Be nice to me or I'll dance on your grave!

It's random fact about me day!  

I may or may not have unintentionally danced on someone's grave. I never knew the person to whom the grave belonged to, so it was nothing personal. But still, it happened. I felt bad about it but still laughed at myself because who actually dances on people's graves??

Here's the story:

One summer, many years ago, I was invited by a not-so-close-but-close-enough-to-say-hi-to-in-the-hallway friend to come play night games with him and a bunch of other kids in the local cemetery. I had spent several summers in my childhood playing night games before, so when he asked me to come out, it was a no brainer to say "YES!"

We all arrived at the cemetery in the late evening just as the sun was setting. While we waited for it to get darker, me and another girl decided to explore and check out the graves of the cemetery. We went around reading the headstones and learning what kind of people were buried there. We came to one headstone and when we read the name, something about it sounded like something you would hear in a song so we started singing their name to a funky beat. Inevitably, I started dancing to the beats we were putting out. When I stopped my friend laughed and said "You just danced on that guy's grave!"

I immediately apologized to the deceased individual and promptly got off their grave. We laughed about the situation for a moment and then joined the rest of the group to start the night games. The rest of the night was pretty fun, and don't worry, I haven't been haunted by the angry spirit of that grave!

In case you haven't found true happiness yet

Dear friend,

I wish I could tell you to stop worrying and stop comparing yourself with others. Stop worrying about chasing the picture perfect life you have imagined in your head. I hate to break it to you, but if you keep waiting to be happy until you find your soul mate, buy a house, pay off the car, have a child, find your dream job, etc., you'll never be happy! Whatever that goal is in your mind that you are trying to reach isn't what will make you happy.

Stop feeling like you aren't good enough just because you don't have the same things as your friends. If you have friends that appear so happy because they have things that you don't, be happy for them but don't hate them for it. Odds are, they probably feel like their life is missing something too.

If you live your life waiting for that one piece of the puzzle to complete your life and ultimately make you happy, it's not going to happen. Because life isn't that simple. There's always more to being in love, owning a house, having a child, and having a job than we think there is. If you build something up in your head to be so amazing that there is no way you could be unhappy with that thing in your life, it's probably going to let you down.

Let me share with you a story.

I was in grade 10 when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire became a movie. I was so excited to see it because it was my favourite book of the series and so I expected it to be the best Potter movie ever. When I got the chance to see the movie, I went with friends to the theatre and was ready to have my life made. Except - ugh, Harry, Ron, get a haircut! What happened to the Quidditch World Cup? I was so excited for that bit! Wait wait wait, why'd they leave this part out? Why didn't they show this? What happened to that? The movie had left out so many of my favourite bits from the book that I left the theatre disappointed. It wasn't what I expected at all.

This past summer I saw Ironman 3. I didn't really want to go, but Joe really wanted me to go with him so I went. And you know what? It was better than I expected because I wasn't expecting anything from it! 

It's a true talent to be able to enjoy the journey of life rather than wait for the joy to come at the destination, but I promise you that you can learn to enjoy your life where it is right now - despite the fact that you are still single or you don't yet have the keys to the beautiful house you've imagined, or you don't yet have the child you've been yearning for. Find things about your life today that make you happy. You don't know how much time you have left, so allow yourself to be happy now before it's too late!

Love cake! Baby, love cake!

Here's a snippet of the text conversation that's gone down between me and Joe today:

J: Good morning to you as well my love cake.

L: Mmm, love cake. I bet that would taste good. 

J: Making love and eating cake?

L: Is that what love cake means? I imagined it as a specific kind of cake. Like a rich, velvety, chocolately, raspberryish kind of cake.

J: Oh well I was just being obnoxious. 

L: I know, but now I want love cake! 

J: Well which one?

L: The cake. I am now craving something I've never even tasted.

So, like any hormonal woman with a craving would do, I searched up my imagined love cake on google to see what I would find. And low and behold I found this!

See?? A rich chocolatey cake. With raspberries too!

A recipe was included with the picture, so I am going to have to try it out for myself and if I love it, I'll share it! 

Aaand just because this song is stuck in my head now: 

The Final Countdown

Hey friends!

After my 10 day challenge it seems like it's been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since I blogged anything. But really it's only been a week, calm down, I didn't forget about you.

This week has been pretty good though. Joe and I got ourselves moved back into my parents' house on Monday and on Tuesday we took time to enjoy my final day of summer because my classes started on Wednesday! After spending the summer working in the GP clinic, I've come back to school with a whole new attitude. I've been making so many connections already with things I learned in GP and I can see how useful they'll be for me in the future. There was one class I dropped though and I am so glad I did!

Joe went back to work yesterday and while it sucked to say goodbye, I took comfort in the fact that we'll only be doing this for one more semester and then I'll be moving back up to GP with him. One semester, four months, 13 weeks, 91 days, a butt-load of hours, a crap-ton of seconds. It's been a long time coming, but I'll be getting out of University soon and on to what they call "real life".

Bring it on.

 

10 Awesome Things

Finally! Day 10 of my super-awesome, totally creative 10 day blogging challenge! Be sure to check out the original post to make sure you didn't miss a single day.

And now on to day 10's post:

10 Things That Made My Summer Awesome
1. Muskoseepi Park. 

I discovered this park within my first week there and I loved it. There are awesome trails all over the place and tons of areas to explore. I can't wait to do all sorts of fun things in the park when I'm there next year.

2.  My summer job. Even though I wasn't being paid to be at the clinic, the things I learned there made it so worth my while. I learned that physiotherapy is what I want to do. I learned that the human body is so cool and I learned that I love people.

