For my brother

His childhood heros are coming back. I was surfing around Kennie's blog today and found this. I couldn't get it to post directly to the blog, but if you have 5 minutes and want a good laugh click HERE

Clarification

Just for the record, I did not take the lightning shots. I was in the livingroom playing with Joey, who was scared poop-less. All those shots (2 memory cards worth) were taken by Rob. Joe and I had a front row seat in the livingroom watching it. The storm was amazing. We also took a video of the clouds before the storm started. They were actually swirling around, and with the reports of twisters touching down in Saskatchewan over the past few weeks I was certain we were going to have one. But we didn't. I'm hoping to get that video uploaded today.

Northern Lightsning

I think we are going to like it here. We get the Northern Lights during the Winter and we get awesome thunder and lightning storms during the summer. This is what you get when you fill 2 1gig compact flash cards. I took these from the front steps of the house. The storm was awesome and lasted almost 2 hours. I have never seen so much forked lightning in my life!

Happy Anniversary BJ and Kelly

I can't believe it has been 3 years since these 2 crazy kids got married, and Kelly became "the new" Kelly Power. Happy Anniversary guys, wish we were there.

Diaster DIY

My new favorite show, and the only reason I would want to live in Ontario (that is where this show is filmed). It's on HGTV, which is not a channel I normally watch, but stumbled upon this show late one night. If we lived in Ontario, I would SO trash my kitchen and blame Rob just to bring him there!

How Colby helps to make cookies

It starts off innocently enough....

Then the sossy face starts.....

I caught him just in time before all of this cookie dough went in his mouth. What a kid!

Shooting the 9mm

Tina and I have met some really cool people since we came to Ile a la Crosse. I have finally made some good connections here in town for a hunting and fishing buddy, unfortunately they are leaving here in August. We decided to take the boys out today and fling some arrows and shoot the 9mm. I was in the Military for a while and never had the opportunity to fire a handgun. It was quite a lot of fun. I didn't do too bad. Here are some pics. Unfortunately my battery died in the camera and I was unable to get pics of the kids shooting the Bow.

And then there were 4

I think that this is ALL Barry's Fault! There will be more. Tina is looking forward to getting her own at some point. I know that Joey will be into it when he gets older if Colby is still into Archery. Thanks Barry!

Happy Anniversary

10 years ago today this crazy couple got married. And today, they are still madly in love. We miss you guys. Hope you had a great anniversary.

Taken by a friend of mine

When did my children get so grown up??

Northern News Online

We received an email yesterday about a new Northern Page that is promoting Northern Blogs. Our blog is linked to it. You can check it out HERE and I will have a link to it on the side also. Very very cool.

Incriminating pictures

As you can see, we have met some really great people here. This was a bbq/bonfire we had the other night.

Boys and their Toys

Colby has a new sport. Our good friend Barry made a Long Bow for him for his 6th birthday and this is the first time we have had it out since the snow melted. I am not the expert archer that Barry is but I am teaching him everything I can. I do believe that he is going to out grow his long bow in no time. He was actually shooting at full draw when he was actually trying and concentrating.

I ordered a target for Colby and I from SIR last week and was amazed at how quick it got here. It is here and we are going to have a blast. We took it out tonight and flung a few arrows each. Colby is a quick learner and he will catch on in now time.

When we were back in NS for vacation, I picked up my compound bow that Barry had gotten for me back in May while HE was on vacation. I am hooked!

Here is Colby with his bow.

My new toy!!!

New pics

My little man doesn't like to touch the same.

Colby playing at the beach with his new friend Jacob.

Joey got water in his shoes and freaked out.

Doesn't that scream "trouble"?

A brief glimpse at the store

I have yet to take some pictures of the inside of the store. Here is what it looks like from the front. It is hard to believe that we have been here 3 weeks. The store is 7000 sqft and has 5 aisles of grocery and one aisle of retail goods. The store is what is termed a "Super C" aka super convenience store. Now, looking at it from the outside it looks like any other convenience store. How many convenience stores do you know of that have a Pharmacy, Fresh Meat Dept, Produce Dept and meals to go, similar to what you would find in a Superstore, Dominion or Extra Foods. I have a great staff who all have their own job. Every one of the keyholders can work in the office and can either open or close the store. This is essential to me! If they couldn't it would mean VERY long hours for me. The store is open from 8am to 10:30pm Mon-Sat and 10-8pm on Sundays. I am sad to say that I am losing my Pharmacist in a couple of weeks. If any of you out there are interested in becoming a "Northern" Pharmacist give me a call. The Salary is outrageous, not to mention the fact that you get company housing and a mess account (Free Food).

Tina and I are quite spoiled with having the fresh meat department. We are going to have to be careful as it will chew through your mess account really fast.

Pictures of the inside of the store will follow. We are all adjusting well and we are looking forward to settling in here for awhile.

