just a quick little note to let you know what we're up to over here: our vacation is awesome, since my last post i have made a pencil case:


altered a vintage muumuu into a cute little dress:


seen some bisons:


hung out in the 'town':


and eaten a LOT of ice cream :D

yes i DID bring my sewing machine on our annual family vacation :) This here is a reversible bib made from pillowcases! The shape is a little wonky but i didn't have a template (shocker) to trace so i just freehanded it. It was a lot of fun to make though!


I also learned how to hem jeans so that they have the original hem on them!! This was probably my favorite project so far cuz it made me feel like i'd really accomplished something valuable - and i have because i am short and EVERYTHING needs to be hemmed for me :P



Besides that we have been doing our usual: games, movies, walks, shopping, lounging. OH and eating. We are on our second pail of monster cookies :D

so my last few posts have been planted to keep everyone thinking that we were still leaving for MB on Saturday, but REALLY phil switched his friday shift to wednesday so we left early Thursday morning! We stayed at Joel & Lindsey's for night (fun times) and then surprised everyone Friday night! well not everyone, phil's parents knew we were coming cuz we were staying with them and a few other people. It's nice to be back home, i really like it here :)

About our trip: there are somewhere around 300 forest fires burning around Kamloops so we had smoke from before then until after Regina sometime!! it's crazy! There is also a TON of construction going on; phil said something about the government promising funding during the hard economic times, and now they've given them a time limit to complete the projects or the money's gone. so we added at least an hour to our travel time on Thursday, and a little bit on Friday :S


I remembered my scratch and win card that i bought in AB on the way to BC that won me $2 and i intended to cash it in once we got back to AB. So i handed the cashier of the gas station my ticket and he kind of smiled and said "do you have any id?" and i was like "oh yeah it's in my car" so i went to get it. when i got back i handed it to him and he looked confused and mumbled something like "is this you?" and i thought maybe he meant cuz i'm not wearing glasses in my drivers picture so i took them off and he looked again and mumbled something about "1985?" and "sorry" and "young face" so BASICALLY he didn't believe i was 21!! haha that is awesome. in hindsight, i did have my hair in french braids and was wearing the jump rope for heart T-shirt i've had since like grade 7 :P BUT i got my $2 so all is well.

Sundae is getting to be a great traveller, tons better than she was on the way to BC in july even! she ate every time we gave her food, even once while we were driving! and she sleeps much easier too.




and today (sunday) we're leaving for the most wonderful week of the year!! i'll try to blog often, but i can't promise anything with all the snacking, lazing, and hanging out i'll be busy with :D

blueberry muffins, made with real blueberries that me and Phil and my cousins picked last week :D

After the potholder lesson in my Home Ec class was curtains, which i'm skipping cuz we have no curtains in our place. I am excited to try it at a later date! I was actually going to try to sew curtains for our house before we moved, but then we found pretty much exactly what i'd envisioned at Wal-mart for probably cheaper than we would've bought fabric for. Next up is a reversible bib (nobody get excited now), but i've been really busy with baking for only the best week of the year (!) so i'll get to that later too :P I am bringing my sewing machine to Clear Lake so i hope to get some stuff sewn.

Anyways, lots to do and time is running out!

Yes, i made this potholder :) i realized about a quarter of the way through sewing the lines all over it (which is called 'quilting' i believe) that the top and bottomw seams were becoming wonky but i took the picture in such a way that you (almost) can't tell.


here's sundae being cute while i sewed :


then in the evening i went downtown to see this movie with Chanel (friend from college):


IT WAS SO GOOD!!! if you're going to watch it though, i'll just warn you that the african people are slightly less modest than you might (actually i hope you ARE) used to :) the whole thing was hilarious and very beautiful to watch and i really enjoyed it. The event was actually put on by World Vision, (we sponser a child so i got an email invite) and it was free! It was also really sneaky cuz you couldn't tell there was a free movie until you got into the theatre heehee.

OH speaking of sponsered children, apparently we are finished sponsering ours! i got a letter yesterday that i haven't fully read yet so i'm not sure why, but i will keep you posted!

i finished my supplies roll-up!


It's housing my ipods with their cords, cell phone charges, usb drive, and our old camera :) perfect for taking on trips!


i walked to a Salvation Army Thrift Store yesterday which was AMAZING and i got a lot of the things i'll need to sew the next week-and-a-half's sewing projects. Yesterday's lesson was an iron board cover, but i don't have an ironing board here so i'm going to do that once we move back home. Today's lesson is potholders - i can't wait to start!

Last night for supper i made Butternut Squash Soup:


it wasn't as good as i'd hoped, and we ended up pouring it out :O It was from a Weight Watchers cookbook though, so maybe i just need a fattier recipe :) Anyways, today i have a long list of to-do so i should get going.

i wonder what this could be?


it's round bunting!


i finished it yesterday. "All You Need Is Love" was the recessional song at our wedding, and this is going to go above our bed. and i even squeezed in some dishes and laundry, which is really hard cuz i just want to keep sewing! then i started on the supplies roll-up project, which i'm still working on. I can't think of what to put in it except stuff that'd be too short like make-up or thread :S and phil has FAR too many tools for one tiny roll-up, plus it's slightly girly. any ideas?

i'll leave you with a cute pic of sundae being a creeper while i was taking my tote bag picture.

