Reflections

Kingston, Ontario - May 22nd, 2010 - Road trip with my sister & niece.

It's about time: Reflecting, Re-evaluating and Rebuilding

I have realized that I need to make things more simple.

I want to feel inspired and excited about blogging, about writing again...

Instead I've taken so much time to think I need to perfect the space I blog in, that I've lost sight of what I wanted in the first place:

A blog that reflects who I am & lets me share the photos I love

I love the thought of a blog of my photos. I strive to update with more content and then fall by the wayside because real life keeps me busier than I'd like to be in order to update more.

And then I also think that my blog has to be so much more perfect than just what inspires little old me.

So in an effort not to try to be so stubborn, I will stop worrying about what anyone else thinks or does and just keep it simple: my passion - photos that only need a few words to tell the story of the life I love so much.

Until next time :)

5 Happy Thoughts:

1. Thinking about lists to make for my 35th year

2. Enjoying sunshiney moments after work

3. Tim Horton's Iced Cappaucino - sugar & caffeine extravaganza!

4. First pedicure of the spring / summer season

5. Hearing my nephew call me his aunty cawowyn, so much love.

o/` California Dreaming o/`

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey
I've been for a walk
on a winter's day

Fall is my favorite season.

I love Fall weather.

















(Shot of Park Bench in Bate Island Rest Area)

The sun still shines during the day reminding us of the Summer's hot days; but the cool crisp air reminds us that winter is on it's way just around the corner. I love that it is cool enough for a sweater, but a jacket is not needed just yet.

I love all the Fall colors.

Brilliant Red, Orange and Yellows swirling in the wind and finally falling off the trees.















(Shot of the city and changing leaves from above)

And then the stark contrast as the trees lose their leaves and come to rest against a grey sky for the long winter season.















(Shoreline in Kingston on Thanksgiving Monday 2009)

I love the smell and tastes of the season.

Hot chocolate, vanilla, apple cider and cinnamon that reminds me of Fall mornings. Of apples fresh from the Orchard, hot soups to warm you from the inside out. All the holiday goodies like Hallowe'en candy; Turkey, pumpkin and apple pie warm from the oven at Thanksgiving; shortbread cookies, butter tarts, fruitcake, and turkey with all the fixings at Christmas.















(Shot of our Thanksgiving Turkey 2009 - 1st Turkey attempt ever)

I love the way Fall makes me think about the cycle of life.

Perhaps it's the nesting and preparation for Winter or just an unconcious inclination towards hibernation; but I often find myself thinking about my role in the world, my family, and my own life at this time of year.

Reflecting on a new school year for my niece; remembering September 11th; getting back into the groove at work after a summer full of fun and play with a lighter workload; finding a routine that works; being thankful for what I have and taking time to reflect on that at Thanksgiving; remembering our fallen soldiers and veterans on Rememberance Day; and then getting ready to enjoy another holiday season that always comes so fast.
















(My nephew, my niece and I - October 2009)

There are so many reasons I love this season. I just wish Fall was not the bearer of the bad news every year that Winter will soon be here...

Until next time :)

The Sun Is Always There, Just Behind The Clouds...

I took this picture of the sun rising last Sunday, April 20th at 7:00am when we left home to start the drive to Toronto for a doctor's appointment I had on Monday. We picked up my mom in Kemptville and then started out on my journey.

It was a quick trip with us coming back Monday night, but was definitely worth the travelling. We were lucky and had beautiful weather and were lucky to stay with my aunt and uncle in Burlington overnight who we had not seen in some time so as well I got to enjoy their company the night before a stressful appointment with the surgeon to discuss gastric bypass surgery. We sat out on the patio, my uncle barbequed pork tenderloin and my aunt as always had made a lovely dinner for everyone.

The appointment went well, the wait was worthwhile as I am now on this waiting list for surgery and although I have many things to do before that, I am happy to hear that the wait is six to eight months and not one to three years like I had originally been told. I feel like things are finally going my way - my new government job begins in less than two weeks; I was so unsure about this appointment and it went well; and I still have an appoinment in June in Utica, New York to see about perhaps having surgery sooner, perhaps within a six to eight week period instead of months, but we'll see as I won't make my decision until I have all the information.

I feel as this sun is rising on a new day, that the better life I want for myself is within my grasp and the journey although long is very worthwhile.

Until next time :)

101 things in 1001 days

So I decided since I had really not accomplished enough on my list and that I had thrown the list together to get it up and running by January 1st, 2008 that I would amend the list a little and then start again on my birthday, April 18th, 2008.

I hope to update more about it, and actually be able to complete more now that the better weather is here. I really dislike that I was not able to get it done and need to start again, but better to try again then to completely abandon the list as a failure... besides I have completed a few of the items - went to a concert in February, try to laugh more, been trying to sort out my health more, going to my consult for wls on Monday, went to a support group for wls, use my flickr account more and so I will begin again and try to fulfill another goal - procrastinate less!

