Before and After

I have a compulsion to take "before and after" photos every time I clean something. It reminds me of how messy it was before, I suppose - a visual side-by-side of how great it looks once it's done. Tonight was very productive at my house. I took my car for a wand wash first:

Then I came home and cleaned my kitchen, did the dishes, ran a load through the dishwasher, swept the floors, lit some candles, etc.:

Finally, I cleaned my room, did a load of laundry, made the bed, and swept the floor:

TADA!

My super cool July 2012 opportunity

This past fall, I Google searched a youth camp that I went to for one week in the summer after grade 9. I was thinking that it'd be fun to work there as a camp counsellor if they needed extra help. Fast forward about 3 months, and I've applied for the job and then been hired as the camp facilitator, in charge of organizing and programming the activities for the 2 weeks of camp. Very cool! Then, right before Christmas, I receive an e-mail saying, "What are you doing on (insert dates here)? The international conference is in Washington, DC and I think it would be good if you could go." Umm, YES PLEASE! So cool. Here's a snapshot of what my summer might look like, a la USA capital city:

Capitol Hill - the Capitol building and Washington Monument

The Washington Monument

The Capitol Building

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial (check out Honest Abe in the middle!)

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The Circle of Life

A lot has happened in our family in the past 2 months. Sadly, my beautiful, creative, funny, generous, kind-hearted grandma Connie passed away of cancer on September 14th. We were so fortunate to have been able to get back to Hamiota to see her before she passed away, and even more fortunate to have had so many wonderful years of memories with her, all through our childhood and into our adult years. My mom stayed in Hamiota for a month in total, before and after she passed, while the rest of the family was able to travel both to visit her before she passed away, and then again for the funeral and to support my grandpa. At her funeral, all of her grandchildren sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" (a song that she requested) while I played the piano and Brent played guitar. The service was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful woman and a wonderful life, and we miss her dearly.

On a much happier note, the twins turned one year old last Tuesday, and we had a great little birthday party at Karyn and Nook's house. Family on both sides traveled from 4 different cities/towns to attend the party, and we had lots of opportunity to visit, eat, take pictures, and just spend quality time together. The ladies got lots of new toys for their birthday, and the older cousins had a great time opening the presents for them, since they're still too little to do it themselves. Avery and Emily, in their pointy part hats, got their own individual birthday cakes to feed themselves in their fancy helium-balloon-adorned birthday highchairs. Nook gave them both a scoop of ice cream as well, and Emily loved it, although she discovered quite quickly how cold it was when she picked it up in both hands to feed herself. Overall the Thanksgiving/"beanday" party weekend was a wonderful family-filled time where we celebrated all that we are so thankful for: health, happiness, extended family, Karyn and Nook's beautiful new home, healthy and adorable little birthday babies, and a whole lot of love.

So, in our family, it has been an emotional few months. We are continuing to heal from the loss of Connie, and we are so thankful for the years of memories we have shared. Next month will mark the one-year anniversary of Nook's youngest sister Bunzy's car accident that took her life, and I think of her often and miss her so much, especially at family gatherings like the birthday party for her twin nieces, whom she only got to know until they were 6 weeks old. And yet somehow, in the midst of the hurt that life deals us (however unfair it may seem whether you were 22 or 70), life also has a way of providing us with many wonderful gifts to celebrate... and sometimes they come two at a time. :o) It's kind of like the circle of life, I guess.

From the day we arrive on the planet

And blinking, step into the sun

There's more to see than can ever be seen,

More to do than can ever be done.

There's far too much to take in here,

More to find than can ever be found.

But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round.

It's the circle of life, and it moves us all

Through despair and hope, through faith and love

Til we find our place on the path unwinding

In the circle, the circle of life.

Summer 2011 updates - photo album style!

