Birthday Parites!

I am feeling extra popular and super excited because I get to go to TWO birthday parties today:) One is my five year old niece's and the other my good friend from high school who is turning the big 3-0! I will take heaps of photos and share them with you! I can't wait to put on my party dress;)
Have a lovely weekend!

My boyfriend maybe away but....

I couldn't help myself-I had to share this:)

We're too different

Oh my-I love this! It says so much!!!

Love and be loveable

Remember these from when we were kids? I believe they were called fortune tellers. I had a student ask me to play this game last week and I think my fortune said "You will be lucky for the rest of your life" I got this lucky fortune after I chose a colour then two numbers, how simple is that? I wish life was still that simple and fun. Oh-and I truly believe that love is found in the most unlikely places, that's where I found mine:)

Failure

Why is failure feared by so many people? This is something that I can't understand. You must fail in order to move ahead, learn lessons, become a person who is resilient and patient and understanding. SO much good comes from failing every once in a while including a much more fulfilling success. So next time you fail at something, which is going to happen because we are all human, embrace what it has taught you and move forward with a smile on your face:)

What do you see?

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday my lovelies! I had to get up early and drive my Hunny to the airport this morning before work:( His flight left at 5:30am. Alas we are long distance again for another month. I really do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder and we had a lovely time while he was here for the week. We are meeting again in a month, hopefully somewhere a bit warmer...

Have a wonderful day everyone:)

Experiences

I need to tattoo this on my hand!

CA NA DUH

via everyday feels like today

Now that Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions people from all over the world are asking.

Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website.

Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked!

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? ( England )
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? ( USA )
A: Depends on how much you’ve been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the Railroad tracks? ( Norway )
A: Sure, it’s only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada ? ( Sweden )
A: So it’s true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATM’s (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? ( England )
A: No, but you’d better bring a few extra furs for trading purposes.

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? ( USA )
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe Ca-na-da is that big country to your North…oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and we’ll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada ? ( England )
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys’ Choir schedule? ( USA )
A: Aus-t ri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is…oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary , straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? ( Germany )
A: No, WE don’t stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Where can I sell it in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? ( Italy )
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? ( Germany )
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada , but I forget its name. It’s a kind of big horse with horns. ( USA )
A: It’s called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? ( USA )
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Please send this on to any Canadian (or others) who you think will enjoy it as much as I did.

Neck Warmers

How lovely are these knitted neck warmers?!?! I would love to be able to knit these someday. I just finished my first lacy scarf, which was quite an accomplishment for me. I also learned how to read a knitting pattern which is also super exciting! I will take some photos of my lovey creation and show you when I get a chance. Now I am going to try to learn how to crochet something exciting:)

Excuses Begone

My friend Lise suggested I read this book Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer. So I thought what the hell, I didn't think I made many excuses but why not give it a read because I quite enjoy Dr Dyer. Dyer talks about how everything is an excuse if its getting in the way of your dreams or what you want in life. He lists the most common excuses that everyone makes and gives solutions to how to stop making them. Dyer made me realize that the reason that I am not reaching my goals is because I am making these common excuses. Fear is also a common problem. Please don't make anymore excuses and give this a read! Oh, and next time you want to do something, don't make an excuse just DO IT!

Here is an excerpt from the book:

In my role as a counselor, teacher, and parent, I’ve heard many reasons that people use to explain an unhappy existence . . . and almost all of them inevitably fall into one huge category, which I call “excuses.”

The rest of the chapter will introduce you to 18 of the most commonly used ones, along with a brief commentary about each of them. This will give you a primer before you go on to learn the Excuses Begone! method that’s detailed in the rest of the book.

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. It Will Be Difficult
While this may seem like a supportable reason, it’s clearly an excuse designed to discourage you. If you’re honest with yourself about the difficulty you’re experiencing with addiction, obesity, depression, shyness, low self-esteem, loneliness, or any other life aspect, you’ll recognize the useless suffering you’re hanging on to.

If it’s going to be difficult anyway, why not opt for some useful suffering?

Still, the fact is that you have absolutely no incontrovertible evidence that what you’d like to change is actually going to be challenging. It’s just as likely to be easy for you to change your thinking as it is to be hard.

Decades ago when I decided to give up smoking, for example, I used Excuses Begone! beliefs. It was encouraging for me to realize how much more difficult it was to smoke than not to smoke. The smoker part of me always had to have a pack of cigarettes and an ashtray within easy reach, carry matches or lighters, dispose of ashes, deal with smelly fingers and stained teeth, earn money to pay for this disgusting habit, be careful exhaling noxious fumes, cough up nicotine residue from my lungs, buy lighter fluid and flints, and on and on.
The truth was that continuing to smoke was the real difficulty, and changing my habit involved one simple thing: not smoking.

