[i] LoveLife

The perfect way to...

end the year is with a big, beautiful dump of snow.

It's perfect. Lots and lots and lots of white fluffy snow fell on us last night. Probably close to 15cm or even more! I love snow and I love how it makes everything look like a perfect painting...

Last night - however - was not perfect. We have been dogsitting Rocket the Red Doberman since we returned and she is nervous and missing her dad... She's just plain old not feeling good and on one hand I feel for her and on the other - I'm tired of getting up three times a night to let her out. Maybe she will be able to go home a few days early and we will both be happier.

Big day today... I am looking forward to getting near the finish line on the painting for Jared Blair's fire chief. He's commissioned me to paint a picture of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services #1 Station in Winnipeg for his retiring chief. It's not my favourite kind of painting, but what I am enjoying so far are the clouds. The painting is 20 x 40 inches in acrylic and I will post the progress later today. I'm enjoying the painting. It's really making me excited to start on the 15 new canvases I have marked for the mini-show at Candie & Dolls in a month and a half. My goal is to have 10 paintings ready to do a small exhibit in the back of their women's clothing store. I want this series to be all fashion-related. Shoes, purses, women... just to get the juices flowing and test that genre market. So excited about the opportunity!

And then - it's time to celebrate 2006 and welcome 2007 with Nicole & Dan! We are going tobaganning and then spending time together over a fondue. Just kicking back and relaxing. Dan and I got everything ready for tonight - so we are ready to go! I am really looking forward to it. It will be very strange not to spend the evening with Tammy & Jared.... seems like they are always part of my New Year's celebration. But, I know that they have had far more than their fair share of heartaches this year and I wanted to give them their space.

It's the last day of the year!

Winding down...

leads to reflection.

The end of the year snuck up on me. Thank you 2006 - You were amazing. 2006 was the year that changed everything around me for the better. And eventhough it was full of fun and love and healthy, happy laughter - there are itsy-bisty things that I see myself struggling with... Next year, I will be more productive. I will paint more. I will take better pictures. I will leap into everyday and MAKE THINGS. I will create and redefine my career. I have no excuses - only very cool opportunities - if I want them.

Soon, Dan will be refinishing and insulating our back sunroom to turn it into my very own painting studio. Honestly, I've never had anything just for painting and creating. I'm excited! I'm scared too - because I won't have a single excuse not to create - and truthfully, I'm a little worried what I create won't be good enough to justify all the changes I'm making right now. But, that's where a little more FAITH comes in. I will believe in myself... like I believe in other people.

The bar of Starbuck's milk chocolate is sitting on my desk reminding me that I need to make better choices when it comes to what I eat. I need to get back into a fitness routine to help clear the junk from my brain. Maybe we will take the dogs for a walk later.

We have NO PLANS tonight... which is the first time in a few weeks. Hurray! I can't wait to just chill out and refuel. I'm making my famously delicious homemade pizzas. Pear, shrimp & olive and we are just haning out enjoying eachother.

Yum.

On a mission to...

FONDUE!

We got a very cool fondue pot for Christmas from my Dad - so it's time to FONDUE. This New Year's Eve will be partied in with Nicole & Dan (Rufus, Crash & Rocket, too) after some slip-sliding on the tobaganning hill.  The plans are in the works. We have pretty lofty fondue goals - so I am off to the internet to find a broth recipe and some magnificent ideas to make this special.

Yum....

In pictures...

you can find the stories.

It's here somewhere...

...lost in the shuffle.

It's hard to believe that we were only gone for a week. It flew by and dragged at the same time! It was our first married Christmas (and our first Christmas together)... and my favourite Christmas so far. Life is good. We brought back three times as much stuff as we carted out and now the hard part is finding a place for everything and trying to remember where I left off and where I left things before we left. Left.

Even so, it feels good to just be. To sort. To find. To unpack. To remember where things were before. We had dinner last night with Vic & Janet and that was nice. We had Chinese food and that was the perfect break from turkey!

Today, the agenda is catching up, making calls, finding the things I lost and getting a big chunk of a painting I need to have done by the 1st of January. Tonight, we are heading out with Dan's friend Colin and his wife Kari to Rumor's to catch a comedy show. That will be fun. I'm totally looking forward to it and then I am totally looking forward to having an unscheduled evening tomorrow night.

