live.laugh.love

I didn't get flowers or chocolates....

2012-02-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day. A woman's favourite day. A man's worst nightmare.
Society has us to believe that on this day, February 14th, our boyfriend/fiance/husband has to bend over backwards to make this day special. Women wake up expecting flowers, chocolates, love notes and cinnamon hearts. Men, under their civil duty as a patron of Canada, must do their best to oblige.

I woke up this morning expecting a phone call. There wasn't any. I came to work expecting my Fiance walking through the door at lunch hour with a dozen roses - it didn't happen. When I thought of our date this evening I expected a candle light dinner, a DQ ice cream cake, a romantic card with a sweet poem - in my dreams.

Expectations are dangerous. Women have little "expectation" boxes in their brain that are like ticking time bombs. Once the time is not met, the "expectation box" freaks out and explodes. Causing a giant reaction from the woman to get frusterated at her loved one.

My Fiance is not one to go all out on Valentine's day and, as a woman filled with expectation boxes, I've had to burn these little boxes. Sure, I could have purchased a bouquet of flowers online and had them delivered to the office, I could still pick up a DQ icecream cake, and I could write myself a romantic card in messy handwriting and put it under my pillow - but it still wouldn't be the same.

So, this Valentine's Day, I chatted with my Fiance on facebook for lunch. I woke up and said a prayer thanking God for my wonderful man. I burned my little expectation boxes and replaced the ashes with sweet memories. My sweetheart making me the one-billionth cup of tea last night, cuddles on the couch, the cute little waves he does when I am 10 feet away from him and we make eye contact, watching him load the dishwasher even though I didn't ask him to, holding my hand while we drive, getting a beautiful pearl necklace for my birthday (which I have been wanting forever! ).

Every day is Valentine's Day with Eric Vanderpol as my Fiance. Every day he takes precious minutes to make sure that I feel loved and adored, each night he sits down and prays for guidence for our relationship, each day he texts me right when he wakes up in the morning, and calls me before falling asleep. He's my sweetheart, my everything.

Tonight, I will be spending the night watching Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D with my sweetheart. I highly doubt I will enjoy the movie itself, but just the fact that I am blessed with another evening with my Fiance sitting next to me is all I've ever wanted. We'll share a bag of cotton candy (but I'll have most of it), listening intently for TBBT references, and sneak a few pecks on the cheek when the lights go dim. I can't wait!

Sure, a few more expectation boxes will have to be burned tonight, but there is one that never will be. Always remember, dear friends, that the GREATEST act of love can be found in John 3:16. It's not roses or violets, anything red or anything blue. And what did we ever do to expect the amount of sacrificial love found in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Nothing. We put him on the cross. We hurled insults on him. When Pontius Pilate asked us what to do, we said "Crucify him!" And through all of this, there he hung on the cross, and died with the biggest amount of love that nothing could ever match - Not even all the roses in the world! That is true love.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Happy Valentine's Day. Come, Lord Jesus!

And so it begins...

2012-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Caterers. Dresses. Tuxes. Officiant. Rings. Ties. Socks. Veil. Transportation.... Oh the list just seems to keep on growing! By the time the date actually gets here, I will have an excel spread sheet that is too large to save. I can't wait.

People have asked if I am stressed yet. My answer, nope - not yet. I am sure the feeling will come, but so far I have been able to thoroughly enjoy this planning process. I have found a new love for pinterest.com - and am getting to the point where I could be addicted fairly soon. Being on a tight budget, having so many D-I-Y wedding things that are both beautiful and cheap sure makes me excited!

I've gone wedding dress shopping 3+ times now with my bridesmaid Kayla and some other friends of mine. It's quite neat to have another person strap you into a dress and call you beautiful in even an ugly gown, but I suppose they have to get their commission one way or another. Calling me ugly sure wouldn't help them at all. Did you know that there like 30 different colours of WHITE? Yep - Diamond white, Ivory, Plain white, Sparkling white, Snow white, Champagne... It's bordering on the line of absolutely insane.

I have my ring back from the jewellers finally. I am excited to not to have to take it off ever again :) I love it so much. I get so distracted by it at work. I should probably leave it at home if it severely hurts my production.... nah! Eric did an absolutely amazing job. It is gorgeous. And actually, it is the exact opposite of what I told him that I liked! .... go figure.

We have set our official wedding date as July 28, 2012. I am so excited. It's only 6 1/2 months away! That's nothing compared to the 3 3/4 years we have been dating! I am going to be a wifey soon. Yikes. It's quite sad that the word fiance/e only gets to be used during the engagement portion of life. It is such a fun word and it makes my heart leap every time Eric calls me his Fiancee (yes Julia, with two ee's :) Perhaps I shall forever introduce Eric as "Eric, my previous Fiance, now my husband..." nice to meet you too.

I can't wait to be Mrs. Eric Vanderpol <3 Eeeeep!

The Day I Became a Fiancé

2011-12-30T01:33:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2011

It was Sunday.
I had expected (silly me!) Eric to pop the question on Saturday - Yet my ring finger was still empty. So Sunday wasn't the best of days. I kept telling myself that it just wasn't going to happen until we got back to the Fraser Valley now.
Church made it a bit harder, though I tried to hide my dissapointment away from everyone who grabbed my hand and asked "Where's the ring?!" After a while it started to get funny.
My thoughts about the engagement-never-coming were quickly subdued by a hillarious game of Bulderdash in which my Father laughed so hard he cried, which resulted in a chorus of laughs and tears. I found a new love for that silly game that night :)
That night, Eric and I cuddled for a while - the last night as boyfriend and girlfriend - little did I know! As we parted ways that night, he subtly asked me what my favourite love song - but to only pick one! I gave him two (like usual). When You Say You Love Me by Josh Groban and When You Say Nothing At All by Allison Krauss. After a nice hug & kiss good night - I plopped myself into bed....

December 26, 2011

5 AM
I had a nasty cold, and I wasn't getting any sleep. Maybe it was partly due to the fact that I was dissapointed that the engagement wasn't coming while I was in Smithers - but regardless, I downed a sleeping pill and went back to sleep.

6 AM
I woke up to some noises in the kitchen. Figured someone was robbing the house, and decided that inorder to save my life I should keep on sleeping.... so I fell back to sleep. (Little did I know that my dad had gotten up to fix himself an early morning sandwhich).

6:30 AM
Someone came into my room. What the heck! I woke up again, but this time I only woke up half way. First off, I thought it was the robber so I decided to pretend that I was sleeping. But then s/he came right next to my bed, so I figured I should open my eyes a bit in case the police ask me for his description. White hoodie, light blue jeans, really handsome face, brown hair...... Oh wait a second - it's Eric - What the heck is he doing in my room! "Uh hunny" - I asked in a very monotone deep voice - "What the heck are you doing in my room? I'm sleeepy! I wanna sleep!"
".... nothing...." He replied as he put something down by my bed. He left me a kiss on my forehead, and a pat on the head. And I fell back to sleep.

7:30 AM

The alarm screen on Eric's phone.

My alarm clock went off. Wait a second - I didn't set an alarm for 7:30 - and I didn't even have When You Say Nothing At All as my ringtone! My phone happens to be the exact same as Eric's so I figured it had glitched again - and tried to fall asleep. However - my brain was working at a mile a minute. Was it just a glitch? Eric asked me for my favourite love song last night! Ah - Wait a second - is it THE day? No, it couldn't be. He would never get up this early. What on earth? I picked up the phone and noticed the alarm label "Wake up hunny bunny - Open your door :-) " YYYYESSSSS!!! I jumped out of bed and opened my door.

Attached to the door handle was a pink ribbon, and a verse to a poem. (Now, since I would like to keep some of this proposal to myself for my own secret enjoyment, I will be keeping the contents of the poem (with one exception) secret). Anyways, the first verse told me to never let the ribbon leave my side. So I followed it into the living room (where I found another verse), the kitchen (once again, a verse), and the front door (the final verse). There were two verses outside on the porch, but I totally missed those until later.

7:38 AM
When I read the final verse on the front door, it told me to put on something warm and meet him by the river. Of course, my girly instinct began and I ran upstairs, giggling like you wouldn't believe. Mom and dad were still in bed - I can't believe they didnt know what was going on though - I could not contain my excitement. I changed out of my pjs and put on some nice clothes, my jacket, scarf, shoes, some mascara, and quickly brushed my hair.

7:40 AM
My parents had left the keys to the car where I could find them (however they did not know that Eric was going to propose this morning), and ran to the car. I started her up and I drove down the driveway, only to find that the driver's side door wouldn't close! I must admit, I started laughing. Oh come on, car! Eric's waiting for me - I gotta go! Work with me here! The car didn't listen, so I jumped in - One hand on the steering wheel, the other onto the door, hanging on for dear life.

7:45 AM
I drove to the Park by the River - Eddy Park. The drive was good - roads weren't slippery at all - I kept on wondering if he was going to propose or was going to just fake me out. I giggled the entire ride there.

7:47 AM
I stumbled through the parking lot and found another ribbon. Annnnnd I started giggling, again. The ribbon went to the gazebo (where I found another verse to his poem), around a lamp post (another verse) another one after the lamp post - but I was already on my way to Eric because I saw him. "Hunny" he said " You missed one - you missed a verse!" By this time I was so excited that I laughed even harder as I stumbled through the snow to find this white piece of paper on the snow so early in the morning. Eventually I found it, turned around and ran (as best I could) to the wishing well, where Eric was standing.

Rose Petals in the Snow :)

7:50 AM
I burst into tears. This is actually happening. After waiting so long, he is proposing. I couldn't believe it.
Beside the wishing well, Eric had made two love hearts out of rose petals (more tears!). I finally managed to get near Eric who gave me a giant hug and recited the last verse of the poem:

You've waited so long
I hope you will forgive me
But Stephanie Lorinda Verhelst (this part made me bawl like a baby)
Will you please Marry Me?

And then he got down on one knee... the world stopped. It was an incredible moment. I was looking down on the man of my dreams, and he was looking up, with the greatest smile I have ever seen. I was still crying, but I managed to nod my head and say a stiffled YES! Right after which, came a giant kiss and hug. Oh - and ring.

Newly Engaged :)

After a couple minutes of letting it all sink in, more kisses and hugs, and getting used to the word Fiance, we packed up the rose petals, and we drove home with thankful hearts, huge smiles and runny mascara (at least I did).

We told my family right away, and wanted to wait until our Vanderpol evening on the 29th before telling the world.
I am so incredibly thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful Fiance (what a fun word!).
We are planning the wedding to hopefully be on July 28, 2012 in the Fraser Valley. But for now, we are just enjoying this new phase in our lives :)

Wednesday afternoon, mom came with us to Eddy Park and took some pictures for me. Which you can see below:

The most beautiful ring in the world <3


Inspecting the BEAUTIFUL ring


I am in LOVE with the side of the ring!


Re-inacting the proposal <3

We feel so incredibly blessed to be able to share this new phase in our lives with you. We thank the Lord everyday for the blessings he has given us. It was so difficult not to shout it off the roof tops to the world after it happened, and I am so glad I can keep the ring on my finger for good :)
Eric, you have made me the most blessed woman in the world. I love you. :)
Cool. Cool cool cool :)

Birthdays

2011-11-24T12:34:00.001-08:00

Birthdays. I loveeeeee birthdays. I love having birthdays, throwing birthday parties, going to birthdays, all of the above. As you noticed from my previous post, it was my darling mother's birthday on Nov 22. And tomorrow it will be .... insert drumroll here .... Eric's birthday - WHEEE!

Now, I am not sure that I will be able to top the birthday surprise that I did last year, however, with a little help from the twins, I think we will pull something off that will at least make an attempt.

Curious yet, sweetheart?
MUAHAHHAHAHHHAHHAHAH!
I love birthdays :)

My Mommy

2011-11-22T09:00:00.001-08:00

Today is my mother's 44th birthday. I had planned to call her at 12:01 this morning, just so that I could be the first. However, my tiredness got the best of me, and off I went - drifting into sleep. When I woke up this morning, my alarm played Time After Time by Cindy Lauper. Mom and I used to play this song in the car and sing our hearts out. That - and In Your Wildest Dreams by that one band I cannot seem to remember right now.

My mom is pretty cool - did you know? Not only is she the sweetest and most kind person on the face of the earth, but she has the ability to make people's days with just one smile. My mom has a heart of gold, paitience like a pregnant elephant, and love like our Lord. There's nobody in the world that I admire more than my mother. She always encourages, protects, loves, forgives.

Yes yes, I know - My mom isn't perfect, and she isn't an angel. We all have our differences, and certainly mom and I have been in a few scraps and scats along these last years. But we have had so many amazing, upbuilding times, that I hardly remember the scraps and scats. BUT today is her Birthday, which gives cause to only write this blog post about how amazing she is.

Following are 44 reasons why I love my mom, why she is so awesome and why I admire her:

1) She loves the Lord, first and foremost in everything.
2) She brought us kids up in the fear of the Lord.
3) She loves my dad even in times when it's difficult
4) She loves her children even in times when it's difficult
5) She taught that beauty is only skin deep, but God looks at the heart
6) She taught me how to paint :)
7) She taught me how to cook (Eric thanks you for this too!)
8) She made her own wedding dress, and it doesn't look hideous.
9) She makes the BEST soup in the world
10) She made Eric feel like part of the family from the very start
11) She let me spread my wings and fly away to the FV
12) She is beautiful, but she doesn't take pride in it
13) She crochets <- and that's dope.
14) She gave birth to me <- and that is totally awesome
15) She gave birth to my siblings <- some days that's not awesome.
16) She always pushed me to do my best
17) She was always proud of me as long as I did my best
18) She "lets" me dig through her purse to find lost candies
19) She has a beautiful singing voice
20) She always sings God's praises
21) She can drive a bus
22) She can drive a snomobile
23) She can drive a motorcycle
24) She can drive me up the wall
25) She can help me back down the wall
26) She is not afraid to stand up against injustice
27) She is not afraid to stand up for the rights of the unborn
28) She folds mountains of laundry per week and doesn't get upset
29) She bakes the most scrumptious goodies
30) She always thinks positively
31) She has beautiful blue eyes <- thanks for passing those on!
32) She has curly hair
33) She can knit <- I fail miserably at this. koodos, mom
34) She can draw
35) She can write beautiful poems that can make you cry and laugh your heart out
36) She finds the good in everybody
37) She wasn't frugal with the cheese on meals
38) She probably had a smile since the first word of this post
39) She probably had at least one tear wince the first of this post
40) She can change channels on the TV with her thumb!
41) She never totally destroyed my blankie, even though she threatened to <- Eric doesnt thank you for that
42) She's going to be a grandma
43) She was 43 yesterday
44) She's 44 today!

To put it in mathematical terms, my mother can be summarized thus:

Mom = Amazing. Done.

I love you so much mom. I really hope you had a wonderful day. Never stop being amazing. I hope and pray that God will keep you safe for many more years so we can have so much more memories and crochet parties and awesome times. I thank God for you every single day, mom. I miss you bucket loads.
xoxoxo
Stephanie - The best egg you ever made ;)

Coffee & Art

2011-11-17T13:50:00.001-08:00

Personally, I hate coffee. It's like swirling 1 part mud with 2 parts water and microwaving it for 2 minutes. Yeuch.
I do, however, love art.
There was a Craigslist ad a couple months ago calling out to Local Artists. I saw the ad and snickered. Like I would ever get picked! Ha! Oh, what the heck, may as well give it a shot. I emailed the coffee house that put the ad up with copies of the work that I had done. About an hour later a (1) popped up beside my open Gmail browser. It was the coffee shop.
Hmmm.... I wonder what he wrote... He wanted to meet, and for me to bring samples along. I asked him if any perked his interest when he looked through the pictures I attached to the first email. He didn't reply before the meeting, so I packed up The Valley, Steam Train, & The Jaguar.

The meeting went well, discussing what if's, prices, etc. A couple days later, a written contract laid before me. Do I sign it, giving my paintings pretty much away - to be hung on the walls of a public coffee house - a place where they will be criticized? Should I take the chance? One signature later, I was half way there.
All that needed to be done was to hammer in some nails into the coffee shop wall, plunk my paintings on top, stand back and take it allll in.

And that is what I am up to tonight.
Finally! After a month of waiting, humming and hawing, my paintings are being put up!
Where, you ask? City Blends Coffee on King & McCallum in Abbotsford (beside the Towne Cinema Theatre which has $2 tuesdays!)

I am so excited and extremely nervous for this new venture.
Thanks to the very talented James Linde for helping me with my oh so very short blurb:

"Stephanie Verhelst is a self-taught artist from the beautiful Bulkley Valley. Her artistic vision is marked by a commitment to honesty and an attention to God's majestic creation.

In 2009, Stephanie moved to the Fraser Valley and brought her extensive painting experience and creative enthusiasm with her. She took up a full time job as a Marketing Assistant and now resides in Aldergrove. In her free time, she expresses her vision through crocheting, painting and graphic design."

Yikes. This is actually happening.

J+C = Baby!

2011-10-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Besides being so busy with work, crocheting and painting, my darling sister had spectacular news

For the first time EVER - I am going to be an Auntie. This is where my mother cuts in to tell me "Steph, you are already an Aunt, the babe just isn't born yet." <- What a wise woman. So, I correct my statement. -for the first time EVER - I am and Auntie! That's right! Since their wedding last year, I have been paitently waiting for the news of a baby. And finally, about a week ago, the news came to me over Skype. I had been wondering why Jessica was so eager to have me on Skype, of course, she dropped little hints here and there to keep me online until the babymaker came home (that'd be Colin). And without a second thought - BAM! Out came the news. I couldn't stop smiling. Neither could Eric <3

Many of Eric's adorable neices and nephews already call me Auntie Steph (I guess that is what happens when you date the same wonderful guy for over 3 1/2 years), but for obvious reasons, having an actual neice is sooo much more exciting. Oh - did I say it was going to be a girl? It's just a haunch - as my father liked to point out "Girls are much better to have first. That's what we did. They help with the chores WAY sooner than the boys do." :) <- Love that guy.

Super Duper Excited. I can't wait to have more time on my hands so I can get to my sketch book and make some figures of a very pregnant - ready-to-pop sister of mine. I just cant wait 6 more months. She should be like Bella from Twilight and have a quickie pregnancy. Except for the whole almost dying and turning into a vampire part. Yeuch.

:) Happy happy :)

The Valley

2011-10-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Valley -

Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the shadow of the Valley of Death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

This is probably the first painting where I had a bible text in the back of my mind. The beauty of that passage is surreal, and I hope that I somehow captured the message in this painting.

This painting took me roughly 10 hours (with breaks scattered here and there). It's Acrylic, 24" x 36" and will be gracing the City Blends coffee shop walls later on this week (blog post with details to be added soon).

It's Alive!

2011-10-18T16:04:00.001-07:00

The Gallery is up! Please stay tuned for more changes. I might actually get really creative and create a different kind of Gallery. But for now, it's staying a slideshow until I have more time.
Any creative suggestions on a great type of gallery? Leave a comment below! Other than that, click on the Gallery tab above to see some of my work!

The Turn of the Season

2011-10-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

And yet again, the leaves have fallen off the trees, snow has started to blanket the earth (at least in Smithers), the weather is getting colder, and I am on a design rage.

As you may have noticed, I have updated my blog, once again. If you are searching for the blog archive, it is now located at the very bottom of the page. It may change locations as time goes on, but you will notice if it does :)

Hope you enjoy!

Sunday Thoughts

2011-09-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here, on my comfortable couch this Sunday evening, and I got a sudden urge to blog. Now that I am here, I have not much prepared, but a couple thoughts that have entered my mind in the past few hours. In true Stephanie fashion, this could turn out to be the length of an afternoon service sermon, but I suppose we will have to wait and see where this goes first.

As I sit here, I am listening to - guess - Josh Groban. I am pretty sure that if you are a <faithful> reader of my blog, you would find that I am indeed, a proud Grobanite. As of this moment, I am listening to With You. Listening to Josh Groban has just sparked a topic (lucky you - you get a first class ticket on my thought train; be prepared for various detours and retractions). This topic: being fascinated with someone you don't even know.

I have always been a fan of Josh Groban, but since a couple days before the concert up to today, I admit that I have been quite fascinated - almost obsessed. And it sparked me, today, that Josh Groban is really just another human being, just like you and me, but with a much much better voice and vocal skills... So why does it happen that we can become so fascinated/obsessed with another human being, and one that we hardly know?! - To Where You Are is now playing (the song that made him famous). - is it because we are jealous of their talents, ones that we do not have? But what if we have those talents, then, is it envy for how great they are? Or is it, perhaps the product of our need to fill our hearts and minds with something. And if it is something that we need to fill our minds with, why not with our Creator, the one, true, sin-less person who gifts us each with different talents? After all - God made us, not ourselves. I did not make Josh Groban, or give him his talents, so why do we sometimes feel as though we have to be fascinated with something on this earth.

If you know me, you know that I have a lot of hobbies. - You're Still You is now playing - Lately, they have been my fascination. Something that I can invent, create - something that I can call my own... something I can take pride in. But I can't take pride in it - or rather, I shouldn't... I didn't give myself these talents; I didn't invent the ability to use one hook and one string of yarn and turn it into a hat or a bracelet! God granted me these talents, and he instilled in someone, very very long ago, exactly what they needed to create the art of croceting, painting, art, etc. My fascination has been misplaced lately. It has been on what I can do, not on what God has enabled me to do. - You are loved is now playing - I think that it is very important to take time, every now and then, and get our thoughts in order (in which I am currently doing). God first - always. Everything else will fall into place afterwards.

