LOMAH - Land of Milk and Honey

Just living life here in the Promised Land, Southern Alberta. Where the Mountains meet the prairie in a stunning sunset, surrounded in fields of gold

Kayking - S Bend

An old picture, surfing the S Bend on the Red Deer River with Denali keeping a watchful eye. It was a perfect day, surrounded by perfect friends.

Family in Waterton

A summer hike with the family and Grandparents. It was a typical Waterton day with some wind and sun. Logan hiked the whole way in to Bertha Falls

Loves of my Life

The first two loves of my life together in one picture. I remember when they came into my life, making me whole.

Me in the Broken Group

I think this is my favourite picture from last year. We did a sea kayaking trip to the Broken Group and had 4 glorious days of sun. It was a capped off with the company of great friends.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Halloween - not quite a month late!

Well I should have posted this way earlier, but I was stuck working my way through a case of spam and you know.... that takes awhile.  Funny side note... apparently Spam, Velveeta, honey and maple syrup have an infinite shelf life.  I think we should all stock up now!

Halloween this year was a bit of a roller coaster this year with costumes and kids.  I decided to buy a costume this year, as I was tired to lame costumes and felt that I should give the tinfoil a break.  Logan ended up in a home-made Woody costume from Toy Story (a Kijiji score by Dora) and Evan was stuck with a hand-me-down, the monkey costume.

After dressing up we headed to Raymond for Trunk-or-Treat, an event where everyone shows up at a parking lot and the kids go around to the different cars for treats.  Kinda lame, but kinda perfect too!  For Evan and Logan is would have been perfect... except Logans started to not feel well.  NO CANDY YET HONEST!!  As a result our candy haul was pretty light and Logan slept for most of it.  In addition, we did this on the Saturday, gotta love the LDS!  Sunday we tried again in Lethbridge, but again, Logan wasn't up for it.  I felt like a bride!  All dressed up and nowhere to go!  Dora was kind enough to take our pictures so I didn't have to feel like a bought a costume for nothing.  Enjoy!







Monday, November 29, 2010

the Top 2

So here are the last 2.... took me a few days.

4. Family, big and small.
Family is always something I feel is important and easy to neglect.  Heck they're family right!  With my family so close it seems to easy to focus on other things and the next thing I know, it's been a week, a month since I've seen them last.  While I know to them it's no big deal, I really do need to make time for them too.  Heck I should even take the time to let them know how important they are to me, but that would be too emotionally exposed for me.  Need to keep that rigid Japanese persona right?
We use to meet up at each others for a dinner every now and them.  I think we need a family dinner about once every two months.  Not a hard expectation, I hope?
5. No Regrets.
This is a hard one.  Mostly a mind game I think.  Everyone knows thinks don't work out right.  In fact I'm pretty sure at this point I expect something to go wrong and it's more of a miracle if things actually work out.  I'd like to think this one is possible, but it isn't.
Even so, I'm not giving up so easily.  Whatever your mantra, glass half full, lemon and lemonade or some other optimistic quote, you simply need to keep moving.  I really do have a talent for wallowing in my own self pity.  I'm so good a sulking!  As Dora, she can confirm.  It's that ability to be stagnant that kills.  I know I can be more positive, let the little things be just that little.
The hard part is getting everyone on the bus with this one.  You can't run this play by yourself, you need the support of those around you.  I don't care how motivated you are, it someone is gonna try and drag you down, they will.
When I look at my list, It's funny how the first item is so easy to achieve as it's mostly independent of others, while the last item is the hardest because it relies on others.  Here's hoping for success.


Well that's the last 2!  I think this will be a regret someday.  At least it's not mine.

Ugly October

October was a rather ugly month as far as school goes and was filled with some unexpected events.

We were suprized with two unexpected deaths on staff, the boyfriend of a new staff member this year and a staff member who I've worked with since coming to Stirling who was quickly diagnosed with cancer and passed away within weeks.  Needless to say, October sucked at school.  I was lucky enough to come home to a loving family who was supportive, which got me thinking of course about life, death and the parts in-between.

I've had some time and have come up with my top 5 things to do so live a happy life.  These aren't those what if dreams or once-in-a-lifetime hopes, rather daily or yearly goals that I will strive for.  I'll post my first 3 now since I need to get back to bed!

