Thunder Bay

SO, I just got home from a lovely mini-vacation to Thunder Bay. Now not everyone would think of TBay as a destination spot but when good friends live there the 20 hours of driving needed to get there and back are no big deal. The picture was taken at Kakabeka Falls which is about 25 minutes out of Thunder bay. It's beautiful;)


I met M&E when we worked at Pioneer Camp together, and we've become good friends since. It was great to hang out with friends even if the snow storm made us change our plans. We had hoped to enjoy the beauty of the Thunder Bay area, but crazy amounts of wet snow made us change our plans. E and I decided that we would spend tuesday in the kitchen making delicious things. First of all we had to make french toast for breakfast and then a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies to take to E's co-worker who had switched shifts with her to make sure we could have one full day together. Then we started our fondant for decorating cake before heading out to get groceries. While out for groceries we also managed to stop at this great tea shop called STEEPERS! I picked up some delicious 'Pink Grapefruit green tea' and 'peach rooibos' tea. It was a hard decision to pick only 2 types of tea to take home. I wish we had a tea shop at home...maybe one day:)

The weather continued to deteriorate, so we decided to make homemade lasagne and finish decorating our cake (that we still had to make!). Homemade lasagne took on a whole new meaning as we brainstormed together. We made our own pasta AND our own ricotta cheese for the lasagne. Our lasagne was probably the best I've ever eaten. Add a bit of wine, some bread dipped in oil+balsamic vinegar and a crisp caesar salad and you've got a high class meal all made in your own kitchen! There's no stopping the two of us when we get in the kitchen. M sort of hid in the basement while we were in our cooking frenzy...probably a wise decision. We roped him into helping with the clean-up after we'd managed to dirty almost every pot & pan in the kitchen. Thanks M!

Our cake turned into cupcakes (which to be honest didn't taste all that great because we tried a new recipe that involved cherry jello) but we had a lot of fun playing with the fondant to decorate the cupcakes. Our frosting was also another adventure that can be saved for another blog post! Take a look at this blog to see what we were aiming for in our decorating. You can check out M&E's blog to see what our cupcakes looked like (that's a hint for you two to get those pics up on the world wide web!) We topped off the evening with some knitting and tea. Needless to say, we had a good time even if the snow didn't stop falling for almost 24 hours and we ended up with over 6 inches of heavy, wet white stuff on the ground:)

On Wednesday M and I tried to be studious and productive at home while E was at work and then we went to Starbucks to read and have a hot drink until E finished her shift. It was a laid back day but nice since I was on Spring Break.

Today, my parents and I decided to drive home the American route. It was lovely to see something new. There is really no difference in distance or time but the scenery changes a lot more and there seem to be more small towns along the route. It would probably be a lot slower in the summer when traffic volumes are higher because there are no passing lanes on the American route and it's all 2-lane hwy, but it was really pretty.

Now that I'm back at home, I have a list of things to get done tomorrow. High on my list are getting the paperwork together for my contract with Clifford School in China, and getting my lesson planning done. Hopefully I can get lots done during the day before I go out to my friend's party in the evening. There's always Saturday as well, so I plan on taking time for friends and family as well during the day.

That's probably enough random details for one blog. Thanks for reading to the end! (if you're still reading:)

Spring Break!

Well folks, I made it to Spring Break. I realize how much more teachers look forward to Spring Break than the students do:) This last week was a good one but a tough one at times. I am teaching 3 classes a day, and I am starting to feel like I know the students a bit more and the routine is starting to set in which is a good thing. Each day I am learning things and having new experiences which I guess is what practicum is supposed to be about. Of course there are some students that drive me crazy and make me wonder why I am in the profession, but on a whole, the kids are good and the teachers are very encouraging. I had my first official observation with my faculty supervisor and he had only positive things to say about my class. That was a relief. Not that I think my teaching is bad, but it's always nice to have someone say good things about you:)

I drove home last night to start my spring break. I took the more scenic route and it was quite beautiful. There were hills and turns in the road! A difference from the usual route on the trans-Canada #1 highway.

So far my weekend has been relaxing which is nice. I am heading to Thunder Bay on Monday to visit some camp friends. I am really looking forward to the time out East. I hope to get some knitting done and we'll probably create something tasty to eat. Speaking of tasty things, I am planning on making pasta tonite with a nice garlic cream sauce. I really love making great meals from scratch. There's something satisfying about knowing you made every part of your meal and that you could survive without pre-packaged foods from the store if you had to.

Well that's probably enough random rambling for now. I'll let you know how the trip to TBAY goes, maybe I'll see a moose or something fun like that!

