Day 3: a photo that makes you happy

Okay... for this one I just couldn't decide.  In trying to find a picture of myself a year ago for day 2, I also ran across both of these.  Both these pictures are from my first year at Wheaton and they both make me SO happy.  The first is the Peter Pan costume that I helped Drew make.  Drew was one of our RA's that year and he had great costumes.  We stayed up late watching Finding Neverland while we cut out the green felt and sewed away.  The finished product just cracks me up... especially with those lime green tights he had on!

The second picture is with our ARD that year, Jim.  I dressed up as Pam from The Office for Halloween and since Jim's name is Jim, he was perfect as "Three Hole Punch Jim."  This was another great memory from that first year.

Day 2: a photo of yourself a year ago

This is Grant and I with his Grandpa (who they call Grose Pop - if I spelled that correctly) a little over a year ago.  This picture is significant because it was my first trip to California with Grant, my first time meeting many of his family and my first pie ride (and also the time that I decided that I wanted to marry Grant).  The pie rides are my favourite Burns' family tradition (so far).  Everyone rides tandem bikes to Mom's Apple Pie.  I love bike rides, especially when there is some sort of pastry mid-ride.  This photo is also significant because Grant's grandpa passed away a few weeks after our wedding.  He was an amazing man and I feel privileged that I got to know him.  This second picture is of Grant and I on the funny "folding" tandem that we rode.

Photo Challenge

My friend Jenny (who I was an RA and ARD with in College) posted this on her blog and I thought I'd join in too!  I love to take photos and I realized that I rarely take any of things that happen in day to day life.  So here goes.  Here is the link for the 30 Day Photo Challenge - just in case you want to join in on this too!!

Day 1: your facebook profile picture

This is one of my favourite photos from or wedding in June.  Such a great day and we have incredible pictures to remember it by thanks to our fantastic photographer, Emily.

Unfinished Projects

I recently joined a website called Ravelry.  A friend of mine (who also loves to knit) told me about it and I love it.  I was inspired to pull out all of my old knitting projects and take "in progress" pictures.  I have a few other projects that require less attention so I'm working on finishing those first, but I am officially inspired to finish these ones!  

This sweater was meant to be a gift for my friend's newborn baby.  That same baby is almost two years old now!

This is a sweater I was knitting for myself.  I love.love.love these Dale of Norway patterns but I got stuck on the sleeves.  I also started this one two years ago.

This is the amount of yarn involved in this sweater that I have still yet to knit.  *sigh*  This is going to take me a while!

The buttons. I had actually forgotten that I had those.

The sleeve.

Somehow it feels like posting this will be my accountability to finish these projects.  I sure hope so!

Home Sweet Home

Over fall break Grant and I were lucky enough to take a quick trip back to Calgary. It was SO good to be able to see family and help my mom sift through some of my old toys and school stuff (since she recently sold her house and is moving soon).  I love going home... especially since I have been homesick lately for my family!  We didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few that we did manage to take:

A trip home would not be complete without a trip to the mountains.  We were looking after my sisters dog, Oliver who enjoyed an ice cream cone!  I can't wait until I get to go home again... or hopefully family will make their way out to Wheaton sometime soon.

Addicted to Knitting

Grant thinks I am addicted to knitting... and he may be on to something!  You see, I often have phases that I go through.  This is most evident with food (right now I love steamed edamame with a little salt) where I'll eat a ton of something for a few weeks and then it will slowly evolve into something else.  Well... the phase for the last few weeks is knitting.

I went to MN a few weeks ago and went into one of my favourite knitting shops called The Yarnery.  I saw this sweater and it looked simple enough and quick to knit, so I went ahead and bought the yarn and the pattern:

After I finished this sweater (which I love), I was inspired to finish another sweater that I started last year:

This one didn't turn out quite so well.  It looks great when I'm not wearing it!  Since I finished it, I have tried altering it a bit and it is fitting much better... although not my favourite.  To top it off, since washing it it continually smells like a wet sheep and sheds.  But it's very warm!

We took a very quick trip to Calgary for fall break to see my family and I knit these cute slippers on the plane ride there and felted them while in Calgary.  I love these, especially since I was able to use leftover yarn and buttons I found in my mom's house. 

Okay... so maybe I am addicted.  But the green seater and these slippers did not take that long... and the cable sweater I started a long time ago!  I know, excuses, excuses.  I suppose this is a productive way to procrastinate!

10 Things I Love About Minnesota

I spent this past weekend in Minnesota.  It was a spur of the moment trip to see friends and visit much-loved, familiar places.  I love going back to Minnesota because it feels like a second home (and is one that is 26 hours closer than my actual home).  Grant was at a Men’s retreat for our Church and I was feeling homesick so off I went! 


Grant and I have been talking and dreaming about what is next for us a lot lately.  This Spring I will finish my 4-years as a GRA in Fischer (and grad school classes) and we will have the opportunity to move (and will likely have to move as we follow jobs in Residence Life).  Of course, we are partial to moving closer to our families or at least west (since that is where our favourite places are), but Minnesota is one place that always pops up in my mind. Mentioning this to my friends may or may not have been a good idea since we spent the weekend figuring out all of the reasons I should move back to Minnesota and bring Grant with me.  These are a few of those reasons:


1. The Yarnery

I love to Knit and this hands down my favourite knitting shop.  Every trip to MN must include a trip to Grand Avenue in Saint Paul.  I was able to get together with my old roommate Nicole at Café Latte (a favourite restaurant) and pop into the Yarnery. What a great day!  To top it off, it was a beautiful fall Saturday... one of my favourite kinds.

2. The person that owns the same bike as me
Coley and I went out for a walk one evening and I found this bicycle.  It is the exact same as the bike I ride all the time and I have never seen another one like it in Illinois.  My father-in-law Gordon also has one like it, but he's in California.

3. Yogurt for $0.31 and Milk that is around $2/gallon

*sigh* the cost of living in Illinois is drastically higher.  The yogurt I love is $0.75 each on a good day and $0.50 all the time in Minnesota. 31 cents is a steal - I almost bought some to bring it home but thought it might not fare too well in our car over the warm weekend.  Not exactly a reason to love Minnesota... or maybe it is?


4.  Dunn Brothers Coffee

What can I say here? It's simply a favourite place!




5. Northwestern College
My Alma Mater.  It is a beautiful campus surrounded by a lake... and under construction.   A lot has changed in the last 5 years but it still felt like I was coming home.

6. Fall
What can I say... Fall in the midwest is beautiful.  It was fun to drive through Wisconsin and see the colours changing as I neared Minnesota.  It was cool outside, the sun was shining, and it was absolutely beautiful!

7. Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the people who ride bikes all bundled up
This is an item I have learned to appreciate in the years I have known Grant.  He used to ride from his house on the other side of Wheaton to class in the middle of one of snowiest winters I have ever seen (and I am Canadian) and he is from California.  This picture is Grant, by the way... and is one of my favourites!

8.  Hot Dish
Although I'm still not entirely certain why this is called "Hot Dish" I love that it is and that I overheard a conversation about them while at the Yarnery.  A Hot Dish for those of you who don't know if another word for a Casserole

9.  Wild Turkeys in Minneapolis
I know the picture is unclear but this is a large group of turkeys on someone's lawn (some were on the roof and in the trees) in the middle of Minneapolis.  This was totally not a rural area at all!

10. Friends
This picture was taken just before our wedding in June but I met them all when I lived in Minnesota (they even lived next door to me when I was an RA) and they are wonderful.  Unfortunately Carissa was not there this weekend, but it was great to see Coley and Serena.