Well, it has been almost 2 months since my last update, and it's partially because of my laziness with updating my blog, and partially because of my busy life preventing me from updating! Most of my updates go on facebook anyway, but I'm not ready to be done with this blog so every now and then I have to pop in and fill you in on what has been up in my world. :o)

So, here is my summer thusfar, in photo album style!

On June 24th, we said goodbye to another group of beautiful young women as they graduated and went on to bigger and better things in the "real world" :o)

On my last day of work, June 28th, I packed up at 4pm and headed off to Saskatoon to catch Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Saskatoon Jazz Festival. It was AMAZING! Check that one off the bucket list!

On Canada Day (July 1st) my saxophone quartet performed at Waskesiu, Prince Albert National Park, just for kicks. We actually drew a pretty decent audience!

And then there was the week full of celebrating the marriages of some wonderful friends:

My student teacher Nathan and his new wife Morgan - July 2nd

My earliest childhood friend Chelsey and her new husband Cory - July 2nd

My best high school choir friend Jessica and her new husband Kerry - July 9th

The day after Jessica and Kerry's wedding I headed off to the lake to get in some R&R time with the beans (getting cuter every day!), the lake, and mom and dad and their new kayak! We also helped Karyn and Nook move into their brand new home - I got to be on babysitting duty while they painted closet organizers, moved furniture, etc. Good deal!

Watching dad kayak around Brightsand Lake

Emily being an adorable little nut!

Avery laughing at Karyn's silly dance moves

Right after my week at the lake, I taught saxophone at the Saskatoon Junior Band Camp for one week. Here I am conducting my small saxophone ensemble playing the theme from "Star Wars" - super fun!

Right after Saskatoon Band Camp came IMC - my favourite place to hang out in the summer! This past week had students in art, orchestra, fiddle, and band. The art students decorated the sidewalks outside the main office and Burdick Centre. Love it!

My new quilt made its debut at IMC! For those of you who have a homemade bag from me, do you recognize any of your fabrics in it? :o)

Re-uniting with awesome friends! (Abby and Adam)

Yay, IMC friends! (Carolyn, Tim, and Christine)

It was an awesome week, but it went by so fast! (Abby, me, Adam, Sarah, Cory, Hannah, Emma, and Jessica)

After IMC I headed right back to the lake for our family reunion - a bunch of family members had driven from Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg to spend the long weekend at Brightsand with everyone, including the twins whom none of them had yet met. Fun!

My cousins Brent and Scott, and Scott's wife Jenn catching some sun by the water's edge

Uncle Ron, Uncle Jack, Brent, Scott, and Jenn

Mom on her 54th birthday in her brand new kayak! So cute! (In this picture she was kayaking back into shore to get a new beer from Scott, as the one she had originally was frozen - and who can kayak without a proper beer?!) :op

The beans in their "Thing 1/Thing 2" Dr. Seuss onesies from Auntie Lauren

The fam: Dad, Nook, Uncle Ron, Brent, Scott, Uncle Jack, Auntie Diane, Karyn, Auntie Donna, me, mom, and Jenn

Cousins: Brent, me, Karyn, Scott (Sean missing)

Emily on her cute giant giraffe pillow from Auntie Bunzy

Sisters playing together with their big farm toy

A cool purple flower that I found on the beach at Brightsand

This cute little heart bum will be crawling soon!

The girls are getting so big! Now they can drink water from their own sippy cups. :o)

Uncle Ron feeding the babies

And there you have it! What a busy and fun summer it has been so far! Now Jeff and I are just hanging out around home for a bit, and I still have some unpacking and cleaning to do. Then I'll be checking out the musical "Wicked" in Saskatoon on the 10th, a Rider football game on the 12th with Jeff and his parents, and then a trip to Hamiota/Winnipeg to visit my grandma in the hospital - her cancer is back and we're sending tons of love and good vibes and positive thoughts for her to beat it, but we'd like to go see her and be there for support anyway.

I hope everyone that reads this is doing well and enjoying their summer (or winter, if you're a kiwi!). I miss you all and hope to see you all again soon!