totally off topic and not in chronological order...

Ok, so this was taken shortly after we moved, but I wanted to share it and brag a little (I stumbled upon the picture while looking for ones of our basement project). This table cloth was a birthday present from my Oma, she MADE it. pretty amazing, eh? This will definitely be a family heirloom!

the basement project...

ok, so i'm not so sure you'll ever get the pictures and story of the whole process, but we're at least ready to show off the finished (or nearly) finished product! Over Christmas break my Dad was here to help us install the ceiling. We also hired some expert help in the form of Michael's Dad, and our friend Jon (well, hired if you consider pizza dinner good pay). They spent all day helping, and then Michael and my Dad spent another whole day at it. Michael and finished up on Saturday, all that's left is to install some lighting in the hallway & bedroom. I thought I had pictures of the finished stuff, but apparently not. I'll keep looking for more!

christmas in austin

Michael and I were in Austin, MB from the afternoon of the 24th till the afternoon of the 26th, staying with his parents. We had a good time, it's always relaxing to spend time there. This year we tried something new: making a gingerbread house! I brought the already baked pieces along and put them together on the 24th in the evening.

On the 25th we had all the festivities: going to church, turkey dinner, and gifts. Here's the whole family hanging around, well exept for Mom is who taking the picture. (Stuart is anxiously waiting for the picture to be done to do you know what!)

We also decorated the gingerbread house. Here's a question for all of you out there: do you enjoy eating gingerbread houses? I don't personally like eating them, they're just fun to make. We actually ended up giving this one away. I thought was quite a masterpiece for a bunch of people who have never decorated a gingerbread house before!

And last, but not least we had a bit of fun with the quads in the snow...

merry christmas!

Hello all of you! Merry Christmas! For those of you whom I have lost track of and no longer have an address...here's our Christmas card, the electronic version. If you want the real thing next year, send a comment or an email with your mailing address in it! thanks!

our own little christmas

Well, this year we had our own little Christmas on December 23. It was very nice. I can hardly believe how much I enjoy just being at home without anything pressing to do. We're so busy, it's such a treat, well, more like a cause for celebration, when we get to sit on our own couch!

here's our tree:

and here's how our tree stayed standing:

If you look closely you will see the cord from the blinds is attached to our tree. Why you ask? Well, on December 14th we had our life group over for a Christmas potlcuk. Just as the first bunch of people was arriving, the tree fell over. I abandoned my door opening duties, and went to pick up the tree before water spilled everywhere (it didn't really work, but I tried). Michael had run out to get something and wasn't home, so I had to call "come in" and the first thing they saw was a living room floor strewn with ornaments. We all had a good laugh, they helped us figure out a way to get the tree to stay up (that where the blind cord comes in), and put the decorations back on.

I had a lot of fun wrapping Michael's gifts this year, he apparently likes big packages, so I obliged. Particularly with one gift he got, which was a memory card for his GPS, it's barely and inch square, but it was in a box that was 2 cubic feet big. It was full of crumpled up newspaper, felt like there was nothing in it, and Michael had to dig through it to find his treasure. After opening all our presents we had quite a mess but it was fun to throw at each other. (ok so that lasted about 30 seconds before Michael felt compelled to clean it up).

studying for finals...

Studying and eating go hand in hand right? Well, they probably shouldn't but in this particular shot they did. Michael took this and wanted to post it in order to embarrass me, but he'll probably not get around to it, and I'm not particularly embarrassed. He likes to make fun of my "toga." I tend to get a little cold when I study, but I've discovered that wrapping the blanket around me like a bath towel helps to keep the chills from setting in. I guess it does look a bit comical.

christmas with mom

well, I thought I'd just quickly share a few pictures of Christmas with my Mom when she was out (it was a little early, but we got out decorations and played Christmas music to get in the mood). we had a good time. I didn't do turkey for the three of us, so we had a cheese fondue instead, which was very tasty! We also watched Sound of Music, since Michael had never seen it. It was good, and I think he liked it. We watched the first half one night, and Michael was anxious to watch the second half. Thinking of movies, I still haven't had my annual dose of Princess Bride, I might have to do something about that...

this is me with a couple of my gifts. I also got a cookie scoop, flour sifter, and silicon loaf pan (now that I have a convection oven I can bake three loaves at once!) Thanks Mom & Dad!

here's Michael with his handheld GPS unit. (can you tell he likes it?) he takes it to work with him most days...not sure why, I don't think he could possible get lost, but he likes to see which route is shorter! Thanks again Mom & Dad!

uh oh....

