PUPPY!

Our newest family member... isnt he so fricking CUTE?! He doesnt have a name yet and we are open to suggestions! Hope you all had a good weekend- I sure did!

Friday... yessssssssssssssss

SO last night we had some friends over including a guest of honor, you can read my husband Jo-Ben's blog for the full story. It was a really good night, good food (thank you, thank you) good friends and lots of laughs. I made a desert that is my new favorite thing, its called Banana Pudding Squares, basically all of the flavors and elements of a cheese cake crossed with a banana pudding/cream pie... sooooo good and really easy to make- no baking! To find the recipe go to kraftfoods.ca and search Banana Pudding Squares in the search engine. I HIGHLY recommend it. One of my favorite things about the meal last night (mini meat loaves with mushroom bbq glaze, rosemary mashed potatoes and honey garlic baby carrots in case you were wondering) was that I basically prepared everything the night before so it only took me a half hour after work to put together and after our guests left I chopped everything up, added some broth and sharp chedder on top and whipped up a Shepard's pie- Jo-Ben's fave. Love it when that happens with left overs... with just the two of us (and my aversion to left overs) if there is anything left over it usually sits in the fridge and then gets tossed so when I can reuse everything and make a totally different totally awesome meal- I'm pretty stoked. After we cleaned up (I mean I cleaned up and Jo-Ben watched sports highlights, hahahah he DID do an amazing job tidying the house all afternoon while I was at work- thanks budz!) we watched the latest ep of Big Brother on our laptop in bed and I promptly zonked out. All in all and awesome night. Woke up to snow AGAIN- wonder when winter will ever end- looks like we wont be getting spring at all out here in Alberta. I am pretty sure it is just going to go from winter to summer straight away. Hmmmmm wonder when we will be able to get that sod laid without some spring... what a weirrrrrd province I have found myself living in. I remember way back in Feb it was really gray outside and I said to our secretary Lindsay that it looked like rain and she was like "whaaaaaat? rain in Feb?! that would be so weird." Hahahaha I just laughed, THAT'S WHAT ITS SUPPOSED TO DO IN FEB!!! I guess I am here in Alberta but my mind is still geared toward BC weather. I'm sure as soon as I start getting used to things out here we will move back to the valley and I will feel like I'm drowning! I'm pretty excited about our basement project- haven't blogged about it yet but we are finishing out our basement into a suite- something that we have been planning for over a year when we originally bought the house... well they were just plans and not so much a house at the time but you know what I mean. The suite got all framed up over the last day and a half and it looks awesome, the plumber was in there yesterday doing the rough ins and the electrician should be coming in soon so things are really getting underway. I will post pics when I take some- probably this weekend. I think its going to be a really great suite when its done which will most likely be by the end of the summer. Once it gets warmer out we will be working on the yard so there will be ALLOT going on around the Barkey res. One more thing to post about- check out my friend Andrew's blog. Its really awesome and his latest post about Darfur is really intriguing. It kinda correlates to something I was thinking about that we discussed about at dinner last night- A friend of mine was talking about the Anglican church that she goes to and how they read this prayer that goes 'forgive me for what I have done and for what I have not done' and its just so interesting that its not always the sins that we commit that need forgiveness but also what we can do that we just don't. Anyways, just some thoughts... Happy Friday everyone- hope you all have a great weekend.

the creative juices are flowin

First of all, I am loving this blog: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/
An awesome food blog by the ultimate frugal gourmet chef, he creates awesome dishes using ingredients found for 99 cents... hes been referd to as Rachel Ray on crack, I'm lovin it... don't think I would attempt to recreate his McNuggitini (gross!) but hes got some really interesting ideas.

Also, I found another crafty site on my new fave blog (how about orange) called design sponge (http://www.designspongeonline.com/) I am IN LOVE with this site- probably spent 2 hours browsing it today and getting some RAD ideas for upcoming projects to spruce up and personalize my house... Ive already informed Jo-Ben of my plans to hit up Ikea and a craft store in Calgary this weekend- hes not thrilled but I cant wait. I will be sure to post photos of my new projects and give credit where credit is due... these people are geniuses!! Ill post some pics from the site of crafts that I am planning to tackle (all from the DIY section of the design sponge site). Some of them have provided me with some awesome Christmas gift ideas.

