Let it snow

Our first snowfall of the season! Here it's hard to find, and I treasure the light that snow brings. It's so dark in the lower mainland... Always raining... (I don't so good with this type of weather) ... When the snow falls it says lighter after dusk because all the light reflects off the white stuff!! I still have a child-like giddyness when it comes to snow. When I was thinking of it this time around I thought, it feels like a blessing to get snow like this. Snow...quiet and gentle in its beauty it covers it all and brings peace (at least until traffic the next morning!! Baha!!) well... I say... Let the blessings fall!!

Look at all that green stuff pokin' out... Go away green stuff!!! 

Edmonton visits vancouver

A while back my good friend Elizabeth returned me the favour of a surprise visit when she and her little family came into town! (You can read about my surprise visit to Edmonton here.) I finally got to meet baby Naomi and Nick finally got a good taste of why I like these people so much! 

We went to the Westminster Abbey in mission, and went to a brewery and ate sushi in vancouver. And Andrew and Elizabeth dipped Naomi's feet in the west-coast ocean! She told us the water was cold. Here is a couple pictures of our time together. (Sorry about the bad quality iPhone photos!)

23

On Friday the 11th I turned 23. 

It felt weird. Why weird? My brother Arno was 23 when he passed away in a fatal accident in Australia. And I was 18, and ever since then I dreaded turning 23. You see, I grew up in a family where everyone was older than me. Arno was my older brother, and in a strange sort of way - that maybe only people who know grief this way understand - I didn't like the thought of turning older than my brother. I still don't. I guess it means another moment that shows life is moving on. Which for people dealing with loss, is a hard one to swallow. It was one of those milestones, like that first dreaded christmas after and his first birthday, and my wedding day, and every year when that day comes around of when we first heard the news. I'd like to think I've healed well from it, but pain never goes away. And these moments are moments where the pain floods over my heart again. 

Recently, I read a blogpost of something that opened my eyes for the second time around. Have you ever heard of the saying "God will never give you more than you can handle". Well I have believed this for a long time, and then a while back, I heard somewhere that it wasn't true and then I forgot about that piece of truth and tortured myself with that quote again, and then when I read the blogpost again, I remembered. And in a sad sort of way, life made a lot more sense again. Because, God has definitely given me MORE than I can handle in a number of ways in the past couple years. (and I'm sure many other people too). But when I kept telling myself that "He won't give me more than I can handle" It made me resent God more for not keeping to his word. And so in a weird sort of way - I felt like I could release God from his "promise" that wasn't actually his. 


Here is the verse where I assume this christian jargon stems from:

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humankind.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” 

This verse only talks about temptation. Nothing else. 

And further more, there are plenty of verses in the bible that say there will be lots of suffering, and even verses where Paul himself expresses how burdened he feels. I'm no biblical scholar or pastor, and the last thing I want to portray is anything of the sort, but I told you I'd be truthful and vulnerable on my blog. So here's one of those guys.

It helps me to ask God instead - God you KNOW this is too much for me, give me strength to endure it, or a way out. And often if I am that broken, I don't say much else. 
 

Arno in Australia @ 23

Couple weeks before I turned 23

Hunting

I married a hunter. Nothing short of the Abbotsford standard.

But I like it like that. I've been twice now, (The first time I asked Nick to take me hunting for MY birthday! Shoulda been a birthday present to HIM ;) ) and have quite enjoyed both times! Don't get me wrong - I'm sure I haven't experienced the full fledged hunting phenomenon, but what I have gathered from my experience is this: Walking around in nature finding animals is quite relaxing, and exhilirating. Its a big game of hide and seek. We find a game trail, follow it, look for clues, tracks/poop etc. and then sometimes stop and listen. Hear a branch, look, follow sound. May I add, as QUIETLY as possible. Occasionally, I let out a huge sigh, because I realize I've been holding my breath for half an hour trying to be quiet.

This last weekend both Nick and I needed to take a time-out from life. I encouraged him to go hunting -  but going alone to a place without reception ... hmmmmm.... so I decided to hop on board. We both got a relaxing weekend out of it =)

LOTS of does, but no buck. Too bad we didn't get a doe tag this year!

At one point we were hanging out with 3 does waiting for a buck to come along and
 they came soooo close to us. The closest one was probably about 15 feet away! 

Miro, Truck, Fire, Husband

Fall Colours

Carl's Crossing

Deer Tracks in the Mud

It was a hot day, which isn't that helpful cuz the Deer bed down

Surfin' USA!!

So bright and sunny! You can see the mist
creeping in behind us 

This last weekend we got to run away together for a bit! We celebrated our one year anniversary by going to OREGON!! We had wanted to go to Oregon for foreeeevvver and we finally got the chance!  When we first got there, it was late Friday night and we found a place to park overnight and slept in the truck near Cannon Beach town. Then Saturday morning we headed to cannon beach to hang out and skimboard! The ocean mist/fog came in soooo thick in the afternoon! It was soo cool! We could barely see the person next to us! After that we headed out to our campground and checked in! The next morning we headed out to rent a surfboard (our friends borrowed us one already!) so besides asking what they had to rent, we also went around asking shops if they had fixer-uppers stored in the back they would want to sell, just in case for some reason we would come across a killer deal and low and behold we found a beautiful (very cracked) board that the manager sold us for SUCH a good deal! Whoops... We bought a surfboard ... (The rest of the trip every once in awhile we looked at eachother and said "what the hek!! we bought a surfboard!??) SOO Nick went to the hardware store - bought some epoxy - and fixed it up on the beach at Oswald West Bay

