So.... my boyfriend has gone off to a Huna conference in Toronto with his friend/colleague Dave. Thus, I am all by my lonesome on a Friday night, and will be boyfriendless until Monday. I will use this to my advantage to catch up on a whole multitude of things including homework, taking photos, scrapbooking, reading, and just having some down-time, alone. In the past this would have been a huge issue for me, before I had hobbies and such, my ex can attest to that if he ever so happens to stumble upon this blog, but now I'm actually going to enjoy the time apart. Of course I will miss him, but it's good to just have some personal space for a bit.

Today I went to the Museum of Fine Arts, which was pretty cool. It was a field trip for my Art and Curriculum class; I'd never been before but it was a good experience. We had a guide to give us a bit of perspective, but I think I would rather have had my teacher explain things since she has a real knack for making interesting connections and presenting artists in real ways. We had to bring our sketch pad and draw a piece that stood out for us. I chose one by Lawren Harris from the Group of Seven. I've never been very into Art per se, but I find that I've been expanding my horizons lately. Are you proud of me Carm? I hope so!

Tomorrow I am going to try on bridesmaid dresses for Alex's wedding, how exciting! I can't believe that two, no make that three, of my friends are getting married this summer... it's all coming so soon, and despite all the crazy planning, it's going to be a lot of fun. I will have to start planning some grand schemes for the bachelorette parties, ha, despite their protests against it!

In other not so good news... please send your positive vibes this way for Pat's mom. I don't want to go into too much detail on my blog because it's rather personal to his family, but she is not doing well, as she has been fighting cancer for years now, and has recently taken a turn for the worse. I truly do not know a stronger person - she has carried this burden for so long, never complaining. She does not deserve to be going through this and it pains me and his whole family so much. But we must keep positive and try to make the best of this. She still has her sense of humor and her determination, so that is good, it keeps us going in the worst of times.

Needless to say, with all this going on, the jewelry store has been put on hold for a little bit, but if I work hard this weekend, we may try to have it up by next week sometime. I will be taking more pictures and figuring out prices and shipping costs shortly.

I have to end with something uplifting. So I give you these relatively recent scrapbooking layouts. Have a great weekend people!

I've been neglecting my blog lately because I've been super busy on the school, work and hobby front. Pat's been very busy making jewelry and meanwhile, I've been starting to set up the shop and take pictures of pieces, which is super fun and allows me to be a bit creative with the fun scrappy paper backgrounds. We decided to call it "The Silver Sea". I made an account but it's not officially open yet. When it does open and we start uploading the items, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Aside from that we went to Julie's last night to celebrate her birthday and Ryan's, which was fun. We had some fancy coffees and strawberry shortcake, very yummy! I also went to Darla's during the week for coffee, and saw Cheryl and Brent at the same time. It was good to catch up and I'm happy that we are hanging out more often. Next time the two Pats will have to do some bonding, right Darla :)

I have been writing a lot for school and such so I haven't been much in the mood to write on here. I really should be making more of an effort. At the moment, however, I'm really tired after a VERY BUSY day at the biblio with annoying customers. So I'm a few minutes away from reading this beloved book and then watching this movie. I hope you all have a great week.

This tonight, thank you very much! I will be firmly planted in front of the TV come 8 pm. Man, it's been a long wait, but am I so excited to be watching my favorite show on primetime again.

Now, back to my reading...

Well it's been super freezing these past few days (minus 30 with the wind). After fearing my fingers and toes would fall off yesterday morning during the dreaded walk to school, I decided to take my car this morning. Granted, there was traffic, mostly getting onto the bridge and again getting off the express-way, but other than that, it wasn't so bad. I even found parking right on the same street as my building, free parking too!! I was so happy - that is until I went back to my car after class and had a ticket, issued only 3 minutes before I actually arrived on the scene... grrrr! The parking sign was rather ambiguous if you ask me, but I guess I shouldn't have taken a chance. Needless to say that I'll have to tough out the cold for the next little while. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as bad.


I've been doing a lot of reading for school... not sure how I'll be able to juggle it all once the actual assignments start in the next week or so, but somehow I guess I'll manage. I worked in daycare on Tuesday and today as well, to earn a little extra money, which is much needed to pay off the credit card bill from Christmas.


My classes in school keep leading to rather heated debates about ethical issues, as well as the new Ethics and Religious Culture part of the QEP. One of my professors is great - really witty, to the point, and in your face, but in a good way that makes you really question things and form opinons one way or the other. There are many very interesting points coming up - I find myself actually wanting to discuss and state my opinions, which is a rather new role for me as I am normally more reserved and shy. I guess I am feeling more comfortable, especially being around a good group of friends who allow me to express myself. Often times, in certain family situations, I feel like I just have to smile and nod while listening to others rant, so this is a nice alternative.


In other news, here's the card that I made for Patsy's birthday. I was able to take a lot of photos of cards and layouts over the last few days.

And here are a few new-ish layouts.

Okay, so this blog was in serious need of being spruced up a little in the scrapbooking department. It's been so long since I've uploaded anything scrap-related, mostly because I haven't been doing much scrapping, but also because there has been very little good light to take pictures in. This morning there was some, so I decided it was about time that I take pics of the mini-album that I gave to my mom this Christmas.

Did she like it, you ask? Why yes, she did. She was rather emotional about the whole thing. I won't post the pictures, because she was crying, and she would kill me if that was on the Internet.

In other news... I'm very busy at the moment with school work, and since it's a work weekend, I have even less time. But I am rather enjoying being busy, and I have lots of fun projects lined up, most notably, the Etsy jewelry shop that Patrick and I will be opening very shortly. I am very excited about that, and as soon as it's all put together, I'll be sure to fill you all in! It's a lot of preparation in the beginning, kind of like acquiring all your scrapbooking materials if you've just started, but once you're equipped, you're pretty good to go.

Last night our family went out for dinner at a Portuguese restaurant, which was really, really good. We'd never been before but my mom had received a gift certificate at Christmas, so we decided to give it a go. Tonight Pat and I will be going out again for his mom's birthday supper. Busy, busy, it never seems to stop... I have to go and make her a card very soon actually, before I forget and have to rush off to work.

I planned on workout out this weekend, but I've come down with a cold, so it gives me an excuse not to do anything. Bad, eh? Well, I did do a good arm workout on Friday, and I've been getting a lot of cardio from walking up the Education hill, so I think I'm okay. I don't want to overdo it this weekend, because I'll have to be well-rested for the next big week of school. In my art class, we've been making plasticine creations - smearing it into wooden slats. Each student has to recreate a small portion of a painting in plasticine, and then they will put together mosaic style. Its' really, really fun, but it took me FOREVER to get the right colors mixed and the proper consistency like in the painting. I've never used that medium before but it was fun, and it would be great to use in the classroom.

Anyhow, I could go on and on forever, but I must get busy with more productive things. Cheers!

Okay so I may officially give up on posting my photos from the holidays on my blog because I am so far from in the mood to go through them ALL and edit a few... but maybe, just maybe, I will add them into some old posts when I have a bit more time on my hands.

I started back to school today, and it is my last semester, finally! My courses so far seem pretty good. One is Ethics and Religion, and the other is Art. I am excited for both. We will actually be doing art, which intrigues me, and all of the projects are ones that we can bring with us into the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing what we do.

I am currently reading these books, the first two being for school:

Patrick and I also stocked up on silver wire and sheet silver today so we can make some jewelry. We are hoping to open an Etsy shop so he can sell some jewelry, and he is teaching me how to make some too. I started making a necklace on the weekend - I cut it out and filed it myself, with his mentoring, so I am very excited about that. Now I have to polish it and add a chain-link. I will show pics eventually, when it's all done. This is should be a fun little side project for both of us!

Now I have to go give Fido some crap for cutting my phone service for no apparent reason, and making me lose the 40$ worth of minutes I had accumulated, arggh!! I only noticed when I was downtown this afternoon, attempting to make a call, when an automated voice told me I had insufficient funds to do so. Thankfully I was with my friend so I was able to use her phone, but still, very annoying.

Alright, enough rambling for now! Cheers maties.

It's already 2009, how crazy is that? It seems impossible that an entire year has already come and gone, when I can remember last new year's eve with such haunting clarity. I remember going to Alex and Ryan's for supper, watching Dick Clark on TV, and feeling my heart break when I heard his slurred speech due to the stroke he had suffered. I never imagined that two days later, my father would also have a stroke. I remember standing at my desk making this page:

I was reflective, thinking of the year 2007 in review, and dreaming of all the possibilities that the new year would bring... and then, that very night, I was awakened in a panic by my mother's screams that my dad was lying helplessly on the kitchen floor, unable to move or speak properly, desperately needing an ambulance to come and save his life. So as we enter into this new year, I can't help be recall those very scary moments, and be thankful and amazed and humbled by how far we've come. My father has progressed amazingly, as we all have, but it has been a crazy roller-coaster ride that I wouldn't want anyone to have to embark on. But in the end I think it has made me into a stronger person, or at least I would like to think.

My word for 2008 was STEADFAST, and by all means, I believe that I stuck to that word. I clung to it as I travelled back and forth from work, school, and hospital, and grasped for it in the summer months when my father was perhaps in darkest moments of depression and despair. A word for an entire year perhaps seems cheesy or impossible to some, but I believe in its power, like a mantra you repeat to yourself, to ground you and give you strength.

I have been searching for my word for 2009. I am pensive at the moment, self-reflective. I want to be more conscientious. I want to think more about my thoughts and actions, and weigh them before jumping at conclusions too hastily. I want to be more in-tune with my spiritual side. I want to take more notice of positive things - I want them to define and take precedence in my life, rather than negativity. I want to escape old patterns. I don't want to fall into complacency, into blissful ignorance that may feel nice and easy in the moment, but will only lead to complications in the long run. I want to be more decisive in my thoughts, "I don't want ambivalence no more"... Now that my father is back home and things have settled down, I don't want us all to fall back into old patterns, forgetting the importance and significance of things that have passed. I want to be less materialistic, less consumeristic. These, in a nutshell, are my thoughts and reflections as we go into the new year. I have yet to find a nice little word that sums everything up. Perhaps my boyfriend can help me in that department.

I know, I know, too much rambling... I do have photos. And they will be uploaded, soonish (to borrow Barb's expression that I quite enjoyed).

I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy and happy new year!