Lap top cozy made from felt

Leaning Shelf

Jewelry display box

Fancy Cork Board

Kids room shadow figures

Key Hanging Board

Wine crate display boxes

festive table runner

Modern Christmas ornaments

Bird tray

I am also going to tackle a project idea from the blog how about orange where she made a huge canvas out of some funky material to hang as art, she also made matching pillows, however me and sewing don't mix so don't know if I am about to even think about doing that

Hope you are as inspired as I am! ~Ciao!

My Weekend in BC!

I had a GREAT weekend-



Wednesday night Jo-Ben picked me up from work and we headed straight out to Calgary where we picked up a BBQ and some stuff for our deck (after much research and shopping on the computer and in real life he finally picked one and I think hes quite happy with it!) After we picked up the BBQ etc and grabbed a quick bite to eat he dropped me off at the air port and I caught my 9 o'clock flight to Abbotsford where my sister was waiting to pick me up. Sooooo good to see her. We have had some health scares with my sister lately so it was really nice to see her in person and hug her etc. Headed to Mom and Dad's house and pretty much went to bed right away because it was pretty late and I had had a loooong day.



Thursday slept in. ahhhh*. Went to get my hair cut and colored at my fave place with my fave hair stylist. double ahhhhhh*. Dropped off my taxes at our "tax man" Hes like 100 years old and does our taxes for super cheap and loves seeing us year after year- gotta love the tax man! After lunch Rebecca and I went to Aldergrove and met up with my sis in law Anya and her little babe Mateo. Got to see my bro in law Josh's packing abilities as they were gearing up for a move down to North Carolina in their Vanagan with their baby, dog, cat and all of their stuff. It was like real life tetras! I never got to see the final product but their landlord said that the Van was packed to the gills! Hoping that they have a safe trip over the next week or so. My sister and I took Anya and Mateo out to the zoo and to Starbucks for the afternoon. It was allot of fun and although chilly ended up being a beautiful day. LOVED spending that time with Anya and Mateo and seeing his new "tricks" Later that evening we had dinner with my Mom and Rebecca's fiance Josh. Watched the new ep of the Office and hung out with my sibs before heading to bed.



Slept in AGAIN on Friday... had plans to go out for breakfast with Josh, Anya and Mateo but my sister had an exam and my parents were at work so I was vehicleless... (sleeping was fine by me too!) My sister and I headed out to Langly and went out for lunch at an AWESOME Vietnamese restaurant with my Uncle and a couple of cousins. I worked some finishing construction for my Uncle around this time last year and he and my cousins would go out to this Vietnamese restaurant quite often so we were having a reunion of sorts hahaha. It was fun times- always a laugh with those guys. Friday afternoon I got to see Rebecca in all of her bridal glory at a wedding dress fitting. She looked SO beautiful. Cant wait for the wedding in July when I get to see the real deal! We also met with her wedding planner and got some details sorted out which was fun- I love that kinda stuff. Friday night I headed out to my cousin Jeff and Sara's house for a party with a bunch of our friends out there... I miss everyone soooooooooo much- I don't think I have laughed so hard as I did Friday night in a long time.



On Saturday morning I woke up to my Mom making me my fave menno dish- Blueberry Verenikie and Shmont with Farmer Sausage. Its basically a home made boiled blueberry perogie with a cream gravy and sugar with Farmer Sausage on the side.... sooooooo good. She made them especially for me & they were delish- I was in heaven. Saturday afternoon Rebecca's bridesmaids met us at Mom and Dad's house and we all took off for New West for a day of shopping! We looked everywhere for bridesmaids dresses and when we couldn't find anything for like less than a few hundred dollars we opted to try the mall and headed to Metro Town... we were probably there for about 20 mins when we found the bridesmaids dresses in a retail store for 75 buckaroos and even better it was buy one get one 50% off so we got 4 dresses for the price of 3. After that score we were pretty pumped and even ended up finding Rebecca's undergarments (now if that isn't sister bonding I don't know WHAT is) and her wedding shoes and I think I found the ones that I want for my wedding shoes too- lots of really cute white strappy sandals out right now- when I was getting married I couldn't find a pair of white shoes to save my life! Funny how that works hey? After a loooong day of shopping we met the boys of the bridal party at Moxies down town for dinner and then we all went to an improv show on Granville Island- so fun. I love hanging out with those kids- my sister has a really awesome group of friends.