- while I went to catch some waves by myself for a bit. Then he joined and we had an awesome day both getting better at surfing! Around 7PM we were totally drained and headed in to our campground for the day. The next morning we went for another surf for a couple hours, and then checked in to our hotel RIGHT on cannon beach! (Before this, while we were surfing at Ecola State Park - we witnessed a funeral on the beach, where they burned the surfers board, and lit a cannon off of it in the ocean... it was kind of eerie. (Apparently this is a Hawaiian tradition) Anyway...We decided since we were celebrating our one year anniversary we deserved a treat! So for our last night we got a hotel RIGHT on the beach!! In the evening, we went for a walk along the beach to Haystack rock, and they had marine biologists there showing us the marine life right in its natural habitat in the tide pools by the rock. And after that we went out to a little pub/restaurant for dinner to end our night! The next morning was our last day - so we went for a quick skimboard in the morning, and packed up our things and headed out. A little stop at REI in seattle for some belays for our new climbing gear - and we were home! Nick and I both had SOOO much fun! We can't wait to go back and try new and fun things there again.

Skim Boarding on the North part of Cannon Beach

Our tent side. Home for a couple night =)

 Short Sands Beach (Oswald Bay)

This was about a 20 minute drive into Ecola State Park. It was sooo beautiful. And you popped out to a beautiful bay and ocean waves! 

Surfing at Ecola State Park

Walking along the beach in the evening to Haystack rock

Lots of starfish at Haystack Marine site! 

Our view from our hotel room! South of Haystack! 

On the drive home, we went through the old Astoria town, North of Cannon beach and there is this 4 -mile long bridge over the Columbia River! Its sooo cool! 

A little stop at the 3-level REI in Seattle
to finish off the trip!  We were in Heaven! 

Whats on the Menu??

Tonight I spent a lot of time in the kitchen! There's two things I've been wanting to make for a long time! And it was just a matter of taking the time to do it - but when I work all day and come home at 5:30 then make Nick and I dinner - I'm really not up to much cooking after that! So today I just decided to do it!

Dinner - Pad Thai. Delicious! One of our faves.

After that I made a delicious soup called FIRE ROASTED TOMATO AND MUSHROOM SOUP WITH ROSEMARY.  I am generally not a mushroom lover - but I've made this one before and I LOVED it. I made a few modifications! Like lots of garlic, and cream of mushroom sauce, instead of just cream. Etc.  I like to keep the soup in the fridge/freezer for those days where life catches me off guard and I have no time or energy to make a dinner! Easy peezy lemon squeezy!


And for dessert - Banana Bread. Nothing special. Just delicious yummy banana bread. Want to try the recipe?

BANANA BREAD RECIPE

3 or 4 Mashed Bananas
2/3 Cups Coconut Oil (or half applesauce)
1 Tbsp Vanilla
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tbsp Salt
1.5 Cups Brown Rice Flour
*Chocolate Chips at your desire*

- Cover Tin Foil (but leave room to breath). Bake @ 450 for at least 45 min.


I love to make this one gluten free and lactose free. Banana bread leaves lots of room to play with the recipe because the bananas keep it so moist and delicious that it covers up any mistakes! And the brown rice flour is easily camouflaged if your not used to the taste!


Happy Eating!

G

I AM.

"Nothing in nature takes more than what it needs. If that starts to happen, the ecological system dies. So why should we as humans act that way. We have a term we use for when something in the body takes more than what it needs, it's called cancer." This is one of the (paraphrased) quotes that shot right out at me when I was watching this documentary called I AM.

(Side note: I have wanted to watch this documentary since 2010!! When it wasn't even out yet! It's been a while.)

Tom Shadyac, a hot shot film director and producer in hollywood, created a documentary, based on the questions, What is wrong with this world? and What can we do about it?

After a near death experience from a cycling accident, he started to think that all he had wasn't all he wanted. So he sold his mansion, (3 homes on over 7 acres) stopped flying private jet planes, moved in a mobile home community and made this documentary.

The documentary concludes that we are created to be a community, and how separating ourselves from each other (every-man-for-himself style) is only making this world a lesser place. Another cool note is, that there is almost no reference to christianity. With the exception of a quote from Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:44), and Shadyac's dad mentioning Sunday Morning Christians and their lack to follow through on their beliefs the rest of the week, its mainly based on research from animal and human interactions and their responses to positive and negative actions.

Anyway, I didn't want to write a super opinionated post on this documentary, because I want everyone who wants to watch it to have a fair chance at an open mind. So even if your not into documentary's like I am, I challenge you to watch it anyway. (How bad can it be? He's a producer in hollywood - I mean its got some entertaining aspects to it!)

Here's something Shadyac said in an interview he did, and I'll leave you with it:

“No one really owns anything anyway, and we find that out when we die,” he concludes. “The only things we really own are our choices, our decisions, and who we are.”

Tough Mudder Whistler 2013

A couple weeks ago Nick and I and a few friends decided to brave the Tough Mudder!! It was SOOO FUN. I totally DON'T regret it! It was 18KM of running, (tough terrain, up the cross country ski tracks of whistler mountain) and 20 obstacles we had to cross. There was dunking our heads under ice water. crawling through mud with barbed wire, jumping off a plank high in the air into water, trucking through a mile of knee deep mud, jumping over fire, and my favourite (and scariest) going stomach down through a foot of water with electricity dangling above us! If your wondering, yes we got shocked! It wasn't so bad though. The hardness was disguised by how fun it was!!

One obstacle was called the Cliff Hanger. We had to hike up this hill. 

Enjoying .... after the race

After the Ice Bath dunk. Ali's face says it all. 

Prepping for The Electric Eel

On top of Everest! A slippery half pipe. We all made it on our first try!

Having Fun camping the night before!

Hard earned beer!