evidence of truly Mennonite blood...

Saturday was supposed to be a fairly uneventful day around here. I wanted to study all day, Michael was going to do some groceries and bring our dried out christmas tree to the park where they are collecting them to make wood chips for the animals at the zoo. I told Michael to take his time with going to the store because it's much easier to study when he's not at home (I was going to go to the library, but figured I'd capitalize on the chance to study on the couch snuggled in a blanket while he was out). Well, he was gone a long long time. So I innocently asked what took so long. He told me that he got some Christmas lights while he was at the park, because people had dumped their trees lights & all.

He then was bold enough to share just HOW MANY lights he had gotten: "the trunk and the back seat are full" he tells me. At this point there's already a glare forming on my face, so he quickly jumps in with, "but they were free, what a waste of money to throw them all out, somebody can use them!" Yes, but not us! Nor we do need crowd our precious storage space with yet another item for someday when we or someone we know might need them. Some of you are on his side, some of you are on mine, whatever.

It's kind of a funny thing, throwing things away makes me feel good, and it makes Michael feel awful. We cut a deal. I said that they had to be sorted and given away (less the few strands that we would keep) within a month. So I marked my calendar because on February 20th, I'm hoping to experience the joy of throwing away those lights and reclaiming some storage space! I'll keep you all posted on what happens on that date!

here's the proud hero of the lights!

i went to the opera tonight!

I'm bursting with things I want to share right now in the heat of the moment, and Michael is unavailbe at this instant because he is playing Settlers with the guys. Therefore I have no one to talk to, except for you unsuspecting blog readers! I've completed my first full week of classes, and finally got registered for the one class I was sitting in on but not really in. I'm taking 4 courses again this semester. They should be pretty good. One class is Food: composition, function & nutrition. It's just going to be a bunch of facts, somewhat science based, but it's entertaining to listen to the prof. He's an older Englishman who thinks he's pretty funny, so we end up laughing because he's laughing at himself. He's got the classic British dry humor. Then there's Corporate Finance, which I think I will find easier than intro to accounting. I have the same prof, and he's really good at what he does (and he's part of a minority in the school of business who's native language in English). I'm also taking a class called Communication for Professional Practice. This course is required for all Human Ecology students. It's about communication skills, particularly in the form of presentations (aka public speaking). I was a little scared about this class, but I think it will be alright since all of the presenting happens in lab, where there is only 16 people. The scariest project is the presentation that we have to get video taped for and then watch ourselves; that just doesn't sound like fun! And, I've saved the best for last! I'm taking an elective this semester (this is the class I had a hard time getting into). The course is called The Well-Tempered Concert Goer. I'm super excited about this. Anyway, to sum up: it's a classical music appreciation class. The requirements are to go to 9 concerts (they're already chosen) and write a 1-2 page response to each concert. There's no textbook, no exam, just the papers and classes to go that give us some background and history on what we are going to hear. And that is why I was at an opera tonight. Well, more accuartely, parts of six operas. It's put on by U of M vocal students. One of them was in German, I enjoyed that one quite a lot because I could understand the gist of what was going on. We had the story lines explained to us, but when you can piece the words actually being sung together, there's some pretty humorous stuff going on. I can't believe how outrageous the plots and story lines are! So, I think I could really get into opera, except for two things: listening to an opera sung in English just doesn't sound as good, and you miss out on a lot if you don't understand the language that is being sung. (guess maybe I should learn some other languages) Like one of them was in French, and there were people in the audience who obviously understood stuff I didn't because they were laughing and I didn't know why. Anyway, it was good, I'm really looking forward to learning stuff in this class, and just learning how to listen and understand classical music better.

no more mild winter...

This is our house on New year's Eve. We have since gotten even more snow.

And the picture on the right is Dan & Jen's car...it could almost have passed for a giant frozen marshmallow! It's definitely been cold the past few days. Today was expecially bad (I got a lecture from Michael to "bundle up," like I need it, I hate to be cold!) The temperature has been around -30 the past few days, before windchill (with I think it was like -45). I knew it was bad this morning when our digital thermometer didn't have numbers on the screen, only the letters OFL. What does that mean, awful? Well, it was awfully cold, that's true. So, we've discovered that it doesn't read anything colder than -29.9 degrees. The thing I can't get over is how wimpy all these tough Manitobans are being. Some schools were even closed today and people are just chickening out and staying home instead of be brave and getting out there to stick with their commitments! I just want to gloat a little, since they always talk about BC people and how the whole world grinds to a halt at the slightest sign of snow. I'm quite proud of myself for being a tough BC girl and going to school without complaining!

got my marks back...

So I think the toga picture from an earlier post at least provides evidence that I earned my good marks! I did really well this term, I think technically my GPA is the highest I've ever had for a specific term. Mmmm, I got slightly better grades after Michael and I started dating, now that we're married they improved slightly again...does this mean having a baby would get me straight A's???

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.