Sunday morning slept in (seeing a trend here?) and then hung out with the fam- Mom made some awesome scones for breakfast and Josh (my sister fiance... yes, I am going to have TWO brother in laws that are named Josh- thanks allot REBA!) came over and watched reruns of the Gilmore Girls with us (ok, so hes got a few points in my books) We just chilled and hung out- it was really nice. Sunday afternoon my Mom and I went to Josh & Anya's landlords house and picked up some paintings that we bought from Josh that they left for us & then headed to my Grandpa & Grandmas apartment building where my aunt was preparing to host a shower for my sister... we helped get things sorted and around 3 the shower started. It was pretty sweet- my aunt had organized a co-ed shower and invited like ALL of my aunts and uncles and cousins, my sisters fiance's family, lots of my parents friends, the entire bridal party came and so did some of Rebecca and Josh's mutual friends. There were allot of people there (which = allot of gifts- fun!) It was so cool for me to be able to see so many people all in one place... makes seeing people on a short trip home really easy! I was in charge of games (oh joy) and I played the newlywed game with the couple where I asked questions such as: Josh, if you were to describe Rebecca first thing in the morning as a flower which one would she be? a. a Sunflower b. a Bird of Paradise or c. a Snap Dragon? hahaha. They would take turns leaving the room and answering a series of questions and then the other one would come back into the room and be asked the same questions to see if they could get the same awnser. For every wrong awnser they would have to put a piece of Bubalicious in their mouths... lets just say that by the end of the game they had some pretty big wads of gum. I think the whole shower went over pretty well, Rebecca and Josh had a good time and felt loved and that was the point-oh yeah, and there was a ton of amazing food from my aunts so no matter what happened it was bound to be a huge success! Straight away from the shower my Mom brought me to the air port and I was back off to Calgary! Jo-Ben was there waiting for me at the baggage claim and told me that the roads were super icy- boy was he NOT even kidding!!! After getting my bags (I left with one small suitcase and came back with that one plus another large suitcase... surprise, surprise- I think I should just always go with two big suitcases even if I only need a small one when I am visiting my Mom) The drive home to Three Hills was trecterous to put it mildly- it took us about 2 hours to get home driving over patches of ice about an inch thick. Not fun. I am so ready for spring.

The trip home was AWESOME- too short but awesome none the less. Although it was only a few days I managed to pack in allot of fun stuff and got allot accomplished so all in all I would say it was a major success. Can't wait till JULY!!!

Love him

Im going to BC tonight and I am so excited... green lushness here I come!!!

I love

this blog
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/

SO simple

I read this verse this weekend and thought of how so many of us often ask ourselves or others "what should I do? I dont know what to do." and end up fretting and worried or rushed (expecially in todays busy world) and the answer is so simple. I know that I dont take enough TIME out to just stand and look and then choose the path to go down. Insted I fret and worry and haistily often choose the wrong path... I think I just need to "stand and look" more often.
Jeremiah 6:16
16 This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

my funny husband

Today Jo-Ben and I were having Chili for lunch and he piled his with sharp cheddar, sliced scallions and a dollop of sour cream and proceeded to say "Amanda, look at this! Take a picture! Its so blog worthy!"
hahaha.

