Somebody to Love

There was a purpose to getting new photos of me done, I went and got this beautiful frame for Herb for his Valentine's day gift. It says:

" Even though

We don't have alot of

"you and me" time

the moments we share

side by side

when the outside world

seems so far away

are my favorite part

of any day,

and I hopeyou always know

how much you mean to me."


I absoltely love this, it is so Herb and me. We've only seen each other three times since we've stared dating back in Dec., the 23rd to be precise. It's hard to be apart all the time, but the time we do have together is better than no time at all, I am very grateful to have Herb back in my life to love and I can feel how much he loves me!

To: Mommy

This bookmark was given to me by my daughter Michelle when she was about seven or eight, Michelle is now 19, I have kept this book mark all of these years.

Today in class I read the back of this bookmark, it says: "To Mommy Love Michelle, Made for my Mom" and she drew a heart on it. This touched me deeply, I wrote on the back of this bookmark and drew a heart intertwining the heart that she had drawn all of those years ago. I wrote

Jan 30/09"I am reading in class and turn my bookmark over, my heart is touched deeply, I suppress a tear, a tear of joy, love and gratitude. I can feel your love Michelle and I love you too."

Some things in life are priceless, this is one of my priceless treasures, thank you Michelle.

Ambassador

I am an ambassador for NorQust College. Tonight I was helping with a function at the school. I greeted guests, helped with giving them name tags and programs, and was assigned my own group to take up to the 6th floor once the opening prayers and a few speakers were finished. My group was the last group to go up, I knew where to take them but another group was still there so we just joined them. That sort of threw things off schedule but it all ended up well.

It's been quite the experience being an ambassador, I've spoken at a few different functions, I've greeted people, answered questions, tonight while I was filling time with my group I just started talking about my experience at the college. I only have one more speaking engagement towards the end of Feb. then my hours will be complete, I just might do this again next year!

Smudge Room

This room is what is known at our school as the Smudge Room. I have smudged here before and I love what it does for me or to me! I love going to this room, to me it is calm, it is serene and I come out of this room feeling much better after I've relaxed in here for a bit. Today at lunch time, I laid on one of the couches and read my Sociology text, I almost fell asleep there, I was that relaxed!

Supper, some nights

Some nights I don't have an appetite, yet I am supposed to be consuming three meals a day plus 2 snacks, all are supposed to be high protein. I can never eat this much so I've adopted a new way to ensure I have the required protein that was recommended to me by my dietician.

I mix one and a half scoops of whey protein powder with about 3/4 cup of frozen fruit, tonight it was a mixture of pineapple, blueberries, mango and strawberries, I also add a bit of cranberry juice which is good for the kidneys, blend it all up and wolla, supper is served. Dishes are a breeze! :-)

Aladin Lamps and Memories

These two Aladin lamps hold very special memories for me, one of my mother, one from an auction that I went to with Herb about four years ago.

My Mom gave me one of these lamps about a year before she passed away, she showed me how to light it, which today I have forgotten, but I will find someone that can show me how to light these treasures.

The auction that I went to, just outside of Barrhead, I seen a mate to the lamp that Mom had given to me. Only one other lady at this auction realized what this was and she really wanted the lamp, apparently not quite as badly as I did. I feel that I got a heck of a deal on the one from this auction.

I had an older fellow, Tom, out at Swan Hills take a look at my lamps for me, he owns an antique store out there. Tom told me that these lamps date back to the late 1800's, maybe the early 1900's, and he wanted to know how much I wanted for them. I informed him time and time again that these particular lamps were not for sale. I only wanted to buy a globe for one of them. He was persistant and asked me every time we went to his shop yet I will not part with my lamps. Money does not replace these treasures, they are priceless to me.

Soul Food

I love to bake and this morning I felt like making some banana bread, so that I did. I also baked a few chocolate chip cookies, Brit is coming over to do our hair a little later today and I know that she likes my cookies!

I find that when I bake it does something good for my soul. I have always had a passion for cooking, anybody that knows me would agree I'm sure. I don't know what it is about baking and/or cooking that allows me to feel so good and I don't care if I ever find out, all that I do know for certain that for as long as I can do this and feel this good, I will continue to cook!

My Love Dog

This is my love dog! He's a good dog, listens well and keeps me company especially when I go to sleep at night or sometimes even in the afternoon!