Back to being fascinated with someone you hardly know - Eric and I started dating after meeting eachother 2 days prior. We were crazy, young love birds, and I remember being so incredibly fascinated with him each and every second of every day, and every second of every dream. And yet - we hardly even knew eachother! Sometimes I wish that I could go back and we could just be friends for a while first, and then date, but I know that God brought us together that way for a reason, so there really is no use wishing for something that can defiantely not happen. I have always been thankful to God for the way He brought Eric into my life. - The Prayer is now playing - Though we did not know eachother well at the beginning, somehow it has all worked out - through God`s grace and mercy of course - and 3 and a bit years later we are still together. Like my wise mother says - the couple that prays together, stays together. -What an appropriate song playing right now!- Being so fascinated with this new man in my life, I remember annoying the crud out of my friend, Becca, as well as my family members. Here I was, 17 years old, giggling and snickering away about this guy I just met and left 12 hours behind in the fraser valley. If it was someone other than me, I am sure I would have thought I was just as nuts as other people thought I was.

I just looked at the clock. 10 05 p.m. My apologies if my train gets seriously derailed as my thoughts proceed, or if my grammar is unquestionably ridiculous, or if I have huge run ons that never seem to end. Now where was IÉ '- oh, fantastic. I have been cursed by the french keyboard. Spectacular.

Ah yes, fascination with someone you hardly even know - well, let me continue my sappiness - Eric came into my life quickly. We fell deeply in love. We are still there. Its fantastic. Josh Groban. He is a talented singer. I hope and pray that he thanks the Lord for his voice. What a beautiful addition he would make to the choirs in heaven. Heaven - time for another thought.

I have been thinking about heaven quite a bit lately. I dont really know what brought it on, but I believe it was a sermon by Rev. Scouten a couple sundays ago. Every good, pleasant thing on this earth, is but a tiny glimer of the wonderous majesty God has awaiting those he has chosen in Heaven. So although Josh Groban was super amazing, just multiply that by like, a quadrillion, and you get just a little taste of heaven. I can`t wait to be in heaven, singing in perfect harmony with the angels and all those who have passed on before me, in perfect harmony - singing praises to the Lord, God, giver of life!
Mi Mancheri is now playing -

My mind is starting to drift in to day dreams of my darling boyfriend - who has now deserted me for some good ol`guy time down in the states; and before I start typing my day dreams, I do believe it would be safer to end it here.

So, there you have it, a glimpse of the mind of moi - late Sunday evening. Let this be food for thought. Or discussion. Or just food. Try not to eat your computer screen - I am sure it doesnt aid digestion at all!

And off I go. TOOOT TOOOOT!

Josh. Groban. Epic.

2011-09-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

About half a year ago, my aunt and I found out that Josh Groban was coming to Vancouver. We were a little excited when we found out, and purchased tickets within a week. We had a good solid 6 months of anticipation. The week of the concert, my darling aunt flew down to Vancouver. I accidently mixed up the landing times, and managed to be 12 hours early for her flight. However, 12 hours later, there she was. I was super duper fluper excited to see her (and not just because she was carrying 4 loaves of Pauls Bakery cinnimon bread - thanks mom!).

We were just a little excited the day-of the concert. And by a little, I mean a lot. For me, anyways. We got all dolled up (because when else do you get the chance!) and headed out the door a couple hours early.

When we got to Rogers Arena, spent some time taking pictures (just to prove we were there). Since we weren't VIP ($$$$$$$), we couldnt get in right away. So we just bombed around. It was fantastic. We found a cute little icecream shoppe, 7 Sweet Sins, and sunk our teeth into some seriously rich cappuccino gelato.
After killing another hour, it was time. Time to get our will-call tickets. I never understood the whole will-call thing, but eh, whatever, we got in at least.

As we walked into the arena, I got super duper fluper more excited. It's quite silly, we discussed, how one human being can get you so excited. We don't even know him, really. We know his voice. His face. That's about it.

Our seats were on the Floor, Row 8, Seats 25 and 26 (in the middle). There was a 7ft gap between row 7 (end of the VIPs) and row 8, so we didn't have heads in our way, and a lot of room to stretch out our long legs.

ELEW, an insane piano player, opened for Josh Groban. I had recognized him from somewhere, and it wasn't until he started playing inside the piano that he was from America's Got Talent. Crazy stuff! View video:

After he was all said and done and his crazy piano got whisked away, it was Josh Groban's turn.
His mini-orchestra began playing on the main stage, and all of a sudden, we heard shreiks from behind us. We turned around and there he was. I screamed quite a bit as well. He started with a song that I didnt even know (it wasnt one of his songs). And then continued with February Song (which happens to be my favourite). As soon as he played the first 3 chords of February Song, I jumped up and down like a little kid screaming Ah. this is my FAVOURITE song. YYYYYES!!! Whoooooooooooooooooo! I LOVE YOU JOSH GROBAN! YOU SOOOOOOO SEXY!
The lady beside me (not my aunt), thought I was a little crazy. And it was true. It didn't help that I had some alcomahol before hand :)

So, now, instead of giving you the run down of every word and note he sang, I shall recap with my favourite moments/songs:

- Josh Groban is not only a fantastic singer, but also a great comedian. Now, I am not sure if he sits on his bus googling all these silly things, but he had my aunt and I in stitches!

- He brought a 29year married couple and two single ladies to the stage, and proceeds to sing a song about cheating (Broken Vow - another favourite)

- Machine - from his Awake album - now, this song was epic. The bass and the guitars were just incredible and Aunt Em spent the song just rocking out in our chairs.

- You Are Loved - my ultimate pick me up song. He sung this one with just he and the piano and a little bit of the orchestra, and it was beautiful. Goosebumps.

- Galileo - from his new album - I didnt like this one on the album, but hearing him sing it live, and give it a bit of a background story, made me like it just a bit more.

- You Raise Me Up - he closed with this song. He said that they blew their budget on their big wall so they couldnt get the gospel choir so we made the audience his choir. That was fun. Aunt Em and I belted out the lyrics.

I couldnt have gone with a better person. I love my aunt Em, and I will treasure this forever and ever.

Sigh. I could go on and on. That whole evening was spectacular. Every song he sung he used his beautiful God-given voice, and I couldnt help but praise God for the talents that he gives people. As amazing as this was, I cannot wait to hear the choir in heaven. Just imagine!

Here are my fave pics:

And a clip of my favourite song, February Song.

Minion Fascination

2011-08-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Despicable Me - My favouritest movie in the ENTIRE world. I was quite homesick one weekend, and I pleaded with Eric to come visit me and give me a hug. He left his buddie's house to come keep me company. Of course we couldn't spend the whole evening hugging, so we came up with two options:
(Please note: With me, disney/cartoon movies are a HUGE pick me up)
1) Watch the Swan Princess
2) Watch Despicable Me

After three rounds of rock, paper, scissors, I came out on top with Swan Princess. I changed my mind within seconds, and within minutes we were off to the theatre.
Since then, I have had a crazy love for Despicable Me. I even got it for my 20th birthday from Suzanne.
See how excited I was?

Anywho, winter is just around the corner, meaning that it is once again Crocheting time!
This year, I wanted to tackle something different, something.... fantastic. With a trip to the store with my dear mother when she visited, and stumbling upon two large balls of yellow yarn, I knew what I had to do.

Crochet Minion hats!!

After creating a hat style that I liked, I got to work on the eye/goggle. It was difficult to figure it out, but alas, Minion Bruno (Yes, I am giving them each a name), came to life:

I posted that picture on facebook, and I was astounded with the amount of hits that it received!
Thus, I got back to my yarn and hook and created more.

(Minions, left to right: Bob, Bruno, Joe)

My plan is to get a little bit of a stock going and then selling them, as well as some of my previous stock, on my facebook page:

Stelor Hats and Accessories

So keep an eye out and don't forget to "like" my page :)

Just an ordinary date - actually no, not really.

2011-08-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my dear one and only took me up to Whistler. It may have taken a little bit of nudging on my part, as the drive seemed long for a day trip (2 hours), but none the less, Saturday morning Eric and I, and my Neon trekked up the Sea to Sky highway to Whistler.

I now realize why so many accidents happen on that highway, as the beauty of God's creation is quite magnificent and quite distracting. For the entire 2 hour drive, I had the words of Psalm 8 playing like a record in my mind. The scenery is remarkable. If you are a photographer and you want some killer images - this is the place to go. Such beauty and such serenity. Its beautiful.

After the drive, we had a couple hours to kill before Eric had his Aussie Rules Football game.
For those of you who dont know what Aussie Rules Football is, check out this Promo video:

With hours to spare, we decided to browse the local shops. I didnt think that there would be many, but boy - was I ever wrong! I found the cutest little hat ever (which I am dying to recreate one day), a glass elevatory candy store that had candy in every nook and cranny (my kind of place!), and the cutest kiddie playground smack in the middle of the market place.

After browsing the shops and sinking our teeth into come delicious candy, it was time to play some football. Not me, mind you, I sat on the side reading a book <--a very rare occurance. The game went well, though they lost for the first time this season. It had a fair amount of tackling (my favourite parts), some good passes, goals and kicks. I was distracted quite a bit by my book, and little did i know that I was in the process of burning my knees to a crisp (I was sitting cross legged).

After the game, we decided to go for a walk. It took a bit to figure out where we wanted to go - since every lake would have been amazing to go see, but we finally decided on Lost Lake. Its quite neat, at Lost Lake, they do not have parking right near the Lake. Perhaps it is to encourage excersize, or bad planning on the city's behalf. Oh the beauty once again!

After a brisk 10 minute walk, we slumped our selves down on the beach and relaxed for a while. There was a lady doing yoga on one side, another doing head stands on the other, and a very proud mullet wearing man on yet another. It made for an interesting hour or so of pure relaxation. But alas, I have sensitive skin so we had to get up and walk around before I became red like a tomato. We decided to walk around the lake, as it didn't look to big, or to small, and dip our feet in a far away dock that we could barely see.

We reached the dock after a 5 minutes stoll, and carefully made our way down the steep-ish hill. As I was taking in the beautiful view, Eric started giggling and he looked at me and said " Dude - Steph - that's a naked bum! That guy is totally naked - there's another one - and another!" Poor little me, I have been scarred for life. I really didnt want to know what Eric's bottom half would look like after 40 years. Turning away, I noticed that the sign that said "Lost Lake Dock" had a line through it and in sharpie, it said " Old cock dock". Fitting - almost - still disgusting though. I made my way back up the hill in no time, and with a minute of giggling and joking around, we continued on our walk.

About 10 minutes later, we stumbled upon a small nature trail, and, craving adventure, we barrelled into the forest. A cute little bench awaited us at the middle of the trail, and, feeling a little exhausted, Eric and I had a seat. We sat there for a while, saying sweet nothings, until I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos. We decided to move on. As we continued up the trail, Eric all of a sudden stopped and grabbed my arm. "Steph, " he said, "there's a bear!", and what do you know, 10-15 feet away from us was indeed, a bear. It wasn't a baby, and it certainly wasn't a mama. It would probably be a little higher than my knees on its paws.

Anyways, I freaked out. Where there's a small bear, there's usually a mama - and mamas are defensive (good old forestry class kicking in right there). I can't run, because then it will think I am a deer or something - and then I am as good as dead. We have to get out of there. What the heck is Eric doing? We gotta go - remember- if it attacks, punch it in the nose, or eyes. Bite its ear. Fetal position. dont forget to cover your neck... Eric and I slowly <and shakily> made our way up the trail. Eric stopped. "Look - it's so little" he said. I was in the middle of telling Eric that we had to get out of there, when he asked for my camera. Now, yes, the bear was little, but even little bears can do a lot of damage, so I very very reluctantly gave Eric my camera. Soon, the bear disappeared back into the bushes, picture-less, and Eric and a very shaky me, returned to the top of the hill.

I dont think my heart raced that fast since our first kiss.

The rest of the date went perfectly. I got treated out for a very yummy ceasar chicken salad dinner, and Eric treated himself out to a big fat juicy burger. We walked off a couple carbs afterwards; browsing a couple shops, before we decided that we should leave and make it home on good time.

It was a perfect day. I must admit, it was so perfect, I almost suspected something very golden and shiny towards the end. Silly me.... one day.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the day:

For more pictures, visit this link:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150345042631223.398841.554326222&l=166536e84d&type=1

20 Parental-Coolness Factors

2011-07-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

My parents are coming tomorrow - and I am not excited at all. Actually, I am writing this blog to try and spark my interest in them coming down and to remind me of why they are so stinking cool.

My parents are totally dope because:

1. They raised us in a Christian Home (Thank you Lord!)
2. They are still madly in love. (Though, it gets a little awkward sometimes -but hey... it's all part of life, right?)
3. They drive eachother crazy. (Phew - proof that they are indeed human - not just some cyber-robots)
4. They are business partners and own a restaurant. (Dad works and pays for ingredients, mom cooks a savage meal, like she's so good at).
5. They are excellent story tellers (Even in dutch!... but we wouldnt listen to the dutch version - we'd just laugh at how silly their mouths looked).
6. They sent me to school (To get me out of their hair of course, but hey - it totally worked out...I am sure I learned something useful).
7. They like fishin' n' boatin' (Which is cool, except for the fact that we always have 40+ fish in our freezer after one of our trips. I hate fish).
8. They let me eat something other than fish when it was made. (Thank goodness - otherwise I might have had to like that stuff!)
9. They let us have pets! ( Busterina, Buster-foxy-ears-verhelst, Max 1, Max 2, Bandit, Buddy, Buttons, Benny, Phineas and Ferb, Amy's hamster.......... lots of pets - but never a farm-phew)
10. They like doing giving me heart attacks (By surprising me, of course... not attaching electric wires to my ears or anything - just surprises).
11. They make me laugh (Some times to the point where I pe-.... oh, never mind)

12. They make a beautiful choir (I think they got that from our birds).
13. Without them there wouldnt be my siblings (.. anyone to beat on, be the scapegoat, tattletale on....)
14. They let me date Eric (Much to their dismay at first, I am sure. I don't think they ever suspected me falling deeply in love with a guy from way down here and have him steal me away!)
15. They raised us to be independant (but still having the need to hug them every so often)
16. They give good advice (even when I dont want to listen)
17.Without them, there wouldn't be me. (And wouldn't that just totally suck the life out of everyone)
18. I hate saying goodbye to them ( which must mean that I really do love them lots!)
19. They will move down here one day. (If I have anything to do with it!)
20. They are mine! No body else's parents (besides my siblings).

Now that that's over and done with, I now realize...

KIDDING!
I was always super excited to see my parents, and now that its just one sleep away, I would love to go home and sleep for 18+ hours just so that the time would go by faster.
I actually never need a reminder (or 20) of why they are so totally dope, because they really just are.

My parents rock my socks.

Being Content

2011-07-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

con·tent·ment/kənˈtentmənt/

Noun: A state of happiness and satisfaction.

I do believe that everyone struggles in their daily life to be content. I am probably the most anxious/impaitent-in-the-long-run person you would ever meet. I'm not just talking about being content in your financial situation though I hardly doubt any of us really are (unless you are a millionaire). I am talking about being content in our every day life - our experiences, if you will.

I am super anxious to get married and, if the Lord wills, to have children. It's something I wanted since I was a little girl. Maybe it was due to the fact that Amy was born when I was only 9 years old, so I remember how much fun it was (she liked me the most - hahah!)... but none the less, I find it really hard to be content in where my relationship with Eric is right now. It's really silly, actually.... I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world - he's sweet, romantic every now and then, does the dishes, helps clean up... the list could go on and on. And I love him with all my heart.... but... after dating for this long (3 years) I just really want to settle down and get married. This is where the need for contentment comes in. I struggle with it every time I see him. If I could, I would fly off to someplace tropic and elope. Of course, that wouldnt be wise as our parents (well, his - I am sure mine would be all for it if it meant not having to pay for our wedding) would probably disown us for life. In any case - I can't wait to get married - but I have to somehow find away to be content in where I am at right now, right? Sigh.

I had hoped to be in a different position at work <promotion> towards the end of August, but alas - even after some planning/scheduling, it seems that that will not be the case anymore. I must admit, it stung this morning when I found out - I kind of felt like I just wasn't worth anything to the company.. all my hard work, cheerful behaviour. Perhaps it was divine intervention, but the first thing that popped into my mind when I settled down was: Contentment. I am content with my position right now - I love waking up in the morning and going to a job that I thoroughly enjoy. But with that glimpse of being in a position where I could focus on marketing just sounded so wonderful. Perhaps it will still happen - I really don't know. All I know is, is that God is making me stay in the same position for now. But why?! ... do we really even need to know why? I am sure it is to teach me contentment - patience, even.

Next week, I will get the absolute pleasure to see my cool parents and Amy. I am sooo exciting. It is sooo hard to live away from them. I haven't seen my mom and dad since January! ... and it sucks. I hate living away from my family sometimes. I wish I could uproot my darling and move to Smithers - but I know that he has more opportunities down here (as do I), and so it's best that we stick it out, together. Perhaps this is the one topic where I feel the least content. How could you? You are 1000 kms away from the people who love your more than the rest of the world! I would love to just visit Jessica for an evening and have some tea every wednesday or something. It seems the only visiting I will be doing is over cyber space.. and the only tea I will be drinking is lonely Earl of Grey.... all alone. But on the other hand - I absolutely love it here! I have an awesome job, boyfriend, and friends, and I wouldnt give either of them up for the world. But I would for my parents (only if it meant taking Eric along, of course). Sigh.

.contentment. The true answer to finding the perfect state of contentment is found in 2 places: The Bible and Prayer. This bible text has really helped me lately, and so I would love to share it with you:

Philippians 4:11

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

Lord - help me to be content.

I feel most content when it's like this---->

And the happiest when it's like this ---->

And the most blessed when we're all together like this --->

Clouds of the Cotton Candy Variety

2011-07-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

I figured I should write a blog post indicating to my fearful friends, that I am still alive and breathing - I just dove off the face of the earth - no biggy.

It's quite pleasant here - the clouds are of the cotton candy variety, the sun is blazing down a gentle warmth, the sky is a blue as it is on a clear day, and there's no one in sight. It's not like I was in desperate need of a break from "reality", nor did I even realize I was on my way to the edge of the earth.... life just came up behind me as I was smelling a pretty daisy and gaves me a great big shove, and the next thing I knew, I am flying in the sky on a great big cloud of cotton candy with ~~unicorns and rainbows~~ nothing but serenity. And Cotton Candy.

So, hello - fellow earthlings. And Greetings to you from the other side of the face of the earth.

Sparrows Housing

2011-07-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

These past couple months, I had been working on 2 special projects. The second was the Zebra painting (view blog entry here), and the first special project is what you are being introduced to you here.

My mother approached me, many many months ago about a new housing complex that was under construction in Smithers. It was/is called the Sparrows Christian Housing Society - or - Sparrow's House. Many of you probably don't realize/know that this house was specially designed and built for adults with intellectual disabilities. Here is a bit of information from their website:

"The Sparrows Christian Housing Society was formed in 2002, after the realization that there was a severe shortage of safe, affordable housing for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Generous donations from churches, families and the business community allowed the Society to purchase property in Smithers in 2005.

In the spring of 2008, Bethesda Christian Association (an organization in British Columbia, which assists individuals and their families with intellectual disabilities), formed a Joint Ministry Agreement with Sparrows Christian Housing.

With Bethesda on board offering their expertise and funds, we have redesigned our tentative blueprints as well as paying out the mortgage on the property. This brought the possibility of the building a huge step forward.
In the summer of 2010 a project manager was hired, a building committee formed, and plans to build started. On September 7^th, 2010, Construction of the Sparrows complex began." What a beautiful idea!

My mom asked me if I would like to do a painting for the sparrows house as a gift. I thought it was a wonderful idea, but I kept it only in the back of my mind.... until a couple months ago. It had been in the back of my mind, I nearly forgot about it. Luckily my dear mother mentioned that the grand opening was to be in a couple months, which flicked the lightbulb and brought the painting once again to the fore front of my mind.

I had a couple of ideas for the painting, but I wanted it to have some connection to the Sparrows House. My mom has a faster mind than I, and suggested that I paint a sparrow <bird>. She sure is brilliant sometimes! So the ideas began whirrling... pictures began to appear, and before I knew it, I was scribbling stuff down on a canvas. I wanted to have it realistic looking, and yet still have a bit of a fun side to it, and yet keep it simple. I wanted to also incorporate a bible text as well, and after discussing with my mom once again, we decided upon Psalm 84 verses 3-4.

It was difficult to find a picture of a sparrow that encompassed all I wanted it to, but after one visit to the library, I found a book on North American birds which had pictures of three Sparrows. Lightbulb. I will admit that this painting was not easy. The detail that each bird possesses is absolutely marvelous (it is no wonder it needed such a majestic creator!), and I found it difficult to get every speck of detail into the painting. I added branches to unify, if you will, the three birds.

After some elbow grease, I managed to pull it together and finish it off. Just in time to miss the grand opening. None the less, the painting has found it's home thanks to Mr. Vandenberg (if not- here's your reminder to bring it) - better late than never!

