Lee Girls

This Christmas Break I had the opportunity to use my Nikon to do a few different photoshoots, the first one being with a family I used to babysit for, and love. Lianne and her two girls Robyn and Georgia are so beautiful and it was a pleasure to take pictures of such gorgeous models :) Heres a few shots taken in their backyard forest. All are still not edited, I got the Aperature 2 program for Christmas, but have only been able to try out a trial version on my sisters computer, so long story short these ones have not been edited at all but I hope you enjoy!

Joyeux Noël

So I realize I am a little behind on posts, but as you can imagine, a two week visit home for Christmas didn't turn out to be as relaxing as I had hoped with some down time- but I am happy that I was able to use that time to visit with family and friends. Definitely the main reason for going home in the first place. So now with some extra time on my hands I'm afraid I might be bombarding my blog with posts... I hope they are all interesting to read, and see pictures of.



One of my favourite things about going home for Christmas is the amount of snow we get living in the 'snow-belt' of Central Ontario. So i was overjoyed to see all the snow of course....



... and the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree my dad had cut down on our property and stuck in the snow in front of our house, complete with one Christmas Ball for decoration...






... I also love the way my mom decorates the house so beautiful for Christmas, it makes everything so festive and feel cozy too...



And of course, Christmas always means traditions such as eating a bunch of random but delicious finger foods (a mixture of everyone in my family's favourites)and watching Its a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, going to my Nana and Papa Smith's for a yummy Turkey dinner on Christmas day, and then to top it all off, going to the local Chinese food restaurant to hit up the buffet with the Bell Family on Boxing Day, and then getting to visit our Aunt Cyndy : )


Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season!

Finally Home for Christmas

With my final day at the hospital completed, I eagerly packed up some last minute items, and loaded my backpack into a friends van- destination Calgary. There was about 7 of us nursing students heading home for the Holidays, so it was really nice to spend our final time together Road Trip style, even if it was only an hour and a half drive. After dropping my roommate off at the airport, the rest of us catching later flights that weekend headed to Wendy's for dinner and then to the Chinook Mall where we would all get picked up and head our separate ways. While waiting for my friend Janelle to come get me, I stumbled across the Twilight novels in a bookstore, and eagerly picked up the first two novels to read in transit. I realize by doing this I am falling into line with the many other Twilight enthusiasts... and up to a few days prior I really thought the books sounded rediculous. But when, being extremely bored one night, I watched a blurry internet copy of the film version I found myself really getting into the story, and it was decided I HAD to get my hands on those books.



Since my flight was not until Saturday afternoon, I had planned to stay with my Discover friend, Janelle, in Calgary for the two nights prior. We were able to get some outdoor skating action in, eventhough the daily temperatures were in the -30's, but made sure to do lots of Hot Chocolate drinking, and knitting by a warm fire to thaw ourselves out afterwards. I am so glad I was able to spend that time with such an amazing friend. Definitely Cherished.





With my luck flying and travelling in general, I would have been a fool to think this trip would be any different then the others, however even with the amount of Cancelled flights in Toronto the day before, I was still hopefully went I got to the airport (but still checked in 3 hours ahead just to be safe). But of course, eventhough I was the first to be at the gate, the lady at the desk informed me that the flight i was on was overbooked by 7 or so people, and through a series of 'random factors' I was one of the lucky 7 to wait until the plane was completely borded until they started clearing us onto the flight. I still think the fact that I was young, travelling alone, and making no connecting flights might have had something to do with it, not to mention that I am permanently jinxed with travelling to the point where people don't want to travel with me! haha.
But I did make it on the flight and arrived on time and safe to Toronto, without my baggage, but I did make it.

I am excited to spend time with family and friends over the next few days as Christmas draws nearer. Hope Everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow

I absolutely love the snow. Winter is my favourite season and Christmas my favourite holiday. And so this morning when I woke up early to get to the hospital, I was completely awestruck by the beauty when i stepped outside. Snow had just freshly fallen, the kind that looks light and fluffy, and glitters in the light. The moon was still brightly reflecting in the sky, and the snow beautifully captured that light and was glittering for all to see... all those that were awake and braving the -45C weather and not still comfortably snuggled in their beds that is. It was honestly like walking in a magical fairytale world. Definitely worth waking up for : )

In the past weeks, the snow has been falling regularly, and now we have a fairly decent amount of snow outside... but still not near as much as back home in Ontario, and so I am REALLY looking forward to being back there in a few days, and besides getting to see my lovely family and friends, getting to play in all that snow!


(P.S Alex and Jord- we need to start building a ramp in the snow in the backyard ASAP when i get back to mess around on the snowboards with! Can't wait to see you two soon!)

Here's some snowy pictures- Enjoy!

Christmas in WhoVille

This year for our school's annual Christmas Banquet, the theme was " A Who Christmas" (from the Grinch). The student council did a really great job planning and decorating.... all in all it was a huge hit. Here are some photos from the evening : )

Operation Christmas Child

For as long as I can remember, every Christmas my mom would get my sisters and I together and we would help her fill different shoe boxes with gifts that would be distributed to Children around the globe with a project called Operation Christmas Child. Many people have heard of Franklin Graham, Samaritan Purse's founder's project, and in fact has been promoted in Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany.