For Adam and Barry

I went fishing the other night for the first time. Nothing spectacular at first and then it was like world war three. Almost every cast. I kept 3 but I landed and hooked ALOT more! I think I might actually get a fishing license!

I love you Kennie

The things us "Northerns" do for one another. I took pictures for Jen and Kara when I was away, and when Kennie made a comment on my wall on Facebook about Tim Horton's, I asked her to have a Blueberry Fritter for me. My Tim Horton's addiction. It was crazy foolish when I was pregnant. And when peeking on her blog today, I found this, just for me. Now all I have to do is resist the urge to lick my screen. I can taste the blueberry already. You're the best. :)

Released through the Northwest Company today

We are pleased to announce that Rob Schwartz will be leading the Ile a la Crosse team as the new store manager. Rob started his career with North West in June 2007 in Behchoko, as an MIT candidate. Rob moved to the Hay River store in March 2008 to complete his training. Prior to joining North West, Rob's career included five years with Winners Apparel in the Halifax area, and ten years in the building supplies industry. We would like to congratulate Rob and welcome him, his wife Tina and sons Colby and Joey to Ile a la Crosse. Rob is a great addition to a strong team. We look forward to working with him as we continue the testing of the community focused, Super C format that was launched in Ile a la Crosse in March of 2007.

Tagged

First of all, I would like to thank my "anonymous blogger" yesterday for the post. It was very eye opening. And I would like to welcome any new readers that may continue to hang around.

With that being said, I have been tagged by Kara. The meme was initially to ask your significant other 3 things about you and post it on the blog. It jumped from Kennie to Jen to Jackie and has been slightly altered, so I'm going to follow the new rules, because they are more fun. So, it's to post 3 things about yourself that people may not know. Well, I had to think long and hard because, really, I have no shame and no secrets. So here goes.

1.) My new favorite song is "I kissed a girl". I sing and dance to it (both horribly and very embarrasingly should anyone see) with Joey in the kitchen. It's my instant reminder of driving with my sister when we were back home. It seemed to be always on the radio, and the morning she drove us to the airport it came on as we pulled into the airport.

2.) Joey loves to bring me dead flies and it grosses me out. We have a bad problem with flies here and the fly swatter is always going. Admittedly, I will swat them but I hate picking them up, so they end up on the window sill. Joey likes to pick them up and put them in my hand. Just ewww.

3.) I am addicted to Scrabble on Facebook. I have 4 games going right now and want more. Anyone interested?

So now is the time to tag 3 others to do this. I'm tagging Kelly, Cindy and Valentina. Oh, and just for Kara.. pfpfpfpfpfpf.

By Anonymous

Life is precious

Once upon a time I was very unstable. I had suicidal thoughts. I don't know how I became that way. The tiniest problem would become the biggest drama, and rather than deal with it, my thoughts would turn to ending everything. It makes me shudder to think back on that time, because the problems were hardly worth a second glance in retrospect, and certainly not worth hurting myself over. The first time I remember being that way I was 14. My mom had dropped a friend and I off at the mall, and the friend's mom was supposed to pick us up. The friend's mom picked us up, but she had a myriad of errands to run and I was two hours late getting home. This was well before the time of cell phones, so I couldn't call my parents to let them know. My dad was so angry, and I got grounded. That was so unfair to me, because I had no control over it, and I reacted by taking half a bottle of aspirin. I ended up vomiting all night, but I was fine the next day. My parents never even knew. That's the only time I remember doing something like that in high school.

The other times were in very young adulthood. It was all relationship drama. Problem with boyfriend? I'd try to cut my wrist. Maybe my heart was never in it, because I'd do it with a disposable razor horizontally pulled across my wrist. It made lots of nasty little cuts, but thankfully never did what I thought I was trying to do. No one ever noticed the cuts, either. The last time I remember an incident like that was well over 10 years ago. I don't know exactly when my reaction to adversity changed, and became healthy rather than destructive, but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I would never ever ponder doing that to myself. I can't explain why I ever did it in the first place. Desperation? Immaturity? Apathy? I have no idea. What I do know is that life is a gift, and I really don't know that person I was who used to do those things. I remember it as though I am watching a movie. I see it happening, but I can't recall the mindset that made me do such things.

I am reminded of this time in my life because someone told me about a young person who took his life recently. People in his life are blaming themselves. My first reaction for the boy is sadness...It didn't have to be that way. My second reaction is anger. Suicide, though a choice made in desperation, is such a selfish choice. The people who are left behind are left with pain, guilt and have to pick up the pieces that the person was trying to avoid picking up for themselves.

There are only two people in the world that know about that time in my life. An ex-boyfriend, who witnessed it firsthand, but who has probably long since forgotten me and that time, and my significant other, with whom I shared that information when talking about another suicide of a young person we had heard of. Basically I shared it as a way as saying I think that parents have to be very aware of their children, citing the aspirin incident. My parents should have somehow known about that. I could have been a story people were shaking their heads about and saying how sad it was, and how young I was. How thankful I am that I didn't become that story.

