have to admit, I was less than excited about the whole prospect going into it. I didn't have anything to wear and I just wasn't looking forward to it. Fortunately things changed as I talked about it more and made some plans with my friend Natalie. No sooner did we make one set of plans that they all changed when we made a random trip to Kmart and found THESE:

I know right? I can't believe they still sell this kind of thing in real stores! They were only 3 dollars to we had to buy them and I have to say, they were a hit. We first planned on using a rolly-chair as a wheelchair but then switched to this highchair walker instead. We had such a blast. We were laughing like lunatics, looking for people to play Bingo with and being just silly. I have to say, I quite enjoy acting like a crazy old lady, smacking people with my purse, making my back ache from leaning over the stupid "walker", wearing ridiculous clothes and talking like a weirdo. It was so amusing.

Best part of the evening was when Jared came in dressed as a baby with a SHAVED HEAD. I seriously screamed. The whole room was in an uproar it was SO funny. I can't even look at him with a straight face anymore.

Anyways, basically it was a lot of fun - good food, lots of laughter and lots of pictures (check the photos page for more).

Jess and her mom switched - SO funny!