This is true for virtually all of your habits. The belief that they’re going to be hard to change is only a belief! Making something difficult in your mind before you even undertake the effort is an excuse.

Nothing in the world is difficult for those who set their mind to it, as an ancient Taoist master concluded.

2. It’s Going to Be Risky
Again, this may seem like a good reason, but if you convince yourself that something involves more risk than you’re capable of assuming or have the strength for, this is a poor excuse for not taking action. What is unquestionable here is your ability to choose your belief about the drawbacks of this endeavor.

Over the years, countless people have thanked me for taking so many risks in speaking out about what I believe so fervently. I’m always taken aback by such expressions of gratitude – I’ve never assumed that I was being courageous by speaking my mind.
Even if my opinions and statements were certain to be perceived as offensive by large numbers of people, the idea that being myself and also being willing to express my own truth involved taking a chance never occurred to me.

I don’t believe you can ever be 100 percent certain that something will be risk free. Holding back in silence out of fear of retribution or criticism could actually be the more hazardous behavior.

Speaking from the heart doesn’t always mean critical fallout; after all, about 99 percent of the time, the feedback I receive is positive and heartwarming.

The fear involved in anticipating a risk simply serves to keep you from taking action. When you convince yourself that it’s your job to avoid taking chances, you can continue your familiar habits. If you’re accustomed to playing it safe by attempting to please everyone you encounter, then you’re a victim of your own excuse making.

The point is that if you fear the opinions of others – or if you fear failure or success – then anything that you think or do will involve some risk. But if you’re willing to live from your convictions and fulfill your destiny, then what others perceive as taking chances are simply the ways you choose to elevate your life.
Even if you do believe that changing the way you think will involve risks, so what? The peace that you feel because you ignored the worry of a risk is far greater than staying stuck in a belief that is really only an excuse.

As writer Logan Pearsall Smith once noted: “What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?”

3. It Will Take a Long Time
Is this a valid reason, or an excuse not to proceed? If you wish to elevate your life, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes, does it? And this is particularly true when you’re conscious that you live your life, every single bit of it, in the present moment and only in the present moment. All you ever get is now. Every thought occurs in the present moment, and every change has a defining moment.

Often it takes something or someone outside of you to help you realize that.

An entertaining psychiatrist named Dr. Murray Banks does just that with the following little exchange between himself and a woman who has decided not to return to school because she’d be too old when she finished.
“How old would you be in five years if you got that degree by starting now?” he asks her. “Forty-nine,” she replies. “And how old will you be in five years if you don’t go back to school?” “Forty-nine,” she answers, seemingly confused . . . but with the look of one who’s become conscious of the excuses she created for not elevating her life.

However long it took you to create any self-defeating habit, you did it all one day, one moment at a time. There’s absolutely no proof that anything will take a long time, since even the idea of “a long time” is an illusion – there is only now. Make this awareness a part of your consciousness.

The Tao Te Ching reinforces this in perhaps the most famous line in that masterful work: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Elevate or move on in your life, not by thinking big and in long time periods, but with consciousness focused on the present moment.

Stay tuned for part 2 – There Will Be Family Drama…

Sharkwater

Sharkwater is a brilliant documentary by Canadian filmmaker Rob Steward. Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. This was an eye-opening film about how sharks are treated. Many sharks are killed for their fins because some of the Asian cultures think that shark fins have magical healing powers (which they have no scientific proof of) and make shark fin soup. They sometimes take the fins off the sharks and put them back in the water to die. Something has to be done about this horrible practice. Please watch this film and let me know what you think.

Difficult choices

To live content with small means...

I am working on it...

Lip Service

I got some lovely Valentines presents! Thank you Tess for this wonderful bracelet (that she made) and the lovely "Lip Service" teapot she sent me for Valentine's day. They made it here safely all the way from Edmonton! I love the card and the necklace too:)


Images taken by SandyLee

B MINE

Happy Valentine's Day! I get to pick my hunny up from the airport at 3pm today:) I am so excited I may explode! I think he has something super fun planned. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's day filled with love, laughter and fun! xoxo

Star Apple

A student gave this to me yesterday...


Photo taken by SandyLee

Why don't you...

...even when you're around

Only 3 more days till I see my hunny...

What are you doing with your hunny for Valentines day? If your single this year (Like I was last year) what are you doing to celebrate the day with the friends that you love? Last year I had a date with four of my fabulous friends for dinner and a film, I believe we saw Confessions of a Shopaholic and I made them all a heart shaped ring as an I love you present.

In what ways would life be different if...