So, thanks mom, for encouraging me (and reminding me) to have this done, Alfred from Fastamps, who did the wonderful job on the plaques for the bible verse, thanks to James who was my incredible delivery man, Jessica who passed it on, and Mr. Vandenberg for putting it where it belongs :) To the sparrows board who, without them, the house wouldn't even be built! And last but not least, thanks to the Lord who gave me this talent and who gave me the ability to put it to good use. Let all the praise and the glory be to Him!

Sparrows Painting, Acrylic, 30" x 20" 2011

Sparrows Painting - Layout Concept 2011

Sparrows Painting Final - SVerhelst 2011

Bowen Island & The Lack of Jelly Bellies

2011-07-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Every year, for the past 3 years, Eric and I have made the long journey to Bowen Island. Off the coast of Vancouver, Bowen is a beautiful, serene little village nestled inside big rolling hills and trees the size of huge trees. The first time we went, it rained buckets of rain ... minus the hard plastic buckets. The second and third time that we went, it was pleasant weather - not too hot, not too cold. On the second trip, we managed, after a strenuous trekk up a hill to Dorman Point (occasionally making our own trail in confusion). From there, you can see miles down the ocean (if the trees are out of your way - other wise you just see.... trees).

This past Saturday, Eric took me to Bowen once again. I like to call it the "annual spoil Stephanie day" because I always feel so special and so blessed. There's nothing like a date out in God's beautiful creation; a picnic on Dorman Point, the sun shining down, a wonderful boyfriend and a handful of jelly bellies. Speaking of jelly bellies...There is a general store up a little bit farther on the main land of Bowen Island that has become my greatest ~~source of sugar~~ happiness. In their inventory, they have, amongst the usual fruits, veggies, magazines, a deliciously huge bag of Jelly Bellies. And each time, I have managed to pursuade my dearest to allow me to purchase the bag so we can "share" them ~~with me myself and I.~~

Rascals :)

Unfortunately, this past Thursday, I had the liberty and the aboslute honor of visiting the dentist, and after seeing the monstrocity of a bill, and still having a sore jaw, I could not bring myself to purchase my sweet lovelies this time. Luckily, my dearest came to the rescue. There is a new candy store on Bowen Island, called "Candy in the Cove" (visit website here), and, knowing that I am a complete candy store freak, Eric decided to allow me to "window" shop. Litterally - the store was closed. Bum-to the burrr. As I was busy saying "ugh- I love candy way to much, it is a good thing that it is closed", the owner came over and stopped by with the key to happiness.

It is the smallest candy store in the world, as they claim. I personally have not been to all the candy stores in the world, but I will agree with them in the fact that this is indeed the smallest I have ever graced with my presence (and my wallet). And alas - in the tiny space that there was - there were plenty of delicious candy that wanted to jump into my mouth. With a little bit of puppy dog eyes, and bottom lip pursing, I got the okie doke to fill the supplied bag 1/16th full with Rascals (the candy shaped like fruit), Banana-nas and Jawbreakers. It was a good thing that I had my sensible, caring boyfriend with me, or I would have bought the entire store out.

Anyways, back to my original choo-choo train - Bowen Island is beautiful. This visit, we had packed a wonderful picnic knapsack of Garlic Buns, Dunkaroos, Bananas, Nectarines, Muffins and Granola bars, topped off with a wonderful supply of jus du orange and jus du 'eau. After the long hike up the hill (on which I was once again reminded of how out of shape I am), we plunked down on the soft grass, and began to chow down. **mushy alert - I loooove picnics with Eric. It's so relaxing. He's over there reading his book, while I get to go off and take pictures or take a nap. He protects me from the bees, and I make sure that I dont disturb his reading. Except for the occational smoooo ** ahem. **.

In a nut shell - it was a beautiful day. We were extremely blessed with a bright sun and blue sky....after climbing, slipping and hopping back down from Dorman Point, we decided to have one more walk before leaving. We stopped by the fish ladder (which is beeee-utiful!) and then spent a couple minutes by the ocean before boarding the ferry back home and chowing down on a nice juicy burger from Red Robin.

It was a perfect day.

.. and the rest is history. Here's some of my favourite photos from the date:

While they were in Africa...

2011-07-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

While my dear friends (Eric's sister and b-i-l) were in Africa, Jerome posted a photograph of a Zebra that he had spotted. As soon as I saw the picture up on their blog, I wanted to paint it very badly. I kept it in the back of my mind, not knowing when they would return to Canada.

Months and months passed, and they finally returned.... with a precious little package soon to be delivered. Soon after they returned, they received little Kristin - a beautiful baby girl; a wonderful, precious gift from the Lord. My moment had arrived.

After pulling out my 24"x32" canvas, I printed out the photograph Jerome had taken (excellent photo - btw), and started sketching it out....


The beginning - the background.

The lines were difficult as every curve formed the skull of the zebra.

I added colour to the background on Eric and Suzanne's requests.

Finally Finished - July 2011

... and then, it came to completion. This painting was quite challenging - more so than I thought it would be. When it was all said and done, I was quite relieved to pass it on to new owners. Jerome and Andria are so deserving, and I think that this painting couldn't be in a better home.

J&A - It is my hope that everytime you look at this painting, you will remember the beautiful gift of life in Kristin that you received from God, and that your mind can drift back to all the wonderful safari memories that you created with your family in Africa.

Welcome home. We missed you.

Earl's Mood Swings

2011-07-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

My dear Earl of Grey. It had been a while since I had had a sweet visit from my warm and gentle man. The weekend proved to be wam and sunny, giving myself and Earl a bit of an unforseen break. He didn't appreciate this break, as I found out yesterday morning.

I had cleaned his home a couple days before hand with some sweet smelling Green Apple soap. He seemed to enjoy his newly cleaned habitat, as he jumped right in after I had rinsed it down. Sitting down, we began chatting - little chats. This and that, here and there, la-de-da-de-da. He was busy telling me how displeased he was (I could tell he was very displeased-what with all the steam and fury), when he threw a big load of soap suds into my mouth. I gaged quite profusely, and stormed, with him in hand, over to the sink where I washed him out with soap.
I was quite miffed for the rest of our afternoon that I left early.

Having a decent night's sleep, I decided to put off my grievances towards Earl's raunchy behaviour yesterday, and give him another chance. Apparenly - he wasn't up for that either.
From the very start - he gave me a cold shoulder. His sweet kisses were as if he spent the night in the freezer - his touch was as cold as Santa from the North Pole. It did not matter what I did - his whole demeanour was like that of the Grinch at Christmas. I decided to try enjoy him while he was so cold and frigid, and it wasn't that bad. I added more sweetness into his system with spoonfulls of sugar hoping that that would work, and it was as if he changed his mood straight away. One little smack with a spoon and he was good to go. He was cold, yet very enjoyable, and the sweetness was very very scrumptious.

The Earl of Grey's mood swings has put me in an odd position. On one hand, I would like for him to be the warm and smooth man that I fell into love with - but on the other hand- this new cold version is much more enjoyable for the summer months.

Sigh.

My Favourite Man in the World.....

2011-06-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day 2009

.... my dad <3.

I don't understand how I could have been blessed with such an amazing man as a father. But indeed, my father is the best in the world.You may feel the need to object and declare that no, indeed, your father is the best, but that is just silly talk.

I remember the first time that I got to go in the tow truck with him and Jessica to terrace. We were so excited. I believe we slept most of the way there... there's nothing like a little Cindy Lauper and Dolly Parton to put you to sleep.... it took like 10 minutes to hook up the vehicle and be back on our way, but to our surprise and total delight, we stopped in at Dennys. I had dinosaur shaped chicken strips and fries :) And then we were on our way back again; Jessica and I belting out "Islands in the Stream", with dad just smirking away. It was the best day... ever!... I remember telling all my friends at school about all the cool things we got to do with dad, and of course, they tried to one-up me, but I wouldn't listen - my dad was the best.

I loved working beside my dad. Gutters were my favourite.... and not just because sometimes I would get a jumbo push pop or a ring pop - It was amazing to see him work; his little fishy face when he cut the gutter always made me and Ica snicker like little 4 year olds. We had a hard time keeping up with him, and not just because his legs were 5 times longer than ours - he was seriously fast! I had the priveledge of working with him the last 2 times I went to smithers, and though my legs have grown, I still had a hard time keeping up, and he's almost at 50!

I'm lucky that my dad wasn't a work-a-holic. He and mom used to shoe us all into the van, telling us that we were going to a job site to see what he was working on.... little did we know they had packed all of our swimming stuff and we got to go to the pool! <-- super awesome, by the way! What a crafty man.
Every summer, we would wake up suddenly (and grumpily) from dad flicking on the lights saying "We're goin' fishin'. Pack your stuff - we're leaving in 10!" Even though I hated being woken up like that, I was always excited to go fishin' and boatn'... rain, sleet, hail or shine, there he was, out on the lake in a dinky boat; patio umbrella up, just fishin' away. And oh, man. Can my dad ever fish! (To my dismay, because the more he caught, the more fish-inspired dishes I was forced to stuff down my throat - gag).

He bought me a puppy one year; Bandit. My other puppy, Max, had died on the road, and I guess dad felt really bad.... so, for my birthday (16?), dad walked in with a doggie carrier. "Haha - I betcha it's a teddy bear" - I said as he walked in with it. Dad plopped it down in front of me, and I reached in and grabbed a puppy! I started crying right away. I couldn't believe dad would ever buy me a puppy. I think most of us were in tears. He was so thoughtful! ... I am pretty sure I squeezed him so tight after I gathered myself together. It still gets me in tears when I think about it. * Reaches for a kleenex*

The memories could go on and on!

Living away from my family has been hard, but I have to admit, living away from my dad has been the hardest part. There's something to be said about the relationship between daughter and father. Usually, it is said, they fight the most, and yes, boy did we fight, but I always found it easy to forgive him, even in the toughest times. When I moved away, I grew an even bigger amount of respect and love for all that he said, did and provided. That is one relationship that I am proud to say I gained more out of when I moved away; The wisdom and the life experience that he possesses is incredible, and he gives it to me every chance he gets. It's awesome.

I hope that Eric will turn out to be half the father my dad is, because I know that if he can be half as good, he will be incredible, and my children will love him just as much.

Sailboat Painting - Fathers Day 2010

Dad, if you read this - I love you so much, and I miss you like crazy. Thank you so much for all that you have done, all the hours you put into work to provide for me and the family. Thank you for keeping me in line (even when I didn't want to be ) and thank you for encouraging me to pursue my dreams. Thank you for all your wisdom and all your Buster stories when I was a kid. Thank you so much for being the best dad in the whole entire world.

I love you.

Sparrows

2011-06-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

My latest painting project: Sparrows. The photo is brighter than the painting is (less yellow), but this picture shows alot of the detail. My wish was to have Psalm 84: 3, 4 printed on it, but I dont trust my own hand with a brush full of black paint on a fresh canvas. I have yet to come up with a sneaky way of getting it all put together.

Fresh, white pages.....

2011-06-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Finally! I once again invested my oh so precious time into that of a fresh sketch book last night. There's nothing like ignoring the ~~canucks losing at boston~~ tv with a pencil in one hand, and eraser in the other.
I finally managed to set up my printer/scanner gadget to my computer at home. It was difficult to figure out where the paper went, but alas, one look at the instruction manual, and it all made sense.
Hopefully I will get a hold of my new gadget and give it a lil' test drive tonight. With that, I will leave y'all with a poor lil' teddy, who is all alone after being forgotten about by his dear old owner. Never forget your first love, peoples! (Please excuse the noise in the picture as this was taken with my cellphone :) )

Boycotting Abortion Supporting Companies - Discussion.

2011-06-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

In discussing the role of Heinz ketchup with Planned parenthood, and whether they donate to planned parenthood or abortion clinics, I took the liberty in emailing Heinz. They haven't responded yet, so I did a little research on all the companies that we know and maybe love that do support Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics. Food for thought: should we make an effort to boycott these companies?

Avon
Black and Decker
Coca-cola
Gap
HP
Mastercard
Motorola
Pepsi
Quaker
Starbucks
Verizon.

Please share your opinion/belief. I am planning to compile this and more information on my blog one of these days.

Do not fear... the JG is here!

2011-06-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

It is always a difficult thing when you strike up a friendship at work, and that person decides to leave the company. I have been here for three months to the day, and today I have to say goodbye to one of the funniest, professional men I have known.... and it seriously sucks. Meet JG:

I figured I should make him something, as a thankyou for all his good work, and so that he will have something in his new office to remind him of all the awesome times he had at this last company. I had a couple ideas, construction dude, being buried in paper work... work stuff... to boring. With pencil in hand, I remembered the time he came to my desk, and asked me to do something, after I agreed, he posed a super man pose.

<liiightbulb!>

It took a couple sketches to get it right. I worked on it for half an hour, and called it bedtime at 11:00. Yawn.

This morning, I brought it to work and sneakily placed it on his desk while he was out for a smoke <cough> break. As he re entered the building, I couldnt help but giggle. With ears perked, I heard him swing out his chair and have a seat.
"What the heck?" he said..... and one second later, I heard him laugh like I haven't heard any of these guys in our office laugh before. "That's freeking WICKED!", I heard him say. I couldnt help but have a great big grin on my face when he came over to say thank you.

JG, I am totally going to miss you at work. I wish you every blessing in your new endeavour.

Praise the Lord for food!

2011-06-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone eats food. From everyday rice to lobster and steak, food is amazing. No matter what your name is or where you are from, but one smell of a burger being bbq'd on the grill or even a look at a subway sandwich on a poster, your mouth will begin to water. Maybe even drool, a little.

Food is incredible. Take the miracle vegetable, broccoli, for example. I must admit I am not the biggest fan of cooked broccoli, except when it is broccoli soup. But when I get to chomp on a fresh green mini tree, smothered in a small amount of Ranch dressing....... * angel chorus* (press play on video to watch the commercial for the miracle food.

You try create a new food. New cells, new design, new taste... chances are, you will be using input from other foods around you. *Add a dash of lemon for zing*... and even with God giving you a head start with all of his ingrediants, it will still take you years, maybe even decades! Now, I'm not talking recipies, since recipies are always created, and modified by adding one more ingrediant to the large batch. I'm talking a brand new vegetable. From a peetree dish, type deal. God did it with the snap of his finger. He didn't need ingrediants, recipies or peetree dishes! Just one snap of his finger, or word from his mouth and BANG! there they were, all the vegetables that we know and love, and even more that we haven't even discovered yet.

Lord, thank you for food. Thank you for inspiring the person who made the recipe for Mayonnaise, Jr. Chickens, the Sweet Onion Chicken Teryaki, Italian Herb and Cheese Bread. For YOU are the chef behind all the recipies. Lord, even though I do not like fish (besides your marvelous Tuna), on behalf of everyone who does, thank you for seafood! Thank you, Lord, for the ability to taste and smell; to have our mouth water at the sight of a juicy burger.

Your creation is the foundation of each and every plate we are served. Lord, help us not to take our blessings for granted; our daily bread. Lord, let everyone who tastes their meal today and from this day on give you the honour and glory!

Here is a commercial that used to be on T.V. - many of you would have seen it already, but I think it's neat. So I will share it with y'all.

Lost Locket!

2011-05-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

If anybody has seen this locket --->

Please let me know, asap. Eric gave it to me for our first anniversary. He knew that I wanted either a silver locket or a pearl necklace. Mr. thoughful decided to get me a silver locket with mother of pearl on it. What a great guy hey?

Anyways, I have lost the beautiful thing, and it's very important to me. Yesterday, I was going to wear it for our anniversary. The chain had broke before, but I figured it could fit on a different chain I had lying around. When I went to get the locket, I noticed that it was missing! The broken chain was still there, but the locket was no where to be found. I checked frantically under my bed, pillow, side tables, everywhere. Needless to say, I was a bit upset.

Last night, Eric and I walked on the pier, and I was telling him about how upset I was that I lost my locket, when he pulled it out of his pocket with a new chain. That little bugger. He had it all along, and there I was freaking out. What a sweetheart. He's usually not the greatest with surprises, but he sure had me this time!

Thus, the beginning of this blog is bogus. It was lost though, and if Eric didn't have it, this blog post would have gone up. With a different ending of course.

How it all began...

2011-05-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, I was persuaded by my friend Jolene to go to the Fraser Valley Young People's League Study Weekend (isn't that a mouth full!). I was hesistant to, since I hardly new any one from the Fraser Valley. After some proding from my Dad (who I am super greatful for), Jessica and I decided to go, and make a road trip while we're at it. (----> On the ferry before we had to say goodbye)

The location was Nanoose Bay. A quiet (until we all got there) part of the Island that was settled right on the ocean. It was picture perfect.

Eric and I met that night. It was around 12 AM, and I was wondering around in the dark calling out for Irma, a friendly girl I met earlier that day who said she would introduce me to everyone. I finally found her sitting on the grass observing the poor volunteers who had to stand on a chair in the ocean until dawn.
He was about 5 people down from me, sitting on a chair. Irma introduced me to the people on either side of us, and we started chatting... whats your name... how are you doing... where are you from...etc. A couple minutes (?) later, Eric got up and left. I hardly even noticed, what with it being dark and all. He came back a couple minutes after that with blanket (it was a bit chilly out). Seeing a blanket, and being half frozen, I called out "Hey you- with the blanket! Come here!". He obliged. Eric and I as well as three others were sqashed under the blanket. Having no idea who this Eric guy was, I asked him where he was from... how he was doing... his full name and such and such. And that's where it all began. May 17th/18th 2008, on the banks of Nanoose Bay. Eric, me, a blanket, people I didn't know, the stars. What a perfect way to meet someone.

I guess we got so caught up in talking and learning about eachother that we didn't realize the time until most of the bank was cleared up. There was Eric and I and I 3 more contestants with their feet in the water. It was 3:40. I said good night to this new friend of mine, Eric, and ran into the cabin. Those poor cabin-mates of mine. They probably thought I was such a bad girl...

The next morning, I was sitting on the log by the beach when a young man approached me. "Good morning," he said, " We met last night." His hair was shaggy. Not the best looking, I guess. Silly me, how superficial. I had no idea what Eric looked like, and I thought this guy was him. "I'm James." Oh. Well, that changes things. (Don't worry James - you are very good looking, and very sweet. I dont know what I was thinking back then). And off he went. THEN. Like a dream, there came Eric. White shorts. White shirt. Aviator glasses (which were super duper ugly). Hairy legs. Bright smile. Perma-peaked hair. Needless to say... I had to catch my breath (yes, you are allowed to gag now). I wished that that handsome guy was Eric the entire time he walked toward me. "Good morning, Stephanie," he said. Holy crap. It's Eric. He is soooo handsome. Wow. Yikes. How's my hair. Horrible. I'm still in the clothes i was in last night. That's disgusting. I hope my breath doesn't smell. Wow. look at his smile! I had no idea what to do. I was like a little kid. Stuttering and what not. Poor Eric probably thought I was a little crazy. I cannot believe this stud is single! What the heck is wrong with these FV girls? Look at him!

We spent all day together. Except for bathroom breaks. Blushingly, I admit, we held hands, hugged a little. But anybody who was at May Long 2008 would be able to attest to that on their own. My sister came up to me mid-saturday with her cell-phone. It was a text message from a guy back home who I had begun a relationship with right before I left for May Long. He missed me. Crap. Eric already knew I kind of had someone back home, and in our haste to get to know eachother I thought a fling wouldn't hurt. It's not like we're going to kiss or anything. Just friends. Close friends. Fast friends. No biggie, right? With a quick reply to the text (which I will keep off of my blog), Jessica pulled me away. "Uh... Steph... I can see the way you are with Eric. He's handsome and really nice. Just be carefuly, k? Just want you to know that whatever you choose, it's okay. Oh, and Eric is really handsome and nice." And then she walked away.

I am not sure if I felt relieved or if I was even more scared. But I had a really handsome boy waiting for me a couple meters away. I couldn't just run away. Could I ? I walked back over, slumly, slowly, and sat back down. I just sealed my fate. Why did I just sit down? I really don't know what I am doing. He was just so nice... so sweet! We talked about everything. Life, family. We made 17 years of information fit into one weekend. I guess you could say we "clicked". It was amazing. It was like I had known him forever.

Sunday rolled around, and again.. we spent the entire day together, talking, walking, making eachother laugh. That night, under the stars, I told him that I really liked him. He said that he liked me to. He said he liked me! wow. That was easy. I wonder if he wants to date me. But he lives here. Long distance would suck, I am sure. 12 hours apart, all the time? Oh ... what am I doing?! That night,we had a couple minutes alone, admiring the stars. It was 4:30 Monday morning (we had pulled an all nighter along with other FVYPS), and I really wanted to sleep. I started dozing with my head on a log and Eric's arm around me. It was the perfect setting for a first kiss. Kiss after 2 days of knowing the guy? what on earth is going on in there, mind! We can't kiss. That would be horrible! Unless he's a good kisser..... And then it happened. The perfect first kiss (his, not mine... my first kiss I enjoyed though.... so that says something). My heart thumped like thumper from Bambi. Umm... wow. That was like, amazing. I turned to Eric who was beat red (whether from the kiss or the fire, I will never know). It was that moment that I knew we had to give it a try. I didnt want to kiss a guy and then leave him behind. That's just wrong. Flings aren't my thing. "Do you want to be my escort at grad, " he asked. He's asking me to grad? What should I wear? I have no dressses? Should I agree to it? Is this his way of asking me to be his girlfriend? Whhhattt?? "Uh, Steph..." Poor guy. I left him with no answer. "Sure. I guess. If I can make it down again. That'd be nice."

