Jess

Pictures from our trip!

 

 

This was a rest stop we stopped at on our way up North. It was a beautiful area and they had a hydro dam right there.

 

 

Angus and Zoey posing for a picture at the same rest stop.

 

Some scenery along the way

 

 

Beautiful
British Columbia. I feel so lucky to live here 🙂

 

Our campsite atCariboo
Lake – in the middle of no where (well it sure felt like it)

Our campsite again – yes that was thelake
RIGHT behind it! 😮

 

 

Here is the lake…so peaceful…

…so beautiful…

 

…so cold! 😆

 

Two little dogs sitting on the beach…

 

Here is Brent fishing on a little pier we made. This is also the spot where he broke his fishing rod. 😯 So this pier was never used again after that happened….

 

Brent trying to “make fire out of nothing”. Answer to the question you’re probably thinking: No, it didn’t work. But that was probably because it started to pour with rain only minutes after this photo was taken.

 

I found this cool little rock statue someone had made and left on the beach. There were several of them around.

 

Candyland!!! This store was on the way to Barkerville – so of course because of my love for anything made of sugar – we had to stop! 😆

 

The Historic town of
Barkerville.

Here is a skit that took place in the middle of the town while we were walking through. All the people who work at Barkerville are actors, so they are always in character. It really felt like we had stepped back in time 😀

 

Here I am trying to touch one of the horses in the Barkerville stable.

 

We wanted so badly to see a real wild moose while we were up north but sadly, this was the only one we saw – and he was mounted on the wall inside the Barkerville Hotel. So you know, somehow it just wasn’t the same….. 😕

 

The Ghost Town of Quesnel Forks.

 

Brent fishing atQuesnel
River

 

My Zoey sitting on the beach

Here is Angus asleep in the car leaning against Zoey.

The car at the start of our trip. See Angus peeking out the window at us? He was wondering why we had gotten out of the car and left them in it. We had just stopped quick to get out to take some pictures of the mountains.

Wow, look at this filty car!!! This was the day after our long ride back along the logging road – and after the flat tire – take note of our lovely little temporary wheel on the back there – stylish isn’t it?

 

Blog Challenges

I haven’t done any of the blog challenges yet so I thought I better start on some.

What are 5 places you’d like to see/visit in your lifetime and why?

1. Definetly I want to see all of Canada. One day I’d love to drive all the way across it – all the way to
PEI and Newfoundland. I want to see everything!

2. Europe: Italy, France, Spain, and Hungary – where my roots are. My dad was born there but I have never been yet.

3. Australia: Always wanted to go. I want to see the koalas and kangaroos

4. Africa: Another place I’ve always wanted to visit. Seeing all the wild animals such as elephants, giraffes, lions, etc in their natural habitats would be amazing.

5. Cook Islands – I read an article once on this place and ever since I’ve really wanted to go – it looks beautiful from the pictures I’ve seen.

Next Blog Challenge:

Blog about something you are looking forward to. It can be something tomorrow, next week, next year…..

I’m always looking forward to stuff, you sort of have to or life just isn’t much fun is it? How sad it would be to never have anything to look forward to.

I look forward to things on a daily basis. From little things like when I wake up in the morning I look forward to breakfast (cause I love eating!:lol::lol: ) and eating in front of the tv while I watch one of my shows that I PVR’d the night before.

I look forward to seeing my family and friends when they come for visits or if I go there.

I look forward to sales at my LSS!:lol::lol:

Things that are a bit further down the road that I’m looking forward to:

– Christmas of course and being able to decorate my house.

– The next time I will get to see my sister and her family (they live inToronto)

– one day having kids of my own

1. Where has your best ever vacation been at? What made it the best?

~There have so many actually. We went on a lot of fun vacations when I was a kid and they were all really great. Since then the only real vacation I have been on was last May when we went to Hawaii – that was a lot of fun too.