And so all my posts are not text only lately - a photo of my recently updated magnet inspiration board:


















Until next time :)

What goes up, must come down...

So I've been a little busy...

After having my contract extended twice at the company I was working for, the company was bought out and in the first 30 days they have made many, many employee changes - including not renewing any terms for contract employees. I had been told numerous times not to worry too much when the first talk of them being bought happened as my boss wanted to hire me permanently as soon as the circumstances allowed. Unfortunately, that never happened - might have been a good thing as knowing what one of my co-workers made, I doubt they would have offered me enough money to make it worthwhile...

I finished my last day Friday March 28th and advised the employment agency I was working through that I would again like to be on their available list. I started the job search Monday morning, hoping to find something more fulfilling and a bit better paid without having to work in a call centre. Most of my experiences in the last few years were in a call centre, and I am good with customers, but I did not want to do this again as I am tired of being chained to a desk, tethered by phone cord. I am going to miss the flexibility of my last contract and how it felt to be trusted to get my work done and not worry about when I took a break as long as the work got done... And the people were great too.

So my time since has been spent job searching, following up with the employment agency, helping with my nephew when his sister, my niece, goes to school every day and sorting out the doctor appointments needed to pursue my wls surgery journey.

In trying to take care of my health, I had an appointment with my sister's gynecologist; he was not taking new patients, but with my doctor's referral he did so as a favor to my sister as I have not been able to find one here in the city since I moved back. He was great, I was worried I wouldn't like him as I have usually had a female gynecologist; but he was really professional; friendly and straight up. He has referred me for an ultrasound and blood work and then we'll go from there... so I feel better about taking care of my inner workings and that it is another step in the right direction to a healthier me.

And then on the very same day, I had my appointment; I received some good news that afternoon... In October, I worked for a month as a clerk at Passport Canada in Gatineau before budget cuts ended our contract for about 60 employees. I really enjoyed the job, was good at it and worked independently, listening to my mp3 player. So I was a little upset when it ended so abruptly as I was hoping it would lead to longer employment and a way into other government jobs... Shortly after this ended, a close friend who works in HR in the government and is always keeping her eye out for available positions to send to people she knows, forwarded me an email letting me know that the Passport office was hiring again for 2 positions. I quickly applied and prayed that it would be my way back in. However, the government hiring process can take some time and since it was not the first government job I applied for, I wasn't holding my breath.

The website the government uses to post jobs and their status; kept postponing the results by a month every time I logged in... and then in March, the hiring process was put on hold indefinitely... So to say I was surprised when they called me on Thursday, would not be a strong enough word to describe the shock I was in when I was speaking to the agent from their office. I wrote everything down just so I would not think I was dreaming when I got off the phone.

Well after many hoops including an exam in early December that had me freaking out and a very thorough security check, I secured a year long contract with the Passport office starting May 5th. I am so excited about this, estatic might not even describe how happy I am to finally have made it through to the position since I have been on another government list for their pool of administrative candidates for almost 3 years without any headway.

And funnily enough, when it rains it pours as later that afternoon I not only received confirmation of a one day reception contract I fulfilled for 10 hours on Friday but as well was contacted about another job in a technical call centre...

Alright, well I'm off to do some errands and take care of my emissions test for my vehicle so I can renew the license plates before the end of the week...

Until next time :)

Beautiful Butterflies...

Recently Kay and I decided we wanted to try completing the Weekend Creative Prompt from Ali Edwards website to make a Spring Mobile. I asked Kay after looking at other photos of mobiles on Flickr what kind of mobile she would want to make, and she liked Ali's butterflies so much that she decided she would like to make a butterfly one as well.

So Friday night last week, I stopped at Michael's to pick up a dowel to hang the finished butterflies from, and some wooden butterflies. I was sure I had enough paints, sparkles and embellishments in my scrapbooking and craft supplies to finish the butterflies. I bought 8 butterflies but we only ended up using 6 and I think that will be more than enough to space across my bathroom window.

So Saturday afternoon, we decided to paint the butterflies. Kay decided on yellow, purple and blue, so I painted mine the same colors. We finished the painting the next day and then began to decorate the butterflies. We added stamps, glitter, sparkles and even mettalic daisies:

My first yellow butterfly - painted, then mod podged to hold the glitter sparkles on to the paint and then I added a daisy to give it some depth.














Kay's first buttefly - painted blue, then stamped with ink on star and heart foam stamps, then she added glitter and her own daisy.


















So even though I am not a great artist when it involves anything besides scrapbooking, I thought we did a great job, it makes me smile whenever I see it as it reminds me of the fun we had making it too.

