moms gift to me ♥

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its not every day that a girl gives flowers to her mom and its most definitely not every day that a girl is the one to receive flowers from her mom! especially not when theres three girls in the house. however, i was lucky to be on the receiving end of the flowers today and to be honest, it made me feel extremely special. maybe thats what mom was going for. who knows? i came upstairs from my very brief and interrupted nap to find my mom in the kitchen with a boquet of gorgeous flowers in her hand. "those are pretty! what they for?" i asked her. when mom buys flowers its either for her livingroom coffee table or their for someone she will be visiting. however, when she turned and said, "for you, actually" i was shocked. and flattered of course. so i asked why and her answer was, "for grad. to say i love you. and as a truce". a truce. mom and i get along. sometimes. and other times we argue 24-7 and almost 365 too! so now that she got me flowers specifically as a truce.. well i better make sure i am on my bestest, nicest behaviour. just for her =) and maybe ill go buy her some flowers too now!

today i am thankful that the weather is becoming nice again and for the stunning boquet of flowers mom got for me :) love it!

//* warning!! ...

... you may fall in love with the contents of this blog post and may wish to buy it all. for me, of course. dont say i didnt warn you!! =)

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in order to view the above website, you should be either of the following:

1. extremely rich. and when i say EXTREMELY i mean extremely. these beauties dont come cheap!
2. someone with a kind heart and a full pocket book that way you'll have the funds to purchase these items and the heart to give them to me. wrapped of course. perhaps add a bow :)

the site? http://www.pier1.com/. basically this store always unleashes the decorator inside of me and makes me wish i had a place of my own that i could make home. take a look at this stuff!!!

i dont know about you but i could DEFINITELY find a use for each and every one of these gorgeous items. so... if you ever find yourself with a little too much money for yourself to handle... share the love!

i thank you in advance! =)

not to mention i send all my love ♥

ps. does this say anything about my decorating taste?! older looking and somewhat modern mixed together? love it.

picture of us- houses- thankful for

so i started thinking that maybe blogging was pointless. i mean hey, you cant blame me. do people even read this? and sure, maybe im not spending near as much time on facebook anymore but now im just spending that time on here instead. true, i have found a whole pile of very interesting blogs to read and totally couldnt give that up. but my thoughts were more on if writing in a blog nobody reads is pointless? i decided yes. and i also decided no. yes because whats the point then really right? on the other hand, i decided it wasnt pointless because i totally love blogging. its like, therapy (?!) for me. no, no, no. i dont need therapy. i just love writing and it allows me to express how i feel and stuff. so i shall be continuing to blog- for now. and ps. if you actually do read this, please leave a comment. id love to know its not as pointless as im starting to think :)

anyways, i have yet another "dan and jess" picture to share with you people. (i really love this camera. dan actually lets me take pictures of him!! miracle? definitely!)

dan and jess. henderson lake. april 28 '09

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yesterday was one of those days where dan and i went, "hey we're basically broke. we're trying to save.. lets go do something that costs nothing but lets us have fun and dream". so we went for a short stroll at henderson lake and then we took some pictures of houses we like. by henderson lake. now those of you who live out here will know that the houses by henderson are rather large and cost way more than dan and i may ever make in our entire lives. but that doesnt mean we cant dream right? and that doesnt mean we cant steal their exterior design and build a smaller version on our own gorgeous property one day, right? so here. take a look at these two houses. they're my favorite on the lake front road.

maybe i just like this one cuz it looks small and cuz of the colors. and not to mention the fact that it looks.. inviting. know what i mean? i definitely love it.

however, this one is my favorite. i love the colors (it reminds me of anne of green gables) and i absolutely LOVE the huge front porch that is covered. talk about hanging out with friends and family on that porch during the nice summer evenings. yup. if we build i think i want this place. or well, my place to look like this one. its perfect! ♥

talking about houses, most of the blogs i read are about interior decorating and stuff and so its kinda gotten me into the mood lately. if i could be an interior decorater, i totally would! any day. so yesterday i drew this. one day i want to have sooo many books that i could fill almost an entire room with them. so this is for one of the walls in my "dream" library. we shall see what happens eh?

books! yesterday i was driving down the main street in town and saw a sign that said "book sale" in the window of this second hand, super cheap book store. ive been to this place before. the long wall is all christian books. perfect eh? so of course when i saw that i had to go check it out. they were 50% off! so i bought 11 books. for $60. yea, i know. so much for saving. but how could that be wrong?! its cheap. and ill always have them. and a million people borrow books from me. and sides, itll get me that much closer to that library :)

well, in conclusion ill just quickly catch up on my thankful list.

for tuesday, april 28: i was thankful for getting the chance to dream about our future with dan and for having the pleasure of going out for a cheap dinner with dan and his brother and future sister in law. it was nice :)

wednesday, april 29: i am thankful that so far we havent received the forecasted 20cm's of snow.