I found this worksheet on my desk while teaching today. It is an activity to help students fine tune their abilities to analyse the problems of tomorrow, and to cause them to think today. So in what ways do would life be different for you if...

...if sleep wasn't necessary?

...if taste was eliminated?

...if there were no shadows?

...if the continents were all connected?

...if life expectancy was 200 years?

...if memories were only obtained for a year?

...if no feelings were ever felt?

...if change did not occur?

...if mistakes were not committed?

...if we couldn't dream?

...if we all looked the same?

...if fantasy was gone?

I love these exercises because they make us think about how lucky we are to have some of the little things in life that we take for granted such as memories, dreams, and feelings. Oh, and it also makes us think outside of the box! In what ways do you think life would be different if...

Taste the glory in each day...

Spring is coming!

It has been snowing here everyday for I can not remember how long! I love snow but I do not love driving in it! Spring please come soon so I can be warm and wear pretty spring clothes...

Before Sunrise and Before Sunset

These are two of my favourite films. If you haven't seen them you are missing out! I love Julie Delpy!


Before Sunrise - Can the greatest romance of your life last only one night?
An American (Jesse - Ethan Hawke) backpacking in Europe meets a French girl (Celine -Julie Delpy) on a train and instantly falls in love with her. He convinces her to get off in Vienna with him and spend the night. They have no money so they end up sleeping in the park. Unfortunately, they both know that this will probably be their only night together.


Before Sunset - What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?
The same two people but nine years after their night in Vienna. Jesse writes a book about their time hoping Celine will read it and come to the book singing in Paris...

These two films remind me of my time in Europe and of how spontaneous life really is. Their topics of conversation are witty, insightful and cynical yet romantic. I would love to see another sequel nine years after Before Sunset! I am so in love with these two:) Please watch these films in oder and tell me what you think! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Worm

I am such a book worm especially in the cold winter months. Right now I am reading three books:

This book is quite inspiring! This is a true story about Mortenson's dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. So far he is having quite a bit of problems with cultural differences.
Everyone I know who has read this book as recommended it, so I thought I would give it a read. I just stared it and it is great so far!
On my quest to eat healthier and live a healthier lifestyle I decided to read this book. It has some great information about being a Vegetarian and Vegan. Silverstone coaches you though three different diet choices depending on your level of commitment. She explains how animals are treated, and what they eat-this had me in tears:(She also gives you some great veggie recipes!

Have you read any good books lately? I would love to have some suggestions for what to read next. What do you do during the cold winter months to keep you busy?

Understood

“ Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood." Oscar Wilde,The Sphinx Without a Secret

On good days

"And I learned what is obvious to a child. That life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered. But most of all, I learned that life is about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks with my hand on her knee and sometimes, on good days, for falling in love."

— Nicholas Sparks

Red Ribbon

What a simple yet cute idea! Red ribbon is so lovely and who doesn't have a watch without a strap?!?

Happiness

Soap and Glory

My lovely friend Tess left me some Soap and Glory products when she moved away! She left me The Righteous Butter™ Body Butter and Flake Away™ Spa Body Polish. Both retail for about $10-$15. They are a bargain for this price! They have a gorgeous fragrance that makes me smile:) The body butter is thick, Non-greasy and absorbs quickly and the body polish to leaves the skin extra soft, hydrated and smelling wonderful! They have a whole line of products that include skincare, bath and body, cosmetics and fragrances! So very exciting!

I can't wait to try them all! I will keep you updated:)

You should give them a try too and let me know what you think!

Cupcake Bandages

What a brilliant idea! How sweet would it be to make ouchy go away by wearing a cupcake bandage over it?!? However, I would also like a real cupcake to make sure it was extra specially better!

Antlers

I am always looking for fun ways to display my jewelry. These antler necklace holders are pretty darn cool! I may just have to borrow this idea...

Love always x

The lost art of sending and receiving snail mail is so exciting! I am just about finished sending my friends who live far away Valentines wishes! It's so much fun to remind your friends that you love them on Valentines day, who says it's just for couples?!?! I love sending a fun card and perhaps a magazine article or something that I saw that reminded me of them. I sent an extra special one to my hunny! I hope he gets it before he flies home in eight days:)

Happy Feburay

Good morning my lovelies,

Today is the first day of February! This month is always one of the most snowy and cold in Canada. I imagine I will be doing a lot of snowshoeing, cuddling up with a good book, and watching films this month. Most of us have Valentines day to look forward to! And I have my hunny coming home around the tenth to be excited about, he will have been gone a whole month!

On the weekend we had a storm that left 30cm of snow and -12 temperatures!!! And it's still snowing!!! This is what I saw when I woke up this morning...

Happy February Everyone and keep warm!

There is a car under there somewhere!!!

All images taken by SandyLee