Until next time :)

Oh What A Night!

Sean and I spent Valentine's together at a Blue Rodeo concert at Scotiabank Place. I was lucky enough to be one of the few people to respond to the email that went around offering free tickets to Blue Rodeo, I think it had to do with the fact that I responded a minute after it went out.

I only found out I got a pair on Monday morning after Sean had suggested alternate plans of dinner and a chick flick :) And then I lucked out some more in being the first one to pick up our tickets, so I also received a free parking pass in one of the closer lots to the building. This is key in not spending an hour afterwards getting out of the parking lots and onto the road for the drive home.

The music was great, I couldn't have asked for a better date night. Sean and I enjoy spending V-day together but don't always go all out for this crazy holiday, we're happy to take the time all year round to remember to show that we love and appreciate each other. Our tickets were for a box seat that the company I am on contract with holds jointly with 2 other companies. We had the 2 seats in the first row on the right of the box, it was cozy and a pretty good angle to the stage. I think if we were on the other side of the box we would not have been able to see as much. The box was in the 100 level, so it was a great location.

The opening act, Cuff the Duke, was not a band I've ever heard of and as I was anxious to hear Blue Rodeo, I probably was a little more harsh in deciding if I liked them or not... the lead singer was pretty good, but some of their songs were a little hard to hear. We found out later that they don't usually play such a large venue. I enjoyed them when they came back out for the last few songs with Blue Rodeo at the end of the night.

I have loved Blue Rodeo's music since highschool and I have seen them live a few times now, but they never get old, and I really enjoyed their new songs they played as well. It was a very good show... my pictures were a little dark, but I was estatic that Sean thought to use my video option to record part of their last song of the set - the last encore which closed the show - Lost Together.



Until next time :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love you monsters :)

Pretty as a Picture...

Okay so I'm a little behind in the challenge as I'm starting from scratch on the 13th day of the year, but life is not defined by accomplishments or failures, but what you do with the lesson you learn from those good or bad experiences... so I shall try again.

I am participating in a quest to keep a paper journal for a full year as part of the livejournal community challenge called embodiment.

The community closes each January 1st and I believe 2008 makes my third attempt for this challenge. Last year I sort of stopped writing in March, so this year I would really like to hang in there for the whole year. Especially since I want to document my 101 things in 1001 days challenge I am participating in.

So this is the simple journal I've created for myself - it is just some paper from a Costco paper stack I had with some glitter chipboard letters from the dollar store and a piece of 4x6 cardstock I cut down to cover a blank lined composition book to create this:


Until next time :)

Getting Back on Track...

So I'm working on my 101 things to do in 1001 days - you can check out my 101 things on the side of my blog. I haven't gotten much done yet, I don't want to make excuses, but a friend passed away recently and I've been a bit discouraged and sad since her death. However, I've realized that she was the type of person that would not really let anything get in her way, and probably would kick me in the butt to get busy, so I am determined to get back on track starting today!

I've managed to write in my written journal almost every day which I hope to keep up with. I've been drinking more water. I cleaned the bathroom pretty thoroughly in the last week which is a task I hate doing. There are a few goals that are easier than others on my list, but some require time and planning and/or money.

I think the next one I will complete is sending a Congratulations card to my cousin as he got engaged over Christmas. You would think this would not need to be a goal, but we don't talk and haven't seen each other in some time. He's on my dad's side and ever since my dad passed away when I was 15, I've had very little contact with that side of the family. At one time in life, I would have said this cousin was my best friend as we were only a year and 3 days apart in age, and I had always wanted someone who was like a big brother to me, but we moved away and I saw him less and less. There has been so much drama over the years with my grandmother that most days it is just easier this way, but I want to at least try to resolve the ill feelings that are there. All I can do is try, and if they are not willing than I can at least feel good about trying.

I never really got going on the photo a day but I am going to start that again. I have posted a few times between this blog and my livejournal, and I've taken some photos, but not enough to feel like I've worked on my goals. Well as they say, today is a new day and I won't give up on being successful. Besides, this list is for me, not anyone else, so the measure of my progress and how I feel about failure and success at this is all up to me. I signed up for this challenge to see what I could accomplish, so we'll see where the JOURNEY takes us!

Until next time :)

Sisters and Brothers...

It just doesn't get much better than this! My niece giving her little brother a big squeeze.

Happy December 1st!

Until next time :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love the holidays!

It's one of my favorite times of year. I love the holiday tunes and could listen to them all year round, although that would drive the people around me crazy. I get excited about what surprises I can give and how I can help to make other people full of the Christmas spirit as well. I just can't help getting caught up in the festive mood of the holidays.

