A Collection of Observations After Living In Canada for Two Months

1. Speed limits on the highways are not really limits...they're more like 'guidelines'. The same applies to  parking spots, and handicapped parking spaces. 
2. 80mph is not fast enough on the highway. Apparently. 
3. Your windshield will have at least 2 large rock chips in it, if not a huge crack running the entire windshield
4. Freezing nose hairs tickle
5. People don't panic about driving in blizzard conditions or on ice
6. I don't panic when driving in a blizzard or on ice anymore 
7. Don't ever tease someone by yelling "Moose!!!" while they're driving. You might be joking, but the chances of it being true are actually surprisingly high
8. I can't get lost in this town...this is a good thing. 
9. I need a lot more practice snowboarding. 
10. There is an art to shoveling one's driveway. I have yet to master it. 
11. People don't know that a Vancouver outside of British Columbia exists...Canadians get very confused when you tell them you're from Vancouver, WA...good luck with that. 
12. Do yourself a favor and stop before all logging truck roads. 
13. After a week of -30* (or lower) weather,  4* feels warm and makes you want to break out the tank tops and shorts. Almost.
14. If you're in the least bit pretty, people with stare at you when you go places. I realize this might sound a bit conceited but there have been times when people stare at me like I suddenly sprouted a second nose...
15. Canadians are nice. Mostly.  ;-) 

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole

The goodness of twice-baked potatoes made little easier and a little faster! A crowd pleaser - I made a double batch of this on Super-Bowl Sunday and there weren't any left-overs!

5-6 large potatoes or 8-10 medium potatoes
1 package cream cheese softened
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 sweet onion
1 Tbls fresh minced garlic
1 lb cooked bacon chopped
1 Tbls dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dried chives

Scrub Potatoes (don't peel) and chop into pieces. Boil until cooked through (should be soft when poked with a fork). Chop the onion finely and saute in 1 Tbls olive oil and 2 Tbls butter along with the garlic.
Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the chopped/crumbled bacon, sauteed onion and garlic. Make sure this mixture is well combined. Mash the potatoes with the remaining butter - don't mash too thoroughly, you want the potatoes a little 'chunky'. Add the cream cheese mixture. Spread into 9x13 greased baking dish and garnish with remaining cheddar cheese and sprinkle with dried chives. Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes. The edges should start to look a little bit crisp. Enjoy!

*This is my original recipe - took the basic idea of twice-baked and modified and added to it!* :-)

Modern Tech and Colors That Do Not Belong

(Ah... The wonders of modern technology! I'm blogging from my iPhone-so not sure how I'm going to be able to go back to a regular phone after this-can tell you right now- it ain't happenin' !)

Well, it finally happened. I did it. Something I swore I NEVER would do. And yes. I'm regretting it.

 I colored my hair with box coloring. But not just any coloring from a box - the WRONG color. Which I thought was the right color, but alas was grossly mistaken. I was simply trying to help my roots out...

 And now? I have orange roots.

Yes.

Orange. The word that nothing else rhymes with.

Just. Orange.

I can hear all the hairdressers in my life lifting up their voices in anguish and rending their garments. Believe me, I am too.

And as part of my penance - here is a picture of it. *the grimace is born out of fear of judgement and shame*

See? Orange. 

I'm trying a home remedy to see if  I can tone it down a little, though at this point, I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna have to wait it out. *sigh* Oh wisdom? Why didst thou forsake me?

My sentiments for the day

I could blame cold medicine for the fogginess of my head today, only I haven't taken any yet. But on a good day, this is generally my take on life: 

And there you have it. 

Meanwhile, back at the Batcave:

The Christmas Shopping was done.
Let the wrapping frenzy commence. The sad news: I'm out of my cute oldish-fashioned Santa paper. The good news: I have lots of curling ribbon, some glittery accessories and tulle! :-)

I can't seem to think of an appropriate title....

A new year is coming and with it new beginnings. As I write this, it’s 5 days until Christmas. The fireplace is going, the dog lying in front of it. The Christmas tree is lit up.  Pandora is playing in the background. It’s a lovely cozy scene, except my hands are cold.