Everyones Going Coconuts

I have noticed that lately lots of the foodie blogs that I have been snooping on have been featuring some variation on Coconut Pancakes so this morning I decided to make an adaptation of my own. Here is how my recipe went down:

Amanda's Coconut Pancakes
1 can coconut milk
2 Tsp honey
1 1/2 C flour (all purpose or whole wheat)
1 C shredded, sweetened coconut
3 Tsp BP
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
3 L eggs

-In a small pot heat the coconut milk and honey until it barely comes to a simmer.
-Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
-In a small bowl whisk the eggs together.
-Add the coconut milk to the large bowl of dry ingredients & mix till combined.
-Add about 1/3 of the pancake mixture to the whisked eggs & then add the egg mixture back into the pancake mixture and mix quickly together.
-Cook pancakes on about M heat being very careful to watch them as the coconut burns quickly, a 1/4 cup measure makes a good sized pancake.
-Serve with sweetened whipped cream, butter, warmed maple syrup or brown sugar.

Makes about a dozen 1/4 C sized pancakes.

Wish I had pictures but I ate these suckers pretty quickly... I reserved some batter to make for Jo-Ben tomorrow morning so we will see what my "food critic" says about them tomorrow but I think they are pretty darn good.

I have been watching episodes of Top Chef and a new type of cooking that is very hip these days is called molecular gastronomy, and, though not my style of cooking, seems really interesting. Its a movement to introduce new techniques and sciences in the preparation and delivery of food... When you get down to it cooking and definitely baking are a science but molecular gastronomy is taking it to an extreme and cooking VERY scientifically. here is a link to a page of a molecular gastronamist who has some really cool videos of some examples of molecular cooking for example beet root vapor. http://www.youtube.com/user/oliverlicuisine . On top chef already on the first two episodes of the third season they have mentioned this style of cooking and have used variations including aromas of eucalyptus and spices.

Here are two pages dedicated to this style of cooking, the first one features a flicker album of molecularily cooked food and the pictures look AMAZING. My style of cooking would probably be more simple and home cooked but I really like a simple and clean looking plate and these pictures depict just that.
http://www.alacuisine.org/alacuisine/2004/11/molecular_gastr.html
http://khymos.org/

I was looking on one molecular gastronomy site and they featured bread in an aerosol can... not too sure how excited I am about that one considering what a carb lush I am but its all a really interesting concept- it kinda reminds me of the Jetsons with the tablets that would come out of that machine and would taste like a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and veggies or whatever... I think Ill stick to good ol down home cooking.

Quick Post

So, I had to post a pic of my lunch today as I thought it looked delightfully springtimey (whole wheat tomato and oregano dressed pasta salad with broccoli, grape tomatoes and feta, what could be better?!) Finally, spring is coming to central Alberta, our grass still isn't green but the sun is OUT and this weekend we are supposed to get a high of 22! whoa! I am so ready.Also, I HAD to post pics of the desert I made for our company last night, its called an Angel Lush and you can find it on the Kraft foods website. It didn't look QUITE like the picture but it tasted amazing. I varied the recipe a little and made my own angel food and made a lemon one rather than a plain one. It was fab. *special thanks to my wonderful husband for being my "foodie photographer" for the cake.

mmmmm corn chowda

So , I basically felt like laying on the couch for the entirety of the evening as soon as I got home from work but when Jo-Ben said that he was going to pull out a can of clam chowder for dinner I knew I couldn't let that happen... I had just spoken to my mum and she was watching some cooking show and they were making corn chowder which made me think of last months Real Simple magazine cover which featured a big steaming bowl of corn chowder and wouldn't ya know it- I put those thoughts together and basically the only ingredients we had in our fridge/freezer and whipped up a beautiful bowl of smokey corn chowder and cheddar buttermilk biscuits (biscuit recipe out of Betty Crocker cook book- tried and true.) Much better than a boring old can of clam chowder I think... It was fresh, spicy and comforting. I basically made up the recipe myself and here is how it went down:

1) Cut up a bunch of bacon and fry it up in a big pot on med heat, take it out to drain on a paper towel when its all crispy and leave the drippings in the pot.
2) Lower the heat and cook some finely chopped onion and garlic. Add in some smoked paprika and red pepper flakes to taste (for me that's a whole lot)
3) Add a bag of frozen corn and about 3 cups of milk with a few teaspoons of corn starch whisked in & turn up heat to bring soup to a boil. Once it bubbles bring it back down to low to keep soup nice and hot. I also took half the soup out and pureed it in the blender to make it a bit smoother and then put it back in the pot.
4) Serve with bacon pieces, sliced scallions, cheddar cheese and salt & pepper to taste. Oh- and some delish biscuits with butta.