The Beginning of the End

Today marks the last Friday of no classes, probably forever in my life. I only have 2 more days of classes, and one exam before I finish my time as a student. I still have a 7 week practicum to complete before I graduate, but I have completed all my projects and presentations for class and only have a test left. It's exciting yet sad at the same time. The friends that I have made in these last 2 years are going to be spreading in many different directions, and we will have to say good bye, which is the sad part. The exciting part is that I am almost finished being a student, which means I am branching out to be a 'real' adult!

Fear and the scary part of venturing into this new part of my life also comes into my mind at times. The unknown of my future looms ahead of me. Even though I know I am going to China this fall, I really have no idea what that will bring, the adventures and new experiences that will come with that opportunity. Leaving my family and friends for a whole year, and many other firsts. I am pretty excited that I will be getting a pay check soon, for my teaching work, instead of paying for the privilege of working!

Today has mostly been a 'domestic' day as I like to call them. Baking, cleaning, laundry, you know what I mean. I need to do a bit of studying for my upcoming test and exam, but that's not too high on my priority list. I also need to get some planning done for my upcoming practicum, again not a lot of motivation but I will get to it!

Tonite is our grad social, which will hopefully be a lot of fun. My Baba is also coming out to spend some time with us which is nice. I am looking forward to some family time this weekend and a chance to read some of the books I borrowed from the school library.

Hope your upcoming weekend has some time of relaxation and fun!

Almost the Weekend

Today is Thursday, which means in the world of education students it's almost the weekend!  THat's right, no classes on Fridays during class time (when we're doing our practicum then we work full time).  Since I actually have a free weekend coming up, I have a few plans aka a 'to-do' list!  I want to bake some raisin bread & some rye bread, make a batch of granola, go toboganning, go to the library and write some letters to friends.  Basically a hang out at home time but with a bunch of baking thrown in:)  My perfect kind of weekend.

Friday night I"m going to also watch some volleyball action at the university and hang out with a great friend-looking forward to seeing you jules:)

One other tidbit...I just bought this great toque from 10,000 Villages as my birthday present from my Grandpa.  It is hand-knit, lined with fleece an

d made in Nepal.  It appears to be made from a whole bunch of scrap wool but it's very warm and I think it looks pretty cute.  I've got a picture here for you.

This is me in my new toque...I look pretty pleased:)

Here's a picture of the toque sans head....

January Fun

WARNING...for all male readers-the next few pictures are not likely to be interesting to you...read/skim forward if you choose, but know you HAVE been warned...

Firstly, I wanted to show my new blonde look.  So I've got a before and after to show you how dark my natural color actually is.  I hadn't coloured my hair for 1 year so it was all natural hair left on my head:)

This picture (as unflattering as it is) was taken during my first (and so far only) pasta making adventure.  It's kind of hard to see my hair, but overall it just looks pretty gross (I think).

The AFTER picture was taken on Friday night after getting my hair highlighted.  I'm not really sure why my dad chose to stick his arm + orange peel in the picture, but it's there:)

My other Fun thing that I wanted to post was my Castle Birthday Cake.  That's right, at 23 I chose to decorate and design a castle cake as my birthday cake:)

So here's a few shots from the creating of the cake...

This picture shows the very base of the cake.  It's a chocolate cake with a cafe flavoured whip cream filling and covered in chocolate gnash...and that's just the beginning!

This was the castle before decorating.  All of the structural pieces were assembled and covered in icing at this point.

And here's the finished product.  You can't see it, but in the middle of the castle there are whales and frogs swimming in the chocolate pond.  The sentries are little penguins on top of the whales and at the end of the drawbridge are two little frogs.  I'm not sure who Prince Charming is, but I'm supposed to be represented by the pretty girl in pink:)

I enjoyed the cake with some good friends on Friday night after we went out and got manicures and pedicures at a place in the mall.  It was a fun time...even when you get 'old' you can still have good parties!

Winter=Warm Woolies

It's been ages since my last update, but I'm finally going to share some pictures from my Christmas and other random events from the past few weeks (there are a few highlights).  I was originally going to do a year-in-review type post but haven't gotten around to it so a picture collage will have to come instead.  If you really want highlights from the past year, just look over my posts from 2008.

So what's new?  I'm heaving into classes with my last semester of school!  Yup, I graduate in May!  It seems my profs have decid

ed that they should lay on the work since it's our last term in the faculty so needless to say, I'm not short on school work to do these days (thought that doesn't mean I procrastinate any less:))  I'm still looking forward to my placement that's going to be out of Brandon.  I still don't know where I'll be teaching this fall, but there seem to be endless options...I'll let you know when I know!

Now for a few Pictures...