I don’t think I’m a great writer. I don’t pretend to have hugely inspirational things to say and my ramblings are random at best.  I mostly find that my feelings and thoughts are summed up in others’ words, mostly those of musicians. How they manage to do it is beyond me.  My good writing is usually in the something-many-page scientific research paper. Probably because I can let my completely nerdy self out and have at it. Trying to share your thoughts with people is a lot harder than it sounds.

 I’ve been going through a different sort of journey this year than I thought I would. Nothing went the way I had planned.  I was going to get a job right out of college. The Dream Job. Working with horses. Building that savings account back up. Working in the field that I had dreamed about since I was 7. Not so much.  People would tell me “It’ll all work out.” “Keep looking.” “Have you tried this” “Did you look here?” “What are you doing with your time?”  “Are you even looking?”

No. I’m not looking. I’m sitting on my bum, eating chocolate all day and twiddling my thumbs.  And yes. I have looked here. And there.  I’ve been looking.  At least that’s what I wanted to say. But I didn’t.  That’s because I know at the heart of it, those people care.  They are concerned.  They love me.

So yeah. My summer didn’t go exactly how I planned it. But in the big picture, that’s the beauty of it. If I had done all the things I had planned on – I wouldn’t have gotten to the things I didn’t plan on. Like going to Poland with my church team and meeting 25+ new amazing friends, and being a last minute kids camp counselor - meeting more new friends, going to help minister to my Grandma in Ohio and get her house in order so she can move out here to be with us, her family, taking a weekend trip to Nashville and Lexington with a cousin. None of those would have taken place if my life had worked out like I had planned. Thank God I’m not in charge.

My newest adventure is coming up in the New Year. I’m moving. Not just out of state. I’m moving out of the country. I got a job working for a Canadian company in Alberta, owned by my brother-in-law and his family. It’s not a job with horses.  It’s not what I was hoping for. But then again, it is. I had been praying for work. And this is the door the God opened for work. It’s not the door I was expecting but it’s the door I’m walking through.

Moving has been an idea for so long, that the actuality of it seems a little strange and slightly daunting.  I’m excited about the change, but I know it’ll be hard leaving everything that is familiar and dear here.  The bonus is that I’ll be living with my older sister and her family. That will make a difference.  Friends that have been in similar situations have been very encouraging.  It’s a new place and new people.  And no matter where I go, I’m still in Jesus’ hands. That’s the best part.

“Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low.

Oh no You never let go

Lord you never let go of me.”

-Matt Redman 

Having a Pity-Party for Myself & Only I'm Invited

I hate job hunting. I've been looking for work for over 6 months now and nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. I feel like it's taken me so much time and energy and money to get to where I am. It was scary to leave my secure job with its good pay and cushy hours and benefits and great bosses and leap into the huge void of "The Unknown". School was so tough, but so rewarding. Hours upon hours spent in the cold and rain, slogging in the mud and muck, staying up until all hours of the morning studying, clinging to cups of coffee like a drowning man's lifeline, getting slimed, pooped on, thrown off, kicked, stepped on. But I loved every minute of it. And now it's done. And I thought that was the hard part. Turned out I was wrong.

It's so very easy to get discouraged when you pour so much of yourself out and you can see God's hand orchestrating every move along the way to come to the end and feel like His hand has been removed. I mean - like- WHAT HAPPENED? What did I do wrong?

Hence the pity-party.  And now I'm done. *Straightens shoulders - lifts chin*

I didn't do anything wrong. I have to remember that. And I need to take to heart the words I keep hearing myself say to everybody else: "God is faithful."  So much for having a pity-party. Kinda hard if ya have to believe that right?