Sometime, I will get the thousands of pictures I took organized and posted. My new camera (the Canon Rebel Xti) is even better than I hoped! It's beautiful. It's so much fun. I can't wait to settle into more of a routine and make it part of everyday. I'm going to try to create an album on this blog (I have so much to learn). (My new MacBook Pro... He and I will duke it out next week and see if we can't learn to get along. Grrrr....)

And for now, I am still on a holiday. Next week - life will change into something new - something scarily better. I'm pretty excited.

Sometimes it all seems like a holiday. A sweet, sweet holiday.

Home...

sweet home.

I got whisked away a week ago for Christmas holidays in Saskatchewan but, now we're back. Seven days in another province with old families and new families and new members and so many old faces and relatives. Wow. It was good. Very hectic and very loud - but, it was nice to be there...

... and it is great to be back.

On the way home last night we needed to change a leaking tire. The owner of a service station let us pull the truck into the carwash bays where it was warm and lit. It was definitely a gift and what could have been a real headache - turned out perfectly alright. Better even. The man told me about his Christmas - and then said it really didn't matter because Christmas was for the kids. I thought about what he said and I thought about the new pictures of my cousin's baby Maysen I had just taken hours before and I thought about Dan's parents I had just met. I thought about my parents and my grandparents and the stories and memories we had shared from all of the holidays past. I thought about the little things that got so deep under my skin and I thought about the laughter that came from a very deep, very real place. I thought about  how I felt and how it felt to relive those moments and be in the space where I grew up and eventhough I'm all grown up I realized that Christmas really is for the kids - and that in some way or another we are all kids for the holidays.

It's good to be home.

Packing up...

for the road.

It's late and it's been a long day. We just got home from visiting Tammy & Jared (and his mom Marg who was visiting from Alberta), Judy Cumberford, and Mr. Mowat. The day before that was full and was fast and was all over the map. I got most of the projects done - including the painting for Jim Millican. I had a manicure and pedicure from Tiber River - nice. I got gifts and I got organized and I got less stressed.

I'll post pics tomorrow before we leave - this is my first 'blog' from my new laptop (which I am nearly done working out the bugs).

Life is good. Packing in annoying. Tomorrow - we will drive to Saskatoon for holidays with my family - AS WELL AS WITH Dan's Mom and step-dad from Florida. They are joining us for a celebration of the season and of our wedding. I have never met Dan's parents and although he's met my mom and my brother Kam - he hasn't met my dad or the plenty of relatives on hand for Christmas.

Let the fun begin!

Enjoying...

every minute.

I really am. It's the day before we leave for Saskatoon - for our first Christmas together. My family, Dan's family - there's lots to do and finish and pack before we go... It's hectic and I have had to surrender to the idea that I can't get everything done - and that's okay.

Last night, we visited Jamie Munn & Rocket for Christmas cheer. Much to our surprise - Jamie gave us a hot air balloon ride gift certificate! Wow. So cool. I'm so excited - that's one of the best gifts ever! Thanks Jamie. Then we travelled over to Nicole & Dan's for a little gift exchange, too. Thank you for the biscotti and tree bark. Delicious!

After the running around (which was fun - Dan and Crash and I spreading cheer together) - HE INSTALLED THE NEW FAUCET. Wow. Yikes. It's big. It's bigger than I gathered from the picture... but, it's pretty cool, too. Next up: new sink!

Today I'm plowing through some work, getting through last minute errands, wrapping gifts and sending the photos I need to Christmas gifts to Blacks Photography online so they are ready to take when we leave tomorrow at 9am. It's frantic. I'm getting my sketch books and computers and gear ready to take with  me so I can let the creative juices flow while we are on a little holiday. Hurray - road trip!

Wish me luck...

Shhhh....

look.

Thank you Tessa. Thank you so much. I couldn't have asked for better pictures...

Houston...

we have lift off.

I'm not gonna lie to anyone - I got that sucker reformated, unpartitioned, updated, reinstalled and humming along like a snappy little bird last night. I downloaded stuff and figured out things that I was pretty scared about... AND IT WORKED. I DID IT.

I feel like a million bucks - and that's cool.