Holidays

Mmm...just woke up from a nap. I have been reading all day, reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Villette was Bronte's last and apparently most autobiographical novel and a truly exquisite one at that. It is hauntingly lonely and leaves the reader wondering at the end if protagonist Lucy Snowe will be reunited with her love Monsieur Paul, from whom she has been parted for three years, or if he died in the seven day long shrieking banshee of a storm. Sigh...lovely novel...and now I have to rewrite the ending of it for an English project. I'm wondering if I'm still too close to Lucy's heart and soul to look objectively at her and decide her final fate. The picture to the right is of Charlotte Bronte herself, by the way. We left home for Lacombe on Tuesday and are very much enjoying our time at Brent's parents' house. Yesterday, I went into Red Deer and visited with an RDC friend of mine. She's also in her fourth year of her degree (just in English, whereas I am a double major with history) and is applying for grad school at U of A. It was really fun catching up with her and hearing about good old RDC and everyone there. She's getting married this coming summer to a friend of mine from high school (small world!) by which time Brent and I will have been married for over a year! Tonight we are going out to Camp Silversides to do prep work and tomorrow we, along with Brent's parents, are cooking for a rental there. Both Brent and I spent many hours there as campers and also as counsellors. We're glad for the opportunity to go back and help out again. Also tomorrow morning I am going to Red Deer early in the morning to go running with Rachel. She and her husband are driving out to Swiftcurrent for Christmas and I wanted to catch her before they go. There's so many people we'd like to see while we're around and so little time. Also, Beth, a friend of mine from church here in Lacombe, has asked me to sing Christmas Eve and I most readily agreed. I have not sung lately--well, since before we got married, actually, and am most looking forward to it. That's where I'm at for now! Female 1/2

Two funny sites I've found lately: http://www.gizmag.com/go/4889/ http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

Here's us last Christmas at my parents' house. We're really looking forward to Christmas again this year! Yesterday we bought all but one of the remaining presents to be bought and last night we got them all wrapped (that's quite a feat considering how much I dislike wrapping!). Now we just need to figure out how we're going to label everything--right now we just have sticky notes so which one is for whom. Hopefully the sticky notes don't fall off! We're cooking with Brent's parents at Camp Silversides on the 23, and for sure one day before Christmas we're going to spend time making a bunch of different types of cookies with Brent's mum. Things at my parents' house is always fun at Christmas time too. This'll be the first year in a while that my Godparents and their kids won't be around, but we kids are old enough(and mature enough?!?) now that I think we'll be able to really enjoy our time just as a family. Lots do to in the next two weeks and lots of people to visit too. I'm really looking forward to connecting with some of my Red Deer College friends that I haven't seen in while, including my favorite history prof and mentor, Dr. James Martens. Should be a very rewarding but full two weeks! Female 1/2 

A better week!

Corner Gas Christmas special was tonight. We watched it (of course!). I wrote two exams today, one at eight in the morning and the other from three thirty until five thirty...in other words, I got on the bus in the dark and got off the bus in the dark. Not my favorite thing to do at all. However, two more exams are done!!! I only have one left, next Monday...Philosophy (blech). My mum wrote her final Real Estate Broker exam today yayyyyy Mummy!! I'm very proud of her! In between exams I went to the bookstore and bought four textbooks I'm going to need for next semester so I can get ahead on reading. I paid 150 dollars for four very small texbooks. Nuts, I say, nuts. The race yesterday was AWESOME!! I had a really good time running with Rachel and it was really good to see both Rachel and Trevor. It was Trevor's birthday but I won't give away his age... :) We finished 10Km in roughly an hour and a minute. I think we both did better than we expected to--or at least I did. It was a beautiful day for running, sunny but not too warm. On our way back from the race we stopped at Eddie Bauer to find a present for Trevor's dad, and at MEC so Trev could find exercise pants. Brent and I brainstormed Christmas presents for each other whilst we were there. I already have Brent's present and managed to get it without him having a clue what it is.... So that's the news thus far this week. I'm going to spend tomorrow doing some very much needed housecleaning and start reading for next semester. Sometime within the week I need to study for Philosophy (gag) but I can't put it off. Later, gator! Female 1/2

On a more positive note...

