The Big 26

Yesterday - March 27th - was Jon's 26th Birthday! And although he is in the midst of a LOT of work right now, we took some time to celebrate! We had butter chicken with rice & salad for supper, and a cherry pie for desert. This morning we went out with our good Hamilton friends, Joel & Jenni for breakfast (one of Jon's favourite things)...

The Birthday Pie

Birthday BreakfastJenni's the artist, but Joel created a special pancake message today...Happy Birthday, Jon!! Love you.

Babe & Burkas

I painted this a while ago after seeing a photograph in the Winnipeg Free Press (online). The photograph portrayed Afghan refugee women (and this young child) in a Pakistan refugee camp. One of the things I thought about as I stared at the photograph was, Wow, there are women like me under those burkas, fleeing horrific circumstances. I wonder what these women were thinking at this time? Were they talking? Laughing? Crying? Silent? Praying? I care about these women. The child also stood out to me. Those eyes.

I have recently read A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini and highly recommend them. Both are incredibly powerful, informative, and beautifully written.

So what now?

Valentine's

This year, Jon and I decided to stay home for Valentine's Day. It was one of the best! It included making dinner together, dressing up, candlelight, dancing, and a movie. Lovely.

Jon is the cutest. I came home from work on V Day to these beautiful "Happy Valentines Day + Happy New Job" tulips!Our meal: Ricotta & Spinach stuffed Cannelloni with a Rose Sauce, Parmesan/Garlic Breaded Chicken, Spinach/Romaine salad, and wine. Yum! Not only was our food incredibly tasty, but we had a fantastic time making it together.We got dressed up...

Jon's head is a bit cut off, but this was the only slow shutter picture where I didn't blink! :)

Job

After much searching, applying, and waiting...I am pleased to announce that I now have a full time job!! It is not teaching (for a while now I have known that teaching will have to wait until September) but I am very excited nonetheless. I think too, that I am all the more grateful for this job because I had to wait so long for it. Had I gotten this right away, I think I would have been disappointed it wasn't teaching related, but because I have had time to just want pretty much any job, this is perfect!! The next couple weeks will be spent in training/finishing up my tutoring position.

So, I am now a customer rep. for a car rental company. It will be perfect for us until we move back to Winnipeg. Jon and I are pretty happy. Thank you, God!

A Kite

I picked up A Child's First Book of Poems (pictures by Cindy Szekeres) the other day and had so much fun reading the poetry! My Auntie Gayle gave it to me a a child. As I read through the poems and studied the pictures, childhood feelings and memories came back to me. I love that. Here is one poem that I think is really sweet.

A Kite

I often sit and wish that I
Could be a kite up in the sky,
And ride upon the breeze and go
Whichever way I chanced to blow.
Then I could look beyond the town,
And see the river winding down,
And follow all the ships that sail
Like me before the merry gale,
Until at last with them I came
To some place with a foreign name.

~Frank Dempster Sherman

Inside My Purse

My purse sometimes feels heavier than I think it should...and I discovered why a couple days ago! I have this thing with lip balm, as most girls do, and have always had at least one in my pocket, backpack, or purse since probably grade 7.

Lately I had been wondering how it was possible to lose some of my lip balms. It's normal to lose one every now and then, but there have been a number that had gone missing. I recently found a hole in the lining of one side pocket in my purse, and with a little digging, discovered things had fallen through the hole and landed in the space between the lining and the leather! Five minutes later, and after much excitement...
I'd like to point out that all the lip balms were given to me--I don't have a lip balm-buying addiction! Three were stocking stuffers, and two come from Clinique bonuses...in my defense. My purse now feels lighter, and I don't have to wonder how I lost these anymore!

Peterborough Family

After 5 months of living in Hamilton, Jon and I finally made the trip to Peterborough to visit some of the Nayler family! Peterborough is where my dad grew up, and everyone except for him still lives there. From Hamilton, Peterborough can take between 4 and 5 hours by bus, but thanks to my generous Aunt, we were able to rent a car, which takes only 2 hours and 15 minutes! Turns out renting a car was cheaper than the bus anyways! It was also very convenient as far as getting around the city. As Jon's term has just begun, and I am only working very little right now, it was the perfect time to visit!

We stayed with my grandpa, which is something I love to do. Jon and I have made 2 'just us' trips to Peterborough, and it is so relaxing and fun to have my grandpa all to ourselves! It's so neat hearing stories from his childhood, some of his experience(s) in WWII, of his relationship with my [deceased] grandma, and of my dad's childhood. I love learning more about other people's lives, and especially when they involve my family! As a grandchild growing up in another province, even though we visited every summer, I have not been able to get to know my grandpa in the casual way my cousins have. The visits we have had, however, have always been very special and I value them greatly. We hope to make a couple more trips out while we live so close.

Here is a picture of my grandpa and I. After it was taken, I asked him if he had smiled and he said, "I don't know." I'm pretty sure at the age of 87 you know whether you are smiling or not! He's funny and I love him! In hearing him talk, I noticed that, mixed in with my mom's personality, I think have inherited some of my bluntness from him! Can you see the resemblance to my dad?

Some other family members we were able to visit included my Auntie Sandy, Uncle Bryan, Uncle Dave & Aunt Carole, my Uncle Len, and my cousins: Kristan (and her adorable baby girl Sierra), Michael, Stephen, and Victoria, and my cousin Ashley and her husband, Robin. And that's not all of them!

My Auntie Sandy and me. You might not be able to tell in this photo, but we share the wide-eyed Nayler genes (or "Bambi eyes" as Janessa and I call them) that my grandpa also has.

My cousin Ashley (my wedding photographer if anyone recognizes her!) & me.

Before the Peterborough visit, we were treated with another visit. Jordan, April, and Cori-Anne were on their way back to Nova Scotia and stayed with us from Thursday to Friday, just before we left for Peterborough. It was so great to see them again! That, and I scored some wonderful Auntie cuddles with Cori-Anne. She is SO cute! Here are a couple of pics of my beautiful neice.

This picture of Jon makes me want to have a baby!

Soooo cute!