Yes, I know that I'm 45 years old, that "grown ups" don't sleep with stuffed animals, yet I still do. I was given this Gund dog by my sister Julie while I lie in a hosital bed three and a half years ago, I was not in good shape to say the least. When Julie gave me this dog I snuggled it up to my face and he felt just like love! He kept me company in every bed I was switched to on the many different floors, even in two different hospitals. He's really, really soft and snuggly, he's very affectionate and he listens to me when I talk to him, sometimes I like to think that he even understands what I say! :-)

Everybody that is alone and has nobody to snuggle up to, I highly recommend a Gund stuffed animal, I'm sure that you will not regret it!

An Afternoon with my Sister

Today was full of surprises for me, after class I was going over to visit with my sister Julie, we ended up on a real venture which began with Dim Sum. When I go out for lunch this is one of my favorites, if not my favorite treat!

Then the fun began, we were out shopping, Winners, Michaels where I found albums for my Project 365, and Home Sense. Our last stop was a new Save On Foods.

I had a great day visiting with my sister, shopping, a few photos were taken and we had some great laughs.

Although the weather was -21, it was warm inside my soul and my spirit was dancing!

Thanks Jewel for the great afternoon!

New Desk

Well I went out and bought this writing desk, I had been looking at various ways to increase my work space at home. I wanted to get my books off of the floor and bring organization back into my life, just because I'm a student it doesn't mean that I have to have papers and books all over the place!

I started to look at corner unit desks, the prices on them are astronomical, well the ones that I like are! One day last week while I was at Canadian Tire I spotted this writing desk. I came home, eyeballed my space to ensure I had enough room and thought about how I would get this desk home if I did purchase it.

Herb happened to come down two days later, we went over to Canadian Tire and this desk was on sale, now who can resist a sale? Herb loaded my new purchase into the back of his truck and we came back to my place.... another bonus, Herb was here to put it together as I cooked us dinner.

Audrey's, My Favorite Bookstore

...so I know that this is two pictures, I couldn't make up my mind which one I liked best.

Today I went to my favorite book store after school, Audery's on Jasper Ave, especially to take a picture.

Now that I'm sitting here I'm asking myself what makes Audrey's my favorite book store, after all there are tons of bookstores here in Edmonton. I think that it's the size of the store, it is very quaint. I like the way that the store is laid out as well as the friendly staff that special orders my books if they are not amongst the thousands of books that they have in stock. Maybe it's just as simple as it's very close to my school and this is where I now am used to buying my books, either way, if you haven't been to Audrey's books I highly recommend it! I captured my favorite corner of my favorite book store, this is the Inspiration section which is right next to the Recovery section. I totally love this bookstore!

Il Divo

Only 125 more sleeps and I will be going to see Il Divo with my sister! Am I excited? Oh ya! 

I first heard of Il Divo a few months back, my step sister sent me a link to their rendition of Amazing Grace, if you haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend you give them a listen to. The first time I heard this song tears streamed down my face, same as the second and third times.  The way these men sing touches my soul and makes my heart dance, oh and they're not at all hard to look at. I've spoken for the one on the right, the far right, so if you're even thinking about it, don't! :-) 

Continued from January 9th

So here it is…. the essay that I threw together in one night, the night before it was due! The constructive criticism from my instructor was "I can tell that you didn't give yourself as much time with this as you did some of the other essays." I chuckled when I read this and told her that she was so right; I put it together the night before! lol

… I can live with an 85, no choice now but to spend more time on my future essays in her class if I want to get that ace that I’m chasing!

TV watching "101"

I find it amusing when I go to watch tv, I need more practice doing so! I think that it's an art, one remote for the speakers, one for the PVR box, one for the actual TV itself. Then I need my instructions on occassion, if all else fails then I ensure I have both of my phones to call Derek to find out what to do next!

Life was much more simple in the "black and white" days, sure we never had near the channels that we do today yet I remember watching one or two shows a week as a child, Bugs Bunny followed by Hockey Night in Canada and of course Mr Dressup and the Friendly Giant.

These were the days when there was NO remote control, no vcrs or dvds, we got one channel, CBC and it was black and white! I love technology, but I need a course on how to operate all that I continue to purchase! One day I'll figure it all out, that's when newer, faster, bigger things will come out...... one day who knows maybe I'll be sitting here saying "I remember the days when I only had three remotes, two phones, surround sound, a dvd and pvr box AND my tv was ONLY 47" LOL

The Ducks

These salt and pepper shakers my Mom bought when she was 12 years old for my Gramma. I never knew this until Gramma passed away and Mom asked me if there was anything that I wanted from Gramma. I remembered these ducks from when I was a child. Gramma used to have them in her china cabinet and I had always longed to play with them, Gramma never let me play with them from what I remember, now they sit on the top of my fridge and I smile when I stop and take the time to really look at them.