Monday continued with rain. A lot of rain. Wet, drenchy rain. I went to my cabin soon after that whole escapade, and napped for a while (missing part of the closing ceremonies, or speech).

And then came the goodbye. This is it. Goodbye. Wow. He is handsome. And sooo nice. I wonder what his mom is like. Is he going to kiss me goodbye in front of all these people? He looks like he isnt going to. Thats okay. We hugged. "Goodbye, Eric." "Goodbye, Stephanie." And there it comes. A kiss. It was really more like a peck, and I was way to embarrassed to ask for a bigger one. I turned around and went in the car. "Well, it looks like you've made a friend, huh Steph?" Yea. just a bit.

I tried to get one last look out of the back of the car as we drove away (like they always do in the movies).. but he was surrounded buy his guy friends. Bugging him already? Maybe.

As soon as Jessica and I got home, my mom knew right away. Mom's intuition is crazy. I showed her a picture, and she was like "I guess I can live with that."

... and the rest is history.... 1.5 years of long distance, 1.5 years of living in the Valley. 3 of the best years of my life. Friends who I love so dearly. A boyfriend that I am so thankful for.

Happy Anniversary, Eric. I love you so much. I honestly cannot imagine life without you. You have been such a blessing from the Lord, and I thank Him for you every day. I sincerely hope and pray that we will be together forever, but I guess that is a little bit up to you (HINT HINT RING HINT HINT).

Stephanie vs. MRI

2011-05-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Preparation...

An epic battle of radiatic proportions was about to take place. He just stood there. Did nothing. Chicken. La-de-da-de-da. Quite intimidating to stare at, though, and I admit, my hands got a bit sweaty. The lights blinked. Sounds began to whirrl. Oh dear, he was warming up. The administrator of the battle, Dr. Cute, assured me MRI wasn't as frightful as he looked. But still. To think that I was going to be strapped to a board, shoved into the opening, and remain absolutely still while MRI had it's way, was a tad nerve racking. But, none the less, Dr. Cute ordered me to get my wits together, remove any articles that had metal in them, style a beautiful blue gown and wait paiently for the battle to begin. I sat down for less than 2 seconds and was ushered in the room.

Strap 'er in!

Feet first, there I lay, compeletely and utterly helpless. And as if being helpless isn't enough, I had to be deafened as well. MRI is a loud talker, the boastful kind... the kind where all you want to do is plug in some ear plugs. Dr. Cute came to my aid with two little orange ~~Mike n Ikes~~ buggers. With a twist and a shove, in they went, and I could hardly hear MRI or Dr. Cute any longer. Then, what looked like plastic abs from someone 8 feet tall, was strapped on top of my belly. ~~Finally, the six pack I have always drempt of!~~ MRI had an advantage. Not only was he big, heavy and intimidating, now he had his arms (?) around me. Death grip. Well, no... it was more like an air hug.... ready to become a death grip at any second. Dr. Cute ordered me to surrender, so up my arms went, past my head, and there they would remain for the remainder of this encounter. Ensuring my pretty lil' ears from any possible damage, I got to style headphones that looked like they were from a different century. Lovely shower caps on the ear buds as well.

Construction Site?

Litterally. That's what it seemed like. It had the ~~bang bang bang~~ rhythm of a jackhammer, with the occasional twang of a hammer.. the ground even shook. It was like having a mini ~~butt~~ massage. It was a sunny day, as well, and MRI seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself as I was baking in my own ~~sweat~~ fruit smelling perspirant.The only major difference would be the sweet, soft voice from my breathing instructor:
"Take a breath..... Hold your breath.... silence.... silence.....silence... Relax." ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫ Dr. Cute interrupted Avril Lavigne - Fairytale to ask how I was doing... and with a thumbs up.... ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ "Take a breath..... Hold your breath.... silence.... silence.....silence...silence.... silence.....silence... Relax."

Half of half an hour later....

Dr. Cute decided to make my experience even more uncomfortable with a needle. And it wasnt just a small sewing needle. It was a big daddy of a needle. The king, possibly, of all needles. An IV needle. Dr. Cute assured me that I wouldn't be able to feel the big plastic jug hanging out of my arm, but I could. I really shouldn't have said anything because he wiggled it around, and that was super uncomfortable. And once again, down I went, into the crevice of my possible demise.

"Take a breath..... Hold your breath.... silence.... silence.....silence... Relax." ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫ Dr. Cute interrupted Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved to ask how I was doing... and with a thumbs up.... ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ "Take a breath..... Hold your breath.... silence.... silence.....silence...silence.... silence.....silence... Relax."

And then. Silence.

Dr. Cute strolled into the room and announced that the battle was over (if only world wars could have ended this fast) while ~~removing~~ ripping the IV tube out of my arm. Sitting up (a little light headed), I slinked a mocking smile at MRI. He groaned, and slowly became as silent as the grave. Victory in hand, I emerged from the dark hospital of the lightness of the ~~sun~~ clouded sky. Even though the victory has been claimed in my name, the results of the battle have yet to be determined.

I can honestly say that I am more partial to the MRI than the CT scan for only one reason - Less radiation ( ~~more baby ability~~).

It's in the Lord's hands now. All I can do is wait and put all my cares and worries on Him. What a blessing to have such a comfort!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

I knew I had to do something extra special this Mother's day. I would be the second one I would miss, and that just ain't right... unless... I had a super cool present. Presents always seem to make things better, even though I would have preferred to give my mother one GIGANTIC hug instead, this just will have to do.

As I was humming and hawing one night, I picked up a pencil and started doodling a cartoon version of Eric reading a book (as he so often does - he sits so still - he's a perfect model). As I was recreating his biceps, nose, eyes and perma peak, it dawned on me:

I will create a family portrait for my mom! Perfect! And after a quick run to the dollar store, and a hijack of the Prisma colouring pencils I had found elsewhere, I sat by the table, sketching away. I didn't realize how much work this would have taken, and I am glad I started it a while before hand.

Step One: Get your thoughts together in form of a sketch:
Step Two: Go over with Sharpie to ensure boundaries:
Step Three: Start colouring, working from top to bottom to keep your hand from possible Smudges.
Step Four: Continue until Finished.
Step Five: Do Finishing touches.
Step Six: Realize that there is to much white space.
Step Seven: Add a wiggly squiggly poem:

Some times we drive you crazy
Some times we drive you nuts
Often times we drive you up the wall
And then you're day's the putz.

One thing you must remember
When all is said and done
Of all the mothers in the world,
You're always number one.

Even though it sometimes seems
Like it's too much for one mom,
We're one big crazy family,
And we think you're THE BOMB!

Step Eight: Mail off to Sister.
Step Nine: Surprize mom :)

Happy Mothers Day, Mom! I love you very very much! I hope you had an awesome day!

MRI Scheduled

2011-05-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Lucky me, I get to skip another day of work to spend in the hospital. Oh goodie.
Dr. Smith said it would take 6 months to get into the MRI, but I guess they had an opening since I am scheduled to go there on May 16th.
As for how I am feeling; I feel really good. I had a little bit of pain twice this week, but it was very minor. Hopefully the scan doesn't show anything serious, but I will leave that up to the Lord, and quit my worrying.

Medical Results: Stephanie is indeed, a gimp.

2011-04-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my appointment with the oh so very talented Dr. Smith. He is an amazing Dr and answered all the many questions with ease and detail. Unfortunately, not all my questions could be answered.
The pain was gone yesterday, which was super nice, but also ironic, seeing has how my doctors appointment was that afternoon. I guess it's like the car that gets brought to the mechanic, but when it's there nothing seems to be wrong. So far I feel really good.. tired and exhausted, but good.

It seems that what had seemed to be a bladder infection and kidney stone was a bad case of a kidney infection. Though, he did say that I could have had the kidney stone, I just wasn't aware of it. The symptoms point to yes, I did, but I never saw the dang thing, so no one can really be sure, I suppose. And, as he pointed out, the need for my uturus lining to once again disintigrate and decide to pass through my body , added to the uncomforableness of the situation quite nicely. It was great to have my body working together in such a way that it could multi-task all the rotten, painful procedures and still have the ability to perform it's monthly task of preparing for children.

As I drank water to the point where it was downright silly, the infection was passed through my system, hence the whole being fine now thing. The reason the pain was so much worse at night was because during the day my body was working extremely hard to fight the infection, and then at night it was so tired from fighting, it gave up, and cried out for support (advil and tylenol).

The cyst on my kidney is still there, and will only cause pain when/if it decides to erupt. Other than that, it should settle down nicely, with out any pain needed. The lump on my kidney, on the other hand, needs further testing. I could have been able to get another CT test done, but since I want to have children later on in life (not tooo much later though - hint, hint... bling, bling...) an MRI was the better option. So, the doctor has ordered an MRI for me to see how my lovely little lump is abiding on my kidney. As far as the date for the MRI goes, I do not yet know, however, the doctor said that it could be up to 6 months... giving the lump the oppurtunity to continue being bad (if it already is), and become serious, or just chill out and stay the same lump it is now.

Doctors orders: Drink water like its tea. Every cup of tea demands a cup or two of water. Every cup of water demands two more cups of water. In other words, spend your time in a non-chlorinated pool drinking until it is all gone. And take pee breaks. Especially if you go with the pool idea.

To everyone who sent up their prayers for my health/safety, I would like to thank you personally. It is a great comfort to know that through all the pain I had, God was there protecting me, and nothing to serious was found yet. It is also great to know how many loving friends and family I have out here and back in Smithers. Praise the LORD!

So, as far as my health goes, this will probably be my last post for a while, until the MRI scan is complete and la-de-da-de-da. I can go back to church without having the need to cry out in pain, and I can be the same cheerful, ridiculous, silly me that I usually am :) And boy oh boy, am I ever looking forward to it.
Did I mention that the doctor said I could drink tea again? :) :) :)

And, since every blog post deserves a picture, here are some closeups of the "I'm so sorry you're sick, I bought you flowers to help you feel better because I know you love flowers but I never buy you any but this time I really thought that I should, and you didn't know, because you were on the couch dying of pain, and I love you" bouquet from my dearest boyfriend.

Putting the Healthcare System to the test. On Accident. Don't try this at home.

2011-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

How to put the healthcare system to the test.

Sunday.

1. Become Sick (use your imagination). I 'chose' abdominal pain.
2. Become so sick that advil, tylenol and continual heat on which ever area has been in pain.
3. Register yourself with the nurse. Style cool white bracelet.
4. Register yourself with the triage nurse, who will take your vital signs.
5. Wait in the waiting area. Sometimes this could take minutes. Other times, hours.
6. Continue waiting. Be sure to groan enthusaiastically.
7. Get called in for a blood sample. Sometimes this could be done in the ER.
8. Count to ten while blood sample is being drawn. Don't look!
9. Keep your hand to your chin for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, return to the waiting area.
10. Continue waiting. I found that sitting in the fetal position helped quite nicely. As well as chanting an 'I am so sore, this is retarded' moan.
11. Get called into the ER.
11 a. Change into beautiful blue gown. Tie straps TIGHT!
12. Provide urine sample. Be sure to follow strict instructions located on the wall above the toilet.
13. Give sample to ER attendant. Be sure to groan.
14. Wait. I found that this waiting period takes quite a while. It is best to have a book, computer, drawing paper/pen, or a good friend to hang around. This way you dont go senile and have to be put into the pysiciatric ward.
15. Pace around the room verociously. I found it beneficial to groan loudly when in the aisle.
16. Meet with the doctor (finally!)
17. Answer some ( what can be embarrassing) questions.
18. Get prescription.
19. Get dismissed from ER.

Monday

I found it beneficial to take this day off to recooperate. The antibiotics prescribed to you should take effect really soon. Be sure to take with food. I found that Subway is very delicious.

Tuesday

Two things can happen.
A - you get better. Congratulations, go to work.
B - you wake up in a lot of pain. Sorry. Try to sleep it off. Call work to let them know.
I liked being in the ER (kidding), so I went along with Plan B.

Repeat steps 1-15 from the adventures from Sunday. But this time, make everything take twice as long. I found it very nice to have my boyfriend along this time, and I highly recommend it.
16. Meet with doctor and find out that the diagnositc from Sunday (bladder infection) was incorrect. Learn that the correct diagnostic is a kidney stone.
17. Wait four hours to have ultrasound done on kidney.
18. Get ultrasound done.
19. Wait for results.
20. Get results. Figure out that they couldnt see a kidney stone on the ultrasound. Schedule a CT scan for a couple hours later.
21. Find out CT scan was cancelled until tomorrow morning.
22. Take extra strength advil/tylenol to help with the pain.
Continue the evening with severe pain, advil, tylenol, and the need to go pee every 20 minutes.

Wednesday.

The steps for this day are a bit different, so try not to get confused.
1. Register yourself with the CT Scan attendant.
2. Wait.
3. Style baby blue scrubs.
4. Wait. Talk to person sitting next to you (unless they are severely creepy).
5. Get CT scan done. Follow breathing instructions.
6. Wait for results in the ER.
7. Ask nurse how long it will take. The 10 minutes (which is how long it was supposed to take), will now turn into 3 hours. Remember to bring a book along.
8. Meet with a different doctor.
9. Find out results from the CT Scan.
9 a. Take medication if needed.
10. Go home.
11. Take advil, tylenol and drink tonnes of water.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday....
Continue desired steps as needed. I found it beneficial to do this all on a long weekend week, so I worked Thursday (which was difficult.. but bring your heating pad and it helps), and then had the Stat holiday the next day. As for the remaining days, if you are in pain, take advil and tylenol and stay in bed. Relax. Take a bath. Hopefully you recover soon.

What my first doctor thought was a bladder infection, turned out to be a kidney stone. I had passed the kidney stone before the ultrasound. The ultrasound, showing nothing, promted them to take a CT scan. Obviously, I shouldn't be in this much pain after the stone had passed. Surely I should have felt better by then. The CT scan showed 2 things.
1. I have a cyst on my kidney. This has been the source for the continual antagonizing pain throughout the 24 hours of each day.
2. I have a lump on my kidney, and further actions have to be done to figure out what it is. The next action on the list is to get an MRI done. They suggested another CT scan, but since I want to have lots of babies, they figured that it would be safer to do an MRI.
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to go over what it could be, what can be done, what I should do...etc... Hopefully I get some more answers regarding that tomorrow. I must admit, I'm a little scared, but I am reminded of the Lord's love and care, and the fact that He would never give me more than I could handle.

Riverdance!

2011-04-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Suzanne brought to my attention the fact that RIVERDANCE was coming to Vancouver. I had watched the program every Friday or so with my Dad when I was younger, and I had always secretly dreamed to go watch a live performance.

So, one night, Sann and I sat infront of the computer searching away for the best deal. We found a couple in Vancouver, but to drive all the way out there after work could have sucked. Surprizingly, Riverdance had one program in Chilliwack... out of all the place in the Fraser Valley... Chilliwack?
So, one click after another, our tickets were purchased. After getting the receipt, I realized I had booked the seats in section Q, and we actually wanted to be on the floor. So, getting on the phone one night, I pleaded with Ticketmaster to give us different seats for the same price. And... baddabing baddaboom, floor seats in section 17 were ours!

After a few weeks of uber anticipation, the day was here. Shockingly, I didnt seem that excited. I think it hit me that we were going to Riverdance when Sann and I were grabbing a bite to eat at Younnies in Chilliwack (good restaurant- by the way). I chowed down on a succulent piece of bloody steak. oohohhh yeaa.... steak! At quarter to 7, we packed back in my lil' lady bug and bombed our way down 3 blocks to the Prospera Center. There seemed to be a few people there, but not a tonne, like we had expected. While we were waiting, a young man came up to us and handed us a "Vote for the Green party" flyer :P. Yea, um, no thankyou, right?

Finally the doors opened and we squashed through the tiny doors to get to our seat. Row 17, seats 45-46, Floor section. Little did we know when we purchased the tickets that the floor was not angled. At all. So we couldnt see anything. Twas lame. As the center filled up, we noticed some empty seats. Apparently so did a lot of other people on the floor. We managed to score pretty goood seats in section R. The only problem was it wasnt directly center of the stage so we both had a crick in our necks after wards.

Why I love Riverdance:

1. shows God's power. You try create a human with legs that can move that fast.
2. the music was awesome.
3. the unison.
4. I've loved it since I was a little girl.
5. it is a different way of telling a story.
6. I got steak :)
7. bonding time with Sann!
8. I could go on....

Here's some pics for your viewing pleasure:

^ Sann and I outside the Prospera Center

^ The guy group "ha!"ing and "hoo!"ing.

^ favourite part with everyone together

^ these guys were sweet. Probably my favourite part of the whole thing.

They were having a "turf" war with the stuck up white dancers.

Super cool.

Behind the Scenes: Ruby's Cake.

2011-04-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

It all started with an idea: To make my friend Ruby a cake for her Stagette party.
My mind went every which way, trying to figure out what the design should be; I went from lingerie to bouquet to sports car to airplane to a blank vanilla cake. Searching through my cupboards, I found some royal icing flowers made from my last cake. Liiiightboulb! I decided to go with a daisy cake, featuring Red Velvet interior and a Creamcheeze/Vanilla buttercream filling and exterior.

Everything started splendidly. The ingredients were mixed, food colouring was added, taste tests were made, the oven was preheated. Sann decided to help me with the baking of the cake, since she's the master of the kitchen, I figured it was a good idea.

After preparing the pans with PAM, we began to add the mixture. After adding to one pan, we realized that we never used one ingredient! Shucks, right? Yea. So we had to take it out, add the ingredient, beat the crap out of it once more, shove it back in the pans and in the oven. It smelt sooooo good, cooking away. Our mouths were watering, wishing that we could dig our faces in it as soon as it left the oven. All the while, Eric was being bored on the couch doing his homework. How dedicated.

As the cake was baking away, I got out my beloved piping bag and tip and created a lot of white daisies with beautiful yellow centers. However, whether it be because of the delicious fumes or I wasn't on top of the ball, my beautiful daisies didn't harden as much as I would have liked. They would have been okay, but it would have looked a tad dorkey. I didn't figure this out until the next day when I had to decorate the cake.

So the cake was nicely in the oven, our nostrils picking up on every wonderful scent: cocoa, vanilla, sugar, flour... ooooooo my. It was soooo goood! BEEEP!*** went the oven. Sann and I scurried to the oven with a toothpick. Yep. It was ready. Doneskies. We pulled it out and boy oh boy did it look good! After it cooled, we took it out of the pan and placed it on a stand to cool even more. (Sorry for the crooked pic - my computer is having a tantrum)

The next day, I was busy icing the cake when I found out that the cake was super thick (because of all the beating to get the food colouring correct, then re beating it because we forgot ingredients, etc...) ... as thick as a brownie. Almost. Well, that just wouldn't do, now would it?

Sann and I decided to cut it open just to make sure, and yes, sure enough. It was a nice thick cake. Delicious.... very delicious, but thick.

So. We decided to bake another cake. We decided to do a Blue Raspberry Vanilla swirl with vanilla fondant and some vanilla buttercream. This time we beat it just the right amount, remembered all the ingredients, and the cake looked SPLENDID! Sure, it didn't smell or taste as delicious as the red velvet, but hey - you gotta do what you gotta do, right? In about 5 hours, we had stirred a cake, baked a cake, let it cool, and finally, I got to have my hands alll over it... prepare to be decorated!

The daisies were an issue. The petals were perfect, but the centers weren't as hard as I would have liked. Each time I picked on up, the center would fold in half and break the entire thing. Luckily, I had extra flowers from a previous cake that were just beckoning to be used. It after about two hours of rolling fondant (for the first time ever!), preparing the icing, colouring the icing, placing the flowers, detailing the cake and putting it all together, we had a cake. Finally.... and it even tasted good!

So, completely different from what was planned, here it is:

Original Cake: Redvelvet, Creamcheeze Icing, Daisies, Rectangle, Turned into really yummy brownies:

Actual Cake: Blue Raspberry Vanilla, Fondant and Vanilla Buttercream Icing, Some Daisies, Royal Icing flowers, Circle.
... go figure.

Design, Liiiightbouuulbs, Peanuts & 20 Step-Mile Diet

2011-04-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been looking a lot more like this:

You see, design work can make you a little nuts.
And I am not talking Macadamia nuts. I'm talking about the honey roasted kind that when you take a bite you realize that it's not honey roasted, but jalapeno and someone played April Fools and swapped the containers on you; the ridiculous kind of nuts.

It starts with an idea, or as dear Mr. Gru would say...."liiiiiiiightbuooolb!". That enlightenment makes it's way to paper, in form of a sketch. After semi-approval of the client, the sketch gets sketched on, making minimal and huge cosmetic changes. Once in a while, the changes become so large that there really isn't anything to do but scrap the whole idea, and the whole vicious cycle goes on again (click to enlarge):

I assume that now you may have a better understanding of why I am crazy. Go figure, huh?
Of course, it's not always that bad. Some times it is worse, and my designs get canned right before production. Like this one:

Even though it was not produced, I still think it is awesome and that it will be printed. Even if it takes a hundred years. But I must admit... it stings a little. It's times like that when you find out your honey roasted nut is not honey roasted, but mold. Pure, utter mold.