Yesterday Phil and i drove to abbotsford to spend some time with my cousins and uncle. First we stopped in at the abbotsford mcc so i could stock up on cheap fabric (ie pillowcases). i LOVE that mcc and wish i could've spend more time there. honestly, since we visited value village last week i'm not sure why i would spend money on brand new stuff! especially for jeans, cuz if you buy them used you already know how they're going to fit forever! anyways, my cousin suggested that we go bluberry picking! so off we went. abbotsford has tons of little farms and rural stuff all around it so it wasn't hard to find one. blueberry bushes are shorter than saskatoon bushes, and there are WAY more berries in the clusters. plus they are bigger berries, so it took us all of 15 minute to pick a pail. I didn't really help much cuz i ate lots :D after we got back we played a game i don't know the name of and i was terrible at it. it was kind of like settlers but more complicated. we had burgers for supper - i had a salmon burger (mmmm) - and watched most of the bc-sk game before we left.

todaaaay i started on the sewing project i missed yesterday, which was a tote bag. about halfway through i realized i'd done the main part sideways, but i didn't want to undo 4 whole rows of stitching so i just went with it and made a wider than longer bag. here it is!


than i started the next project, which i just realized i failed to read the directions properly for annnnd i MIGHT have enough material left to finish :S and yes, i have noticed that may be a pattern with me and i AM trying to read the directions more carefully. anyways, i'll finish tomorrow.

also in the evening i managed to half-watch the horrible bomber game (which is probably just as well as i tend to get invested), and make a salmon-pasta supper. BUT the salmon was from a can and that is WAY more trouble than it's worth! there's still bones in it! does everyone just spend the time picked out the bones? i'm talking full spinal cord and everything. yuck. supper was good though :)

more napkins! and a gift bag!

so today this is what i did: got up and interneted for like 20 minutes. Ate breakfast. Sewed napkins. Ate lunch. Finished napkins.

TADAAAAAAA!!


Went shopping for more sewing supplies. Ate a snack. Made a gift bag. And here we are! I have like no time for anything else!!

Oh here is the gift bag:)


In other news, i am SO awesome that my advice on the home ec blog got singled out and used in their faq section of the post!! i feel preeeetty special :D Oh and because i AM shameless, here's the clip!


AND something else that is EVEN more awesome (hard to imagine i know), is that Phil went on a ride with people today and one of the girls used to be...Sarah McLachlan's personal chef!!!!! and she gave Phil her number so i can call her if i want!!! COOOOOOOOL!!

ps. how many exclamation marks are in this post?

i made napkins!

it took me about 4 hours, many bus transfers and a lot of walking, but i managed to buy most of the supplies i'll need for this week's home ec classes AND it only took me an hour and a half to figure out how to start :P but by 6:30 those babies were hemmed on all four sides i tell ya! and yes i know they are kind of hideous. i bought what i could find that was cheap. i will focus more on finding fabrics i like for projects i want to keep/use. Here they are again!

two things that are awesome!

first: yesterday i ran 20 minutes to the farmers market that last week took 40 minutes to walk to (not too shabby) and got 2 baskets of blueberries and one basket of strawberries, and a huge bag full of cherries! yum.


*break* Sundae decided to eat some of my lunch while i wasn't looking. She is going to be sorry later when she throws up all over the floor :P


also incase you're wondering, she doesn't actually spend all her time being punished in her bed, she leads quite the life, migrating from the couch to the other side of the couch, to the floor, to our bed, to the chair...

second: i'm taking an online sewing class!! it starts tomorrow and my sewing machine arrived all perfect and *ahem* unused :S today! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

i made a loaf of bread today, from the videos/recipe on my school's online cooking school site. it took me three tries to get the yeast to sort of double in size, so i suppose that was strike one. But it doubled the first time i let the dough rise, so i thought everything was going good. kneading was my favorite part i think, although i don't think i kneaded enough. then after i had shaped it into a baquette shape and let it rise the second time, i didn't flour the dough enough and the plastic wrap stuck to the sides pretty much all the way around :( then when i slashed it it sort of deflated and didn't really get much bigger in the oven. it did get harder though! the result was edible, and we did eat pretty much all of it (we threw out the last bit cuz there is only so much 1/4" thick crust one can subject their teeth to). I might try using instant yeast like their recipe called for, i don't really know what the difference would be. Anyways, it was a lot of work for a not-so-great result. but here it is in all it's flat floured glory:



ps. just wondering, do my comments work?

last night Phil and I went to a supper at the school i'm going to be attending that was a part of the current students' final project/marks. Here's what we ate by course:

Canapes: little round flatbreads the size of loonies; one topped with corn/tomatoes etc., and the other with some kind of chicken concoction - YUM!