"There is something about the outside of a horse

...that is good for the inside of a man." Yes, Mr. Churchill, you were very correct. :^)  My cousin Laura and I headed out for Lexington KY this morning. We were at the Kentucky Horse Park pretty much all day, walking through the park seeing what there was to see, taking our own leisurely tour, petting horses, watching the shows. I warned her at the beginning that I was going to go all teeny-bopper goofy crazy on her when we got there. :^) That was ok with her. I've been to Kentucky before but not to the horse-park. I very clearly remember my very first visit to the Bluegrass state - I was 5 years old and we visited Spendthrift Farm. I think it was shortly after that (about 7 years old) that I decided to become a jockey....hehehe...yeah, that panned out really well for me at my now 5'9&something inches tall...

Anywho...it was a fantastic time.

yeah!

"Be-A-Bono" Quarter Horse Racing 2004 World Champion 

Parade of Breeds show 

I think I was born in the wrong state...*sigh*   

Galavantin'

Yesterday Gram and I hit the streets of Cincy to see what we could see. Of course, it had to rain, so we diverted our original plans of tall-building visiting, etc. Instead we went to the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati. I'd never been and it was a fascinating and extremely sobering look at our country's history. I learned things I hadn't before. It was another of those moments for me where I realized that all the studying in the world and all the movies and all the replicas built will never be enough to make those of us who didn't live in those times understand what those who did, went through. I had a few such moments in Poland when visiting some of the WWII memorials. While I can't fully understand the experience of those involved in the Underground Railroad and all the turmoil that was involved, I can still be thankful for the life and gifts I have been given through God's grace.

Freedom Flame 

Gram and I did enjoy the museum and afterwards hit Skyline Chili for some lunch. If you haven't experienced a 5-way - I'm sorry for you.  Being that it was so late in the afternoon when we ate, I had a 5-way and a Coney-Dog. :^) And I was happy.  (The pic is a little blurry - I was using an unfamiliar camera)

 5-way = Spaghetti, Skyline Chili, Beans, Onions and CHEESE! 

Other photos I took - so gloomy out

PNC Bank Building 

Another cool tall building 

The John Roebling Bridge - prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge  

Over the bridge into Kentucky

Lately

For the past 2 weeks I have been in Cincinnati, OH helping my grandma (who I generally address as "gram") :^) clean out her house, have an estate sale and basically get her household stuff down to manageable size in the first steps of moving her out West. It has been no small task to wade through I-don't-know-how-many-years worth of stuff and help her scale down.
 My parents were out for the first part of the trip and have gone home. I'm just going to say that I have the most awesome parents!  God has really blessed me. Mom and I had (amidst the work) a lot of fun together sorting through stuff. And I will also say for the record that I have the coolest great-aunt in the world who works so tirelessly and pours out herself for us to make sure we were comfortable, fed and had laundry done. Oh, and not forgetting my favorite great-uncle, who I do believe is the most patient man in the world I have met. Ever. 
And Gram has been great too - it's a big step to have to face a lifetime of your things and decide what can stay and what needs to go. It takes a lot of courage to make a big step like this and I'm so proud of her for doing it. 
Sorting through the pictures and the Christmas and the jewelry and everything made me think of the passage from Matthew 6: 19-21 : Do not lay up for yourselves treasures in on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where  your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 
How easy it is to look at someone else's mess and judge their issues, but I feel God has used this time to remind me where my treasure is and how much to I store up the worldly goods - be they concrete or abstract- and ignore where my heart should be.

It's me...again...

Hello there, thanks for stopping by!  Welcome to my new and improved spot on the web! It's really nothing new in the vast field of bloggology, but it could be interesting. And then again, it could sputter and disintegrate into that pathetic landfill of neglected and unread blogs. We'll see. I'm ever the optimist.

Do you ever hate filling out those "about me" sections online? I do. I never know what to say in 1200 characters or less...it's a genetic issue I'm sure. :^) I started this new blog to tell my story. Thoughts on life, stuff I love. I like other people's stories (probably why I enjoy reading blogs...) And I like my story. Ok, so I don't like every single aspect of it, but it's still mine. It's full of people, places and just stuff! :^) And this is where I'm going to put it!

Things I love #1: Blue Jeans and boots - particularly my own - who cares about a little dirt!