It turned out quite well but next time I would probably add some little red potatos halved and more bacon... left over rotisserie chicken shredded up and thrown on top would be pretty swell too. I might just have to do that with the leftovers.

Dins!

mmmmmm mmmmm smokey corn chowder

The steaminess fogged up my lens!

Jo-Ben digging for some butter for his biscuit.
Was a pretty good dinner for a pretty drizzly day, glad I got off the couch!

mmmmmm apricots (keep reading, you'll get it)

Last night went to the Prairie Bible College Athletics Awards- it was so cute. Jo-Ben coached along with his friend Richard for the men's futsol team this year. Futsol is like soccer but played with a smaller ball and indoors on a court, you need to have way better ball control and handling and its allot quicker of a game. Anyways, Jo-Ben was born to be a coach... he LOVES coaching and it was so cool yesterday seeing these guys get their awards and having Richard and Jo-Ben hand them out and how proud they were of them... even though its just a small bible school team its really cool to see how the guys are changed, challenged and bonded by being on the team. I was all up there with our camera being the "soccer mom" hehe. Ill post pics later. We also took some modelesqe pics of the two of us in front of our house because our house numbers just went up and that's just how cool we are. I know you cant wait to see those.Jo-Ben & Richard at the awards banquet

Jo-Ben giving Benner the most improved award

Richard, Jo-Ben and Eric posing... this was my "soccer mom" moment because Eric is one of my "sons" on the team... a couple of the boys come over to our house for dinner a few times a month so I had to snap a posed pic. :) Eric got the leadership award.

And here is John posing with the coaches. John got the coaches choice award and I thought it was cool cause John was the goal keeper and Jo-Ben was the goalie coach.

The team.

The next few months are going to be pretty crazy around our place, we are in the process of figuring out getting our basement suite finished out and the yard done. Its really exciting but allot of work. We have everything planned and mapped out but now its just putting those plans into action... hope we survive! Jo-Ben has been fretting over selecting a BBQ- its really funny to me, I'm just like get whatever you want just stay in the budget but hes all like telling me about every feature and not that hes stressed about it or whatever but hes all like, "Amanda, I don't know what to do! The BBQ I was set on doesn't come in natural gas!!! Now what?!" hahaha... its all pretty amusing to me. I just cant wait till the yard is all done, fence is up, were BBQ-ing, Basement suite is done, we find nice renters ... yikes that's quite a list.

Found a really good recipe on kraftfoods.ca... Ive never been good at cooking chicken, if its not juicy and delicious I would rather just not eat it at all and since mine hardley ever turns out juicy and delicious we mostly eat red meat and fish (and tofu when I manage to pull a fast one on Jo-Ben but considering I want to keep him around that doesn't happen very often) Well, I found this recipe for "Bruchetta Chicken" that looks quick and easy and delish plus I have had a dish like this before at a friends house and I remember it being awesome so we will see how it goes- will post about it... anyone have any ridiculously good chicken recipes? I am also planning on "making" this cake called an Angel Lush- its basically an angel food cake split into three parts horizontally and the layers are filled with whipped cream and crushed pineapple and then the top is topped with whipped cream and sliced strawberries... looks amazing and so easy! oh! also- my mom sent a bunch of stuff with my cousins when they came to visit and one of the things was a huge cost-co sized bag of dried apricots. So, I think one time like a year and a half ago I told her I really like dried apricots (which I do) but ever since, every time she can, she sends me back home with a big bag of them... or sends them along with someone visiting me.... so I have THREE HUGE bags of dried apricots. I have a really good recipe for apricot squares that Jo-Ben loves and I have made a really good compote type of sauce for on Chicken or Ham but I am stumped as to what to do with all of these dried apricots... (Ive also put them in countless cookie & muffin recipes so don't go there) I'm racking my brain here, help me out people!!! :)

On a crafty note- my cousin Heather has a beautiful craft up on her blog that she posted on a few days ago that I am going to do this weekend- cant wait. looks awesome and so easy. Its basically fabric covered picture frames hung on big satin ribbon... how much fun is Jo-Ben going to have scouring for fabric and ribbon with me this weekend?! SO MUCH!