My signifcant other was shocked when I told him the story. It doesn't sound like me. I am vibrant, I love life, I value life. He could no better recognize this as someone I once was than I can recognize it in myself anymore.

May the amazing grace that saved me from myself all those years ago, and helped me to see life for the treasure that it truly is, help others from making a mistake they can never ever take back.

Dog porn

I just made a comment on Jen's dog about this and thought I would elaborate over here. There is a pack of wild dogs that roam our neighbourhood. They seem friendly enough, and I have never seen them bother anyone who walks by. I noticed them again today which is what reminded me of this. As these dogs are wild, the are obviously not fixed. And it is summer. And there are 6 males and one female. Yep, I have free dog porn regularly in front of my house. I called my sister the first time I saw / heard it. Here's a bit of the conversation.

Kass: Hello?

Me: OMG you are not going to believe what I am looking at right now.

Kass: What is it? (she's laughing at my obviously shocked tone)

Me: DOG PORN: There's a pack of dogs in front of my house and one female. It's a dog orgy!

Kass: OMG What position are they using? (as she breaks into hysterial laughter). then she says "You should YOUTUBE that!"

At this point I'm also laughing. Only up here would you see that. And no, I didn't take pictures. That would just have been wrong. :)

Blog share

Not to long ago I participated in a Blog Share, where I would post anonymously on someone's blog and someone would post anonymously here. I found it while I was blog surfing one day, and when I received the email the other day inviting me to participate again I quickly said yes. I already have the anonymous post, and it will be on here tomorrow. It's a great way to find new blogs, so here is a list of all the blogs that will be participating. I for one will be doing a lot of reading over the next few days and hope to find a few new people to read about.

http://whiskeymarie.com

http://ventvox.com

http://turnonthestars.wordpress.com

http://trudie-lifeafterac.blogspot.com

http://tracyoutloud.blogspot.com

http://swimming-with-sharks.blogspot.com

http://stevemegan.blogspot.com

http://stefanie-says.blogspot.com

http://shushingaction.blogspot.com

http://saunteringsoul.blogspot.com

http://sassattack.blogspot.com

http://redredwhine.com

http://oursimplicity.blogspot.com

http://onenewduck.blogspot.com

http://ohmyseven.com

http://occasionaltruth.blogspot.com

http://www.no-lady.blogspot.com

http://nancypearlwannabe.com

http://museonvacation.blogspot.com

http://messingwithtexas.blogspot.com

http://melliferouspants.wordpress.com

http://lizgwiz.blogspot.com

http://liveworkdream.com

http://littlepieceoftexas2.blogspot.com

http://jonniker.com

http://javaliterally.blogspot.com

http://heidikins.com

http://fullofsnark.com

http://facedown.wordpress.com

http://exeverything.blogspot.com

http://everythingilikecausescancer.blogspot.com

http://dailytannenbaum.com

http://thecoconutdiaries.wordpress.com

http://catheroo.com

http://brightyellowworld.com

http://breathsmilestears.com

http://andyouknow.wordpress.com

http://alyndabear.com

http://3carnations.blogspot.com

NEW BLOG!

For all my family that reads this... Kelly started a blog! I'm thrilled. I'll be harrassing her daily as you all harrass me for pictures of Alan. And, since they just bought their new house, I'm excited for all the new pictures and crazy stories! I've linked her on the side but you can also link it off here:

http://powerfulinsanity.blogspot.com/

I also love the header picture. Must have been a great photographer that took that one!

After the Funeral

I don't normally post about what I'm reading, but this one is worth mentioning. I'm currently completely hooked on a work in progress by Tawny. I have known Tawny since junior high, and she has always had a great flare for writing. We were always writing back and forth. We had 2 journals, one red and one black, that we would write back and forth in. We also started a story together, where she would write a chapter and I would write one. We did this back and forth all throughout school. Her blog is linked off mine and she has other blogs that she keeps up, some more than others. She has a blog called "The Edible Woman", where she writes short stories. One that really caught my eye is "After the Funeral". And I'm thrilled to say this seems to be turning into a full blown novel. I always told her that I would love to see her publish a book, and you never know, you may just see this one on the Best Seller's list yet. You can find her writing blog HERE. It's worth a read.

Pictures I forgot to post

Lunch at Boston Pizza.

I couldn't go back east and not get a donair!

Kassie and the boys.

Kissing cousins, literally. This is Summer, my cousin Angela's daughter.

I think they were planning their escape.

Atlantic Playland, Hammonds Plains, NS

Our crazy kid

Joey: Weighs in a 32 lbs, unfortunately 20 of that is his legs. There's no question where he gets his legs from. I think I'll start calling him "Mini Gaston". (For those who don't know the story, when my sister, who was 9 at the time, first saw Rob in shorts, she said it looked like he has "Gaston" legs. Gaston is on the the characters in Beauty and the Beast).