Taking a break

No, don't worry. It's from from blogging. It's from photography. I have all but stopped taking pictures in town. I initially stopped taking pictures because the unit that I was using is no longer available, which means I had no place to do indoor photography. I found that I was really busy with photography with the months leading up to Christmas, so much that when I was asked why I wasn't posting pictures of my own kids I was ashamed to admit I hadn't taken any. So I packed my camera away for a while. I used it when my inlaws were here for Christmas, and I hadn't touched it until the other day when the northern lights were out. I honestly had to go looking for my camera, because I couldn't remember where I had put it. I found I really enjoyed taking pictures of the lights, something up to this point I have never been able to do. My camera is really sophicasticated, with more bells and whistles than I ever thought I would use. But now I have decided to take my photography in a new direction. I had downloaded an amazing app showing all the ins and outs of my camera, and have spent the last couple nights curled up reading it. Hopefully by the time the summer comes I will be more knowledgable with this camera because we will be driving across Canada again and through the states. I also want to aggressively start a postcard business, and I'm hoping with more shots like the last northern lights one I did will help me get that going!

This was a shot I took just before Christmas during a family shoot I did for a friend. I forgot all about it until I was cleaning up my picture folder.

I LOVE this town

What makes this so much better is Joey was with me watching the lights. We have made many sacrifices over the past 5 years, but nights where my son and I can watch the Northern Lights dance make it all worth it.

Vacation time is booked!

We are driving back to Halifax this summer. I must admit I am super excited. We (and when I say we I mean Rob) bought a motorcycle last summer. Huh you say? Well, it looks like this:

We bought this for a steal (honestly, for about 1/5th of what we would have paid for the equivelant bike on the east coast). And before you ask, there this NOTHING wrong with it. It runs like a top. We decided we would buy this bike as an investment. We also decided that it is not feasible to keep this bike here, as we never know where we could be transferred. So, before we bought this bike we talked to my brother about storing this for us. We told him that he could use it, as long as he maintained it. He said this: We figure if we ever need to sell the bike, we can sell it on the east coast and have a tidy sum of money. So, we are going to be driving back to Halifax during the middle of July. I already know that a friend of mine who looks like this: Is also going to be in Halifax this summer, so I am really hoping that we can hook up. This is really exciting for me because she lives in Italy! I really want to see her little princess and my little prince together again! And of course, since we are driving through Ontario on the way back, I am really hoping we can detour so we can finally meet 2 little girls that look like this: I am currently in the process of trying to fill out the paperwork for our passports so we can drive through the states on the way there, so right now I look like this: But it will all be worth it. So for now, as it is currently -stupid outside right now, I'm going to be like a friend of mine, and spend the evening like this: But before I can do that, we made donairs for supper, which of course look like this: Have a good night everyone! And, if you're going to be in Halifax during the end of July, let me know!

My rant

Alright, I promised those who saw it on FB a rant. I'm not nearly as worked up about it as I was last night, and I would have blogged last night but honestly I spend more time on the Ipad than I do at a computer and I can't really type on there. I am getting REALLY TIRED of society pushing weight loss on people. There, I said it. All you see on FB lately is "want to lose weight?" "Come join the 90 day challenge" and all you see on TV lately is commercials for "Jenny", "WW" whatever. If you want to lose weight, fine, do it. But STOP telling me I have to. I read many blogs online, and that seems to be most all are talking about. (Except you Kara, your story is different). Why can't people be fat AND happy? My kids love me, my husband adores me, my preschoolers don't care what I look like. For the most part, I eat healthy. You say I'm not healthy? Well, I'm in control of my own destiny. You think you're going to live longer than I am because you are skinny and I'm not? Skinny people die just as much as fat people. That's the one thing people cannot control. I'm a firm believer of when your time is up, it's up. You can't change that. So you might as well be happy. I will admit, I was obsessed with weight loss when I lived in the south. It's a totally different mentality here. In this community, people who haven't seem each other for a while don't greet each other with "boy, you look good, did you lose weight?" People here accept you for whatever package you come in. If you choose to change it, you are complimented. BUT, there is not the pressure that you would feel in other places to lose weight and keep it off. Not one person in the community that I live in is doing this "90 day challenge" crap. I don't need to spend 250.00 for powdered shakes and diet pills. If I want to lose weight, I will change my eating habits and physical activity level. If I want to spend the day playing video games with my kids when it's warm and sunny out, well I'm going to do it. I'm spending time with my kids. Would I go to the gym 6 days a week if I lived in the south? No freakin' way. No offence to those of you who do, but if I want to exercise I would rather do it by getting outside and playing with my kids. Or going for a walk with my husband. Or better yet, going for a walk with my Ipod. I HATE this time of year because weight loss is always a new year's resolution for people and society tries to monopolize on it. I wish people could just be happy with who they are. You don't see that much anymore. There, I've said it. *steps down off soapbox*.

Prince Naveen

Sometime last year i found a stuffed red eye tree frog at a 2nd hand store. My sister has always been a huge fan of tree frogs, so much that she has a tattoo of one on her back. My original plan for him was that he would travel back and forth between us and we would take pictures with him in different places. Well, it started out all right but we both dropped the ball on it. I took the prince with us when we went to halifax with us this summer and tried it again. I told his story to the twins, and even went as far as to buy his travel journal and start his first entry. I even made a blog about him to help follow his travels. I promised rebecca that I would start his adventure when I got back to Saskatchewan. Time got away from me and the prince remained in my house. When my mother in law was here last week she mentioned that Rebecca keeps looking at the blog to see if it has started. So, he is en route somewhere. If he ends up in your mailbox, please play along. My goal is to see how far i can get him to travel. For details and to see what he has been up to so far, check out his blog, its listed on my blog roll, The Adventures Of Prince Naveen. If you want to play, either leave a comment here on or his blog. You dont need to have kids to play, just a good sense of adventure and be willing to have fun.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy New Year everyone. What a year it has been. I would love to do a monthly play by play like Jody did, but I'm not that organized to remember. This has been a great year for my family, both immediate and extended. We had a fantastic trip to Nova Scotia last summer, with many memories made and lots and lots of pictures taken. I am not one for new years resolutions, but I have made some promises to myself that I plan on keeping. I have seriously dropped the ball on keeping a relationship with a special little girl in my life, that I made a promise to myself that I would change that. I plan on writing lots and lots of letters this year, and I am hoping that through this I can build the relationship that I want to be there. This coming year is going to be a great one. We have another trip planned to Nova Scotia this summer, but this time we will be driving back. I really need to get my arse in gear to get our passports, as we plan on driving down through the states. Colby really wants to see New York, so we thought, well, why not? It's on the way, kind of. I am thrilled that the same time we are there Valentina will also be there with her family, and her and I have a "secret outing" planned that I am just thrilled about. I also just found out that Jenn and David will also be there with their adorable Caelan, so I finally get to meet him. I will be meeting up with them in Digby, as there is a woman there named Jolene who is also a lifelong friend of Jenn's that I got to know when we stood in Jenn's wedding together. There is a joke between us about a girl named "Cindy", and of course when she found out I will be in NS the same time as Jenn she joked about me bringing Cindy along. Rob's parents were here for Christmas, and are already talking about when they come back next fall for hunting season. Our friends Adam and Genevieve are also toying with the idea of coming out here, which would thrill me to no end. Our house will be renovated this summer, which I can't wait for. Mom will be moving to NL sometime this year, as soon as her house sells, which means she will also be able to come visit us more often. Happy New Year all. Be good to each other.