Things aren't particularly better, persay--Brent's running a low-grade fever and I'm on antibiotics. However...it warmed up today to just above freezing and the sun was shining!! I went running after my Russian History exam today. I enjoy late afternoon runs because of the smells. When I run up the streets I can smell people's suppers being cooked, laundry being done, all kinds of different smells. It's quite enjoyable, actually. Totally different then morning runs. Morning runs are fun because everyone on the paths is friendly and says "Good Morning" when you pass them. Lots of runners out in the morning, more old people in the afternoons. I was just glad to be out and active again...especially since I hadn't run in two weeks and I'm running a ten kilometre race for Muscular Dystrophy with Rachel on Sunday. Oye! We're officially out of honey and Brent slept for most of the day (on the day when he's supposed to be in class from eight until six) and I'm not feeling much better, so please keep praying! Female 1/2

What a bunch of sickos

Somebody stop the bus and let us off for a while, we need a break. I was saying to Brent just last night that if we make it through this semester, our marriage is going to be just fine. We're both up to our ears in school work, Brent's got work to do, I've got a dirty house to clean...and to pile it on, Brent's come down with a nasty cold (or possibly laryngitis??) and I'm feeling virtually crippled with a Urinary Tract Infection. Is the end in sight yet? Not in this chilly basement suite. We covet your prayers and if you have any honey or lemon, send it our way--we're almost out. Female 1/2

Snow, so snowy and COLD!

yes, i'm home, safe and sound after yet another dreaded thursday at school. luckily only another long thursday exists for this semester, unless my schedule looks bad for next year as well. with exams and final projects being due i will also be feeling the gray hair coming upon my head soon as well! just finished a felt marker assignment for class today. have you ever experienced the funny sensation that occurs in your head when you've used a sharpie for a long time? that wonderful smell is also the odor given off by my markers. so last night working on my project the livingroom started to smell pretty bad. at school today about 20 people in my class were using the same markers, so needless to say, the classroom stunk pretty darn bad. it did give me a bad headache, which only now is starting to go away. one might also note that the entire third storey, in the k-wing, of my building at school has a wonderful aroma of felt markers drifting about the classrooms and office and hallways. all three of the classes in my program are doing felting right now. i sure hope by next week the smell is gone :) but snow, the subject of my blog today, is what i wanted to talk about... when we woke up three days ago to an inch of snow i was so happy. i love snow, and most of the things that come with it, other than driving and the cold :) the past couple days have been cold!! its not a problem when we are in class in a nice heated building at school, but when one has to wait at the bus stop for 15 minutes, it gets cold! today though i had a window seat in my drafting classroom, so i could look outside from the third storey and gaze out upon the neighborhood, and what a nice view it was. nothing looks nicer than a bit of snow falling! as well the only advantage of having to come home during the dark is that downtown looks so cool at 5:00. especially with a wee bit of snow coming down. wish i could take a picture to capture the view... well, work is beckoning me, lots to do before going home for the weekend! adios amigos, male 1/2

Gray Hair

There have been several times during the past couple years at which point I feel like my hair is going gray as a result of compiling stress. Some of the most memorable of these have been 1) After writing three English essays by hand in pencil from memory over the course of four hours for my 514 Gothic Literature Class last spring. Wow that was hard work...even with the two iced cupcakes that my prof gave each student to keep spirits up. I ended up doing very well on it, but I felt ten years older afterwards. 2) After a couple different days working at the greenhouse last spring, specifically the days when my employers had left me in charge and there were customers/staff that frazzled me. In addition, the last day of Majak Gardens forever, the day of the auction sale whereupon I was assailed by bargainhunters both successful and not for advice, for rides on the John Deere gaiter I was in charge of driving for the day and for help loading and unloading their stuff 3) Today. It's really cold here, snowy and sun-less. I'm still fighting a very persistent cold that keeps me up at night awake and coughing. I just handed in this afternoon my very last history paper for the semester. #4. That's a lot of history papers in one semester. Lastly, today is Brent's looong day at school and potentially he won't be home until six...which is a long time without my husband, in my opinion. Rachel Herbert, a friend of mine from two of my History classes, mentioned to me that they (the powers that be) should cancel school for next week. I agree. "No school for the week of December 5-9 due to lack of student interest". Sounds good! Recently Brent and I have been listening to "the Old Disc Jockey" (that should be read the Old Disc.....Jockey, as in the discs are old but the jockey isn't. :) He plays Big Band music on Sunday and Wednesday nights and it's very soothing. Good for paper-writing background music. We listen very often (heavy emphasis on the very) to CKUA Radio, an across-Alberta radio station that plays a wide variety of music...everything except today's pop music in its varied forms. We're huge fans. Highly recommend the station. You can listen to in on the internet too, as we often do. www.ckua.com That's my pitch and I'm sticking to it. :) Time to make supper, Brent'll be home soon!!