2. Do you have a yearly vacation that is always at the same place? If so, where?

~Nope. But we did go to DisneyLand and Disney World a lot when I was younger.Those were awesome trips!

3. Did you and your family take a “family vacation” every year when you were growing up? If so, where was it?

~Yes but they were usually to different places. Like I mentioned in the above answer, we did do a lot of Disney trips but we also went to other places in between – and sometimes we went to other places on the same trip- either on our way to Disney or on our way home.:DSome trips that really stand out were ones to YellowStone National Park, Mexico, and once we did a road trip through the Eastern US States – New York, Massechusettes, Vermont, Pennsylvania (and we went to Amish Country!!), etc. I have a lot of wonderful memories from that trip – and some funny ones too:lol::lol:

4. Do you remember any vacation disasters?

~There were some, like my dad getting severly sick in Mexico while we were there. And once when we were in Florida, the airlines lost my luggage. I was 12 at the time and all I had were the clothes on my back. They did find my bag but not until 4 days later!

Recently though, I think the biggest “disaster” of our trip to Hawaii was when Brent got sunburned real bad. We went snorkling all day and he went way off for hours just bobbing along in the water and he had FORGOTTEN to put sunscreen on his back.

Later when we got back to our condo, he wasn’t feeling so great – I had noticed he wasn’t quite himself on the car ride back – he was acting strange – like giddy almost.:bounce: He said he wanted to lie down and I left to get a pedicure. When I got back he looked terrible! He got up and said “I think I got a sunburn” and he turned around and his back was BRIGHT RED!!! As in LOBSTER red! I rushed to the drug store to get some aloe vera skin recovery lotion. We had plans that night to go to a nice restaurant for dinner but we didn’t make it. Brent had sunstroke as well and was sick to his stomach all night. I ended up going to pizza hut of all places and getting a pizza and spent the night watching tv by myself while Brent was passed out on the couch. His sunburn was so bad though, that the next day he couldn’t even wear his backpack cause it hurt so much to have it on his back. Even having a shirt on was painful for him.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Everywhere. Magazines, books, tv commercials, people, songs on the radio. Sometimes just watching my dogs play even!

What memory do you treasure most?

There isn’t just one memory. There are lots of memories that really stand out from my childhood. I had a really happy childhood, I thank my parents for that. They worked very hard to give us what we needed and more. I think they probably sacrificed a lot for us. I remember going on fun family trips, having great birthday parties, and happy times at Christmas together. And then all the in between everyday stuff – like my dad and I building cages and outdoor heated structures for my menagerie of guinea pigs and rabbits.:D

And my mum and I making frequent trips back and forth between Victoria and Whistler while my parents owned a restaurant there.There are lots and lots of great memories, thanks Mum & Dad:)

Here is a rather sad memory that I also hold quite close to my heart. Almost 8 years ago now my Grandpa died – we knew it was coming but it was still difficult. The year leading up to his death I was still in college and for several months I was taking some day classes and some night classes and one day a weekI hada 2 or 3 hour break around dinner time between classes.I went over to my grandparents house for dinner every single week during that break between classes. It was just me and them and I loved it. I remember them being so good together – such a great couple – and very loving towards each other. They would joke back and forth and they made me laugh but I could tell how much they loved one another.

Then my Grandpa started going downhill pretty fast. I remember the exact days that I last saw and spoke with him before he fell into a coma which led to him dying only days after that. The thing is, I know he was very sick and in a lot of pain, but whenever he saw me, he would smile and be happy and he’d never let on he was in any pain around me.He’d hold my hand and tell me he loved me. A couple days later I got a new job that I really wanted and I went over to my grandparents right after I found out. I was so excited – I went right into the kitchen where my grandpa was sitting at the table and I blurted out “Grandpa! I got the job!”. I remember his whole face lit up and he said “Did you sweetie! That’s wonderful!”. I don’t even think he knew what job I was talking about but he wanted to be happy for me cause he saw that I was happy.