This one was taken on Christmas Eve, a bunch of friends came over and we played games, ate food and laughed a lot!  We also decided it should be 'dress-up' night so everyone put on their 'good' clothes before we celebrated the evening.




Here's me with my two 'sisters'!  Only one is biological but the other one is over at our house almost often enough to life here...

Christmas Morning was relaxing...I got two really fun gifts that I'm loving so much.  The first was a pasta maker (as seen in the photo)-I've only used it once but it was so much fun...also I've realized that pasta making is really an art form, therefore I should practice more.  Such yummy homework:)  My other fun gift was a battery-powered frother.  SO now I can make frothy drinks that are so delightful.  

There's a few pics from the Christmas celebrations at my house.  I'm going to post a few other January highlights soon.

Cake Time

This past friday night, Kendelle and I decided that we wanted to bake something. We finally decided on a cake, but not just a simple cake. Kendelle wanted to decorate it. So after deciding on the kind of cake (a chocolate & white marble slab cake layered with homemade strawberry filling), we decided we would transform that boring rectangle into a delicious sailboat. It was quite an adventure with lots of laughs along the way. With only one little outing to Giant Tiger to buy some whipping cream and icing sugar we got the job done! We decided this cake would be made in honor of Kendelle's 21st birthday which was never celebrated with a cake. We did celebrate it during our canoe trip (with instant cheesecake parfaits) but not with an official cake. I think the cake looked pretty good. Decide for yourself with these pictures...

I'm hard at work decorating this little boat!

This is the finished product...we were sailing the Ethiopian Flag (that's why our little man aboard has chocolate colored skin!) I would like to point out that we even included coconut waves for our boat to sail in, a duck (in the bottom left corner) and a smiling sun! Even though it did end up with pastel colours because we didn't have any coloring paste, I think it looks pretty good!

Here's a close up of the little sailor in our boat!

Happy 21st Birthday Kendelle!

In other news, the strike is still on at Brandon University so there are no classes scheduled for tomorrow. I am taking advantage of this lack of classes to head over to my placement school and start teaching my Ecology unit tomorrow morning. I've designed a 3 week Ecology unit for my grade 10's and tomorrow's the first day. Originally m co-operating teacher was just going to teach the first week of my unit, but now that I don't have classes, I'm going to go in each morning ( it's slot 1) and teach my unit, until the strike is over or until I start officially student teaching after Thanksgiving.

My other weekend cooking adventure included making some delicious Indian Deep-friend onion rings...I don't remember their actual name but I know they were tasty. We made some yogurt & fresh mint dipping sauce to go with them too. Not healthy but rather tasty. We had to buy some chickpea flour and strange spices that I've never heard of before to create this little treat but they were good. BUT we had to buy 2kg of chickpea flour...any ideas of recipes that call for chickpea flour? I'm kind of at a loss of what else to make with the stuff. If you know of something good let me know!

So here's to another new week coming up!

Cravings

hello all: It's been a little while since I said hello...so here it is, HELLO!





Last Sunday afternoon I had this craving for pumpkin pie...it's probably my favorite type of pie and there are obviously none for sale at the store this time of year so I decided to make one. I even took a few photos along the way because i was so proud of myself for making a pumpkin pie from scratch. I didn't even use a can of filling...frozen pumpkin, home made crust all by myself!!! and in one afternoon. Here is a little photo map of the process:

Proudly showing you the bag of frozen pumpkin that will be transformed into a pie!



While I was making the pie crust I sort of missed the bowl and this was the result...did you know that if an egg hits the floor out of it's shell it won't stay in a nice oval shape!!?!?!

First, forgive my inability to rotate this picture for you...Next notice my enthusiastic expression as I roll out my pie crust!

As the pies enter the oven...yes there was enough filling and crust for TWO 2 pies...

THE FINISHED PRODUCT...So tasty, just add a bit of whipped cream on top!

That was my adventure last weekend. This past week has been busy as I start to settle into my teaching placement. It's a lot of fun and a lot different from my last student teaching placement in the fall. We spend a lot of time outside and just being active which is great for my health but takes a bit of adjustment after the lazy life of a student. Lets just say that I have been in bed by 10pm every day during the week and wished that it could have been sooner:)

This week holds new adventures and fun. We'll be travelling down to Boissevain to learn about organic farming, strawbale houses and how to safely use an axe to chop wood. We'll also be spending a day on the riverbank inspecting duck boxes and installing 8 new ones for Ducks Unlimited. It should be a fun week. I'll actually start teaching as well which i'm looking forward to.

Hard to believe how different my life is compared to 1 year ago when I was ini the middle of my time in Ethiopia. Wow. I'm excited to see where God will lead me in this coming year.

Until later,