We're Baaaack

What a crazy weekend! It was super good to be with family and help out but it was busy! Along with Brent's immediate family having a part in the Craft Sale, his Uncle Ron and Auntie Bev as well as two married cousins, Suzanne and Michelle, have their own tables at the sale and as a consequent, spent at least part of the weekend at the B. household. It was fabulous to see all the little kids, and play with them. As well, we got a chance to see my mum and two of my brothers as they came to help set up Friday night. Also, we got to go for coffee with Marco and Kristin de Andrade, a couple we're friends with who got married two weeks before us. We had a really good visit with them. Went to church Sunday morning and were blessed with fantastic worship with Beth and her team. It was strange to be in the congregation instead of singing with her. I miss it a lot! However, all good things must come to and end and we left the B. at half-time of the Gray Cup last night. Eskies won woohoo! (Sorry Kevin). :) Bouwsemas' sent us home with a big container of cinnamon buns (yum! Thanks Dad!) Now we're fully back into the swing of school for the week. I've got a paper due Thursday (the deadline was pushed back two days from Tuesday, which is a huge blessing). We also have a bunch of other obligations for the week; assignments and other things, and poem-writing, for next weekend is Saint Nicholas Day at S., and that involves writing a poem for another member of the family. So, busy week ahead!

Life Goes On!

well, its bit a been since i've posted, so i was 'told' to do so :) yesterday was great! i wasn't feeling too good so i decided to sleep in and skip my first class, code class. its not a bad class, pretty important in the whole scheme of things, just most people fall asleep in it. the instructor knows his stuff, that is for sure. he is an architect who produces municipal code packages for individual towns off of the alberta building code. so needless to say, he knows his stuff real well, but he is sooooooo boring. maybe it is the material, i mean, how interesting is the national building code, really (not that many people even know what that is!) there is one guy in my class for instance. he makes sure he always sits at the back of the class so once he falls asleep his head can fall back and rest against the back wall of the classroom... one of these days i can't wait to hear him snore in class :) where was i? oh yah, skipping class. anyways.... i skipped class, slept in, and decided to skip the next class as well. the next class was drafting, and three hour class... all manual pencil drafting. i like it a lot, but it can be a bit too slow for me, since i know how to draft on the computer already. so i decided to skip it and make the big bucks at home :) (drafting for real!) so i went to drafting class today and found out that the most people did in the class the day before was draw their border on their paper, a half an hour feat for the best of us! so i felt pretty good that i didn't miss it. my table-mate also skipped, he is working on a record for the most consecutive days snowboarding. with tonight, i think his record is up to seven days in a row, and only getting more and more. crazy people i tell you! i'd have to say the best song i listened to yet today is "always and forever" by kip, napoleon dynamites can't-get-a-job-and-a-major-loser-brother! its so hilarious to hear him sing this song to his newly married wife that i just had to find it, so i did, and now i listen to it at least once a day for a good laugh! other than that i'd have to say me and my lit' brothers weird sounds passed back and forth tonight would come in a close second! shhhh, no telling what they are, its a secret :) anyways, its time for a good book, or a good sleep! male 1/2

How Many Days Until Christmas?

Day #2 of Whiney Sick Kirstin Slept in today and skipped Philosophy class, which may not have been the wisest thing to do, but I slept through the morning, and that it was lovely. Natural help for sore throats: Lemon and Honey. Learned the trick from my friend Rachel, who fed me L & H at camp when I was run down over the course of the summer. Full cup of hot water and enough lemon and honey so that they balance out and it's not too sweet but sweet enough to mellow out the lemon and lemoney enough to sooth your throat without making you pucker. It's great but we're almost out of lemon concentrate! Apparently it has antiseptic/antibacterial qualities. This weekend is the Craft Sale in Lacombe. We're going home to help out a bit and just be around because it's always an exciting time in the B. Household. I'm hoping to see some people I haven't had a chance to see in a while. It's amazing the people you see at the sale. Also, Archibalds' cinnamon buns. Mmmmm....