//* two days till grad!!!

catching up after a few days of NOT blogging

sunday

today. again
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first things first. my thankful list. of course, currently im not very thankful for the snow that is falling, not to mention the radio broadcaster who crushed my hopes by announcing that i should except 10 to 20cm of snow tonight! and about that much 2mrw. bless the girl who told me thursday and friday will be sunny with highs of 6 and 9. im sure hoping that will force the snow accumulation to disappear. hopefully! anyways, its alberta. i should have expected it. and i shouldnt have cheered too loudly when the snow was basically gone already yesterday!

anyhow: back to that thankful list. saturday, april 25. what did i do saturday? o yea. im thankful for another chance to make some money as well as getting to hangout with all my friends at boston pizza for a few hours. not only that but i am as well, thankful that im not the one who got into the accident i saw. yikes!

sunday, april 26. spent my day at dan's and then at my place. im thankful for the chance to see the four little baby goats and for getting to spend my entire day with dan!

and today, monday, april 27. im thankful for getting yet another chance to make money for my future. and for being capable of picking up another shift on wednesday. that makes my work week monday-thursday with grad on friday and recuperation from the "stress" on saturday. not to mention i might possibly be house sitting for dan's brother and sister-in-law wednesday-saturday.

oh and i did mention that my oma and taunte nel are out right?

no idea why but i totally love this picture. just the colors and the different generations. its pretty amazing =)

so tonight perhaps will end up being boring. dan may or may not be working. i hate those days. not knowing what is happening at night. unsettling! and somewhat like living on the edge. maybe ill see dan :) or maybe ill spend the night taking pictures of... stuff. on second thought- maybe ill just stay inside tonight with a book and a cup of tea. or maybe ill work on the project i started so long ago and still havent finished! here's a sneak peek of that:

the little bird

apparently dan ordered this fancy camera for me at christmas time. since it was suppose to take anywhere from 6-12 weeks for it to come in, he intended to give it to me for grad. i of course, was unaware of all this until last week or so when i told him my mom and oma were planning on giving me a camera for grad. thats when the story came out. then yesterday he calls me. he informs me that the camera came in on wednesday but he only has till tuesday to return it. grad is next friday. so he asked if he could give it to me now so that, if i didnt like it, he could still return it. of course, i said yes!

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boy is it a gorgeous camera! was i not just saying the other day how i miss having a camera? well i have one now :) and i am so thrilled! you should see this thing. youll be jealous. it has a zoom of 18x and is 10 mega pixels. haha yes i read that off the side of the camera. and while the zoom is real great, i have no idea what the mega pixels is. im guessing it has something to do with quality of the camera. so anyways, of course i spent the whole entire afternoon yesterday snappying pictures of absolutely everything. and of course i had to post today for the fourth time just so i could show off some more pictures!

the luckiest thing happened yesterday. well, lucky for me. not so lucky for the poor little bird who flew into our front window. he didnt die though, so i suppose thats good. another good thing (once again for me) is that he was completely dazed. therefore i got to take some great pictures, dad got to hold him, and i got to touch him :) let me share two more pictures with you.

this is my dad holding the little bird. i have no clue what type of bird he is, but never the less, he's adorable! and the way he just sat there in dad's hands... a great experience i must say! i dont usually wish a bird to fly into our window but now im hoping an eagle or something will fly into it and get dazed. just enough so i can take a picture :) kidding!

and this is one of the shots i got after dad placed him in our tree. perhaps ill enter this one into a photo contest one day. but isnt he precious!? he is the cutest bird ive ever seen.. thats for sure!!

friday5: annoyance

1. What’s the most annoying sound in the world? nails on chalkboard. definitely.
2. Which of other people’s mannerisms do you find very annoying? when people slurp their food. or think they're super cool when really, they arent.
3. In what way has your own behavior recently caused you annoyance? well i cant stop shopping. which is definitely a problem. shopping for sure wont help me save! another thing i do that annoys me is when i get upset with dan for doing stuff. like if he wants to go hunting instead of hangout with me, i get sad. i shouldnt. i should be able to accept that and then find the positive side to it.
4. Who’s the most annoying person you know? well i cant say. that would be rude. but i definitely know one. thankfully she was left behind in ontario and i never ever have to see her again! :)

once again, the link is http://www.friday5.org/. in my opinion its an easy way for blog readers to get to know you a little more.

dan and i. april 23 '09

* taken with the timed setting on my new camera that dan bought for me =) *

isnt he just the sweetest, best looking guy you have ever seen?!

i had to pull his ears to make him smile lol

that was our crazy pose. but, we had fun.

thanks dan for the amazing camera! i definitely will put it to great use :)

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today i am thankful for an amazing camera and an amazing boyfriend ♥

april 23rd- the worst day in alberta's spring history

yup. you got it. on april 23rd, at 5am, we woke up to this much snow and no power! the predicted 5cm turned into way more. dad said there was approximately a foot of snow in some places on our property. and to think i was wearing flip flops the day before! and to make matters worse, that (of all days) was the day we had to drive up to calgary to pick up my oma and taunte nel. what should have only taken us two hours turned into a three and a half hour drive. our average speed on the way up was probably close to 70km/hr. and that when the posted speed is 110km! but.. we made it. now hopefully this snow disappears... although the weather predictions indicate more snow for us next week. oh no!!!