Latetly, my design bowl has had a nice mixture of nuts, and not yet this year have I tasted a moldy nut. Ah, but it is only April, and I still have 45 working years left on my calendar :) Actually, nuts are a great source of nutrients and protein. And lately, I have been finding myself reaching for the trailmix more often than the skittles. Is change in the air? No. You see, my trailmix bag is empty, and dear Suzanne and I have sworn of grocery shopping, and we are adhereing to the 20 step-mile diet, where we only eat what is in our house. Yesterday we made taco flavoured pizza buns. They were surprizingly delicious! Talk about creative, huh?

So, my trail mix is empty, and so it shall be for a while. The good news is, the skittles bag is not yet empty! I have about 10 skittles left. We shall see how long that lasts. Uhoh. 8 left.

And now you know the methods behind my madness. :)

Nerdly Fascination.

2011-03-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

My fascination with nerds started at a very young age. I couldn't help it that they were so valnurable, so sweet, so shy... it was just so tempting to reach out and have one for myself. Their habitat is always clean and orderly... arranging their belongings by colour according to the scientific reaction that particular belonging has induced.

I suppose the fascination with nerds is mostly a fascination with their inner depths. Who knew that amount of knowledge could be squashed in that tiny little membrane of theirs. And yet with all that knowledge comes the sweet, caring, demenour, they have learnt from the bullies all around; Bullies such as the runts of the family, and the other smarties in the bowl of life, mocking the nerds with all their snickers and cooler scientific formulas.

I found it mesmorizing. And since then, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for nerds. Not because I pitied them, but because I saw what they had potential to be - The Bill Gates of the universe... the Willy Wonkas of the Candylands.

Whether or not the fascination with candy nerds induced my late fascination with those of the breathing variety, is beside the point.

Reaching into my inner nerd, I have put together a very complex set of mathematical equations and algoritms explaining my situation:

Stephanie + Nerds = Happiness

Stephanie+ Nerd of mixed human variety = Super Happiness

Stephanie + Nerd of specific male human variety = Happiness forever

I love nerds.

Note to the world: Be careful. You WILL be subject to them one day. Don't say I didn't warn you ... because I did. Unless I eat them all. Which I probably will.

There's nothing better than......

2011-03-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

I've been told that there's nothing better than fresh, clean sheets, right out of the dryer. Bah! In my mind, there's nothing like sleeping in your own dead skin being eaten by bed bugs, snuggling up to my blankie I haven't washed in ages. Could it be that I am mistaken?

I took upon the ego of fellow Mythbuster, Jamie Hyneman, figured out a complex algorithm, gathered the needed chemicals, and pursued with my experiment:

Hypothesis:

- There's nothing better than dirty sheets
- My mother will be proud if this works
- My blankie will fall apart in the dryer
- My bedspread will shrink and no longer fit my twin sized bed
- The weight will break the dryer

Procedure:

Step one: Remove articles from bed.
Step two: Remove feather pillows from cases. (do not try to wash feather pillows!)
Step three: Shove all articles into washer, including: fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillow cases x2, blankey, bedspread
Step four: Add Oxi Clean
Step five: Add detergent.
Step six: Turn on machine AFTER closing the door.
Step seven:Wait
Step eight: Wait
Step nine: Remove from washer
Step ten: Read drying instructions on each tag
Step eleven: Add wet articles, weighing a tonne, to the dryer.
Step twelve: Close the door
Step thirteen: Open the door
Step fourteen: Add fabric softner sheet
Step fifteen: Close the door
Step sixteen: Set dryer on MED heat for 100 minutes
Step seventeen: Wait
Step eighteen: Wait
Step nineteen: Pour self a glass of bananatini
Step twenty: Grab self a package of nerds
Step twenty one: Wait
Step twenty two: Wait
Step twenty three: Listen to cycle end beep from dryer
Step twenty four: Open the door
Step twenty five: Notice blankets are still wet
Step twenty six: Set dryer on for another 40 minutes
Step twenty seven: Wait
Step twenty eight: Listen to cycle end beep from dryer
Step twenty nine: Open the door
Step thirty: Notice dry blankets, smile.
Step thirty one: Remove from dryer
Step thirty two: Close dryer door with shoulder
Step thirty three: Re make the bed
Step thirty four: Put on pjs
Step thirty five: Do devotions
Step thirty six: Snuggle into bed.
Step thirty seven: Sleep soundly

Conclusion:

- There's really nothing better than clean sheets. Except for tea... and nerds.
- My mother can now be proud
- My blankie no longer stinks and stayed in tact through the cycle
- Bedspread still fits my bed
- The weight did not break the dryer
- Suzanne and Eric were right.

Evidence:

Articles in the Dryer

Clean sheets in a clean bedroom

This experiment was done in partnership with Suzanne is Always Right Productions.
Any coincidence to events in your life are completely ... conincidental.

Hi, my name is Steph, and I am addicted to.....

2011-03-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Steph-Stephanie.... Lorinda. And, I am here because some people think I am addicted to ... Tea. So that's why I have come to Teatime Extremeaffair Anonymous. It all started in the dark ages of my life (Red rose tea colour, steeped 10 or so minutes), and I found comfort in Tea.

~ How it all began ~

It started as a simple harmless idea. One cup surely wouldn't hurt. What could it to do me? It's just leaves dipped in water for a couple minutes, right? Think again. I started out as a member of the regular red rose fanatics, but like all addictions, it just wasn't enough.

So, I turned to herbal tea. They sure look nice on the outside; bright orange peaches with red strawberries... it's almost like you are eating fresh berries and fruits through water! But that just didn't do it for me. I needed my dark, built, steeming cup of tea.

And then. I met the Earl of Grey. And whoooowie. It took a little bit for the friendship to grow, and now it's at an all time affair! (shhhh!). I think people are starting to suspect things, so we toned it down by adding a dash of white milk. I only see him a couple times a day... so it can't be too obvious, right?

I get a headache if I don't taste him during the day, and a longing to feel his warmth at night. When his sweetness touches my lips for the first time in the morning, I shiver. Warmth spreads through all my veins and nerves, and it's just incredible.

My name is Stephanie Verhelst. I have 5 cups of tea a day with sugar and milk. I have tea bags in my desk, purse and in the slots in my wallet:
And I love tea.

Ode to Tea...

2011-03-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

I was in a rush out the door this morning, and I forgot one of the most important items in my home. My starbucks Tea Canister. Suzanne bought me it for my birthday, and it is the one thing, besides my bible and cell phone that I use every single day. See how stoked I was to get it for my birthday? And see how jealous Eric is? Teehee.

I can fill it in the morning, and it'll last me until lunch, then after lunch, I can fill it and it would will last me until my drive home from work! It's a luxury, really, and for some reason I forgot it at home.

So now I am sitting here, deprived of small amounts of caffine, sugar and milk, and I feel really weird.

Have I become addicted? I wouldn't go so far to say that, I suppose, I just really really love it.

So, in my deep sorrow, I created a short poem:

I call this: The Ode to Tea.

Tea, Tea,
Wonderful tea,
When I have to much,

I gotta go pee.

Tea, Tea,

Tasty, Sweet Tea,

I haven't had you today,

I'm sad, you see.

Tea, Tea,

Dark, Steaming Tea,

I forgot you in your canister,

Please forgive me.

Tea, Tea,
Dear, forgotten Tea,
I promise you will be tasted,
I'll be home at 5:23.

Tea, Tea,
Scrumdiliumptious Tea,
Don't you go tell Eric,
I love you more than I do he.

-Stephanie

New Job! Dumdedum

2011-03-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

So technically, yesterday was my first day at my brand new awesome possum job!
As a bit of background information, let me explain how this all came about:

February 21: I was chilling on the couch of my place watching criminal minds when the phone rang. It was my SanderMAX boss. The conversation started with "I'm really sorry Steph...." And as soon as those words were spoken, I totally understood what was going on. A couple minutes later, my suspicions were true. Once again, after only a month and a half of working part time, I was laid off. Oh goodie, right?

So, I had no work to do for the rest of the week. Hello, booties! I picked up my darling crochet hook and crocheted these little beauties, and I must admit, I love them! So... I made more, and more and more and more and more, with a hat in between.

February 28: I buckled down and told myself that I was going to find a job. So, sitting by my desk, tea on one side, nerds on the other, I searched Craigslist until my eyes hurt. I think I applied for like 15 jobs that day. About 2 hours later, I got a call from Homeforce. Unfortunately, I was pre-occupied taking my 1-in-the-afternoon bath, that I missed the call. After wards, I picked up my phone and listened to my voicemail.
Whadda know? He wanted to interview me!
So, I called him up and we scheduled our interview for Wednesday.

March 2: Interview day! I drove to the office, (getting lost a couple of times), and had my interview. It went super duper well. He told me that I was in the top 10 candidates, and half way through the interview, top 3! What a blessing! I was quite shocked, actually, knowing that the other 285 people who applied probably had university and college degrees or something, but hey, I suppose it's my personality that gets me on board.

March 3: 9 a.m., I get a call asking me to come in to discuss the job (little did I know that was his way of saying that I got the job). Unfortunately, I could not make it in because I promised that I would babysit Eric's cute little neices, so I asked him if I could meet him later in the day, luckily that would be fine.
By the time I left babysitting, it was 1:40, and boy oh boy did I need some help. My hair was atrocious, I was sweating like a pig ( I had taken a stoller walk with the girls for an hour and a bit), and I was in my comfy clothes which arent all that attractive. So I bombed home and took a quickie lil shower, threw my hair up in a french twist, put on some make up and rushed out the door.

2:30 p.m. I made my way up the office stairs into the conference room. Shockingly, I wasnt all that nervous. Until he told me that the other 2 managers would be in the room as well. Then my boots started shaking. Nothing to be afraid of, of course. Half an hour later, the job was mine! Oh yiippppeee!!

So, what am i doing at this new job, you ask?

Say hello to the new Administrative/Marketing Assistant. I am currently in charge of to many projects to name, so I will name a few - Tradeshows, Flyers, Reception, Filing - with even more to be added onto my plate the size of my desk, and so far, it has been super great!
This was my task pile within a couple of hours:

Thank the LORD for granting me such an awesome job in such a short period of time!

Job News

2011-02-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Why get laid off once, when you can get laid off twice from the exact same company only a month and a half of returing?

Work had been getting pretty slow, as many of you who talked to me would have clued into, and now I find myself not having to go to work this week, the next week, or all the weeks to come. Oh goodie.
I suppose I should start picking up my crocheting needle again :P

Even though news, like the news I got this morning, really sucks, I can only pray that something even better will show up around the bend. After all, God does work everything to our benefit!

So for now, it's back to the yarn, paints and designing as I try fill up my glorious time with arts, crafts and hobbies.

So once again, I say goodbye to SanderMAX... goodbye to all the fun and laughter.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for me :)

Birthday Weekend;Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

My birthday!

*Insert earplugs now*.....

Happy birthday too meee! Happy birthday too meee! Happy birthday dear meeee...eeee....Happy birrrrthdayyyy tooooooo meeee!!!

.....*Remove earplugs*

That's correct. My birthday was last weekend. The big 2-0, baby!
My birthday started off on a rocky start. The night before I had trouble snoozing, out of sheer excitement, and so I popped in an advil and fell to sleep like a rock... after which I was wonderfully awakened by an angelic chorus of "Happy Birthday" from my loving family.... angelic? maybe not so much, but it was pretty good for 8 in the morning. Yea, that's right. 8 in the morning. What ever happened to birthday sleep-ins? I suppose since every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I get to sleep in until the sun decides to set again, I should wake up early on my birthday.... :P.

My darling roomie Suzanne woke up after I was stomping around the house preparing my first cup of tea as a mature and sensible 20 year old. It was only after she came into the living room that all that maturity and sensibility went completely down the drain. Could you expect anything less from me and Sann? Honestly, we are from the same family, so the craziness is just doubled, not lessened. You peeps better get used to it :).
And so, after a hearty (almost deathly) hug, we parted ways to get all "dolled up" for our soon to be adventure into the completely unknown city of Vancouver. The forecast for the day: Hairspray with a 90% chance of Frizz.

Unfortunately, my body just wasn't cooperating that morning... and so as my darling boyfriend entered to give me a gigantic birthday hug, I found myself in the bathroom. How marvelous, right? Wrong. It sucked. But sooner or later, I emerged from the bathroom and straight into Eric's arms. That made me feel better :)... I laid down on the couch for a while, groaning and getting upset... all the while, Sann made me breakfast! (Yea, that is correct, I have the BESTEST roomie like, ever!).
Pancakes! Sann is so awesome :) It's to bad I couldn't totally enjoy them though, with my body revolting so much, but alas, Sann and Eric came to my rescue and gave me some Tylenol. About 20 minutes later, I told myself to have a nice day, and we left for Vancouver.

We started on the sky train and made our way to Lonsdale Quay where we checked out the cute lil' market, stopping to check out a bling shop, where Eric bought me the cutest hair clip, ever! The sales lady said that "I give you discount.. you very beautiful." She was in the mood for bargaining. I took my chance...."It's my birthday, how about a bigger discount?" Poor Eric and Sann quickly hurried to the other side of the booth so they could pretend they didn't know me... hahaa... But, shockingly, or not, she replied "no bigger discount. I already lose money. You get free gift." Hey, I'll take what I can get! Ca-ching!
We then made our way to the candy store to pick up some awesome rock candy and browsed around the store until our stomachs grumbled. Mc Donalds it was.... there's nothing like a bit of lard and oil to make you enjoy your day!

Afterwards we went back on the sky train and made our way to Robson Square, to see all the wonderful things they had planned for the Olympic anniversary celebration thingamabob. There wasn't as much as we expected, which was a tad disappointing, but oh well, what they lacked in entertainment, they made up for with rain. Buckets and buckets and buckets of rain!
We made our way into Holt Renfrew -the place celebrities buy their $6000 fur boleros- and had the grandest of times pretending we were filthy rich.

Alas, the day went on and on, and we walked and chatted, and giggled, but the time came for my legs to give out, signaling that it was now time to go home. (Present time!!!). We stopped by the Mongolie Grill (very cool restaurant, I would refer anyone to it!) and ate some absolutely delicious stir-fry and corn chowder while battling with chop sticks.

By the time we made it home, we were all tired. But, not too tired to not open presents! Sann spoiled me rotten with Despicable Me, a very nice Starbucks mug and candy (of which there was more of, but she fell into temptation before packaging my present, lol!). Eric gave me a very nice, soft fleecy jacket type thing (& dinner!), and my family gave me some sketchy pamphlets (bahahha!), lotion, eye makeup remover (was that a hint, mom?), a beautiful fire topaz ring with matching earrings, and a tonne of candy (that was later revealed to be sugar free.. haha).

Later on in the night, Sann went off to a hockey game, and Eric and I were left with a decision to make : hot tub, or Despicable Me. It took me a while, but one question answered it for me...
"What would a 20 year old do?" Eric answered " A 20 year old would go in the hot tub, but Stephanie would watch Despicable Me..." Sooo... I lived up to my age (for once, possibly!) and we went in the hot tub ( but I reallly wanted to watch Despicable Me :O).

After he left, I lumped into bed and fell asleep within a second. Not even kidding!

(If you are my friend on fb, there are pictures of our day in my album 2011 :D)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day... that day that women look forward to all year long. I felt pretty spoiled over the weekend, so I wasn't expecting anything for Valentines besides sitting beside my hunny chatting away the evening. Well, that would be lame, wouldn't it? Instead, we went grocery shopping, and picked up a DQ cake on the way home (Eric sneakily got the lady to write something on it when I wasn't looking). When we got home, I took out the table cloth, candles and a couple Royal Icing roses I had made for this special occasion (you know, just in case), and we spent the next hour or so eating icecream cake by candlelight. It was pretty romantic, if I have to say to myself :). Happy Valentine's Day!

The end.

Oh, and tomorrow, I am going snowboarding for the first time in my life! Wish me luck! Eeeep!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Today is Valentines,
And I really love you.

Necklaces are pretty,
Candies are sweet,
But when it comes to presents,
To you, nothing could compete.

Steak is super yummy,
Pretty expensive too,
But in all sweet honesty,
I'd be happy at Mc D's with you!

I don't need the red roses,
I don't need the violets blue,
You are my forever,
Nothing else would do.

I love you, my sweet boyfriend,
No one else will ever do.
God has really blessed me,
With a man such as you!

Happy Valentine's Day Eric <3

Guy of Gisbourne <- For J, J, J, S & K

2011-02-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, the glorious Guy of Gisbourne. Many Robin Hood watchers start off either Loving him, or hating his guts but then falling for him (as does Lady Marian... kind of (shhh!)). And so, being inspired as I have so been recently, I figured, what the hey... I did Robin Hood for the Robin lovers, and now it's Gisbournes turn. So, hello, sir Gisbourne, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy your stay and I really hope you enjoy being glanced at.

I'm running out of ideas (people) to photoshop so please comment below, and maybe your suggestion will be next!

I give thee: Robin Hood & Lady Marian!

2011-02-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

My dear cousin, Suzanne, and a couple of my friends, Julia, Kayla (cough.. Darryl) and I have been bit by the Robin Hood BBC Seasons 1-3 love bug.

So, I was inspired:

Diary Entry - LEARN TO PARK!

2011-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

February 5, 2011

Dear Diary -

Another splendid day in the city of Langley. K, S and I had gone shopping in the mall and were heading over to Value Village when suddenly, we had a sudden urge to have a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino from Starbucks. Though Starbucks is insanely expensive and pretty much only sells gross mud-like coffee, their vanilla bean frapp is to die for. Sweet creme with splashes of vanilla and real delicious whipping cream smothered on top like ice cream on a cone:

Our journey to the blissful Starbucks was lovingly accompanied by the tragic and beautiful love songs from the Backstreet Boy's best album, Never Gone:

And finally, there it was... Starbucks. Finding a parking space was a tad difficult, but alas! There one was! On the side of the building. While I pulled into my car's temporary home, my eyes bulged! Poor S & K were about to be embarrased (something tells me I do stuff like this semi often).... some silly sillly ridiculous, anti-parking man somehow made it up in his mind that it was totally okay to just park willy nilly in 2 parking spaces. Now, in Langley, it is difficult enough to find one parking space, and to have one car in 2 parking spaces is just atrocious!

So, I did what anyone (even my mom!) would do. Leave them a note. I ripped out a piece of paper from my note book, grabbed a pen, and wrote the insensitive man a note. I forget my exact words, but it was something along the lines of:

"LEARN HOW TO PARK! YOU DON'T NEED 2 SPACES! HOW RUDE!"

And that was kindly placed underneath his right hand side wiper.
As S, K and I were getting our frapps, I looked outside the window and what did I see? A very disturbed man walking around the side of his truck, picking up the paper, reading it, getting really red in the face, crumpling the paper like a juice box, looking around for the girl who did this, not finding her, getting into his truck, speeding out of the parking lot.

I must admit, I was a little worried he had seen who had done it, but I felt that even if he came up to me I would say the same thing.... while shaking like a blender.

So, Langley... learn how to park, or you as well may get one of my notes under your windshield!
Oh! And if you, kind sir, are reading this - I hope you have re considered parking in 2 parking spaces.

- Steph.

What would you have done? Leave a comment!

The Mystery Behind Pooh in Winnie the Pooh

2011-02-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

A couple of the young people girls and I had a very interesting discussion about why Winnie the Pooh was called Pooh. We had a couple suggestions:
-after poo: you can find a lot of that behind a bear!
-after poof: the change from young to old / skinny to thick
And yet, no one knew the answer. Thus, I was inclined to write about my findings on this here blog post to share with all those who were in discussion.

Let's begin:

Once upon a time, before the cute little yellow bear with the red shirt was drawn onto crisp, white paper, and before a single word was printed.... there was a black bear.... with no shirt. Just a regular(ish!) black bear.

A young lieutenant, Harry Colebourn, bought a young female black bear cub for a grand total of $20! The mother of this young cub had been killed by hunters who wanted nothing to do with the cub. Harry named the cub "Winnipeg" after his hometown Winnepeg (what a sentimental man!), but it was soon shortened to just Winnie (it had a cuter effect, I suppose).

So, first off, we learn.... the original Winnie the Pooh was indeed female. Let's continue.

Winnie was the mascot of the brigade and even went to Britain to cheer (?) on the troops. But, after the troops got re assigned to a battle station in France, the young (getting bigger) cub was placed in the loving arms of the London Zoo. The bear was there from 1919 until 1934.

A young boy, Christopher Robin had a teddy bear named Edward Bear (interesting name, I suppose). He and Edward Bear were keen observers of this great black bear in the London Zoo, and soon after growing a distinct love for Winnie the black bear, Christopher Robin did what I think is a tragic thing to do to a teddy... he renamed his bear!... to Winnie (how fitting!).

So, secondly, we find that Pooh has not come into the picture yet, and that Christopher Robin, to my demise, is indeed a boy, not a girl (but hey, when you have a friend named Robynn, you can get confused!). Let's continue.

Christopher Robin's father, A.A. Milne, was a famous author, and began to take the young child's imagination into perspective, and began writing about Winnie, the bear and all of his friends.

But why Pooh? Well, as it turns out, there was a swan in the London Zoo, who was also a family favourite to go see with Christopher Robin and his father, and the swan's name was Pooh (!??!?!?!?!). So, Christopher Robin and his father put two and two together and came up with "Winnie the Pooh!"

As it turns out, many of the characters in the book were inspired by Zoo animals, Local favorites as well as stuffed animals. As well, the 100 acre forest was inspired by a large forest near by their humble abode.

The end!

