October 10th, 2012

It's hard to believe that it's fall already! It has been a fabulous summer, and I feel pretty lucky to have had a good long vacation and a ton of mini ones! Also, it was awesome to have Joni, Cara, and Camilla visit... because although I wasn't technically on vacation, it sure felt like I was:) Work went well too... I finished my orientation at the hospital in early August, so the rest of the summer was exciting getting into the swing of things at a new job! 

I have lots to be thankful for... including rock climbing on Thanksgiving!

I nabbed this from someone's facebook profile...

Nanaimo, BC with Sterling and Dad.

I love this. Especially the fact that we wrote a story under the coffee table after Thanksgiving dinner.

Lil's birthday!

The fab five.

Aboard the Lady Rose to Ucluelet. I'd love to do this trip again!

This month also brought a new baby:) 

Chicago in the summer

You can find a conglomerate of pictures from Eureka, IL to Chicago here! Pictured above is the ferris wheel on Navy Pier. It was only $6 to go up in it! Huge thanks to Karmen for being the best tour guide EVER! 

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I can't believe that it is already nearing the end of August! The dried leaves on the streets are a pretty good indication in my neck of the woods:) Blackberries are becoming ripe, and halloween paraphernalia has appeared at the local Michaels!

I'll leave you with a quote that was shared at yoga the other day:

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."- Jalad ad-Din Rumi

Have a great day wherever you are!

We be road trippin'! Pics part 1/2

Click on the link and you can open a slideshow in Picasa:) Here's a scenario to make you laugh: Tia and I are driving on a freeway and are still relatively new and unprepared for "turnpikes", or toll booths which only accept change. Some have people manning the booths (teeth are not required for this job), but others do not. Stopped at the turnpike, we were digging through our wallets to scrounge up change which we did not have! So... can't go backwards... not really supposed to go forwards... and off we go!!! The red buzzer and siren went off, but we escaped unscathed! Next, we are driving again and I have the hiccups! Ouch. Tia assures me that they are "party convulsions"... and nothing to worry about:) Cue: Howl with laughter. (At least we did...)

Roadtrip 2012! Ok-->IL PART 1/2

PS. Part 2 (Eureka IL- Chicago) coming soon!

*Food for thought* and some pics

 Proposition: There's no such thing as selflessness, only people with a broader sense of self.
- B.L


I took myself on a little vacation at the beginning of June. 2 weeks! First stop: lots of wedding prep, followed by a lovely wedding in Pawnee, Oklahoma, then my fellow adventurer, Tia, came and we travelled Route 66 through Missouri (must see the world's largest rocking chair and St. Louis' famous arch!) Next: tagging along with big cousin Scott around the backroads, highways, and museums of Southwest IL , on to Eureka IL to play games, stormwatch and catch up with some very special people, and finally Chicago... perhaps my favourite city of all time. Perhaps... I have a lot more to see! I would love to hear if you have a favourite city (or cities)!

Kalynn and Kyle

The tallest man in the world, Robert Wadlow,
had a chair made especially for him. This is
how big it was.                                                                                                  

Tia, Shanna, Karmen in the bean's semi-clear complexion. (Chicago)

Have a good day wherever you are:)

The last few days, visually speaking

You're bee-u-ti ful. And those smoothies were tasty.

Home sweet Sidney.

Kylie amongst the yellow furniture:)

Layne testing his IQ. A delectable BBQ followed! Complete with corn on the cob and dental floss.

I love the colours in this picture!

Some music! 

Beacon Hill Park

Jenelle putting like a pro:)

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Editor's note: We didn't eat the dental floss!

Across the water

I really love living on Vancouver Island, but am also pretty thrilled that a day trip to the big city of Vancouver is possible when cabin fever starts to set in. Or island fever?  Although we have everything we need here, there is no skytrain (yet), and to me, that is a good enough reason to cross the water to the mainland. There's something about underground tunnels covered with ads and graffiti art, sky-high rails, and hundreds of busy, beautiful people that I will never tire of. 

So this is the day in pictures! 

Ferry- approx. 7:30am.

Stanley Park

Lion's Gate bridge

Our bikes by the beach.

Say cheese!