My friend Steph has had the awesome privilege of spending a day volunteering at one of the shoe box sorting days that take place in the larger cities for each of these countries, where the shoe boxes are sent once they have been packed to be checked before going to customs. While there last year she was able to see a direct result of a Christmas Shoe Box, as well as hear many other stories. A fellow volunteer working with her was actually a girl attending Calgary University, originally from Africa. She told Steph the story of how as a little girl she was given a shoe box filled with school supplies as well as other fun things. That gift inspired her to continue in school even when it was expensive for her family, and looked down upon in her community because she was female, and eventually she ended up studying medicine at U of C. She saw the impact that a small gift can make first hand, and how God can make miracles come in pretty little gift-wrapped boxes, and wanted to take her turn on the other side of that miracle.

Another story she told me was that of a young boy in South America. The gifts had been distributed to the group of children all gathered from the community, and all had opened their gifts except this boy. When asked by one of the distribution volunteers why he hadn't opened his gift yet, the boy looked up with tears in his eyes and said that the only thing he prayed for, for Christmas was a mom and a dad, and he knew that they could not fit into a box so small. The volunteer, heartbroken for the boy, encouraged him to open the box anyways and when he did, amongst the gifts inside was a letter and a photo of a couple. They had left their address and the volunteer encouraged the boy to write to them. Three years later the couple were able to finally adopt this boy and bring him to live with them in the states.

Final story I will share is of a mother who, with her three young children, ran to a distribution drop off center, hoping that she was not too late to let her children pick out a box. Sadly the volunteers replied that all the boxes had already been given out, all except one that had been damaged along the way. The mother assured them that she did not mind, as long as there was something for her kids to share. When they opened this seemingly worthless box, she discovered a hundred dollar bill in a crisp white envelope. She attempted to return it to the volunteers, they insisted she keep it, knowing that God had meant this gift to go to her family. Steph explained that part of their jobs while sorting was to remove anything with high value such as this from the gifts because people are warned these things cannot go into the gifts because it creates a risk of the distribution trucks being attacked by rebel groups thinking they hold great wealth. (Which has actually happened, people have died attempting to deliver these gifts in certain countries- just a little something O.C.C does not advertise)So for this envelope to make it through their sorting at the warehouse, and again through customs unnoticed was a God thing.

After listening to Steph's stories, one thing she said stuck out to me and inspired me to use my love for knitting to make something special for a child somewhere. She said that many people that fill the boxes don't realize that they also send them to places like Russia, Eastern European countries, etc. and that they actually specially mark boxes with warm clothing/ gifts inside to be sent specifically to those countries.

It was really fun continuing this Christmas tradition my mom started now that i'm on my own, especially after hearing some of the stories that show how God can work in something as simple as a shoe box.



I hope you find these stories as interesting and amazing as I did- and remember the 'reason for the season' as it begins!

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Pack_A_Shoe_Box/

There's Just So Much to Love About...

KNITTING!

Knitting is more popular today than it has been in decades. Some call it, "the hot new hobby" and even "the new yoga." Modern knitters are rediscovering this age-old craft- sprinkling it with their own brand of individuality- and basking in the joy of making something beautiful with their hands. It has become one fun way to take time here and there to simply slow down, take a deep breath and relax, balancing out the usually fast-paced, ever-ending To-Do list lifestyle most individuals find themselves in.



I started knitting last year at school. It was a great way to clear your head before studying, as well as something that enhanced friendships. I can remember the countless nights that all the girls on my floor would gather all together with their current knitting projects as we talked and laughed late into the night. Now, being back at school this year I have found knitting to be one way I can just sit in quiet, or perhaps listening to some peaceful music, and relax from a stressful day in class or at the hospital which re-energizes me to complete the next task on 'The List'.


Here are some fun ideas on how to enhance that relaxing time while knitting!

1. Draw yourself a nice warm bubble bath, put on some soothing music and start knitting. (Sadly I have not been able to try this out yet... I don't the showers at school would allow for similar results, however I am anxiously awaiting Christmas vacation when I can go home and spend some time doing just this).

2. Put on a classic, and grab a cozy blanket. Some good films for knitting are:
Little Women (1994)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961)
Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
Pride and Prejudice (2005/ 1995; the older one is really good but six hours long so maybe save that one for a lazy rainy day)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)


3. Make some home-made Hot Chocolate, sit by a nice warm fire and knit yourself some mitts or a scarf to fend off that cold weather outside.

Here's a good recipe:
(This recipe yields one serving, to make more simply multiply each quantity by the number of people you are serving).

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Hersey's European Style
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
Few grains of salt
2/3 cup 2-percent milk
1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
Dash of cognac (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the milk until hot, but not boiling. Add about 1tbsp of the milk to the cocoa mixture, and stir to make paste. Add the paste and the chopped chocolate to the saucepan of hot milk, place back over medium-low heat, and cook, stirring continuously with a whisk, until the chocolate melts and the mixture is hot, but not boiling. Whisk the mixture until frothy, then pour into a preheated mug. Add cognac if desired. Enjoy!