This world is a cruel place! Ok, well, maybe just Winnipeg! Yesterday we had a warm sunny blue sky kind of day, 12 degrees C! I was thinking wow, this is really going to be a mild winter, I'm so lucky. Then, this morning as I walked to the bus I had the first sensation of freezing nose hairs! aaaah, horror of horrors! (it was only -12 degree C) If there is one thing I do not like about the cold it's the feeling of my nose hairs freezing and getting crunchy when I breathe in. Yuck!

qualified parent & conflict resolution expert...

Hey all! Wondering what the title means? I got my mid term back in a class called "Parenting and Child Development" I told Michael I got 94% and he figured that meant I was qualified to be a parent and we should get on with having kids...(I told him not yet). I also got a midterm back in a class called Conflict Resolution in the Family, with a 93%, so maybe that means I won't lose it and raise my voice with Michael anymore? Ok, so that's not quite reality, but I have found the class to be full of good information and useful skills that I can contintue to develop. Anyway, all this to say that despite all my worry and stress about falling behind in school, I am doing really well. It's like I finally got back into the groove of student life (my first round of midterms had lower marks). I think it's actually more than that. I think Michael has gotten into the groove of having a student wife and knowing how and when to help and just generally be supportive to me. I can't believe how close to the end of the semester it is (this is risky to say, but there isn't even snow on the ground!). This week I'm devoting my time to a group paper & presentation, it's a critique of a book called, The Power of Apology by Beverly Engel (we don't recommend it). Next week I review for a couple of final exams and then classes are over. It'll probably still be a little crazy, but it should be good. My mom is coming on Saturday and staying for a week, so that'll be cool. And it's not even the depths of winter yet, which will be good for her. We're going to be having our own little Christmas while she is here, yay! I don't want to make turkey, but I'll have to do something special. Maybe I should start by getting out the Christmas decorations. Well, Dan & Jenn are coming up for supper, so I have to go and get that started. Michael is working on a post about the basement, have patience. Bye for now!

2nd anniversary...

ok, so it was yesterday but I had an exam in the evening and we celebrated by going to Moxie's for the best dessert ever (white chocolate brownie) after the exam, it was a full day. If you were at our wedding, you've had it, since that's what dessert was. Michael brought flowers when he came home from work (he only had to work a half day), a beautiful bouquet of gerber daisies with sparkles. I'm feeling a little spoiled because I got flowers 2 weeks ago for the really bad day I had. I really have to toss them now, they don't look so good. Wanna hear about the bad day? It started on the wrong foot, but I can't remember why. Wednesdays are my longest day at school, maybe there was nothing for lunch. Anyway, when the day was finally over, I was leaving the Human Ecology building and I fell out (I hit ice on the first step down out of the building). No one saw me, so I sat there nursing my pain for a few minutes, my ankle and hand were letting me know that was NOT a nice way to exit the building. Then I got up and bravely limped to the bus. Being totally distressed and distracted I did not notice the number on the side of the bus. I pulled the chain for my stop, but it was already pulled, and the bus didn't stop. So I went up to ask the bus driver if his chain wasn't working and he pointed out that I was on the Express Bus, which doesn't stop till Confusion Corner. I turned red and went back to my seat. I now had to ride this bus several kilometers past where I really wanted to get off with a bunch of people who just heard me ask that stupid question. At Confusion Corner I could finally get off, walk a block and half, get on another bus that took 15 minutes to come, and ride back to my house. I got home at 6:15pm instead of the usual 5:45pm. Sigh. Back to the anniversary stuff...while we ate dessert I got a very mushy and romantic card with an invitation to a Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Concert (which I almost didn't see because it was hidden behind the inside layer of the card), we're going in early December, since from now until the end of semester is crunch time. Michael got a watch from me, which might be more exciting for me, since I don't have to keep getting his old one fixed now (it felt like a biweekly event, the band kept falling off)! I'm pretty busy with school, one more mid term, then a paper and presentation and then it's time to get ready for finals (two the first week of December, and two more in the middle of December). Year end for the Sunset books is also calling for my attention during the Christmas break. Michael is still busy with the same things, I'm going to try and go help out with the kids club when I can. I went last week, and this week Michael is leading on his own, so I'll probably go help him out. They are a pretty wild bunch of kids (mostly screaming girls), I must be getting older, I don't handle the noise very well anymore. Michael is also working on a post about our basement...have patience. We don't have any snow, except for a little patch from the pile where it was shovelled off the driveway. In fact it was the same balmy temperature of 8 degrees in Abbotsford and Winnipeg today! (granted the overnight temperatures are quite different and humidity there was 75% and here it was 50%, but I thought that was kind of neat) Well, I guess that's it for now...short and sweet. (yes...the pictures are still coming...December)