A Sick and Yucky Monday Night

Monday night, as everyone 'should' know, is Corner Gas night, as well as CSI: Miami night. Woohoo! It's usually also laundry night but I'm feeling so yucky that all that's been done is a load of Brent's jeans...and he did them. I'm trying to work up the energy to go do dishes as the kitchen's a bit of a mess. Inspired by Kristin and her peanut butter cookies, I've also considered making cookies, but I just won't enjoy them very much since it hurts to swallow. Have you caught that I'm being whiney yet?? Brent's putting up with me pretty well so far. Kirstin's cold: came from Brent who caught it from Kevin. As for where Kevin caught it, I do not know. I've also been struggling through my philosophy homework. I will be SO GLAD when this semester is over and I never have to look at this stuff again. It's waaay too much like Grade 12 math for me. I have one major paper left to write this semester, on Stalin's leadership during WW II. I picked up a couple books at our local public library. It seems I'm slow off the line: someone has taken all the books on this topic out of the U of C library already. Potlickin garbage. Almost enough to make me swear, especially the way I'm feeling right now... ...and that's my cue to stop whining and either go to bed or get something done. so G'night!

What I learned in school today: Chief Piapot was a Cree Chief in the late nineteenth century, during the times when the Canadian government was coercing the Natives into signing treaties, whether or not they understood what they were signing away. He was an amazing leader, he had 4000 followers who followed him purely because he had their confidence in his abilities. He kept his people from participating with the Metis in the Riel Rebellion and from killing the North West Mounted Police who were participating in the subjugation through starvation of the Plains Natives in this time. He led his people until well into his nineties. He was an admirable man and our modern political leaders could learn much from his leadership abilities.

Engagement Picture taken October 2004. 

Our family as it stands today. Taken at Gull Lake on a blustery day in October prior to a geocaching hunt.

Brent saving Kirstin from a giant woman-eating rock at Hidden Lake in Kananaskis 

Malls...

we went to market mall tonight to see if we couldn't pinpoint a gift we are thinking purchasing for someone. personally i don't really like malls all that much, too many people. but it is fun to window shop and the coffee from starbucks has to definitly be a good highlight of the trips! haven't had a chance to listen to much music today but we did on the way to the mall. will have to pick out "another postcard" by barenaked ladies for today's song pick. its so silly, chimps in swimsuits, chimps swinging from a vine, chimps in jackboots, chimps that wish they could be mine... such great lyrics! the song is pretty tight, very well written and arranged. that will definitly have to be the song for today! kirstin's favorite right now too. i'm feeling a wee bit tired after dealing with the mall... maybe its time for a movie! that's all folks, male 1/2

Second post (oh wow)

Kirstin here. I'm procrastinating editing my two papers that are due tomorrow and this is a good excuse as any to avoid editing (my least favorite part of paper-writing). Quote for the day: was reading a Madeline L'Engle book that I read as a teenager and found this quote "Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God". That got me to thinking about Raffi, for some reason, because I remember my mum saying that when her dad died in '89 she took solace in Raffi's song "Everything Grows". Can't explain that thought sequence much further than it's amazing how our streamline of conscious flows, hey? If you haven't read Ring of Endless Light or any of L'Engle's books, do. They are incredible. Lots of theological content, meaning of life, existence of other worlds, existence of eternity. Lots to ponder. Also, do find some Raffi. He truly is full of joy. As my friend Niels once said, I wish I had a voice as good as Raffi's. Last thoughts before returning to editing: Today for the second time I passed a man with down sydrome on campus. Last time I met him I had just been pondering how unfriendly people are as they walk to and fro across campus. Then I saw him and he met my eyes and said "Hi!" and I said Hi back. Today when I saw him he was singing heartily. It was fantastic. I wish I was so uninhibited that I could walk across campus singing--probably I would sing Raffi. We should all be more like this man...or like Forrest Gump, actually. "Hello, my name's Forrest, Forrest Gump." Off to editing "David Thompson: Cartographer, Surveyor, Natural Historian"

First Post!

Hey everyone (well, "no one" since we haven't told anyone about this yet!) This is our first post on this blog, and already I'm sick and tired of capitalizing, so don't expect it to happen very often! we've had a few friends and family start blogs lately and thought we'd hop on the bandwagon. i can't always promise that this blog will be interesting or fun, but it is us, and who we are each and everyday. to start of the ramblings i'd like to say that every time i listen to Christmas music it makes me want the holidays and family that much more! gotta stop listening to it, but it just draws me in. kinda reminds me of my parents home. since my mom paints Christmassy ornaments well into the start of fall she has serenaded us, from a young age, with Christmas music well before it should even be brought out of the cupboard! so its a good reminder of those days when the snow was high and we were stuck at home from school (darn!). well, that starts off things here. we'll try to keep up to date on this blog with our daily thoughts or weird things we've seen on our daily bus commute (reminds of a good story... but it will have to wait)! we both love music a lot so once a day we'll pick out our favorite songs or artists we had listened to that day. that’s all folks, male 1/2