3. Joe. Are you even surprised he made this list? Of course not. This summer we got a taste of what it's like to be a normal married couple that see each other almost every day. And we loved it. We're a little sad to go back to long-distance life, but we'll manage.

4. GP Rugby. I can't believe I was even debating whether or not I'd play with the club in GP. The people I met there became my main social group and I had lots of fun with them. Can't wait to come back!

5. In-laws. Living up in GP brought us within three hours of Joe's family and I'm so glad for the time we spent with them. I feel bad for people who don't like their in-laws because I love mine :)

6. Cooking. I hate cooking when it's just for me so having Joe home on a more consistent basis gave me plenty of opportunities to put my cooking skills to the test. And I'd say I passed! I had fun trying new recipes and perfecting old ones. Housewifery definitely suits me.

7. My Housemates. I'd be ungrateful if I didn't give these guys a shout out for opening their home to me and Joe for the summer. Two couples sharing a home isn't always easy, but we had some good memories and I certainly hope to see them again when we come back.

8. Edmonton trips. Okay, half the time Joe and I went to Edmonton this summer it was usually not for a good reason. But our trips would have been 10 times more miserable if it hadn't have been for our good friends Becky and Justin. These guys gave us a place to stay on several occasions and we are forever grateful to them!

9. Video Calls. I am so grateful that we have magical things like the internet to keep us connected to our loved ones. I wasn't too mopey about missing my family, but it was sure nice to be able to see them once in a while and share all the exciting things going on in our lives face to face.

From a call I had with my mom where we discovered the fun things to do in google hangouts

10. Mila. This is probably silly, but she was a dog my housemates were looking after and I'm pretty sure we loved playing with her more than they did. But she was awesome. 

Chocolate Chip Cake

Thank goodness, day 9 is an easy one.

I have loved chocolate chip cake since I was a kid. I have it for every birthday and I even served it to my guests at my wedding. My mom didn't want to have it at the wedding because it wasn't fancy enough, but this cake is so dear to me that it is the one thing I may have went a little Bridezilla over. If a chocolate chip cookie and a cake had a baby, this cake would be that baby.

I found this picture online. Don't know if it's the same recipe, but this is how it should look. 

Ingredients
1/2 c  shortening (or margarine)
1 c  brown sugar
2 well beaten eggs
2 c  flour
2 3/4  tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp  salt
1 1/4 c  milk
2 tsp  vanilla
1 c  chocolate chips

Oven: 350 F

Cream shortening. Add sugar and blend well. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla and chocolate chips. Put into a greased and floured 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

As for icing, I don't like icing so I've never had icing with this cake. But it is yummy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce!

Enjoy!

Inspiring!

My gramma is an awesome lady. Okay, I have two grammas and they are both awesome. My brown gramma is 88 years old and still spunky and it’s cool to see how my brown side absolutely loves and respects the heck out of that woman.

My white gramma is the gramma I’ve grown up living not too far from my entire life, so it’s fair to say she has had a considerably greater influence on my life. Gramma Joan is awesome. What inspires me most about her is her ability to love everyone and to be a friend to all. She is really great at reaching out to others who may not be part of the “in-crowd”. Whenever I talk to someone new at church or make a new friend, I try to channel my “Inner Joan” when I am first reaching out. She is seriously the sweetest lady that I don't think it's possible for anyone to dislike her. I hope I turn out like she has as I grow older.

Sorry this is a short one! I'm still trying to catch up from the days I lost moving.

What am I good at?

Gasp! This post for day 7 is happening a day late! Sorry, this is what I get for thinking I can maintain a blog while in the process of moving my butt back home. I'll get these up when I can, just be patient :) PS - I apologize for the weird formatting going on here... I didn't have internet when I wrote this in the car so I had to copy and paste which always makes for a hassle with formatting.

Before I entered singles ward I really enjoyed planning little get togethers with my friends. In my grade 12 year I planned an “End of Semester No More Exams Mafia Party” and invited some friends over for games (Mafia, particularly) and food. I loved party games, therefore I loved planning parties to play these games at.

When I started going to singles ward I was called to be a Family Home Evening (FHE) Ma, where together with my assigned Pa, we would plan an activity for a small group of people one Monday out of the month. I loved this calling and I eventually was called to be an the FHE Superma or coordinator where I was in charge of dividing the ward into families and planning 2 activities a month for the entire ward to enjoy. Having an even larger group of people to plan for put my party planning skills to good use. I really did love this calling. Of the many activities that I planned I think my favourite was my Johnny Lingo night. It was also the biggest activity I pulled off where I provided Polynesian food along with Otai, the drink of the gods, for over 70 people. While we ate we watched Johnny Lingo and after that I had some good friends of mine come in and show the boys how to do the Haka and the girls how to dance to Pearly Shells.

Like I said, I had my FHE calling for three years and I loved it, I really did. But after doing it for three years, the magic started to wear off, especially in the last 4 months I was there -- though that may have had more to do with the fact that I was engaged and trying to plan my freaking wedding! Ever since I’ve left the FHE calling behind, I’ve had trouble finding the spark I used to have for planning parties with my friends. I have done it, but I’ve only been able to do it once a year.

Every year on the anniversary of the day when Joe and I became an official couple, I’ve held a bonfire with all our friends where we can roast weinies, tell stories and play games. I haven’t played a good party game in a long while, but I’ve been getting a hankering to do it again. And I’ve been coming up with some awesome ideas for new games to play, so I think the flame is starting to come back to life…