Oreo Cheesecake & Not Your Usual Lighthouse

2011-02-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

As the opportunity presented itself, one early friday, job-less morning, I slumped out of bed ready to take on the day!
The night before, my dear boyfriend swamped me with wonderful cooking magazines (hint hint, much!?). So, sitting infront of the television, me and my scissors went to work, finding sweet and interesting recipes. One of them was Oreo Cheesecake.
So, that very friday morning, I got myself together and went out yonder to purchase some much needed oreos, cream cheese and whipping cream (<--!!!!).
When I managed to make it home safely, I strapped on my apron and went to work... crushing oreos to dust, whipping the crap out of the whipping cream, beating the cream cheese..... and put it all together to reveal.... a masterpiece!!!

Unfortunately, my masterpiece was absolutely destroyed beyond recognition after a few men (and women) got their hands and forks on it. So I have used precious google, and here it is, one crisp, wonderful picture of oreo cheesecake. Mine looked better, fyi.

Since the cake only took 30ish minutes to prepare, I had to busy myself for the next couple hours until 8:00 pm when it was time to head over to a friend's little get together (where the cake had it's last stand).

Because one of my new year's (must try to follow as hard as possible) resolutions was to become a more well-rounded artist, I pulled out my easel, all my paints and la-de-da-de-da, painted away....
My set-up: paints, brushes, water, dirty palette, greek salad for nutrition :)

Start-up sketch:

The sky begins!

The water starts to flow!

Lighthouse comes to life!

Details, highlights and smidges of silver were added....

The finale!

... perhaps it became a dark, sad, mysterious painting was because I was watching Criminal Minds throughout the entire journey..... ah, I love Criminal Minds :)

Diary Entry - THE LITTER BUG! - a must read!

2011-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

January 20. 2011

Dear Diary:

You are NOT going to believe what happened today! Suzanneand I went to Langley (she had to get an oil change - well, not her... but hercar had to get an oil change)...

It all started with Canadian Tire. We went in, as pleasantas ever, asking for an oil change. Unfortunately, the cute attendant told us,it would be another fourty minutes before the car went into the shop.Okay, likecome on, right?! Fourty minutes!? Who do they think we are?! Time travellers?!Seriously.

Just beyond the gum covered parking lot (eww!) was a cutelittle auto service station - Speedy Auto Services. Now this is more like it!As we wandered into the shop (which was completely empty - talk about a nervousfeeling - was this going to be our death?!) ... we noticed a cute little bowlof candies. Obviously, this guy knew how to get us into his good graces!

When the angelic mechanic came, i immediately recognizedhim. He had put my winter tires on my cute lil' neon in November (he quoted a 4hour wait - but I only had to wait 2!!). What a sweet man!

So anyways, the keys were handed over, funny jokes (at leastmine were) were made, and off Suzanne and I went... journeying into the cold,bitter rain drops from the sky. After mumbling and grumbling about our lack ofumbrellas, we chit chatted until something absolutely nasty caught my very eye!

a. litter. bug!

I know right!? Who would think that in the beautiful city ofLangley, in mid-day, there would be one of those! Talk about a rare sighting(not!).

And there he was.... walking ever so calmly by Wendy'sholding his warm cup of joe when SUDDENLY..... SPLASH! He poured all of hiscoffee onto the sidewalk. First off - it's a cold day! Why on earth would youdo that to warm coffee!? Are you MAD?! Insane?! Secondly - that coffee, couldpotentially turn into murderous ICE! Unbelievable! I could feel the steamstarting to erupt in my head (poor Suzanne didn't know what was about tohappen). I figured... it's just coffee.... maybe it was just cold. And JUST then,at that very moment, the litter bug did even worse! He took the cup (thatused to carry some joe) and placed it (and all of its germs andun-biodegradable masses) upside down on a bush... in PLAIN sight!

Okay, like come on. Seriously!? Out of everything you coulddo with that cup, and every other sensible place you could put it... he decidesto do THAT?!

Well, I had it at that point. He was done! Finished!

"HEY!", I screamed, looking sternly at theculprit, "What on earth was that?! Put your garbage where it belongs! Putyour garbage in the GARBAGE CAN!"

Ah, but of course, he didn't listen. Poor Suzanne, this musthave been embarrassing.

"Hey!" I called again, "Put your garbage...in the ... GARBAGE CAN.. now!"

"Do it yourself!" He snickered.

That was it. I had had it. Suzanne hollared back "Thatis sooo disgusting! Gross!" (thanks for the backup, Suzanne!).

As he walked across the street, I was busy venting along tomy dear friend who was pretty much laughing her butt off. And finally - afterhumming and hawing and spazzing and freaking and laughing and giggling andspazzing once more and brr-ing, we made it to our destination.

After spending many-a-minutes within the depths of the Martof Walls, we continued back to our angelic mechanic to pick up the newly oiledcar. On our way, we passed the dreaded coffee cup and again, we vented,spazzed, freaked, laughed and giggled at the whole situation.

Once back at the station, the sweet man asked me how my dearneon was doing (nice memory!) and told us to come back (on which I had added -he better have better candies next time .. hehe... he agreed!)

And that was that.

So, littler bugs. BEWARE! If I see this monstrocityhappening once again - I will use force. Not just a glare and a couple of sweetencouraging words either. This is our planet, and it is our job to take care ofit. A garbage can is never hard to find, and no one wants to see Langley turninto a big landfill site.

So please, Langley. If you have garbage, use a garbage can.We shouldn't have to live with these silly, lazy actions, and seriously, no oneshould have to pick up another person's trash. That's just really gross.

Blog Screen Shots

2011-02-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here's some screenshots of the blogs I have created for my fellow friends :)

Roses

2011-02-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Way... way back when, my darling boyfriend sent me a beautiful red rose.
But red isn't cool, so I used the splash of colour setting on my parents computer and came up with this masterpiece.
I used to have this set of pictures on my wall in my room, but when I moved away, I gave them to my friend Suzanne.
Hopefully I will get these reprinted, I still really like them.

First Painting of the New Year! - Steam Train!

2011-02-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

In dire need of inspiration, I called out to my fellow facebookers, asking for their advice.
I was torn between painting a lighthouse, steam train, bridge, sunset with snow and an ocean view.
The steam train seemed to be a winner, as many people's comments included "steam train! :)". And so it was. I browsed the 'net to find a picture suitable to conquer, and behold. I found it.
About 2 minutes after making my prized discovery, one of my fellow facebookers commented "A train on a bridge would be sweet. Maybe even with a sunset." And, badda bing badda boom, I figured I had a winner.

Friday, January 28th was P-Day. I assembled all of my weapons, snacks and tea and got to work. I put my makeshift easel (which hopefully will be replaced soon) ontop of a garbage bag covered table, sat down on the couch, and flicked on the t.v.
Fridays are Criminal Minds days on A&E :) It was a perfect day!
I never got up from my seat (except for the occasional pee break and tea break). By the time my roommate came home from work, I thought I was imagining things. I was half way through and I had already worked on it from 11 a.m. till 5:30 :O. And yet, I was in the zone. Certainly, I could not have put it away! And then, miraculously at 10 p.m. ish, my battle was over!

It wasn't until an hour or so later (11ish) that I realized that I was really hungry! So, into the fridge I went and pulled out some delicious greek salad and garlic bread with cheeze.

Twas a marvelous day. My plan is to continue this crazy process every friday. So stay tuned!

Below are pics of the painting in fruition. Enjoy :)

Sketch of the day

2011-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

The King's Equal and a Glass of Water

2011-01-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

The King's Equal and a Glass of Water - a short story

Once upon a time, in the dark, cluttered room on 28th street, there was a silent cough.

Last night at 12:22 am, struggling to sleep from this horrendous cold, Stephanie called Eric. *cough*
Normally whenshe can't go to sleep, hearing his voice helps her drift away into sweet romantic dreams. Because she was sick, she needed a bigger dosage. So, at 12:22 am, Stephanie picked up her phone and called her darling boyfriend.

He was watching a movie, so she had figured he would still be awake. That's what you do when the next day you have off. Stephanie used to do that. It was kind of nice, actually.*cough**cough* Oh how she would sometimes miss the good old EI days....
Anyways. Stephanie talked to Eric for a while, but it just wasn't helping (perhaps it was the huge craving of steak she have yet to conquer keeping her up). So there she was laying in bed, *cough* cuddling her blankie on one side, her teddy on the other, feather pillows below her head, wrapped in a caccoon of blankets, and even the sound of his voice couldn't make Stephanie sleep. *cough*
Being the little child that she sometimes am, Stephanie asked Eric to read her a story. Totally expecting him to laugh and say no, he picked up the story book by his bed (yea, they may have done this a couple times over the past 2.5 years), and started flipping through the pages to find just the right one. (What a guy - hey??)

Eric picked one story that has become her favorite to hear late at night - The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson.*cough*
On his deathbed, the king gives his son, Prince Raphael, a blessing; though Raphael will rule when the king dies, he will not wear the king’s crown until he marries a woman that is his equal in all things: beauty, intelligence, and wealth. King Raphael sets his councilors the task of finding a princess as beautiful, as intelligent, and as rich as he is, but none of the princesses are good enough. Meanwhile a poor farmer’s daughter, Rosamund, makes friends with a wolf who tells her that she must go to the king and present herself as his equal. In this modern fairy tale, an arrogant prince must learn the meaning of true beauty and intelligence. He must also learn that true wealth does not come in the form of money.

It was a long story.... unfortunately,Stephanie did not fall asleep during, *cough* which they were kind of expecting (it's happened before that she was out like a light within the first 10 pages or so). *cough*
After a sweet "Goodnight, hunny, sweet dreams," they hung up the phone. Stephanie got up and grabbed a glass of water. Could of figured that was what she needed, what with this horrible dry cough and sore throat. Badda bing, badda boom. Within 5 minutes, Stephanie was dreaming sweet romantic dreams. And.... the rest is just dreams.

And so... the moral of the story is:

My boyfriend kicks ass and yours doesn't even come close to even consider comparing.
I love him <3

The End.

Hi ho hi ho.. it's off to work it go :)

2011-01-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

Work

It certainly is a blessing to wake up every morning and be excited to go to work.
Soooo... yes, I am back at SanderMAX. Talk about awesome. I love it, just like before (despite the fact that the office hasnt been cleaned since I was there last... yuckish... and spiders seem to multiply every 5 seconds.... gag...).

Graphic Design

For all those wondering, yes, I will still be doing graphic design on the side. I am hoping to really get word out there for all those interested in getting some business cards, logos etc. done. Hopefully work will start piddling in :)
I am planning to get a super stelor site up for professionalish purposes. Stay tuned.

2011

... maybe big, golden, shiny, diamondy things will happen this year?....

Jaguar Painting

2010-12-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

As my time being a jobless bum comes to completion, I have been busying myself with random projects around the house. This past week, I finished off a 10+ hour project.
Remember that big canvas I bought? (I mentioned it wayyyy earlier in one of these posts) Well, I finally got around to painting something on it :P
So, behold!

The Jaguar!

The Job Hunt Has Ended!! :), Graphic Design, Stelor Hats

2010-12-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

My New Job

After approx. 2 months of being jobless and bored out of my mind, God has blessed me with a new job. New-ish, actually.
Come January, I will be back at my old desk at SanderMAX. You can't imagine my happiness.
The only difference is... it will start off as part-time; tues, wed, thurs each week. But hey, nothing's wrong with having a super long weekend every single weekend!
In the future, the hope is that I will be back to being full-time. But only time will tell.
My job description is similar to what I was doing there before hand, just with a few major changes which we haven't totally sorted out yet.

Graphic Design

For now, I will continue to be doing graphic design, as well as when I am back at SanderMAX. It is something that I do not want to give up because I enjoy it so very much.
For this christmas season, if you are interested, I will be designing christmas cards. Email me and tell me what your colourscheme is, a few photos of your beautiful family and badda bing badda boom, you will have one stelor christmas card :)

Stelor Hats

In case you were wondering, I am still crocheting my adorable stelor hats. They have been pretty successful and I would love to see one on everybody's head come christmas. Kidding. They are a great stocking stuffer and christmas present for those who are hard to buy for.
Please email me if you are interested in a hat, and I will contact you for details.

We're MOVING!!! & Eric's Surprize & Job

2010-11-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

Moving

K so. This blog post is extremely exciting (please place the excited expression on your face. Thank you).
Suzanne and I are busy ... or will be busy tonight and all day tomorrow moving ALL our stuff into our new abode in Aldergrove. To Tell you the truth, I had no clue I had this much stuff! It will be a lot of fun to have a bigger place, and it will be great to have my full sized couch back :). But don't worry, I'm not kicking Suzanne off. She's upgraded to a much bigger bed. Yay!

We will upload pictures on facebook later on next week once we have everything sort of sorted out.
If you would like our new address, please message either Suzanne or I on facebook and we will gladly give it to you. If we like you. Kidding. We will no matter what.

The suite has 2 bedrooms with nice big closets, a full bathroom with tonnes of counter space, in suite laundry, linen closet, spacious living room, beautiful kitchen with an island and an eating nook :) As well as a very large den. Yes, thats right a den. And did I fail to mention that as a bonus we also get to use the hot tub and pool facilities? Yep. I think we hit the jackpot with this one. I'm stoked. Actually, we are both stoked.

Eric's Surprise

K. so. It was Eric's birthday on Thursday (yesterday). And I wanted to do something extra special. His schooling is getting to the point of frusteration, and nothing had seemed to go right the last couple weeks.
So. I began cooking up a plan about 3 weeks ago.
I had a small silver present bag that I stuffed full of candy. I wrote Happy Birthday eric on the front and placed in it full view in my suite.
Sure enough, the next time he came over, he noticed the bag, picked it up, shook it a little... trying to figure out what it was. As part of my plan, I let him do this for a little while and then suddenly "noticed" that he was handling his "present". Well, you could have imagined my face. I grabbed the present from Eric, claiming that he was not allowed to see this, and I should have been smarter and hid it before he came over.
So, for the next week or so, he had in his mind, the thought that inside this tiny little bag was his present. Well, little did he know.
Meanwhile, I had bought a photo alum, giant kinder surprise and 3 packages of gum that I put into a bigger bag... as well as the surprise item that I will not mention yet. Ah yes, the suspense must be killing you.
Happy birthday, hunny! Thursday was here. I went to Eric's house after getting my winter tires put on in Langley (only a 4 hour wait :P). I right away bolted upstairs and stole all the pictures of us from his room and slapped them into the photo album.
Eric and I played in the snow a bit yesterday and came in later on for a delicious dinner.
We watched a bit of a movie, and then it was time for cake (now that the food was nice and digested).
After serving the cake, it was present time.
I had brought both the bigger bag and the small silver bag down earlier so eric could think of all the random stuff I could be getting him.
First he took out the photo album. Pretty cool I guess (he was a little confused since everyone on facebook was telling him aout this awesome gift I was going to get him... certinaly a photo album isnt that cool). Ahem?. After that he pulled out the kinder surprise and the gum.
Then it was time to open up the small silver bag.
Eric was pretty curious. He tore apart the bag and poured out the contents on the table. "Candy?" Yep. Candy.
Pulling a very "Astonished" face, I blatently said that I must have forgot to put the actual present in the bag. Darn. how silly of me, right? So I ran over to my purse, claiming that it was there. Sure enough, there it was. by my purse. right where I had it hiding all along. The surprise present.
Eric was closing his eyes and I set a giant box in front of him
It took one lift, and Eric knew what it was.
He was pretty excited as he was opening the wrapping paper. And there it was, a shiny new black XBOX 360 Elite.
Happy Birthday, Eric! You've deserved it :)

Job

Come Tuesday next week, I may have landed a part time job. Stay tuned for more details. I am very very excited about it. :)

Bubble Bath @ 1:00 - the joys of being jobless

2010-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, that is one of the many joys to being job-less, along with sleeping in till 11, watching certain tv shows in the middle of the day, getting to design my butt off for my "clients", and collecting EI.

So yes, no job ... yet. I spend a lot of time designing these days, so at least I can be busy with something constructive!

My dear friend Suzanne has now moved to the great Fraser Valley. She managed to score a job within a week and a half of moving here (she's got some serious skills) and now I'm home alone just like usual.
We are planning to find a 2 bedroom apartment/suite at the end of November/ beginning of December. Keep your ears open, people, and let us know! :)It shall be a good move, especially since the rent will be cut in half :)

Right now, I have broken my addiction to backstreet boys (soon to be returning, I presume), and have moved on to the soundtracks from glee :) Volume 1 is pretty great.

Oh, and I'm still crocheting! '

That's about all the updates I can provide right now :P

My News Recently....

2010-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Job News:

Well, after millions (it seems) of hours of job hunting, I still have no where to go on Monday... you know, that Monday that I actually looked forward to every week. Sigh. I need another happy Monday.... what I need is a job. I have had one interview, which I was accepted for the position. It is a temp agency, so in order for me to be considered as employed, they need to find me a job :P

Pathetic News:

I sleep in every day until or past 11:00am. I get up, have about 3 cups of tea, and start job searching. By 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, I realize (due to my tummy's grumbling) that I have not had breakfast yet. So I make myself lunch. Afterwards, I lie on my couch crocheting or doodling. Once 4:00 comes around, I make my 20 minute journey rocking out to the Backstreet Boys all the way to Eric's house. I eat a healthy delicious dinner made by either Eric or his lovely mother and chill out at his house. I leave at 10:30, do the 20 minute drive back to my house... still rocking out with Backstreet Boys. When I open the door, I shove all my items (purse, crochet bag) on the floor and watch T.V. Much to my dismay, I always miss Say Yes to the Dress (of which I am currently addicted to). Then, after I find nothing interesting on T.V. I go to bed and wake up after 11:00am the next morning.

And that is how my week progresses one day at a time.

Graphic Design News:

I am currently working on 2 graphic design jobs. Yippeeeeeeeee!
Also, I would like to try my hand at Christmas Card designing. Let me know if any of you are interested at letting me get my hands on your photos and turn it into a masterpiece! ( Leave comment below, message me on facebook, or email me at slo-007@hotmail.com)

Crocheting News:

I have crocheted about 15 hats, 4 of which have been "sold". Check out all my hats on my facebook page :)
I had to take a 3 day break from crocheting as my hands started to seize up halfway through a hat. Talk about die hard!
Prices are as follows: Child/Baby hat: $12.50, Youth/Adult $15.00 and Blinged out hat: $17.00

Painting News:

I have trashed the Tiger painting idea, and have started on a .... JAGUAR!!!!! (not the car.... the cat).
It's going to be pretty sweet, me thinks. All I have done right now is half the background, so I am not even sure how it's going to look when it's done... teehee.

Eric News:

I love my boyfriend. Yesterday evening, I had kicked his silly little bum at a game of Monopoly (I win every time). After complaining about how the game was totally rigged, Eric wanted to give me a punishment of "Death by Tickling!" I was so fearful of my life :P. Anywho, during the insane tickling, my body buckled, and the top of my head hit his teeth in his open, laughing mouth. Ouch.
I have a goosebump now. It was a great evening :) Mostly because he doted on me afterwards with tea :) Tea seems to make everything feel better.

Home News:

I love my landlords. They are funny and sweet, and so easy to get along with. Their son turned two this week, and they invited Eric and I over for cake and coffee. I think I will do that more often... the cake was delish and the company was fabulous.
My "suite" feels like home now. I love being here. I love having people over, and I love cleaning up my place (not!). This morning, it took me 45 minutes to clean my home. 45 minutes! Not 2 hours like other houses I have lived at.
Eric has helped me put up some floating shelves, so I could decorate my walls a bit more. I have also added a big Smiley faced bean bag from my co-worker Rob. I consider it my "get happy" seat.

And now, you are caught up, and I just realized it's 4:00 and I haven't prepared anything for my girl's night tonight.

Signing off,

Steph.

teehee. I'm still rocking out to Backstreet Boys :)

Stelor Hats

2010-10-12T16:34:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again! The temperature drops, the snow starts to fall, and you realize that your hat from last year just isn't cutting it. You need a new one!
Keep your head warm and look super cute this season in a Stelor Hat (made by yours truely).
Prices start at $12.50 child sizes, $15 youth/adult sizes, $17 bling (black flower on lower left side).
Send me an email if you are interested in purchasing one, or leave a comment below and I will get back to you. And yes, I can ship to other provinces!
To see these hats closer up, please visit my album on facebook.
Thanks!

Stephanie

I'm baaaaaaaack!!! Job, Design, Hats

2010-10-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well, after a wonderful and very busy week and a half + a couple days, I am finally back to my fraser valley home. I must admit, it was a bit difficult on the last day to have to say goodbye to the beautiful Smithers home of mine. I had an awesome time, from helping my dad with gutters and building random stuff, to a photoshoot with my talented friend Becca, to gallons of tea and buckets of food. I swear I gained some serious poundage.

As far as work goes, I have a couple design projects here and there that I can fill my time with. Tomorrow I have an interview at a Staffing company. I think they find temps for businesses that need temps :P I really hope the interview goes well :)

For the past week or so, I have been absolutely addicted to crocheting hats. See picture below.
I am currently on my 8th one now, and I started on Saturday I believe, last week. Thanks to my awesome mother who taught me how!!

I came back to a relitively clean house, which was nice. There were only 2 semi moldy dishes, and only 2 moldy items in the fridge. I think I did pretty well.

Here is a picture of the first hat that I have crocheted.