Parking ticket with a story!

Damn got a parking ticket today but the story that followed was much more interesting. I was on my way home, going down 109th st. and it was so slushy today, I turned on my wipers, this was when I noticed this ticket. I also had noticed the police car behind me but I had to get this ticket off the windshield, the light was red at 111th so I jumped out and tried to grab this ticket, I needed my wipers today and didn't want to lose this ticket. The ticket was closer to the passenger side, I tried to grab it from my side, then of all things I was going to try to reach it from the front of the car, the cop by this time must have thought I was insane! I went back to my side, jumped and managed to get the ticket before the light turned green.

The car in front of me was turning, I pulled up close behind him, then the light changed all of a sudden it was red! The crazy drivers that were on the other side of the street, two of them ran the red light which left me stuck yet I had to get through the light.... I went through the cops lights came on! He came up to me and asked me "What did you do that for?" I told him that I had no choice but to go, I would have blocked the intersection otherwise. He agreed with me, then he mentioned with a smile on his face that he couldn't help but notice I already had a ticket, I told him how I got that one. He mentioned that there were so many people that seen what had happened and he hoped that I understood his situation, he had to stop someone!

The way this story ends is he chatted with me long enough to allow anyone that had seen what had happened to not see what happened next, he let me go and told me to drive safely! What a nice guy! :-)

Honey dilemma

Today I opened the huge bucket of honey expecting it to be in a liquid form, it wasn't so I didn't know what to do with it. I was planning on canning it in pint size jars so
I googled "processing honey." I don't know if what I did was the right thing to do or not but I heated the honey until it was liquid enough to pour into jars, then I processed the jars for about 10 mins. so that they would seal. I just hope that this works, I don't see why it wouldn't but time will tell the tale on this one for sure!
My next project when I have time is to attempt to make jam with honey instead of all of that sugar! I'll post here how that one turns out, hopefully better than the ensure in jello! That just curdled, needless to say I have learned never to put ensure in jello, just drink the ensure and be done with it I've decided!

My desk

I love "my spot" that I have claimed! I get to hear what the instructors say, I can focus when I write and I'm closest to the door!

I was trying to catch up on some reading during our lunch break, I got about 5 mins. in and people started filtering back in. I'm going to have to find a quiet spot at school to read in, it's too hard to focus when others want to chat.

The shirt.... it says "School of Social Work, Eat, Sleep and Research" So very true, it's a tough workload but one that I know I will succeed in completing. I've always wanted to be a Social Worker and today my dreams are coming true, one essay at a time! What a feeling!

Snow, snow and more snow!

January 12, yesterday, was the most snow that I've seen dumped on us in such a short amount of time in years now. I don't know exactly how many inches we got but I know that I shoveled three times yesterday only to wake up this morning and shovel one more time before I headed out for school.

This photo here was taken at 9p.m. yesterday, I had shoveled at 4:30p.m. that's how much snow came down in that period of time! Unreal but at least I got to get out yesteday and get fresh air and exercise! What more could a woman ask for? LOL

Sun Woman

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather,

always bring your own sunshine."

I was at a culture camp in May of 2008 at the Blue Quill reserve, there I went to receive my Cree name which was quite the experience. I went through the ritual, one meter of broadcloth, one pouch of tobacco, speaking with an Elder and being a part of a very sacred ceremony.

I was named Peesim Esquiw, which means Sun Woman. This is a very powerful name as the earth needs sun to survive.

A few months had passed and I got to thinking, my great grandmother was Julie Sunshine. I come from a long line of sunshine, how cool is that? :-)

The sun candle holder here was a gift from a very special friend.

Three years

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplishedby people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."


This is a symbol, a symbol to represent three years of sobriety. Although this has taken me three years to obtain every moment of every day has been a part of my journey to get to where I am at within my life.

There's been heartaches, pain both emotionally and physically, yet there has been immense joy during the past three years as well. I have searched my soul, I know who I am today and I like who I am, today I am the person that I've always wanted to be.

I have my family to thank from the bottom of my heart for being here, for loving me when I hated myself, for being a huge part of my life each and every step of the way. December 29, 2005 I was admitted to the hospital for grand mal seizures, from what I have been told, I went through six of them, cracking my head open at the hospital, I believe that this was when God knocked a tad bit of sense into me! :-)

All that I have experienced, the tears, the laughter, the disappointments, and the accomplishments, they all are a part of who I am today, today I will be ok.

The medallion was given to me by a very dear friend who now has nine years of sobriety, he passed on his third year medallion to me. I passed my two year one onto a friend, I feel that I can't keep this if I don't give it away. One day at a time, one step at a time, I know that anything is possible in this life, I push past the fears and do it anyways!

Workin'

I have always had a passion for cooking, I love where I cook, I love going to work yet this is something that I don't want to do for the rest of my working years. I have a genuine passion for people, my desire is to help others to help themselves. I now know that this is why I am back in school studying in the field of social work.

I am very happy that I've gone back to school, it is so rewarding, I know that one day I will be educated to help others and this feeling is something I've never felt before. I do feel that I have found my purpose in life, one essay at a time I will get to where it is that I am meant to be!

Procrastination

Although I had the entire Christmas break to write one essay I left it until last night, Jan. 8, it was due today so needless to say I burnt the midnight oil! I was finished my essay at about 3am and in bed by 4am. This morning it was on my instructors desk, on time, and I'm wiped! Time for a nap now!
Will I ever learn not to procrastinate? to be continued...

Winter in Alberta

I was at my school downtown today, when I left I decided to drop into Future Shop to price out smaller cameras for this project, when I came out of the store my car looked like it hadn't been running at all today! Yuck, blizzard in Edmonton today! The temp was hovering around -17c yet with the wind chill it was about -29c, darn cold!

Stairs!

These are the stairs I climb up to class every day, twenty stairs and I'm on the sixth floor. I do this four times a day so in essence I do 960 stairs on Tues. and Wed. unless my books weigh more than I do, occassionally I use our overcrowded elevators, not too often though!

Back in school

Well today was my first day in class in 2009, I was taking pictures of what was on the power point presentation when I got bored in psyc and my fellow classmate who sits behind me, obviously bored as well, snaped a pic of me.

Ouch~ this one hurt the bank account!

Today I picked up some of my books for the new semester, the price $571.57. Now it's the time to get through it all, the essays, the reading and the learning..... that is going to be the real challange!

Time to get out in the world and find me a pic!

I've been indoors too long today, the surround sound is great through the DVD, I just can't get it through the TV as of yet and I quit for now! Now it's time to get out in the world and see what I can find that interests me! I am going to go to NorQuest College and pick up my books for the new term, I'm sure that something will catch my eye.

Day 4. Hmmm... now what do I do?

Here's my project for this morning, I am going to attempt to hook up surround sound to my TV.... to be continued!

Day 3

Today I went out and bought some beautiful steaks, I really want to BBQ. Once I took a closer look at what it would all entail I rethought my brilliant idea, the broiler works!

Today it's -26c, up from this morning which was a freezing -30. It's very cold, so cold that the tires on the car seem square..... lol....I think that I just need some air in one of the front tires!

Christmas is not two weeks out of the year.

January 2, 2009

So I have two ways to view this photo, one it can be an ending to another year or it can be a brand new beginning to a new year. I am choosing the new beginning, never forgetting the past but it's time to move forward in life.

Although the decorations are now down, the tree is put back in the garage, Christmas still resides within my heart and soul every day that I choose to carry it with me in life. I love so much about life: the people in my life, meeting new people, being able to do as I choose to do or as I choose not to! My life is an adventure with each day bringing a new gift to me, the gift of life, the gift of love and the gift of laughter.

Hello to a brand new day, a new year for living, laughing and loving!

Day One!

This is the book that I am reading right now, one of many I might add. This one is very special to me, it really inspires me and helps me to live in a healthier state of mind. I love Wayne Dyer's books. I was first exposed to Wayne Dyer while I was in a ladies recovery house back in 2006, I found his video extremely inspirational and still find his words motivating. I cannot recall the name of the video that I had watched back then but this is not important to me in the moment.

What am I posting this for?

I am going to take one photo a day for one year, this is my New Years resolution for this year and I am excited to get this site figured out so that I don't type the same thing twenty times before I get it posted! I still have two hours to get this posted, hopefully by then I will have this done! lol 

I think that I have it figured out now, thanks Julie for forwarding this link to me. Happy New Years to all, I am looking forward to this project and reading others blogs here.