And this year, we've actually just had our first snow storm, as last year I don't remember there being much snow before Christmas... My sister took some photos of our first snow.

The snowman made by our neighbor's son:


My niece's version of a snowman:

Until next time :)

Journal a quote... or two

Well in my effort to work on the thisisme journal challenges, I completed a page about my favorite quote which I talked a bit about in my previous post.

Here is the lay out I completed for the quote challenge:



I have to find a better surface to use to photo my layouts. I made this one fairly simple as not to draw away from the quote.

The title letters for life were chipboard with glitter accents which I've never used before. I don't usually like my own handwriting but I didn't want to have to use that many letters and my printer was out of ink.

The photo below the quote is a picture of the planes that often fly quite low in our area as we are close to the airport. I love how the clouds look in the photo. The photo in the top left is a moo card of one of my florida pictures, and the small sun is a rub on I had as I am trying to use the supplies I have instead of buying new ones without knowing where I will use them.

Until next time :)

Little Moments

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

Way back in high school, I chose this quote for my yearbook graduation blurb as a reminder of those awkward growing years. I believed that life would not wait for anyone.

No matter what decisions I tried to make at that stage in life, I really had no idea how things would work out. As time has gone by, I have learned that no matter how much you try to plan things, life happens and it's our reactions to those events that help us to grow into the people we are meant to be.

When I was looking for the perfect quote for the yearbook as I was approaching high school graduation, these words were painted on a wall as graffiti in the movie 'Kuffs' with Christian Slater. They jumped out at me, screaming for me to brand these words into my memory.

I knew this would be my quote.

I don't think I really understood back then how applicable this quote would be to my life. When I do take time to reflect about the past and where it has brought me to today, I remind myself that life is not about having everything mapped out that we forget to just enjoy the little moments that happen day to day that bring our big picture into focus.

So when I realized along my journey that those words I attributed to Christian Slater's character were indeed the lyrics of a great musician, John Lennon, I was even more in awe of these profound words.

I have to laugh because I believe it was another movie that I felt strongly about - Mr. Holland's Opus - that led me to realize the lyrics were from the song 'Beautiful Boy'. I've always been partial to music, it invokes such strong emotions in me as I tend to associate a memory with a song, or a catchy upbeat tempo has the power to take me from a miserable day to a happier place.

So in all this, I guess I just wanted to say that sometimes when I'm not able to get creative when I want to due to time, work or other distractions because life is happening all around me that I am just busy enjoying the little moments...

Speaking of moments and people that capture my heart:



My nephew, Zack, who in January will be one year old (it goes by so fast) hanging out with the love of my life - Sean.

Until next time :)

Journey into the Unknown...

Yesterday was a pretty productive day for me.

I've been in the process of changing jobs in the last week, so it has been a little hectic. The new position is data entry for Passport Canada.

Of course like many of the government positions, I'll be there on contract through an agency, but it was an opportunity I just couldn't turn down... My first day of training was Monday and although the trainers and the session were great, they had neglected to inform our agency that we needed to get security clearance processed directly through Passport Canada, whether we had security clearance or not. My enhanced clearance is valid until 2010, and I've successfully cleared reliability testing in the government selection process in the past. It was just a little frustrating as I had to make a second trip yesterday to show my original birth certificate so the project manager could make a photocopy and process my clearance package. Until all of our clearances are processed, we are not allowed to work due to the nature of the position and information we will be handling.

So after dropping by the Gatineau office, I made my way back home. I had taken the camera with me, as although it was a bit cloudy, I thought it would be a good photo day... Here are some photos I snapped while crossing the bridge back to Ottawa.


It was close to 11am when I turned off the main road to park a little ways from the path to the river not too far from my house. I grabbed my camera, a bottle of water and my cell phone and wandered down the path to the water. I thought it might rain as it was a bit hazy, but it held off while I was meandering.









Once I finished my short walk and photo taking, I wandered back to the van to get back home where I met up with my sister who was waiting for the school bus with my niece. Once my niece was on her way to school, we grabbed some timmy's, came home and cleaned the kitchen up. At the end of the day, my Mom passed by to visit for a cup of coffee as she had been shopping in the city, we had dinner and then played some scrabble on www.facebook.com

I am currently working on a quote layout after cleaning my crafting space again this past weekend, and hope to post it soon.

Until next time :)

Monday, Monday...

I'm on my way to work, almost out the door; but I wanted to finally post one of my lay outs. I ended up placing it on my magnet board to get a picture, but I want to figure out how I can get a better, closer image.

Anyways, this is for the September 12th, 2007 We love to spread the love challenge. I took quite some time trying to put this together, but I really like it. I used foam and paint to make the heart I placed in the middle, which is a stretch for me as I don't usually mix different types of art into my scrapbooking.

So tada, the finished product:



Until next time :)