Back to the Grind: Life in Vancouver again Part One

I've decided to start what we'll loosely call a "series" of posts based around "Back to the Grind: Life in Vancouver again".

Also, calling it a series would imply that there are more people that follow this blog than actually do, but whatever I'm fine with that. A series I will call it. 

And it won't really be a long series, just four parts. 

Mostly I'm writing because I've been back in Vancouver since early Sept, it's mid Oct and I have only written two or three non-trip posts. And I've amassed quite a few pictures because honestly life is awesome and full so there's much to document. And because there are so many pictures and things I'll break it into four sections to not overwhelm you. 

So today, lets tackle part one...

Back to the Grind: Life in Vancouver again, Part 1

Coming back to Vancouver means coming back to regular life. This involves, for me, being back at work, being back around my family and being back at posting outfit pictures in the bathroom. You missed that didn't you?

As we traveled the US it was easy to fall in love with new cities, sometimes because the city was new and cool, and sometimes just because Vancouver-you-kill-me-with-how-expensive-you-are-so-expensive-anything-is-better-than-you. But my first bike ride back down Cambie and into downtown reminded me of how beautiful this city is. 

And the ride home past Queen E Park is pretty nice too.

It helped that it's been sunny until this week, and dry until today, October 12th!

I was reminded that downtown Vancouver is bright and sunny

1. Sun by buildings at Georgia and Burrard

2. Pizza and Salad at eight and 1/2

3. Starbucks and the Canadian Flag outside the Hyatt

4. Sun through trees and buildings, Dunsmuir and Burrard

5. The metropolitan, love this awning.

Though with downtown comes work.

Busy busy.

And that's ^ why I have't blogged in a week.

But with downtown and work comes lunches with my blogging friend Laura.

Sometimes we have to interrupt lunch for photos for our blogs, and we both understand that. 

And lunches outside in Robson Square, in the sun, with random giant bean bag chairs, is pretty good.

And being back at work means...

Outfits!

I love clothes. And guess what? After this "series" I'm going to be starting my own pinterest challenge - clothing ideas accepted!

But in the meantime, back to todays blog. Next up in Vancouver is family. They are wonderful. Between the Mitchell's and the Morgan's, I have a pretty great family. 

We started off the time back with a family birthday for Andrew with the Morgan's...

There was food.

And lots of conversation.

Two weeks later we found ourselves back the Friesen's house for another dinner, this time to celebrate Levi's baptism. Family galore!

And we've seen family from the Mitchell side. On top of a few hang outs at Auntie Debbie's and Uncle Greg's, we've also had brunch several times at the Maxwell's.

My sister's family has two homestay students, the one above is Xin. They are both so sweet. 

We've also hung out with the MItchell kids a bit since Auntie Debbie and Uncle Greg are in China currently, so I've made dinner once already, and again on Monday, to take over to feed all 9 of those remaining in the house. 

Plus I got to take Jessica out for lunch at Cafe Crepe - it was wonderful.

Great food, great conversation and beautiful sunny day.

And that, is Life in Vancouver Part One!

This and That

Blog posts that stuck out to me this week:

• An amusing piece, especially the multiplication song ideas.
• Two wonderfully insightful pieces by Caroline Collie (who I pretend I know because we know people in common) about waiting and not waiting for the things we dream of. 
• Less deep, but still very helpful, a piece on custom blog fonts.
• Things Christians, especially women, should consider while considering dating.
• Another piece by CC on receiving grace - this spoke to me loudly!
• And lastly some sites on organization - here and here.

Music that makes me smile this week:

• Psy's hit, Gangnam Style. This viral music video  has been viewed over 359 million times on YouTube as of October 3, 2012 and been on Ellen, spoofed on SNL, and parodied by many. Paul and I loved this parody with the Oregon Ducks and we loved this moment on SNL. (Sorry for the bad picture quality - I couldn't find anything good on YouTube)
• Gotye's Album, "Making Mirrors." Somehow I never heard any songs other than "Somebody that I used to know" which I loved. But finally I listened to their whole album and I've been hooked. It's got Stabilio levels of moody music mixed with a surprise upbeat song. My favorites would be "In your light,"** "Eyes wide open," "I feel better," "Save me," and "Bronte"...and to be fair I could have picked more favorites. This album is just so great! 
• **"In your light" would be the song I've had on replay every day this week - It's perfect for cleaning, biking, waking up....anything really. I bet it wouldn't even be bad to have playing in the bathroom. You know. It's versatile.

TV Shows that rocked my world this week (this and almost every week):

• The Office (especially this moment) - I have been loving this season, which has been a HUGE surprise.
• Parenthood (particularly interesting posts on the show here and here). Christina can drive me nuts, but this season she is blowing my mind. And really, Sarah Braverman looks so much happier this season, and I am loving the addition of Ray Romano! (Another thing I never thought I'd say, since I hated "Everybody loves Raymond")
• SNL - as per usual. This is always true. And this last week was no exception. I do miss Kristin Wiig, Andy Sanberg and Abby Elliot, but the rest of the cast is pretty awesome. I'm not sure about the new cast members yet, but I don't dislike them, and that's a start, right?

 And to end with something real and from the heart; I would love to spend more time with God. I have a routine ready and time set aside and yet getting out of bed to do it is so so so hard. I am almost 30. Shouldn't this be easier yet? 

The conviction is slowly bringing about change in my heart though, and I am gaining more and more understanding about just how important this time with God is. This quote from the link at the top of the page really helped highlight my need.  

"Life is hard when all of your time is filled with doing things for and with other people.
Life is harder still when all of your time is empty and alone, and you struggle to find something to do to fill that abyss in your life. To have what some might think is the ultimate freedom, the radical autonomy to be without any duty or obligation to others, is actually a taste of Hell.
To be with others who have need of you, need of your love, need of your self-giving, is the more authentic freedom, paradoxical as it may seem, because it is more true to our nature as human persons — we are made to love and be loved in truth, and it is in such truth that we are set free. We are free to be who we are made to be, social creatures made for fruitful loving communion with others in one being.
The further paradox, though, is that to fully love the other, to better love our spouse or our children, we must in a sense, put them second, not first. That is, we must love God first, before we love them. But in so doing, we do not love our family members less, but more. In loving God before we love them, God takes our love, multiplies it by His own, and gives it to the other in an even greater and fuller measure than we could on our own. In love, God is not a competitor, He is a multiplier."

And that is helpful and needed truth.  

Well this post stirred all my love for Gotye again - I guess it's time to get back to work and crank that album while I work on PDF books and calendar appointments. 

Oh....and I'm stoked for this weekend:
Friday (today) - Work 7:30-2pm, nap, hopefully dinner with a friend, CHAPEL (Youth Band)
Saturday - Breakfast with my cousin Jessica, Dinner Prep, Family, Friends & International Dinner
Sunday - Sleeeeep in, Picnic date lunch with Paul at Van Dusen Gardens (his idea!), Hosting at church, Dinner & Games with the Froeses
Monday - Sleeeeep in again, Crafts/Hang out with Kathleen, Dinner Prep, Mitchell family dinner & hang out.

So stoked. 

Happy Birthday LeAnna!

My Cousin LeAnna is awesome. 
And today is her 29th birthday. 
(Though to be fair it could be tomorrow. FB didn't tell me, and I always forget, though Skype assures me it's today)

She is 6 months younger than me, so I am always winning in the age race. And I managed to get married 3 months before her, so win again...but then again she and David did start dating before Paul and I, and they beat us to having a child, so who knows what the score is anymore ;)

LeAnna and I grew up together - our parents were married the same summer (as were we, fun!) and they had children the same year (not true for us) so we got to grow up together. We always had a guaranteed friend at family dinners. We played barbies (my favorite) and polly pocket (her favorite), and micro machines when Jenna made us. We wrote, directed, acted in and filmed NUMEROUS plays, movies and shows. We made radio tapes as well. We forced our family to listen to or watch our creations. I'm sure they did so willingly. We also both loved to read, so we often read together, though Jenna hated reading so we couldn't get away with that too much. 

Sadly I don't have many photos online of us, but I did manage to find this one of us singing in the Little Kingdom Choir.

LeAnna and I went to different schools since we lived at different parts of town but in Junior High I started going to her Youth Group, so then we had friends in common and hung out most weekends with sleepovers and youth nights and youth retreats. It was great to have my cousin there. 

Finally in High School we were in the same school - though at first we had different groups of friends, she was always so willing to draw me into her circle of friends. I had an especially hard time through parts of grade 12 and LeAnna welcomed me into her friendships with open arms - that spoke so loudly to me and I have never forgotten in. 

LeAnna moved away for College (first Vancouver then Victoria) but through the wonders of blogging we got to stay in touch, and eventually I moved to Victoria for a year. I was dating one of her now husbands friends and so I got to hang out with her socially as couples. Later she moved into the building I was living in. It was fun having her a few floors below, though we did not take advantage of it like I would now!

Since then LeAnna has lived in Edmonton, Toronto and Cambridge, UK. She is currently in Germany for two months and then who knows where jobs and life will take them. She is living with her husband David and their sweet, new baby Walter. 

LeAnna has never been afraid to be different, to pursue what she loves, to be who she was created by God to be, and to chase after the desires of her heart. 

She has found an amazing husband who just fits with her. Watching them in relationship is beautiful. Her husband and I are very different (understatement) but even I can see how much he cares for her, and how happy they are together. I love listening to her mom, my Auntie Sandy, rave about the relationships. Every parent loves to know their child is happy, loved and with such a good fit - they definitely have that. 

Summer 2010 I had the privileged of being in LeAnna and David's wedding - it was a beautiful time, a celebration of their years together and their future years to come. It was a joy to be a part of - my cousin was beautiful and radiant and David looked overjoyed at this gift he was receiving. Thought she looked pretty darn excited as well. 

As well she has pursued a relationship with God relentlessly. She hasn't been afraid to follow the path in front of her, and seek Him. We in some ways have very different faiths (Traditional Catholic vs. Evangelical-Charismatic Protestant) but in the end we have in common a longing to have relationship with God, and to have that be the center of our lives. I love that connection that we have. 

We both love to read and write - blogging has been a wonderful tool in our friendship - for years I LeAnna was one of my two followers. I always knew she was reading and following along. She actually got me into blogging back in High School and I am so thankful for that. 

So LeAnna, wherever this next season takes you....whatever happens in the future, I am proud to call you my cousin. I am thankful for our friendship. You have loved me so well over the years and I pray this coming year is filled with all the great things that God has for you. Happy Birthday Cousin!

1. LeAnna getting ready for her big day.   2. LeAnna and her Bridesmaids.

3. LeAnna and I at my sisters wedding.   4. Me, LeAnna and Jenna at the bridal shower.

5. The cousins and Grandma.   6. At LeAnna's Stagette.   7. With Bridesmaids again.

1. LeAnna and David at a ball    2. LeAnna and David looked in love at their wedding.

3 & 4. LeAnna and her new sisters   5. LeAnna and our whole family.

6. David and LeAnna, newly married.   7. LeAnna, radiant.

Pictureless Food Post

Alright, so I'm back at it making tons of food for tons of people. 
And that's how you know I've settled back into life. 

For example between yesterday and October 16th (that's about two weeks of time), I will feed (or have fed)

• Lifegroup x3 (14-17 people a time)
• The Mitchell family x2 (11 people a time) [The Mitchell's are out of town so ppl are helping feed their kids]
• Thanksgiving Dinner x1 (15 people)

That adds up to a lot of food! And since I feed LG every week it also involves creativity. And because I only wanted to grocery shop once in each two week period it involved a lot of planning!

Now you should also know, I've been afraid to use my Crock Pot. I've had one since we got married but have never used it. I know, I know, I hear they are amazing but I was chicken. 

Well, no more. 

I had decided I wanted to make Mexican Pie next week for the Mitchell's and for LG which would mean cooking up a whole bunch of ground beef. Instead of freezing it for the week then defrosting it and cooking it, I thought it would be easiest to cook it first then thaw it to use in the meal. I'd heard here about cooking ground beef in the Crock Pot and decided to try that out. So after grocery shopping I threw the ground beef into the pot to cook while I sorted the rest of my groceries. 

Keeping in mind this was my first time using my slow cooker and there was an accidental hour where I left it on "keep warm" instead of "hot", it was cooked under 3 hours and easy to remove, drain and freeze. All I need to do is thaw it, add taco seasoning and voila!

Since this was a success I decided to use the Crock Pot to cook the Pork Tenderloin I'd bought for LG this week. Since I have been sick this week and still working, I decided anything that would help me cook something ahead would be a win. I had Paul put the marinated pork into the pot with a half cup of Yoshida Marinade and a half cup of water. Now I probably cooked too much at once, about 3 pounds, but it still worked! Cooked in 5 hours.  Normally I marinade tenderloin in Yoshida sauce and bake it in the oven - it's always tasty, though a bit drier than I'd like. This came out so so so tender. Cooked through but amazingly tender. I am now converted. I will never again cook pork in the oven if I have the time to slow cook it. 

Last night I learned another valuable lesson - sometimes it's hard to judge how much meat you'll need. Truth. I'd bought a pork tenderloin at Costco for $15 but didn't know if it would feed all 14 of us. I got nervous and added another half of a tenderloin I had in my freezer. Well, I definitely could have used just the tenderloin from Costco, since I have a huge amount of the amazing meat leftover. 

Also this lesson applies to all food. 

The menu for last night was:

• Garlic sauteed Green Beans
• Johnny's Garlic Spread seasoned Roasted Asparagus
• Rice (6 cups of dried rice)
• Pesto Pasta
• Yoshida Pork
• Garlic Bread (3 loaves)

We still have enough Pork to feed 6 people, enough veggies to feed 4 people, enough rice to feed 10 people and enough bread to feed 4 people. When will I learn?

Oh well, I'd rather have too much and then get leftovers for the week than not have enough and feel sad for those at LG who don't get to eat. 

And now for a Baking half win, half fail. 

I'd forgotten to get a dessert volunteer (and drats I just realize I forgot again for next week) and our group definitely has a sweet tooth. I remembered I had brownie mix in the pantry, but feared making plain brownies because Christina made brownies last week for LG that were to die for. Seriously, everyone was raving about them and I didn't want to compete. Then I remembered that I had half a container of pumpkin puree in my fridge. Then I realized it was fall and people LOVE pumpkin treats in the fall and that I'd recently seen this recipe. Genius. 

So I decided I'd follow this recipe, but since I only had half a container of pumpkin, and not a full can, I thought I should keep the regular wet ingredients from the brownie mix, and simply add the pumpkin as well. Since the blog writer mentioned that the pumpkin brownies tasted a bit different, I decided to add chocolate chunks into the mix to give it more brownie flavor. 

My brownies looked and smelt great. And they tasted good.

They felt weird though. Like chewy...chewy like spongey, not like chewy brownies. 

Some people liked them, some people loved them, some people were indifferent and some people did not like them. I'm thankful for John and Dustin who adored them and said they were the best brownies ever, that because of the pumpkin they were healthy (not really) but also tasty. 

So note to self, brownies don't need that many wet ingredients. Follow recipes!

And another note to self; adding chocolate chips or chunks is always a good idea! Do this more!

Next up in the world of bulk cooking...

Thanksgiving Dinner for 15 ppl / Menu:

• Turkey ($13 at Walmart! - Courtesy of my Dad - though I'll cook it)
• Ham (Courtesy of my Dad again - though again I'll cook it)
• Mashed Potatoes (Dad's famous!)
• Green Bean Casserole (Classic Favorite)
• Roasted Veggies (Carrots, Zucchini, Peppers, and Mushrooms)
• Cauliflower and Broccoli (w. Cheese Sauce)
• Garlic Cheddar Buns
• Apple Blondies
• Pumpkin Cake (Courtesy of Jodi H!)

Mitchell's (12 ppl) & Lifegroup (14-17 ppl) October 8th/9th:

• Mexican Pie - I will be making a double batch of this during the Holiday Monday to serve at both places. I think I will make two tinfoil containers full for each meal. 
• Chips w. homemade Guacamole and Salsa

Mitchell's (12 ppl) & Lifegroup (14-17 ppl) October 15th/16th:

• Meatball Casserole w. roasted vegetables added to trick the kids and our LG guys into eating veggies :)
• Salad & Garlic bread

After that for LG I have some exciting meals planned including: Taco Bar, Zucchini & Noodle Lasagna,  Chicken Toquitoes, Unstuffed Shells, Pumpkin Soup w. Beer Bread, and many other tasty meals. I planned out every week until Christmas because in October I'm heading down to the states for some grocery shopping and wanted to be able to get most of my non-perishable ingredients there and some of the cheeses and meats to cut costs. 

Tonight we will feast on leftovers, tomorrow we will feast on leftovers and most likely Friday, we will feast on leftovers. And we won't mind one bit. Because with Saturday comes a day of cooking and a turkey dinner. Mmmmm.

Sick days, Celebration, Baptism, Sick days

This past week Paul caught something more than just some new ideas at school, he also picked up a cold. Not just the, sniffles, sort of cold, but the runny nose, sinus headache, fuzz in mind type of cold. He was pretty out of it all week. Since you starve a fever and feed a cold, I got to spoil him with his favorite sick food items. 

On his sickest day he got hot chili with cheese, and bagels toasted with jalapeno cheese. His favorite!

All served in his favorite bowl: the Paul John Morgan bowl.

Saturday night John and Crystal came over and we got to celebrate their engagement with "Celebration Martini's. 

I made them up.

Raspberry Vodka, Cranberry Juice, White Grape Juice and 7-up. 

Random but tasty.

Sunday we headed out to Chilliwack for our friend David's baptism.

We could follow along in person and on the screen - very fancy.

And actually awesome.

And then Monday I woke up sick with Paul's cold.

I came home from work early to sleep, he made me my favorite sick foods (Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup) and bought me flowers. 

He's a genius.

And life continues though my head feels like it's full of fluff and all thoughts take 18 times longer to process than normal. Yikes. 

Final Day: Calgary, AB to Vancouver, BC (HOME!!!)

Final Day, Sunday (Sept 2nd): Calgary, AB to Vancouver, BC (HOME!!)

KM start: 165,242 Km

Trip Meter: 8,785 km

Time Driven: 2:30pm - 2:30am

We went to church in the morning on our last day in Calgary. Neither of us had been to the Calgary Church, UChurch, before and we were excited to see what it was like. It was an amazing service. Not only was the worship fun, and it felt like a giant extended family, but also there was a cool time of healing and prophecy and watching people freed from bondage. It was amazing. 

We went out for Vietnamese with some of the gang from Calgary, Van and Montreal - plus Dr. Brian from Nashville. It was a great way to end the time. 

And then we needed to get on the road since we had a 12 hour trip ahead of us. 

The drive home was LONG. Long but beautiful.

And finally we crossed over into BC!

We stopped for dinner in Revelstoke and while we were there and I was texting my friend Laura we realized they were in Salmon Arm, which we would be driving through in an hour. So we stopped in at Timmies to see them (my fourth Steeped Tea of the day) for about half an hour. It was great to see them again.

Then I took over the driving since Paul was getting sleepy and we still had about 6 hours to go - Paul fell asleep immediately once we got in the car so I managed to finish off the rest of my Danielle Steel audiobook, which I was so thankful to have to occupy my mind since the drive was dark and monotonous. But we made it home safely (3 energy drinks and 3 Steeped Teas later - not normally recommended) at 2:30am. Woo! I've already written about how that all ended.

And so I've had a chance to do our tallies. 
So fun to see the trip laid out in numbers. 

Total Trip KM Start: 145,166km on car

Total Trip KM End: 166,183km on car

Total Trip KM Driven: 21,017km driven in 3 months (and 2 days)

Total Trip Miles Driven: 13,059 miles driven (for you americans)

Spending Totals:

Food on Average for first 10 days to Nashville: $22/day

Food on Average for Nashville (including eating out and feeding friends): $30.47/day 

Food on Average for last 22 days: $18/day

Food on Average for Harvest Institute in Calgary: $12/day

Gas TOTAL: $1846.92

or $.09/km

Travel Accommodation Total (not including rent in Nashville): $876.84
Travel Accommodation Average per night: $27.40

We made our budgets! 
We came in under budget at the end of the summer - $10 under our goal for the whole summer. Daaaang, that is amazing. 

I wanted to take a quick second to thank all the people that we stayed with and who fed us - you helped us stick to our budget, you showered us with love and food and we LOVED spending time with you. 

Thank you to the Seymour's (Vancouver, WA), Pfaff's (Maple Grove, MN), Mingus' (Thompson's Station, TN), Mom & Cris (Austin, TX), Morgan's (Glendale, AZ), Chapman's (Eugene, OR), Miles' (Gresham, OR), Siewerts (High River, AB), Harrison's (Camrose, AB) and Chin's (Calgary, AB). Phew! We loved our times with you all. Plus you spoiled us with amazing meals, great conversations laundry privileges and a few pools - it was a joy to be with you all.

We had a wonderful summer - time to meet new and amazing friends all across America, time to reconnect and grow stronger together in our marriage (especially after our 6 weeks apart), time to see a beautiful country, time to rest and adventure and a time to grow closer to God and to learn more about His plans for our lives, His love for us and those around us and how to respond to a God this good. 

Day 22: Camrose, AB to Calgary, AB

Day 22, Sunday: Camrose, AB to Calgary, AB

KM start: 164,941 Km

Trip Meter: 8,484 km

Time Driven: 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Sunday morning we woke up at a decent time. We were staying at the house Jodi was house sitting at and there were two large but cute Dogs. Paul was in doggie heaven. 

Then we headed back to Jodi's for breakfast and so that Jodi could pack - which was perfect because it gave me time to sort through all our receipts from the last month to find out how we'd done on our budgets for each category - food, accomodations, gas, etc. 

The tallying went quickly and smoothly - I'm so glad I waited to the end to sort through it all, it went very quickly. Paul was in charge of sorting them into their piles and I entered them in by date and category into my spreadsheet. And voila! We knew what we'd spent and how. And we came in under budget. By ten dollars. But still, that's under budget. 

Then we headed out from Camrose towards Calgary, we were heading to a small town outside of Calgary called Cochrane for a BBQ. I rode with Jodi and we chatted the whole 3 hour trip. Paul drove alone and listened to talk radio. It was a win win situation. 

The BBQ was at a ranch that was very cute and felt very much like I was in an episode at Heartland.

Awesome. 

Most people that would be at Harvest Institute for the week were there - this would give us all a chance to get to know each other before the week started. There were about 40 people at the BBQ - the conversation was awesome and the views were spectacular.

Jodi and I were "meeting people" partners - it really helps to have a partner when you have to introduce yourself to strangers!

After the BBQ we drove the half hour into Calgary - we dropped our stuff off at our host homes and then headed to Timmies to wait for our crew. 

Paul, Jodi and I spent a couple hours waiting (we didn't know when there ETA would be) and talking - it was relaxing and enjoyable. It was great to be back with Jodi again, she's a wonderful friend. And we knew that many more of our friends were coming with the van's from Vancouver and we couldn't wait. 

We had a chance to take a sunset walk along a path while we waited and it was nice to stretch our feet and relax after all the driving and go-go-going. Finally at 9:30 the crew arrived and we were all reunited! Paul and I hadn't seen these Vancouver friends since we left, and I hadn't seen Stefany since she left on May 1st! It was a joy to all be together. 

Though it was brief, we sent everyone off in their cars to their host homes and everyone went home to sleep before a very full week!