That was the last time I got to speak with my Grandpa, he fell into a coma the next day. He died on Valentine’s Day. I really miss him a lot and I’m sad that we lost him so soon. I think about him often and treasure the memories of him that I have.

Ok, now for the last Blog Challenge I’m going to do tonight.

Think back to 5 years ago….was your life very different than it is now? Did you think then you would be where you are today? If you could do anything over again to do it differently – would you?

5 years ago my life was VERY different than it is now.There isn’t much actually that is the same.Back then I would never have thought I’d be where I am today – for many reasons. First of all, I never would have even imagined living anywhere but my hometown where I lived my whole entire life.

5 years ago I was living with my parents still. Since then I have owned a house, a condo and now a townhouse and I have moved to another city.

If I could do anything over again would I? Probably not. And I say that because I believe that things happen for a reason. For a few years I had some very difficult times, times that I wouldn’t wish on anyone and there is no way you could pay me to re-live some of them. Those are times and memories that I try hard to bury away but they still haunt me occasionally. But I keep thinking to myself that there must be reasons that I went through them – obviously I have learned from them. And if I hadn’t lived my life the way it happened, and gone through the things I went through, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I might not have met Brent or moved to Vancouver, or lots of things. I am happy with where I am in my life, so I’ve just gotta leave the past as the past.:wink:

 

What a day!! We have gotten majorly dumped on with snow over here on the West Coast. I just had the dogs out in it and I tried to take some pictures but it was dark, snowing still, and I was getting pulled in 2 different directions by the dogs so it was difficult. I managed to get a few but they aren’t very good.

Angus and Zoey LOVE this snow – it surprises me actually cause they hate the rain and getting wet. They love bounding around in the snow bluffs but then as soon as we come in, they try to dry themselves off on the towel and then they are right in front of the fire on their big pillow. Lol!

Here are a few pics:

Me and my best friend.

Brent took this one a couple nights ago: I fell asleep on the couch with Angus.

Angus and Zoey wearing their fleece hoodies

 

One of the trees next to our house

 

More trees

 

Angus happy to be back inside – warming up by the Fire

 

We just got back from taking the dogs down the street to the park – in the dark!! 9:30 at night and we are playing at the park running through snow that is halfway to our knees! We have realized that Zoey is in fact a Snow Dog! She LOVES the snow! She was jumping around, digging, tunneling, and making little dog snow angels! LOL! Angus liked it at times, but he wanted to be carried through the really deep snow. He is happy to be home again! 😀

 

Look how deep this snow is!!!

 

Angus is not so sure he likes the snow

 

Covered in snow!

 

Such a baby – he’d much rather be carried [smilie=baby02.gif]

 

Brent making some snowballs

 

The snow dogs

 

Zoey rolling – making some snow angels

 

Now she is digging some tunnels

Such a cutie!

 

Today we did something really different, and even though I wasn’t thrilled about going at first, it was really cool when we acutally got there! Brent wanted to go take pictures at this bird santuary not far from our house. www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com

Brent called ahead to make sure they were open – cause of our huge snowfall. They were so we bundled up (we were wearing 3 pairs of pants each – plus 3 shirts and a heavy coat. I figured since probably no one else would be trekking through a bird santuary on a Monday morning in the freezing cold and snow over a foot deep – that I wouldn’t run into anyone so why try to make a fashion statement?)