These little birds were so adorable. So adorable that I forgot all rules of the road and slowed down quickly without shoulder checking and ensuring that Monica wasn't behind me... oops! No harm done:)

This was an accidental photo, but I kinda like it!

Lunch at an East Indian place.

Science World! Or the Telus World of Science as it is now referred to.

 Me and my lego man:)

Hot chocolate with hazelnut gelato. Too good to be true, but it was!

Canada Place. Turns out there were probably offices on the other side of this wall!

Shantaram

Likely... if you are reading this, you know me and know that I have recently been obsessed with this book. I can't say enough about it! Don't worry- I'm almost finished it, and will move on to another one soon. I know, I know... it's been quite a few months already. It's just so good. One of those books where you outline phrases and insert sticky notes. And re-read again and again:)

Here are a few quotes:

"And in thinking that, I knew I was jealous of the man, the scientist I didn't know and probably would never meet. Jealousy, like the flawed love that bears it, has no respect for time or space or wisely reasoned judgement".

"When you know you're going to die, there's no comfort in cleverness".

"It is good to know what is wrong with the world. But it is just as important to know that sometimes, no matter how wrong it is, you cannot change it. And a lot of the bad stuff in the world was not really that bad until some one tried to change it."

"Mistakes are like bad loves, the more you learn from them the more you wish they had never happened."

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Maybe this book is not everyone's cup of tea, but it sure is mine.

***

Have a good evening!

The suspense is... over... sigh:)

Picture courtesy: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/exams+mugs

Although it really doesn't change anything, it feels good to have a name for my education! Shanna Laird, LPN. Woot!

In other news, I found a t-shirt at the Superstore yesterday for $2.97. Actually made my day!

I'm excited to go home to Mom and Dad's today to make a new recipe- ground turkey and artichoke pasta- for guests no less:) I'm not sure I have EVER had an artichoke before... maybe I'm in for a surprise?

Happy Saturday!

Jan.25, 0832

I'm making a photobook for my nanny's 80th birthday in March, and have had the wonderful assistance of many to compile pictures to use. I love these ones in sepia. I wonder what colours the vehicle and her skirt were. I've done photobooks using Blurb (highly recommended for quality, ease of use, value) and am now working with Mixbook (not recommended- use Blurb instead.) Isn't she a beauty?

New Years resolutions update: I've organized and re-organized my things (including stuff stored in boxes at Mom and Dad's), taken relatively good care of myself (chocolate chip mint ice cream is health food, right?!) , however have not joined a choir yet, nor have I found out if I passed my LPN licensing exam! 50%- not too bad for Jan. 25!

Have a fabulous day :)

Cleaning out the ol' cellular

Here are a few of the pictures that I rescued from my telephone. Note they are all ancient history now as we have stumbled upon 2012! Good grief. Happy New Year:)"I do NOT roll my eyes at you!"
At a really cute bakery...

My gingerbread house (and forest and snowman and mailbox- I got a little carried away).

During one of our weekly runs while we were training for the 10K last year. Hmm, it seems to be training time again!

Family on Christmas. So nice to Christmas with you all again this year:)

Pike Place Market in Seattle. We went to the first Starbucks EVER!

And to the nasty, smelly, horrible, "I can't believe I got that close" gum wall.

Joe's seafood bar and grill became a new favourite place to eat this year. Delicious fish tacos.

At Camosun, the student society held a nail pounding contest. 6 of us from the Practical Nursing Program joined, and we won!

Mountain bike championchips. Crazy stuff these people do.

Hmm- I'd think this girl is enjoying carrying a yellow rose around all day:)

Bonfire- complete with baked potato, smores, hot cocoa, and fancy candles to keep bugs away:)

Some beach, some where...

Canmore, Ab. Sadly, I havn't been skiing since this time in February of last year!

Joni! I found one!!

Jenna and I.

New Years Resolutions:

1) Pass LPN exam on Jan. 11th

2) Organize my stuff

3) Take care of myself (eat well, exercise, yada yada yada)

4) Editor's note. Oops I forgot this one-

Join a choir... no more whining about missing high school band/choir!

I always make resolutions, but have always completely forgotten what they were by the time the end of the year. So maybe writing them down this year will help?! We shall see. Or maybe I really do have the memory of a goldfish and it won't make any difference:)

Have a great day-

-Shanna