Design: Wedding Thank-You Card

2010-09-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Wedding: Jessica and Colin VanderGaag

The usual thank you card for a wedding seems to be the best picture with the words Thank-you printed on them. But seriously, Jessica and Colin had so many nice pictures, I just HAD to put as many as possible on.
The pop of colour on the bottom photo also adds uniqueness to the photo and the card.
:) I like how this one turned out!

So.. have a wedding coming up? Need a nice invitation, thank you card or anything else designed? Email me at stelorad@hotmail.com!!

Smithers... THIS WEEK!

2010-09-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am so incredibly excited for this week to start.
First off, I get to see my awsome possum family for days on days. Hopefully I don't go more insane... though you never know what will happen.
So, here we go :)
Watch out family, Stephanie's coming home!.. for a while... as in a week or so... possibly two... who knows?

As far as the job search goes, little amounts of job openings have opened up recently. Which is depressing. Hopefully I can apply for EI soon, just so that I have a bit of income coming through my wallet :)

Maybe there will be a killer job open in Smithers? Wouldnt that be funny.

The last couple days...

2010-09-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I haven't put in a full effort to finding a job. I have emailed about 12 resumes, but that was on monday. Since then, I checked a couple out and such, but it's just seriously depressing. So, on Tuesday, I went to visit my aunt. It was a great time away from job searching, for sure (though I did check the newspapers!). We baked chocolate chip banana muffins, did odds and ends, and I went around the whole day distracting her from her duties, but seriously... that's what neices are for!
I slept over that night, which was lots of fun. I havent had a sleep over in a long time! Popcorn, soda, movies till late at night... it doesnt get better than that!
The next day I helped her around with her duties again and we made cinnimon buns, one of which I had for breaky this morning. And then I went home.

I can't wait to go home (Smithers).... I am so ready to be with my family for a while again.

.... and so the Job Search begins... again.

2010-09-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

The last time I was job searching was after I moved down to the valley. I had secured a job with Zellers in the Willowbrook Mall, but it wasnt going so well, so on the side, I was looking for just the right job. I remember going to a bunch of different interviews, most of which I had walked out of the door with a rejection of my resume. Sure, it hurt at the time, but then I found SanderMAX... and within a week, I was on my way to starting the best job in the world. For information on how I scored the awsome job, click here.

It took me about 3 months to find SanderMAX, and considering the fact that I have to pay rent and actually feed myself, I don't want it to take 3 months again.
And so, the job searching begins again.

I am currently seeking the position of Receptionist/Graphic Designer. I enjoyed this position so much at SanderMAX, and I know that I will enjoy it again. If you, reader, know of any business that has this position open, or one like it, please email me right away. This would be so appreciated.

As for now, its onto Craig's list I go :)

Jobless - Day 1

2010-09-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting cross legged on my nice white couch with a bunch of freezie wrappers beside me and a plate where my grilled cheese used to sit. Eric's laptop came in today, and I got the priveledge of setting it up and getting it ready for him to bring to the big University.
I didn't sleep well last night. I had an interesting day yesterday for sure, and I think that I was so emotionally and mentally tired that I just couldn't sleep. I tried snoozing at 11,but that didn't work, so I plugged in "Aviator" (woot for Leonardo DiCaprio!) and watched that for a while.
I went to bed at 3.
This morning I woke up with every intention to work. I looked at my clock and it said 8:33, and my mind started freaking out, thinking that I was going to be late for work. I was trying to fall asleep again when 3 very loud knocking sounds pounded on my door. In my pjs, hair a mess, makeup still racoon like, I stumbled to the door. A very nice looking black man stood there with a box. Ah yes, it was Eric's laptop! Yippeee!!!
I couldnt fall asleep after that.
I spent this morning contacting a few job posts on craigslist and referrals from friends.
Within the past 24 hours, I have had 2 referrals for jobs and that is an awsome feeling.
So that is what I have been up to. With about 25 freezies gobbled down, a grilled cheeze sandwhich and refills on water and milk, my day has been pretty uneventful.
I went to SanderMAX's website to see if they had taken me off the Our Team page. They hadn't. That made me smile :) and then tear. And then reach for another freezie.
I tell you, freezies are miracle workers. I love em. I got a 196 pack of freezies from the super store the other day.... $1.94!!! Talk about deal!
So now, I am not sure exactly what I will be up to. I cleaned around a bit, though I cant bring myself to empty my SanderMAX box. I think I will walk on over to the library to return Aviator.
And so continues my ever exciting life. Jobless.

Screen shot of the Our Team page... my job description :)

Thankfulness, Job-less

2010-09-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Today, I was laid off from the most amazing job in the world. Truthfully, I cried like a little girl when I was told to "come in and sit down"...I figured it was a little talking to about being late a couple times... but it was worse, much worse.

I can't really explain how I felt as the words came out of my boss' mouth. Certainly I thought the day would never come. At first I was sitting there, taking it all in, but as I heard the words "I'm sorry", it hit me, hard.
It's kind of like a breakup, really. You spend so many months loving something that you felt protected by.... a part of. Somewhere that you could go every day and just be happy. I was sitting by my desk, cleaning everything out when two of my co workers walked in. I must have looked like a racoon; mascara dripping from my eyes. It didn't take much to stop them in their tracks to ask me if I was okay. It's so hard saying goodbye, and with every ring of the phone I could not pick up just made it so much harder.

Mom emailed me that whenever God closes one door, he opens another. I can't imagine starting a new job, with new people and new tasks, but it'll all be for the best :)

So for today, I am thankful that God granted me with such an incredible job for 10 whole months. I am thankful for my coworkers, and my bosses, who treated me with the utmost respect and happiness. I am thankful that I worked in such a silly, stressful, rombunctious place. I am thankful for all the new friends that I have earned since working there. I am thankful for all the new oppurtunities I had to showcase my talents. I am thankful for ... everything.

I will never ever forget this wonderful experience. Truly, it was for the best, and for the honor of God.
I am excited for what He has in store for me, yet frightened for the job searching days to start again.
I will be taking a break from the Valley on the 27th to go up north and visit my family for a while. I am not sure how long, but I figured I should put this Vacation pay to good use. Plus, I could really use a hug from my mommy right about now.

I will miss those men in that office every single day :) It was fun being the only girl, besides the whole cleaning the bathroom thing *gag*.

Goodbye, SanderMAX.

Addition to my Addiction

2010-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Feeding My Addiction: Sherlock Holmes

2010-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

To feed my Photoshopping addiction, I moved on to my next victim.
It started out with Wolverine from X-men, however, the power and the sheer awsomeness of a man who is practically made out of adamantium just could not be captured on a 1042x710 screen.
I know I have only done men (besides Ariel and Jasmine), but they have less hair (except for on their face) which, undoubtedly makes them easier to paint.
I was trying to come up with more victims, some of which are: Legolas, The Mad Hatter (but I already did Johnny Depp once), Josh Groban and Michael Buble, but none of them were co-operating.
So, since all the characters I have done so far are from movies I thoroughly enjoy, I went through in my head, a long list of all my favorite movies: Swan Princess, nope; Enchanted... oh. I haven't actually thought of that one until I just typed that down, I will write that on my "Victims" paper...
And as I went through my countless movies, I stumbled across Sherlock Holmes. Most undoubtedly one of the greatest movies I have watched in the past year. Perfect! Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has awsome facial features, and the cutest crooked smile that just makes me giggle (my smile is crooked too!)... and thus began my Sherlock Holmes project.
I started with his head; simple details, small amounts of depth.

I added more details/colours. I think he looks a little East Indian in this one. Oops... sorry, Sherlock.

His bottom half was next. Now, I like to think that cloth is probably the hardest thing to photoshop/paint, but this one went quite well. It helped that there weren't many ruffles (ahem, Phantom!).

And of course, with more detail (and actual hair opposed to black peach fuzz), the transformation was nearing completion.

Since the time fame for this movie takes place way back when (late 1800s-early1900s; there were horses in the movie), I made the background semi black and white, with a splash of blue. Then I added clouds and buildings for visual effect, and it was complete.

Viola! I let me introduce to you my latest project, Sherlock Holmes!

Orchids :)

2010-09-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend, is incredible. And not just because he bought me Orchids... though he did earn some serious brownie points for it :) Why, you ask? Oh, you really do want me to go on, don't you? Well.. for the sake of your eyes/ears and all of humanity that may hear of this particular post, I will keep it not tooo mushy.
Eric is my best friend. He makes my face light up with a smile every time my phone vibrates, every time I see a picture of him around my house or office, every time he smiles from across the room, or when he holds my hand when I'm walking with him. His eyes are to die for. They are like a golden brown, with specks of blue scattered all around. If that amount of beauty in 2 small eyes could melt who ever he looked at, I would have melted already... probably would have evaporated in his hotness as well.
So, yesterday I was sitting at work, being slaved to the bone (teehee), and well, I wasn't having the greatest day of my life. It was around 4:00, and I was hard at work, when I heard this funny sound coming from the door. I looked up, since the door is to my right, and there he was. My heart actually had butterflies :)
In his hand were the most beautiful Orchids I have ever seen. We have this little joke, that I can't keep flowers alive. Sadly, it's true. It's like the flowers just decide not to grow with no water! It's just absolutely ridiculous. Anyways, we were talking about flowers a few weeks back, and Orchids were mentioned. Now, the great thing about Orchids, is that they don't need much sunlight, water or care, really.... perfect :)

This is how I took them home:

Did I mention that there was also a love note inside the pot? That's right. My boyfriend is amazing.

Wildwood Labour Day Weekend

2010-09-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

This was the second time I have been to Wildwood (located in Bellingham, WA) for the labour day weekend. Eric told me that it is tradition, but it seems next year the grounds are going to be converted into cabins or something, so we will have to find somewhere else to continue the tradition at another campground.
Friday after work I took my cherry red car to Jamie's house, where we packed the van up to the brim with goodies and necessities. We left at around 6:20ish, and got to the camp ground (with a break for subway and grocery shopping) at 9ish. Lucky for us, some of the guys chipped in to help us raise the tent in the dark (as they did last year!), and after that was done, we sat around the fire talking and laughing.
Eric and I spent most of the weekend apart, him with the guys, me with the girls, and it was quite nice. There's nothing like girl time! No whiny boys, no dirty jokes, no stinky socks... it was pretty much bliss. Of course, the guys were only 2 sites over, so we could still hear and smell everything.

Saturday was nice out, and we managed to sneak out onto the lake and go tubing. It was a bit chilly (I pity the guys who fell in the water), but it wasn't terrible. There was a really cute bridge that we climbed onto, and in the meantime getting covered in spider webs and yucky spiders *gag*. There was a tree with a "ladder" bolted to it. The guys climbed way up and jumped off, posing ridiculously in the 3ish seconds they had in the air.
By the time we got back, it was mid afternoon, and the guys played Quelf, the most ridiculous game ever invented. Visit here to see what kind of ridiculous. Us girls sat around laughing our pants off (figuratively) until someone finally won the game. Finally.
The guys then bolted into a game of rugby (my handsome 6-pack of a man kicked some serious bum!) and us girls watched intently (not). Saturday night was burger night (yum yum), and then once again we kicked back around the campfire.

Sunday was a semi-nice day. The weather was clear-ish, the breakfast was delicious and us girls finally had the chance to look semi-decent. We left on time for church, we thought, but realized we were late when we had to do the walk of shame down the extremely long aisle to the very front of the church during the second song! We had yummy sloppyjoes at the Pastor's house, and were impecible on our timing into the church for the second service (really early).
After the second service, we made our (windy) way back to the campsite, changed into comfortable warm clothes, and had the best dinner possible. Greek Salad, Roasted Potatoes, BBQ Chicken. Yum, yum, yum. And once again, we sat around the campfire. It was a very giggly evening as some of us had a few bevs to drink.

Monday was wet. Wet. WET. Thankfully we got a chance to go to the mall, and leave the rain outside. I love the states. Prices are cheap, taxes are even cheaper, clothing styles are different, and you're doing it in a different country! We probably spent 4 hours in Bellis Fair. After a couple more pit stops (thanks for over heating, van!), we finally made it over the border.

Monday night I got a chance to see my wonderful friend Robynn (the only other girl in my grad class of 4). It was awsome to spend a couple hours catching up and getting news swapped and more laughs shared.

What a perfect way to end a wonderful summer :) Thank the Lord for such amazing friends who I like to call my Valley Family. I am so grateful for them, their faith, and their happiness :)

The PHHAAAANtom of the opera

2010-09-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

And, once again, photoshop has managed to capture my attention.
The Phantom of the Opera. It's interesting how the Phantom's real name is Erik.....
Any ways. The Phantom. I have liked the movie since I watched it the first time in 2008. The soundtrack is purely amazing, and Gerard Butler makes a hot mysterious Phantom, for sure.
Here is the Phantom in progress:

All I use is my mouse, a steady hand and the Ctrl-V button.

I started with the face, as I do with all my paintings, drawings etc. The face gives the body-to-be character from the start.

I moved onto the neck and the shirt afterwards, which makes sense I suppose. The ruffles were a pain in the butt, but I hope no one will notice.

After I am done the subject matter, I pasted it on a black background, since the Phantom is myseterious and dark and evil, black seemed to suit him.

I added more details (sheet of music, light rays) and it was finished :)

Happy Birthday, Jessica!!!

2010-09-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Why my sister is so incredibly awsome:

- Even though she is dark haired, brown eyed, she still has those blonde attributes that are so so amusing. She never bores me.
- She makes awesome banana bread and the chocolateiest chocolate chip cookies out there.
- She is a scrapbooking goddess. You give her a piece of paper and a photo, she will make it into a masterpiece.
- She is my bestest friend :) I can tell her anything and everything, and she will still treat me like normal.
- She always encouraged me to be the best I could be. I have always admired her, in pretty much everything.
- She's married to a handsome fellow. Thus : cute nephews and nieces to arrive, in due time.
- She has a faith that can move mountains.
- She is flipping gorgeous.
- She has awesome dancing-while-driving skills.
- She rocks my socks, even when I am not wearing any.

Jessica just is :)
Happy Birthday Sis! Thanks for being the best older sister/best friend ever! Love you to bits and pieces! I miss you.

Jack Sparrow, You Have Just Been Steph-i-fied!

2010-09-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

This is the forth picture I have painted/colored in photoshop. It's just one way I can make these days and nights go faster.
This picture took me about 5 hours, but it felt like only 1 hour, to tell you the truth.
I introduce you to: Jack Sparrow - Stephified.

When I Am Bored.

2010-08-31T16:26:00.000-07:00

So, my initial plan was to paint a tiger on a massive canvas I got for cheap cheap cheap, but since it is quite big, I really need an easel to keep it in place (hint, hint!). Since I was going artistic withdrawal and severe boredom, I decided to do some drawing with Photoshop, my new best friend. I tried a couple of different things, animals, people, faces, etc. They were working out fine, but I wasn't totally happy with them. So I scrapped that idea.
I was babysitting with Eric for his sister, and his darling of a neice hinted at me drawing a picture of Ariel for her. After she went to bed, I was slightly bored, so I did just that. The next day, I found a black and white picture of Ariel online, and coloured it in/spiffed it up with photoshop. Woooowie. I think I am addicted.
Here are recent works:

August 24, 2009 - Independence Day

2010-08-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

It's a little weird to think about, that it has already been one full year since I moved away. It feels like longer, like I have lived in my own little suite for a long time, that I have had this job for like, ever. It's how life goes, though :) Last year, today, I made the biggest decision of my life. To move or not to move. I can say that that decision was also one of the best decisions of my life.....

We had packed my awesome red neon on Saturday, and spent Sunday all together having a get together with family and friends to say our final goodbyes. I had a decent sleep that night, snuggled up with my blankie and pillow... dreaming about what Eric's reaction will be when he sees me again after 2 months apart. Bexx and I got up early, and I doddled around the house for a while.
Then, started the goodbyes. I remember it like yesterday. All the goodbyes, the tears, the hugs.... it was the most painful thing I have done in my life, leaving those I love the most. I still don't know how I managed to drive 14 hours after that. I said goodbye to Jessica and Colin the night before. It really didn't feel like I was leaving.... but we had our goodbye moment. It didn't really hit me as I was saying goodbye to Leon, Matt and Amy either. It just felt like I was leaving for only a little while. I knew deep in my heart that it would be longer, but I didn't want to think about it that way. I saved mom and dad for last, since I knew they would be the hardest to say goodbye to... I was right.
It was so difficult. I never thought in my life that I would move away from home. I hugged mom first, tears streaming out of my eyes, then out of hers. I hugged dad next, still bawling my head off. Mom joined, and we had a nice mom/dad group hug. Man, I am tearing up just thinking about it. I looked up at dad, and sobbed "I love you, daddy." It must have touched his heart, I saw a side of him that I thought I would never see before. I will always treasure the look he had on his face at that moment.
I felt so incredibly loved and cherished. There is really nothing like the love of your parents.
I knew I had to leave sometime. I sobbed my last goodbyes, had another wonderful hug from mom and dad, said some more "I love you & I will miss yous" and then headed out the door. I remember driving out of the driveway and seeing mom and dad waving goodbye through the screen door... I remember wishing I could see that each time I looked out my rear view mirror.
It took a couple minutes for me to settle down, and stop tearing up, but I knew I had to... I had to drive the full 14 hours... and BOY OH BOY! was that ever an insane road trip! We made it to Eric's house a little past 11 (we took a lot of stops since I was the only one driving).

Highlights from the roadtrip:
- lost the power steering belt in Nixon. Talk about a muscle builder! Whoooowie.
- got hit in the arm by a flying rock from a semi on the other side of the road.
- mistaking some dude's house for a restaurant. At least we know that people in Cache Creek like to decorate their homes with "Visa accepted here" and Coca-Cola signs.
- yelling at a slow semi "Shove that up your muffler!!!" as we passed him :P
- driving 30 minutes in DIRE need of a pee break.
- gassing up the car, 2 older men call out their van window "Hey ladies! Know we know why they call it beautiful British Columbia!" *blush*

We made it to hope at around 9:30. I called Eric and told him that we were in Cache Creek, and were just having a little nap and then we would continue after that. Little did he know, we were already on our way, and only had an hour or so to go :) As we drove up to his house, we shut off the lights, and snuck up quietly to the door. I opened the door, just a smidge, and didn't see anyone there, but as I entered, there came Eric, totally shocked. We kind of stood there for a second or two just smiling, and then ran up and hugged each other. It was so great to see him again after those 2 months of being apart :) Poor Bexx, felt like a third wheel as Eric and I had our little moment. teehee.

Life has been such a journey since that day.
God blessed me with the courage that day to move out on my own and experience life outside of my comfort zone. He blessed me with a wonderful, supportive boyfriend who has helped me every step of the way, a job where I can wake up in the morning and be excited to go to work, friends who make the tough times just that much easier, and the ability to grow in faith and love.
I have been blessed with so much, I cannot even count all the wonderful blessings I have received.
The Lord truly is awesome.

And now begins the next year of my independence..... :) I am excited.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will gaurd your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7

Weekend Highlights

2010-08-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday:

Slept in till 11 :)

Filled sink for dishes. Soaked dishes. While soaking dishes, went to XS Cargo. Found kitchen table for cheap cheap cheap :) Went grocery shopping... yum yum. Practically died with no A/C in car.

Got home, unpacked the kitchen table set (table, 4 chairs). Made 1 chair. Did dishes. Made 3 chairs.

Made table. Done. Spent the night hanging out with Jo Vdb :)

Sunday:

Church. Ate yummy wraps at my new kitchen table. Church. Bonded with Eric's neices and nephews while playing train and doctor.

Monday (day off)

Slept in till 9. Jo Vdb came over.Went shopping in the states. Found a whipping cream bottle for only $1. Found that Dollar Tree is the best place to buy lots of candy for like, no cash. Went to the mall. Ate whipping cream. Went shopping in the mall. Did something courageous:

I like it :)

Went home, had pizza that was as hard as cardboard. Went out for drinks/appies with the girl friends :)Went to Eric's place.

Went home.

Slept.

****

Putting together the 1st chair.

The whole set, finished!

Whipping Cream!!!!!!!

Coupon Dates

2010-08-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Eric and I are coupon daters (thanks to the good ol Entertainment Book!)... and I love it. Why go to a restaurant and pay full price for a delicious meal, when you can still get the delicious meal at half price, or even for free?! It just makes no sense! Welcome to the wonderful world of coupon dates :)
Last night, for instance, we went to The Pantry, a sweet family oriented restaurant, which we could tell by the fact they had Barbar playing on their tvs, in the Mall in Langley. We had gone there once before, and I remembered having the yummiest sandwich there, so we figured we would try it again. So off we went.
I got a DELICIOUS Sirloin Steak Sandwich (medium rare, of course) on garlic bread with a nice big onion ring on top, with a side of Caesar salad... mmmmmmmmm. Eric got a three cheese chicken pasta of some sort, with soft, amazing garlic bread on the side. He enjoyed it, except for the fact that the pasta was mostly cheese!
For a starter, we got a complimentary veggie platter with ranch dip. Mmmmmm. Oh, and iced tea. And all this for under $25 buckaroos. Yay, much!?
I figure, the less money Eric spends when we go on dates, the sooner I can have a ring on my ring finger :P No, that's not really what I think (only a tad, perhaps).
I love my boyfriend :)

Bible Study: What is LOVE?

2010-08-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our group of friends got together in the beginning of the summer, and decided to do a Bible Study together. We figured that since we wouldn't get the opportunity to go to Young People's during the summer, it would greatly benefit us to study God's Word throughout the summer.