Appetizers: mine was Salmon topped with candied lemon peel with a tomato...concasse was the word i think, and green beans - delicious! Phil's was quail three ways: breast stuffed with dates & nuts, a pulled-pork texture overtop of apple strips, and an egg overtop of quinoa and chard - he thought these were a bit strange but enjoyed them nontheless.

Soup - i had consomme celestine, which is a clear soup and at the last minute they add a crepe cut julienne style so it looks like noodles. Phil had cream of tomato soup, which was more puree consistency than soup. We really liked our soups!

Entrees - Mine was trout overtop of spinach and potato, surrounded by fava beans in a buerre blanc sauce. It was fantabulous!! underneath the potato was really thinly sliced pear slices and it sounds crazy but it went really well with the dish! Phil's was cornish hen which was breaded and stuffed with bacon, butternut squash puree, and there was also a mushroom braised leg. He really loved it!

Dessert - ours were both made with raspberries, peaches, a pastry bread and creamy filling; not as good as the other courses, and kinda bland after all the fabulous flavors we'd just tasted! i do want some raspberries now though :)

we had a GREAT time and the food was SO good! i can't wait to make stuff like that! sorry, i didn't bring my camera :S

a picture every hour

7:30 - bringing Marcia & Tim to the airport

8:30 - going back to bed :)

9:30 - Sundae waking me up with kisses

10:30 - just finished breakfast, watching How I Met Your Mother

11:30 - doing the online things :)

12:30 - got the mail

1:30 - making crackers

2:30 - getting ready to bake the crackers

3:30 - watching cooking school videos (www.rouxbe.com)

i did awesome on the quiz!

4:30 - Sundae in time out (she antagonized a cute little puppy at the park)

5:30 - supper is ready

6:30 - on our way to Value Village

7:30 - finding jeans to cut off into shorts

8:30 - just got home

9:30 - watching Gene Simmons' Family Jewels

10:30 - watching 1 Hit Wonders of the 80's on MMM

yesterday i set out to make a special welcome-back-to-canada dessert for Marcia & Tim, who were staying at our place again during their layover before flying home finally. SO. i estimated i would have to start at 2pm to be totally done by 5pm. i was a few minutes late in starting, but no big deal right? so i started with the crust: 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, 5 T. melted butter. i mixed that altogether and poured it into the pan - except it sure didn't look like it would cover the bottom. wait a minute! 1/2 CUPS?? i frantically googled the recipe name (for that is where if found this fab dessert), and sure enough ONE and a half cups. AAAAAAHHHH!!! i only bought enough in bulk from superstore for a 1/2 cup! so what did i do? threw on my running gear and bolt-wait i should probably double check the rest of the recipe to make sure i'm not missing anything else; nope i'm good-ed out the-wait i have to go to the bathroom, oh and i should probably put on sunscreen-door and RAN all the way to the market which is normally a 10 minute walk away, and is up a huge hill and then down. once there, graham cracker crumbs are of course with the graham crackers, not with the baking stuff like silly people might think (ha....ha), AND for one little box they wanted $4.99!! Lucky them, i had no choice. So i bought it, sprinted out the door and ran the whole way back to my place. Now by this time i am slightly wired and pumping adrenaline, so after i added the extra cup of graham crumbs, i was like i gotta do something with all this energy so i did the shred! i was supposed to do it anyways that day, but it was nice to actually feel like doing it :) the rest of the recipe went alright, minus raw egg dripping down my leg...i wonder if i'll get the messiest cook award in school?

then i sat down on the couch and was like "whoa. i am SO tired!" but phil came home soon after and we went to the airport to pick up Marcia & Tim and then headed to Red Robin, because they were really craving some good old Canadian cheeseburgers! you can't beat the steak fries either :) Afterwards they showed us ALL their pictures (so awesome), and we ate the dessert! which was gooooooood. They're called Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars :O

on Saturday i did stuff like rearrange our place so more things are put away, dishes, made Italien Bean Soup for supper w/ biscuits, and in the evening we went to the Chinese fireworks. We were in a different spot though so we couldn't hear the music as well, and we think we liked Mexico better.

Yesterday I did more dishes, walked 40 minutes to and back from farmers market where i got a HUGE head of red leaf lettuce, yellow and green zucchini, and raspberries that almost didn't make it home :) We've been going to a church gathering called Artisan, which was created by one of the professors that was at CBC when i was, and instead of church last night we were part of a potluck that met at one of the members houses. I brought mandarin salad (the one with the celery, green onions, and sugared nuts) and we had homemade burgers! The couple that hosted were really nice and there were 2 other couples too. We had an incredibly good time with lots of laughing and stories. we didn't want to leave, but we still had to go grocery shopping before Superstore closes :P It was really nice to meet great people and have a good time hanging out. We hope we'll see lots more of them!

At Superstore i picked up the pics from the disposable camera heidi sent along for our trip out here, here are some highlights: