Guys Behind the Blog/June

 
Linking up with Heavens to Betsy for GBTB (please don't confuse that with LGBT..lol..sorry, I HAD to..lol).

1 // What’s the best vacation you’ve ever been on?
   Hubby says that it was when we went to Clinton and camped (yes, as in a tent!). It was HOT...but oh so fun! Clinton is about 4 hours' North of here, in the Caribou region. We camped in a private campsite, and had the best time!


2 // If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? 
This is the type of question that, depending on the day, merits a different answer from me. (this was from Betsy's guy, AJ...I have to keep that, b/c I am pretty sure that that is what Anker would say)...Well, he said somewhere cold, since it is about 333333333333333C degrees right now..probably any lake. Maybe Cultus Lake (near Vancouver). Yup. CL it is!
 
3 // Are there any summer traditions that you have or would like to start? (think things like big picnics, summer activities, bonfires, or day trips!) 
We usually do/go on/have at least one camping trip this year. We will probably go in August, since I don't have a lot of time off in July. We may go over our anniversary, since we went camping on our honeymoon..(again, yes, in a tent).

4 // The 4th of July (or in our case July 1st)  is coming up…what’s a must-have picnic or BBQ food for you? 
BBQ: Hot dog, kabobs, hamburgers
Picnic: Watermelon, a good sandwich..turkey, any luncheon meat, etc.

5 // Think about your ideal vacation…are you in a cozy cabin, camping in a tent, or hanging in a hotel? 
A tent, or a cabin (I know the answer...I don't even have to ask him).

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And that's it, folks...June's Guys Behind the Blog!  I'm really glad that the best vacation he's ever taken was the one I surprised him on!  But I'm also still a little bummed (3 years later) that he figured it all out...I mean...I flew all the way to Florida!  Sheesh.  He's tough to surprise...though I did successfully fly to Boston and surprise him last October, so I'll take it!

This month's link-up is open through next Friday, July 3rd, so join in with us any time!  I hope you will consider joining us for this month's link-up and sharing your significant other with us. 

July's Guys Behind the Blog is all about food! Yum, what guy wouldn't be on board for that? It is scheduled for Thursday, July 30th and will stay open through Friday, August 7th. If you want to get a head start, here are the questions for next month:

1 // What is your all time favorite food?

2 // Who is the cook between you and your significant other?

3 // What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?

4 // Are there any foods that you absolutely detest?

5 // What is your favorite local, little-known, or hole in the wall place to eat?

Friday Link Ups

Happy Friday, People!!

Yes, Yes, I do realize that Marriage Equality is Legal in the US now. I am not going to comment on that...but I do like the pretty rainbows that keep popping up on my news feed.

Ok..enough of that...

Friday link ups!!!


1) Wedding/Family Wknd

My little brother got married last Saturday! I will do a blog post about it, but for now, I will just say that it was an amazing wknd. I got to spend time with my nephew, H, and I got to see N again, and I finally got to meet L :) We ate. We visited. We ate some more. We had a great wknd. Even Anker enjoyed it.

2) Lots of Hours at work

I picked up two shifts in the last two weeks, and 5 more in July (plus one more on Tuesday). It will help us financially, I am sure. I know I will be super tired...buuuut, what can you do? Besides, the (work) house has A/C.

3) Heatwave

Thanks to our friends to the South (esp, AZ, and NV..yes, I know the US State abbrevs!!-...we are getting a MAJOR heatwave. It is supposed to get up to 40C this wknd. Did I mention that I am (almost) glad I am working? Did I mention that work has A/C? Let's just say that Slurpees have been our friends.

4. My new Toothbrush

It's so soft. And purple. I got it from my dentist visit this last wk. You know on how wen you first get a new toothbrush, it feels really hard? Well, this one doesn't. I think it's by/from GUM.

5) Avon Face Perfector

When I was in Avon, I ordered their Magix Face Perfector, and I absolutely adored it. I ordered some more from my friend. It goes on a lotion, and dries a powder, and it helps protect your face from the
sun.

Well, that's all for this week!

Othello Tunnels & A Picnic

 ***I thought I would combine two posts in one. Sorry for the random (no connection) post***

I have wanted to stop and see the Othello Tunnels for a few years, but we just kept forgetting about them, or it was yucky weather, or we were in a hurry, etc. Well, I asked Anker if we could stop on the way home from Vancouver, and said that would be a good idea. I asked Vienna if she wanted to go, and she was all for it. Since the weather was good, she wasn't too tired, and we weren't in a huge hurry, we decided to stop on our way home.

OT (as I will refer to them from now on) are about two hours' east of Vancouver, and well worth the drive. You can pack a lunch (or dinner), and have a picnic in the park, at the base of the tunnels. Or you can camp, as there is a campground very close, which is great, especially if you want to make a weekend out of it. The walk through the tunnels is about 20 minutes. There are five tunnels in all, but you can bike or walk beyond them if you chose to. The walk itself is easy. A two year old child could do it. The kids (or adults) can take their bikes, but I would suggest that they don't ride them over the bridges (there are two that we saw). Have your camera ready. I took a million pics. We could have easily have spent another half hour there, but we did want to get back before ***this next part was written Jun 18/15***the evening got away from us.

OT are five tunnels that are essentially cut out from rock on the side of a hill to make way or the trains. This all happened in the 1880's. It's cool, but sad at the same time, cause I know that they used immigrant workers, who worked for no pay, and a lot of people died while they were being built. It is a part of our history that I am proud and also partly no-so-proud of. At any rate, they are great to see, and a great place to let kids and dogs run of some energy, and it's free!!!

Here are some pictures...

The history of the tunnels...

The start of the trail.

 The first tunnel.

 The second tunnel (I think).

 I loved the trails.

 Anker and Vienna went through the crack/cave in the rock.

 There's is light at the end of the tunnel.

The water was beautiful!

 Anker and I.

Vienna and I. Yes, I realize that our B's are touching...lol.

I did take more pictures, but they are pretty much the same as these, so I won't bore you anymore with similar ones.

Now, on to the picnic.

Every year my family has a picnic after Lambing and Shearing are over, to thank everyone for their help. They asked A and K, and A and I to come, but since A and K were busy, and A wasn't feeling well, I went alone. Mom called and asked if I wanted to take H along, I said sure! H was all over that, so I picked him up on the way out of town. I think that is the longest that I have had him in the car, and he did awesome. It ended up being a bit of a birthday party for me, too, and I was ALL OVER that!!!

I picked up this little Ninja :)

 While we waited for everyone to congregate...Aunty Valerie showed me part of my birthday gift...

This is where we buried our kitties last year (ours and Val and John's), and Aunty Valerie ended up making a bit of a memorial garden. Isn't it pretty?

 Flower-child H.

  H making faces, or something.

 The food was yummy.

 The cupcakes were good..Mom put sea salt on some of them...SOOO good! Oh, and she made homemade chocolate ice cream. Yum!

 Some of my gifts.

 My aunt got me People's Collectors' edition of Princess Charlotte!!

 Cadence gave me these lovely gifts!!!

I ended up staying the night...I love staying at my parents' B&B, for free, of course!!

 Mom had it decorated so nice!!!

We left at around 11:30, and H fell asleep on the way home...

A few Friday Fives

Five on Friday: Legacy Edition

There are a few things that I have noticed since Matt died that I thought required a "Friday Five" post. Here are a few (mainly from the Funeral last Friday).

1. He is with Jesus.

I don't know on how anyone deals with a death if they don't have Jesus in their life. I am SO comforted knowing that He is with Jesus. He is in a better place. We will see him again.

2. The church was FULL.

The church held 500 (so ppl said). There were 600 (I am sure of it). Which is a testament on how many people Matt influenced. As well as HOW he influenced them. No one did life like Matt. He didn't have any bad days. He was always happy and smiling. 

3. It Wasn't All Sad.

Yes, there were tears (clearly, not from me-read my other post), but there was laughter too. Lots of laughter. They also had a lovely worship time, lead by his team that he lead worship with. It was beautiful. Again, a testament to who Matt was.

4. They have Lots of Family.

Jill has been surrounded by family since they found Matt. So have his siblings and his parents. The kids will not want for good male role models in their lives. Jill won't be left alone. She has lots of friends and family in town, which is such a blessing.

5. The Funeral Home provides this great Service...

The Funeral home that they used provides to ANYONE who attended the service (or to close family) free counselling for up to three months from the date of the funeral. Isn't that neat? I wish more funeral homes did that. Maybe they do. I don't know.


.....and now for some general Five on Friday Greatness...including some birthday ones!

When I posted about Matt dying, I had mentioned that there were some things that I was loving, despite my not doing a Friday link up. Well, I cannot remember what it was that I was loving....I even looked at my pictures....so, I thought I would start from..well, today, or at least last week...

1. My Birthday Gifts 'n Parties.

Yah, my actual birthday kind of sucked, but the Saturday before hand (well, last Saturday), I had planned to have a garden-yard party/potluck at my house with some of my coffee/church friends. Un-beknowst to me, one of them had talked to Anker to/and let him know that she wanted to turn it into a birthday party! They were able to pull it off :) It was SO fun. Four of them got together and got me/us a lovely back yard swing. Plus, we had some yummy food, including this lovely torte from a local bakery. I had had it before, and I half jokingly requested to my friend who was bringing dessert to bring the torte, which she said she wasn't going to bring. Well, she brought it, which made me happy.

Here are some other gits, and happenings..

The day before my birthday, Adam and Krystle had me (Anker didn't feel like coming over) over for sort my birthday strawberry shortcake. It was very good.

Did I mention that we had it 35C last Monday? It was VERY hot!

On my actual birthday, I took myself out to lunch, and had my free chiro appt. And I got myself my birthday drink from Starbucks. I got a Venti White Chocolate Mocha.

Here are some birthday gifts that I received...

2. A lot of Rain.

Last week, Kamloops got over 50 cm of rain over three days.

Yes, there is a lake in our parking lot. Fun times. At least our garden got some water.

3. Free Starbucks Drinks.

My prayer sister at church gave me a "reveal" gift the other day. A Starbucks card. I got myself a frapiccino and an oat bar.

I also had two (well, now only one) free drinks on my card. I enjoyed one on my birthday. I plan to enjoy another one today.

3. Sandals.

They weren't my birthday gift, nor were they bought with birthday money, but I bought them on my birthday week, so they are sort of like my birthday gift. I bought them at Payless, and they really cute. Not over comfy, but cute

4. Vancouver Trip/Sister Reunion.

Yes, I am combining them in one post. I have already talked about this, but here are the pictures (well, some of them)...

Our trip started with rain and fog. Awesome. Thankfully it cleared up about 2/3's of the way through.

We stayed at The Windsor House Bed and Breakfast, where we usually always stay. We love it. I took more picture of the room, but they didn't turn out very well.

Vietnamese food from the local mall. It was good.

We picked up V from/at the airport. It was SO fun getting to see her!!!

And yes, we each had a Starbucks :)

5. Yummy Food.

I could go on and on about this...but I will only share a few pictures....

 Brunch last Saturday with A and K. Waffles, strawberries, yogurt, maple syrup, and icing sugar. I may have had three of these

 Vietnamese food in Vancouver. I wouldn't say that I LOVED it, but it was nice b/c it was different. I have only had Pho, and those roll-things once. The rest I had never had before.

 Strawberry and peanut butter toast. So good.

 Salmon Spinach Salad. Thanks to the White Spot. So yummy.

I had New York Fries last Monday. They are always so good. And yes, I could drink the gravy. It's that good.

...and a few extras...

Our garden is growing!!!

 We are eating spinach out of our garden...and more things will follow...:)

Aren't these little guys simply adorbs? The escaped while I was going through one of the gates, and promptly began eating the leaves from the tree. I had to lure them with an empty milk bottle.

..and last but not least...

My mom got a new fridge, y'all. And new counter. AND BACK SPLASH!! Back Splash, people!! She knows how to live!!

Now all of her appliances are stainless steel. I LOVE the new counter top and back splash. Now she just needs to pain her cupboards. She has had the same counter top for nearly 23 years, and the cupboards are 40 years old. Well, that's all for this week..I think I have done a big enough post to last for a couple of weeks, right?

This post took me nearly all day (with breaks) to write.