We got to the sanctuary and were given a map by a very friendly lady running the gift shop. We bought 4 bags of bird seed and went out onto the deck of the building and were greeted by all these hungry ducks! Within seconds almost the 4 bags of birdseed was gone and they were all quacking at us and pulling at my pant legs! 😯 I have never been so up close and personal with ducks! They were super friendly – almost like they were pets! I felt sorry for them cause they were still hungry and by now literally hundreds had joined in the flock that was surrounding me. There I was standing in the middle of all these noisy ducks and I couldn’t even move without tripping over one. I made my way back to the giftstore and we bought 20 more bags of seed!! (they were small bags)So back out to the mass amount of ducks waiting for food. This was quite amazing. I knelt down amongst them and they were not afraid of me at all. I was touching them!!! I’ve never touched a duck before! I wanted to pick one up but Brent said not to. LOL 😆 Pigeons were also around and they weren’t shy either. At one point I had three of them sitting on my arm 😮 We gave them a bunch more food then decided to start our trek along the trails. Well, our little group (of a couple hundred!) of duck friends decided to come along. They all waddled behind us. When we stopped, so did they. When we started walking again, they followed us some more. It was hilarious!! They followed us quite a long way, until the trail narrowed and went into a sort of forest setting, then they decided to stay behind. No worries though, we came across many more groups of friendly ducks on our journey. Good thing we still had food left for them. We also came across some cute little chickadees, flittering about in some branches over our heads. The lady from the giftstore gave me special seeds for the chickadees and told me to put it in my hand and they will come eat from it. I didn’t really believe her at first (but then that was before I met all the outgoing ducks). So I poured some seeds into my hand and held it up and to my surprise they started flying closer and then they took turns landing in my hand – taking a seed, then flying off! Wow!! (I tried to do this with the ducks once – put the seeds in my hand – but they practically took my fingers off – and then a couple of them grabbed the seed bag out of my other hand and took off with it!)

The scenery was amazing – it was truly like a winter wonderland. The trues looked gorgeous with all the snow covering them. Everything was white, it was so bright that I had to wear my sunglasses. I seriously have never seen so many wild birds in one place. The temperature dropped again though and suddenly it got very very cold. We made our way back to the main building but the whole journey took us over 2 hours. We stopped along the way to feed a few more groups of ducks and then when we got back to the giftstore building we gave the huge group of ducks the rest of the food we had left. 2 people were walking in as we were leaving and they each had a huge bowl of duck seed. The man was throwing it in handfuls to the eager ducks and inside the bowl the lady was carrying – was a mallard duck! Just sitting there gobbling down all the seed he could from her bowl! 😆 😆

It was a cool experience and one that I have never had before. But I was chilled all day from being out in the cold. I even curled up with Angus on his big pillow in front of the fire when we got home. 😆

Here are some pics of our bird day:

Our new group of ducky friends

Here they are following us

 

One of the pigeons that came to sit on my hand

Sitting with another group of ducks

There are actually 2 chickadees in my hand here

Winter Wonderland

I think these are winter geese

How can it possibly be Dec 22 today? That means two things: 1) I am so not ready for Christmas and 2) I haven’t written in my blog for 23 days! Shame on me. It just shows how insanely busy this month has been so far. Should I make it my New Year’s Resolution to write in my blog everyday? Nope, cause then it definetly won’t happen. New Year’s Resolutions and I just don’t mix.

Anyway I hope everyone else is ready for Christmas cause I sure am not! It is after 11 am already and I am still sitting on the computer, obviously stalling now. I have to wrap gifts, finish not 1, not 2, but THREE scrapbooking projects that I plan to give as gifts. I also have to bake dog cookies, do other Christmas baking (for people), clean the entire house and get the guest room ready (right now it is a gift stashing room). Oh and the grocery shopping has to be done still for Christmas dinner AND I have 2 projects I need to do to take to my LSS to drop off next week so they can use them as samples for some upcoming classes I will be teaching there. How exciting!!

So lots to do, today will be busy. Brent just went out for a bit to this dyke we have not far from our house. Snowy owls live there and he is hoping to spot one and take some pictures.

Here is Angus and Zoey’s Christmas picture with Santa from this year. Jodi, Dasha and I took them to the mall on Wednesday night for their pet photos with Santa. It was busy and we waited for over an hour in line. NOT FUN. Especially since there was a cat in a carrier right behind us and Zoey was acting like a complete physcho trying to get at it. Quite embarassing, she usually is much better behaved than that. I still don’t understand why she goes so crazy when we see a cat somewhere. She has her own cat at home and could care less about Gracie!