1. Good Health - Good Life-Good Husband
Is it just me or has being healthy fallen to the bottom of your list?  I know things like metabolism and youth have it's merits, but I seemed to spend a lot more time/weekends doing stuff.  Now I do cleaning and errands and fixing.  Here's my goal.  Do something.  I've been lifting weights after school fairly regularly this year and it seems to help both my mindset and happiness.  So simply put, I need to keep this a priority.

Also, regular blood work/check ups.  I use to go in every year after 30.  Are you?  My bro is a nurse and he told me they need this base-line data to monitor changes and to see it things are up.  I think over the last 2 years I only made it in for 1 check-up.  So this is also part of my good health priority.

2. Friends are better than Gold
I love my friends.  They are there after years of neglect, still shiny and ready to go.  It's like pulling the dust cover off a treasured car in your garage.  Your always suprized how well it works.  I had the opportunity this year to witness a good friend become a dad, to visit with friends on the coast three times this year and truly enjoy the benefits of a batcave/trailer.

I priced out a trip to Victoria today and it came to $384.  If I were to times that by 3 I come up with a grand, a number that really isn't excessive if I consider the rewards.  I think this is a feasible goal for myself.  So all you west coast LOMAH expatriates, hope you keep a spot in your hearts and house for me!

3.  Date Night - Man Night - Woman Night
Marriage is tough on a relationship.  I honestly think that it's more work than I or most people realize.  I'm not gonna rant about some vision quest that I had, but rather a simple idea that came from another friend who got it from another friend.  3 nights a month.  One for the man, one for the wife and one for the couple.  People need some time for themselves.  I think I could take my time more easily than Dora, but we need to make time for ourselves.  One evening a month we need to get out and stay out doing something for ourselves.  2 or 3 hours a month isn't much to ask for and in fact should be mandatory!

Also date night!  Dora and I have gotten real good that this child rearing thing over the last few years, but if you consider the fact that you still have the same 24hr in a day, things fall off the table when your getting things done.  Date night seems to be one of those.  I'm making it a priority!  One a month, no excuses, we need to get out.  And here is the other kicker.  Not just a movie!  I think the dinner/drinks part is more of a priority.  I want us to talk more, about things we don't know.  We've been together for I don't know how many years and there are a ton of things I still don't know. "What would be your dream trip if money was no obstacle?", "what was your most embarrassing moment?", "what do you like most about me?".  I think each date night we need to ask a question we don't know to each other.  Crazy or Brilliant?  Not sure which, but it's now a priority!


Well that's 3 of my top 5 and it's friggin' late so good nite!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Poop

It's been one of those days... As many of you know, Denali is getting up there in age, 12 I think was her most recent birthday.  Sadly, at times she could use a pair of "Depends" to get her through the day, usually when she eats people food now.  Well for some reason, we came home to a rather disturbing "Event" that required about an hour of my attention.  I'm not sure what to do at this point, but to transition her to an outside dog when Dora and I are both out for the day working.  If any of you out there in LOMAH have any brilliant ideas, I'm all ears!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Belated Birthday

With October being a rather crazy month, I didn't hit my monthly quota and missed an important posting so I thought I would start my November posting with a belated birthday post.

Dora posted her birthday extravaganza, so I figure I should post Logan's.  My big boy turned 4 this year!  The years have screamed by and each year has brought more fun and joy to Fatherhood.  Hard, but fun.  I really can't imagine life without kids now, something you truly can experience through the eyes of an uncle or aunt.  I highly recommend it, not just to drag others into the life-long commitment that cannot be bartered, sold or traded away and is forever yours, but because I'd love to drag others into the cult called "kids".

Dora outdid herself again with a sweet-a$@ cake that was stellar!  Logan has been getting into Lego so we did a clutch powers cake (that's the lego movie character) that looks kinda like han solo, an equally cook cake idea!
From 2010.09 Victoria Trip
I've got to also mention that the black icing was also a nice touch and it seemed to go well with everyones' ouftits!
From 2010.09 Victoria Trip
From 2010.09 Victoria Trip
From 2010.09 Victoria Trip
The rest of the party was a super hero potpourri of batman, spider-man and superman.  It seems that we've moved beyond the cute Disney phase and onto the land of DC and Marvel!  Time to pull out my comic collection!