go on to photography school? - thankful for

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it has always been my full intention to finish high school only to then continue working whichever job i have, save up my money, and then buy a house, get married and start a family. however, those of you who really know me lately will be aware of the fact that love taking pictures. my old phone was the most amazing phone ever, simply because it allowed me to take some pretty great pictures. what i loved about having that phone was that it was so tiny i could take it absolutely wherever. not always true for a camera. but, as all things do, this phone died. so of late i havent been taking as many pictures. i miss it. thats the most simple, straight-forward, honest truth ever. its like, half of me is missing. haha okay maybe not quite that bad but i honestly really wish i had something that would allow me to continue taking pictures.

so anyways, lately ive been contemplating continuing on to some sort of photography school. or at least take a course in photography so that i can improve. way improve. i need the help. the only problem is the closest college i could find offering a photography course is in calgary. thats two hours away. not exactally close. so i would be needing a place to rent or something. which is where my money problem comes in. not to mention id be leaving dan for way too long. he already said i should go and that i can come visit and that he will definitely come visit. but while part of me wants to go, part of me is saying, "jess. forget it. its just another one of your stupid dreams." so in other words, part of me doesnt want to go. not really. my problem is, which side is pulling harder? and am i even any good?!

and so im coming to you. the three pictures at the top of this post were pictures i myself have taken. yup, me! :) im pretty proud of some of my pieces, especially those three. ive even entered the top one in a photo contest, although there were way better pictures and it didnt win :( but theres always way more contests.

as well, two of my "thirty till may 2010" items are picture related. or well, could be. one definitely is and the other one.. well thats what got me started wondering if i should continue on to photography school. (#17: enter at least two of my pictures in photo contest; #14: take a course in something that interests me)

anyways, back to you. please let me know honestly what you think of those pictures, as well as what you think about what i should do. im still not sure if i really do want to go or if its a passing thought, but your opinion matters.

so... let me know!! thanks :)

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o. and as a side note, im thankful for getting the chance to see oma and taunte nel again! :) however, not so thankful for the piles of snow we got last night! ill have pictures of that for you 2mrw! and i am not kidding when i say piles. it makes me sad to remember the fact that yesterday i was wearing flip flops and a short sleeve shirt. and now today.. back to the boots and long sleeves :( ugh!

number six: cook supper for mom [omlet]

despite the fact that i got fired from my cooking job, i still whole-heartedly enjoy cooking. especially when the weather is gloomy, therefore making my mood somewhat gloomy. cooking seems to have that special ability of making me feel somewhat cheery and ok again. and so yesterday, while the sky was grey and rain was pouring down on us, i decided to agree to mom's request of me cooking.

let me warn you that i do not usually follow recipes. i mean yea, i have my binder with recipes in there but when i cook it sometimes consists of me throwing a pile of stuff together. and even if i follow a recipe, i usually add at least something the recipe doesnt call for (my favorite being mint extract. try that in your cookies instead of vanilla. its amazing!)

this is what you will need for this omlet i made last night. however, feel free to add other things, such as red peppers and tomatoes. we didnt have those in the house so thats why i couldnt add them. here is the amounts of what i used:

1 dozen eggs

1/2 package of bacon

pickles cut up

a green pepper cut up

pepper

maggie optional

cheese already shredded or shredded by you

the next step is to pull out the frying pan and fry your bacon. my mom wont be too happy with you if you are currently chuckling at her way bent out of shape frying pan. the other one was in the dishwasher and truth be told, i was way too lazy to get it out and hand wash it. so this pan had to suffice. it did :)

then crack your dozen eggs into a bowl and whisk, whisk, whisk. this is the step where i added my pepper and maggie but if youd rather wait.. well go for it. i just thought this was the perfect time to do so :)

now add your cut up pickles and green peppers as well as any others you may have decided to add and once again, whisk.

do not forget about your bacon that is by now smelling wonderful!! this is where you attempt to refrain from grabbing a few pieces and eating them. i however, failed this attempt. nobody will know :) ... doesnt this picture just make your mouth water!?! especially when i click on it and it blows itself up into a huge picture of mouth watering bacon! mmm!! :)

after the bacon is done, drain the fat into a cup to set aside till hardened. you wont be needing the fat for this recipe but just dumping it down the drain wont do. not great for the drain :) so my dad's always taught us to set aside fat and stuff in a cup till it hardens. then we just throw it in the garbage.

once you have completed that last step, mix the bacon with the egg, pickles and peppers and then pour into a pan, like this one. i used a 9x9 pan but anything else would work as well. it just might end up a little thicker or thinner. using the 9x9 it came out quite thin. i wouldnt suggest using a larger pan unless you like it extremely thin. then place it in the stove and cook until almost done. then add cheese, place back in oven till melted and serve! my favorite is on toast with mayo. but thats just me!

also, i'd like to apologize for not having a picture of the finished omlet. i did take one but cant seem to find it anywhere on my memory card. i will certainly post it once i find it.

and now... just for interests sake (or lack of interests sake! lol), here are some more pictures of other things i have made. if you want the recipe i will try to get that up for you.

and as a side note: with the posting of this post, i have now half-way completed yet another thirty till may 2010. blog at least twenty-two times in a month. twice. yay!