I don't exactly remember who it was that suggested it ( EV or MB ), but it was suggested that we study "The Relationship Series" by Rick Holland (a pastor from the USA). We met every Tuesday to listen to the series, often accompanied by very yummy snacks :). The guys, as "heads" of the group (since God calls men to be the spiritual head in all relationships) would open with reading a passage and praying with the group. We would start the CD, laugh at the funny parts, listen intently and take notes. After the concluding prayer which was on the CD itself, we would all begin rather interesting discussions, trying our best to stay on topic, though even the off-topic discussions were somewhat related.

Some of the things I found interesting/worth noting:

- The series started with showing the differences between men and women, emotionally, spiritually and biblically. He strongly emphasized the fact that the man, being the "stronger" being (not saying that women are weak), must remain the spiritual head of their relationship and household, even before marriage. The head of a man must be Christ, the head of a woman must be the man, who in turn Christ is the head of, and the head of Christ is God (See diagram on right). Submissiveness works the same way, however, the man is required to in some ways "submit" to his wife... living with his wife in an understanding way, as Rick Holland put it.

- Nothing changes after you say "I Do".

- You choose who to love and then you must love who you chose.

- We can love our husbands, but we must learn to "like" them as well, despite their faults.

- Marriage should be about what you can GIVE, not what you can GET out of the relationship.

- We are told only to persue ONLY a christian (the speech on this topic was really good)

- If you focus on being Godly, God will give you the right person. Be okay with being single.

- You could be dating someone else's mate. Treat them that way.

- Follow with wisdom, women, only to those in leadership over you and your husbands.

- Unless you are moving towards marriage, you should not begin a romantic relationship.

- There are 4 types of love

1. Storge - Affection, familial love

2. Phileo - Friendship, heartfelt affection

3. Eros - Erotic, Sexual (this "love" is not mentioned in the NT)

4. Agape - Charity, unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. We are called to agape our spouses.

- God's purpose for marriage: to serve, represent and glorify God with a spouse in ways you could never do alone.

- See premarital relationships with the opposite sex as the testing ground for marriage - does this relationship bring you closer to God?

- The bible says nothing of the "falling into love" feeling that we hear now a days.

- The words "I love you" are a serious and permanent responsibility for a lifetime together.

- Say "I love you" when you are ready to ask "Will you marry me?"

- The acts of love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13, are all rooted from the first word: patience.

- without patience, you cannot fully do all the other acts.

- Love is patient (living with an imperfect person), kind (do something for the good of others), not jealous (live in security with one another, trust), does not brag (except for the praise of God), is not rude (love in the interests of others, do not be selfish), does not provoke (find forgiveness first, in everything), keeps no records of wrong (forgive fully, and love... living with an imperfect person), does not pursue sin (live in relation to those to bring you close to God), rejoices with the truth (keeps the closeness with God at heart), bears all things (helps bring eachother's sin to repentance), hopes all things (longing for the best for one another), endures all things (do all things together for the glory of God. Hold fast to His promises, and he will guide you).

- Run as hard and as fast you can toward God. Look to your left and to your right, see who is running with you. Make them your prospects of future spouses.

- In everything you do, strive to make God the focus, and not yourself.

I strongly recommend this series to anyone and everyone... married, single, teens. You can download the sessions online here.

He mentioned 4 books throughout the series as well. They are:

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

John Piper & Wayne Grudem

The Excellent Wife

Martha Peace

Divine Design

John MacArthur

The Pauline Doctrine of Male Headship

James E. Bordwine

I'm not a reader, so I haven't read those books, so I cannot give you my opinion, but one that I actually have read is "Love and Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs. Even though it is a book about marriage, it is a very good eye-opener, and I really believe that everyone should read it when they are dating, engaged or married.

Shakespeare, Cultus, Traffic, Nini

2010-08-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

And now comes the ranting and raving post... all about my exciting weekend.

Friday

I got off work at the usual time on Friday, met Eric at his house, then bombed out of the door to meet his mom at Douglas Park. She had packed some what of a picnic for us (she's so awsome!) so we could eat together before sitting down and watching a play.
The play was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and was performed by a cast for the "Bard in the Valley Society"... it's sort of a spoof on "Bard on the Beach" in Vancouver...I hadn't watched that specific play before, so I was definitely in for a treat!
There were 250 (ish) people there (it was free, so I was amazed there were not more people!) and we happened to score a seat in the front row with three beach chairs... thanks Mrs. V!
Anywho, so after our scrumptious picnic, the play begun. It was so well done! The actors and actresses were so good! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time..and not just because of the stinky feet/breath from the noisy tiny Chinese kids behind us eating sushi.
Here's some pictures from the play.
My camera was dead... I had to use my cellphone, so they might be really bad quality.

Saturday

Eric and I decided to have a nice picnic/date with just the two of us at Cultus Lake. That was the plan, anyway. We had packed some greek salad, chicken wraps, all that good stuff, and we were on our way. Traffic was really good on the way there! Wide open road, pretty much. We got there and spread the blanket out. I was drawing while he read his book (the usual) and we tanned in the bright, hot sunshine. I had a headache, so I went to the car to get advil. While I was there, my phone vibrated, so I checked my txt messages. Our friends were coming to crash our date!!!!! I was kind of bummed about that, not that I dont love hanging out with our friends... we just do that... a lot lately. Anywho, our friends ended up showing up, and the guys adopted Eric into their group, and the girls grabbed me into theirs :)
The water was really refreshing, which was super duper nice since it was over 34 degrees that day! Us girls didnt go in as much as the guys did, mostly because the lake was dirty, and compared to Kekuli Bay, no lake will ever compare.
We all left around 4:45 from the lake to go to a BBQ for a friend's birthday party. The drive takes about 40 minutes from Cultus to Aldergrove, so we were prepared to be in a non-airconditioned car for that length of time. Traffic was going great! Until Mt. Lehman exit. Now, just for all you who don't understand... there are no more exits between Mt. Lehman and 264th (the Aldergrove exit). There was only a small U-turn area (which is illegal to do) and many people took the oppurtunity to use it. We thought about it, until a police drove up to it with his lights on. Once the police drove away, we had just passed the illegal u-turn area, so we couldn't go back and take a different route. People were merging left right and centre (mostly, I believe, because they were bored), and lots of jerks drove on the road "shoulder" passing everybody else in the traffic JAM. That made us pretty miffed. We were going 1km/hour. Not kidding.

Eric took the chance to read his book at the time, and I had my sketchbook, so I doodled even more. People must have thought we were quite the couple. There, in the driver's seat, sat Eric... reading his book.... and in the passenger seat, Steph, doodling away... and in the background for music.. backstreet boys (at my demand). I managed to hop out of the car at one of the stand still moments we had (out of the other 100 that we had later on) and grabbed the iced tea from the cooler in the back of the car.
We ended up staying in the traffic jam for 2 1/2 HOURS! Total time driving: 3 hours. 3 stinking, sweaty, hot hot hours. It was ridiculous.
We made it to the BBQ after all the good food had been eaten, though they were bring out MORE good food :), and then left a couple hours after wards, since it was already late.

Eric reading a book:

Eric and I in the sweltering heat:

Sunday

We went to the morning service in Willoughby (where I am a member now). It was Lord's supper. The neat thing about that, was Eric's sisters Andria and her husband Jerome, and Deanna had Lord's Supper that day as well! Its quite something to think about!
We stayed at Eric's house for lunch, and then headed to Yarrow for the second service. We left on time, and made it to the service a couple minutes late. WHY!??! Well, because of all the other people wasting their HOT sundays to go to the beach and go boating and swimming.. okay... not much of a waste :P But yes, traffic was ridiculous, once again... a 5 minute drive took us 20 minutes. Yipee.
After the second service, Eric and I went to visit my Aunt Nini :) She made awsome chicken noodle soup, just like mom does :) It made me feel at home.. it was great.
We made it home in 40 minutes. Not 3 hours... but 40 minutes... how long the drive should always be, traffic or no traffic.

Apart from all that drama, I had an awesome, hot, sweaty weekend.

Designing Rampage - Recently

2010-08-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have been designing like a mad monkey these days (because monkey's do that, of course!).

A friend of mine (that I know through work) came to me after seeing some of my art and other design products I did for SanderMAX. One of her hobbies is taking pictures, and she asked me if I could take her favorite pictures and put them into a mosaic-type of layout. I happily agreed, and started on the task. I came up with 2 designs, which you can see to your right. (Each design has a color and a black and white version)
She wanted them big enough so that they could hang on her wall. I personally love the bottom design... mostly because I am a sucker for black and white photos :p.

This project was so much fun. IIt was supposed to be a "small" project. But it took a couple weeks, since I only worked on it an hour or so at a time, and there were lots of little tweeks and stuff that I had to do. But my friend loves them, and that makes it totally worth the time and effort.

During the time I was working on that project, I was asked by the owner of Cloud Systems Inc. ( a "cousin" business to SanderMAX) to create a logo and business card for them. Excited, I accepted the challenge and got started. Logos are probably the funnest to design. I go bonkers when I start designing logos. There are so many options! So, I handed the owner a paper of 15 different, designs and put a mark by my favorite ones, and he did the same. Whadda know. He picked my ultimate favorite one. And then it was business card design time. I did about 8 designs, and did the same picking format as before. This one was the winner (front, back):

Then Toner Queen came along. And badda bing badda boom, I was designing business cards and window stickers for them. I must admit, I loved working with the color scheme of this one. It was just so fun! The designing format went the same as it was for Cloud Systems, so I won't have to go over that again. But anyhow this is the result (front, back):

I love designing.
I really want to start a side business and design business cards and such for other companies. I think it would be so great.

So... do you need anything designed?! Email me here if you do :D

Look Dad....Oil Change!!!

2010-08-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

This post is for my daddy, to prove that I took my beautiful neon in for an oil change ( I know, dad, I took forever to get it done)...

See? There it is! I must admit, my car drives like a dream since I brought it in. Well, not an amazing dream, because my car has never driven amazingly.... but it drives much better than before :D YAY! Sure does pay off to get it done, I suppose. It took about half an hour, so I just roamed the store. I tried to persuade Eric to come to the store so we could have some ice cream together, but he had paint balling. I was never going to win against paint balling!

Sometimes... I WANNA TALK!

2010-08-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Leon and I did a skit for Jessica and Colin's wedding. I was looking through her wedding photos, and found some of the stills from our skit to be rather hillarious, so I thought I would share them... along with the script that we had come up with. There was more added to the skit (sort of ad-lib), but this gives you an idea.

“ I Wanna Talk…” A Skit for Jessica’s Wedding.

Jessica is on the phone before Colin comes home from day at work.

J “ Hey Steph. No, it’s me. NO! Jess ICA! ICA! Yea okay. Anyways, I was thinking of cooking something for my Collie Wallie. Uh, something with Onions. But then I realized that I don’t know how to cook onions! Like, do I have to scrub them or wash them with soap? Or do I bake them in the oven… or like, do I… OH! Oh I totally know! K. I put the WHOLE onion in a frying pan, and then the juices inside it boil, right… and then when they boil sooo much, the whole onion explodes, and then it’s ready. How do I know if an onion is ripe? Should it be white, or red? Yea, okay.. oh. So I just cut it up and put it in the frying pan with butter? That sounds easy. No Steph. I don’t burn EVERYTHING! Yea, whatever. No I don’t. Bye.

Colin walks in.

C “Hey, Jess.”

J ( Violently) “ICA! JessICA! We’ve been married for years already you should know this! JessICA ICA ICA ICA”

C “Calm down. When’s dinner, JessICA!?”

J “It’ll be ready in an hour or so.”

C “K cool. I’m going to go watch something.”

J “Do you want a snack? I made cookies this morning. They are chocolate chip. Reallll yummy! Do ya, do ya do ya? Ya ya ya!”

C “Um, sure.

J Gives Colin a dark brown cookie.

C “Uhh.. did you burn it, honey?”

J “No! I followed a recipe. 15 mins in the oven, dummy! Do you wanna make the cookies?!”

C Takes a bite “Holy crap. How many chocolate chips did you put in this thing?!”

J “Um.. I followed the recipe…” Grabs the recipe… “yea, so 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 cup milk, 3-4 cups of chocolate chips… see? I did it right.”

C “Oh Ica, silly… it’s not 3-4 cups! It’s three quarters of a cup! Oh sweetie. These are disgusting.”

J “Shut up and watch your stupid tv show. Im not talking to you.”

C “Oh come on, Jessica.”

J Holds up sign that says “I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU!” and puts on Wife on Strike headband… starts cooking dinenr

C Goes and watches his game…. After a while… “Jessica, is dinner ready yet?”

J Goes up to him with sign “NOPE!”

C “Shucks. Commercial break.” Notices Jessica scrapbooking….

“Soo, you uh Scrapbooking? Putting together a little scrapbook for our memories?... etc.. went on for like 2 mins.”

C “Can you stop the silent treatment… I’m trying to watch lost and your sign is getting in the way.”

J “Fine.”

C “It’s commercial break. Do you want to hear about what I did today?”

J “Sure.”

C “Well, I started outside…”

J “Oh hunny.. you should have heard my boss today! He was such a jerk, and I was in these stinking shoes today and I think I got blisters, and my belt was broken so I had to re hole it, and it was just insane… then my co-worker”

C “I thought we were going to talk about what I did today.”

J “yea, but it sounded boring”

C “We always talk about you, though, jess”

J “ICA!”

C “I did a lot today and I want to tell you about it!”

J “Oh! And then my car wouldn’t start, but it was because I had left my ipod playing the entire day… and dad was all like. Did you turn the key….”

Colin grabs a roll of duct tape, pulls a piece off and puts it on jessica’s mouth.

C “Jessica. I am really frusterated. Everytime you want to talk I have to sit down and listen to you saying the same thing over and over, but when I want to talk all you do is interrupt me. I want to talk. I want to talk about me… because…”

* Play I Wanna Talk about Toby Keith”

J “Oh, Colie-walie. I didn’t realize you felt that way! Or the fact that you could sing. At all. Did you wanna talk now?”

C “Oh! Lost is back on! When’s dinner?”

J “You are unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

*** Smoke alarm goes off ***

It was super duper fun to do :D Their whole wedding reception was filled with laughter all night long.
The night started with introducing the out of towners... Uncle Bob, the MC, introduced "Eric and Stephanie Vanderpol" This was my reaction:

He then went on to explain that there was (2013) written behind our names.
Eric and I showing Jessica how to kiss : (Part of the kissing game. A couple's name was drawn out of the "kissing box". They had to kiss and the bride and groom had to try copy it.

And, of course, a picture of the happy couple :

Inception: Movie

2010-08-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Eric and I were bored last night, and I didn't feel up to much to begin with, so we decided to go watch Inception.

We were in line at around 7:10ish. The movie started at 7:25. The lines were pretty outrageous for the kiosks, but I left Eric in one line, and joined another line which only had 4 people. It was quite silly. I called Eric to tell him to come to the line I was in, so I was waving my arms while trying to explain to him where I was. Finally he found me. We waited in line and got our tickets at 7:28. The theatre was pretty full, but we managed to score an awesome seat. 4th row from the top, middle seats with an empty one in front of us to put up our stinky feet :S

The trailers for Inception were really confusing due to the fact that the movie has so much detail, so at first I didn't think that I wanted to watch it. It was a cheap night, though, so that made it more worth-while. A couple of our friends had already watched it, and came out with raving reviews about how incredible it is. So we figured we may as well give it a try.

How to explain Inception.... you can't really. Its a movie you just gotta see. Here's a summary from plugged in online.com :

" In dreams we fly. We fall. We tell off the boss. We walk to class naked. In dreams, we're unfettered by reality, yet enslaved by love and desire, fear, sin and guilt. Dreams can be so terrifying we wake up screaming, so wonderful we never want to wake up at all.

You might be tempted to say that Cobb has a dream job, but you'd only be half right. Paid to extract secrets from the subconscious, Cobb is a gray matter thief—a roustabout whose livelihood is as shady as the worlds in which he walks. His methods, as bizarre as they seem, are curiously rote: He and a team of specialists "build" a dream for their subject—often a titan of industry with corporate secrets locked away in his brain. Using a concoction of drugs, they render him unconscious, and he slips into the dreamscape they've painted for him. Then Cobb and his partners dive into the same dream, extracting information in such a way that, if all goes well, the guy might not even remember in the morning.

Cobb sells his unusual skills to the highest bidder until, after a botched job, the subject pitches a new sort of subterfuge: Instead of extracting ideas, could he plant one? Could Cobb sow a conceptual seed that would cause a corporate heir to dismantle the family business?

Most dream-thieves like Cobb would say such a thing is impossible. The subconscious mind knows when it's being tampered with too much. Cobb, though, knows it can be done. He's done it before—though it cost him everything.

Now, this former subject—Saito, by name—is offering Cobb's "everything" back: The chance to go home, the chance to be a father again, to see the children he was forced to leave so long ago.

Home. Family. Those are the things of Cobb's dreams. And, after spending most of his adult life living in other people's, Cobb finds that he will stop at nothing to make his own come true."

I can always tell if a movie is good or not by Eric's reaction. If we get out of a movie and he blabs on about how good it was for 2 minutes... then the movie really isn't good. BUT, if like yesterday, he blabs on about how good it was for half an hour or so (off and on, thank goodness)... then the movie was excellent! The funny thing about last night, was that I was actually blabbing with him (not something I usually do for so long)... so... for the both of us, we both figured the movie was excellent. Haha.

I find the whole concept of dreaming fascinating, and the way that they approached it in this movie was just... insane. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it's definitely one that I would see again and again (like The Prestige). I highly recommend this movie. It has a few swear words (mostly covered up by explosions or crashes), no nudity, no sexual stuff, and it doesn't make fun of religion. Plus, it has DiCaprio, who I really enjoy ;) Hello, Leonardo :D

I really wonder if Inception is possible... maybe in 2100 or something.
The next time you are bored at home.... GO WATCH IT! And don't forget to bring/buy munchies. We had none yesterday :P

Homesick Remedy: Axe & Blanky & Teddy

2010-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after spending an awesome afternoon with Eric's sister Lauren, I felt incredibly homesick. I have no idea what brought it on, besides the fact that I haven't seen my family in over a month.... I just know that I miss my family quite a bit right now.
Last night, I had a horrible time trying to sleep. My pillow was drenched from all my crying, my nose was stuffed, my throat hurt, and I just felt horrible. I grabbed Eric's sweater (which I stole from him 2 years ago (pretty much to the day)), and sprayed it with a secret can of Kilo Axe. I put it near my pillow so I could smell the scent of my wonderful boyfriend, hoping that it would help. It did. A little.
Reaching over the side of my bed, my hand hit a soft blanket.... my "stinky" (as Eric describes it), blankie. That made me happier. People may laugh and think I am totally ridiculous for still having a blankie at 19, but go ahead and laugh. It brings me comfort when I am so far away from my family, so I really don't care if you think it's ridiculous. Eric always tells me that when we get married, I will have to get rid of it. I just say that we will have to get a king sized bed, because my teddy bear is coming with us in our bed too :) He just shakes his head and giggles. The first time I visited Eric, I snuck my blanky into my suitcase. I didn't want him to see it, so I only took it out when I was going to sleep :P
So there I was, last night, blanky in one hand, teddy bear (from Eric) under my arm, and Eric's sweater (sprayed with axe) by my pillow. I'm guessing that I teared myself to sleep last night.
I never regret moving down for Eric. Some days are just a lot harder than others. I love being close to Eric, and to share all these new memories with him every week... instead of months apart. I love being able to feel his strong hugs and kisses when I see him. I love being able to hear him say sweet romantic things face to face rather than on the phone. I love how strong our relationship has grown, in faith and in love....

...but there's nothing like a mother's hug...

It's interesting. I visited my parents at Christmas time last year, and I really didn't miss them that much when I got back. I mean, yes, I did feel a bit homesick, but since my last visit for Jessica's wedding, my homesickness has gone way up. It was so much harder to leave them the second time rather than the first. I had such a great time just being with my loving family... I really didn't want to leave. People say that the first time you visit your family is the hardest after moving away, but it is totally different with me.
Last time, at the airport, as Eric and I were about to board the plane, it felt as though I were saying goodbye to Eric, to let him go home by himself, and I would stay behind and live my life in Smithers like I had for the past 18ish years of my life.
To actually board the plane with Eric was such a weird feeling... especially hugging my dear daddy good bye and seeing him drive off. It was awesome not to have to say goodbye to Eric again, and be able to be comforted him as we boarded the plane, but it was so weird.
My emotions seem so out of wack since I left last time. I am always incredibly thankful of all that God has blessed me with here... a great job, great house, great boyfriend, great friends... but I'm not always happy with the fact that I can't see and experience things with my own family.
I guess I will just have to pay them another visit soon.

Maybe I should be busier. I am thinking of finding small graphic design/art jobs on the side of the one I have right now at SanderMAX. A little extra cash never hurt anyone, right?
Oh, I don't know. I wish there was some way to just feel happy all the time. It's easy to be happy around friends, but as soon as they leave, the homesick feeling comes right back to haunt me. I love my friends here.
Prayer is always comforting. It is a real blessing to know that when ever I feel lonely or homesick, God is always looking out for me. I know that moving here was part of God's plan, because it has been really really beneficial for me. My faith and maturity have increased so much.

But even with having my bible close, my boyfriend's hugs and my blankie, I still miss my family.

Mom, Dad, Ica, Lee, Matto & Amy, I miss you guys sooo sooooooooo much. <3