Well, should get back to work- coffee break is over. :( They go by so fast.

Weekend

Hello Bloggers!

Had a great weekend...
On Friday after work Jo-Ben and I had a romantic dinner of Subway on our drive in to Red Deer (I know your all jealous... bet your husbands aren't as romantic as mine- hehe) We met up with some friends for an early show at the new theater which is on the South end of town so we can get there in about 40-45 mins (yay!) Saw the movie 21, it was pretty good- typical casino, gambling, fraud, trickster type movie... very entertaining. I mostly liked it because the lead actor is the same lead from the movie Across the Universe which I watched on DVD recently which has become one of my top 10 faves ever. After the movie we went out for coffee- it was really fun to go on a double date, since Jo-Ben has been out of town we haven't had the opportunity to do that for months... plus we love our friends Matt & Ashlea so it was fun to spend time with them- lots of laughs.
Saturday was a lazy day... I spent most of it cleaning as well as grocery shopping and preparing for my cousins John & Heather and their baby boy Carter to come stay over later that night. I made a Lasagna my favorite way with a middle layer of Ricotta Cheese, lots of fresh Spinach and lots of whole grape tomatoes- yum! Also went to the hardware store with Jo-Ben and picked out his BBQ to be ordered in in a few weeks... hes pretty stoaked about that... I am too actually- it has a rotisserie and a side burner so we can cook an entire meal on it... will be very nice in the summer when it gets too hot to cook inside (notice I didn't say when I don't feel like cooking? I never don't feel like cooking!) Later that night we watched a final 4 NCAA b-ball game and witnessed our beloved North Carolina Tar Heels lose and bow out of the tourney- very sad. Later that night we started the movie Transformers and stopped it mid way when my cousins John & Heather showed up! VERY COOL having them come out to visit us. They are out in Alberta because John has some work thing for a couple of days this week in Calgary so they came out on Sat night and stayed over at our house until Sunday eve. By the time they flew in on Saturday night, rented a car and drove out to Tres Hills it was well past midnight and they were all tired- they slept in our room with Carter and we slept in the TV room on the futon. Apparently Carter was fussy all night and they didn't get a very good sleep but we didn't hear him! It was a pretty good test of how well our walls were insulated I guess! Poor guy didn't know where he was and his sleep schedule was all thrown off plus he was waking up next to Mom and Dad... must have been a little weirded out.
So on Sunday we all slept in... I woke up a little earlier than usual (yes that's right- before noon) got everything out for brunch. We had lots of coffee, fruit and fruit dip (whipped cream and yogurt) bacon, blueberry coffee cake, pumpkin walnut muffins with cream cheese icing and made to order omelettes with the works. Pretty darn good if I do say so myself.... the only thing about omelettes is that you have to eat in stages because they are made to order so every ones cant be ready at the same time to eat together but turns out that with a little near one year old that's how you eat anyways so it all worked out! After brunch we all just hung out and chatted (and drank more coffee) Went for a little ride in the car around noon. John and Heather rented a Mazda 5 which was pretty neat- they are like a van/car/suv... the back portion pops up so it can seat up to 6... Heather tried sitting in the back but the seats are a tad to small for grownups but fit the car seat (or would fit kids) perfectly... it was a pretty sweet ride....(Que Jo-Ben freaking out because Amanda likes something resembling a van- ee-ghads!) We gave them the grand tour of Three Hills... showed them my office and the shop, took a ride down Main Street, showed them some of the new developments around town & Carter fell asleep so all in all it was a good tour! hahaha- Three Hills isn't exactly the prettiest right now considering we haven't had a rain fall in who knows how long and everything has been covered in snow- its pretty brown and grey right now... kinda embarrassing. hahaha. After the grand tour we came back to our place and I popped the Lasagna in the oven... we hung out for a couple of more hours, John took a nap- poor guy was kept awake all night by his lovely son... Heather is like the energizer bunny though- didn't even looked phased! Had some early dins and then John, Heather & Carter were off to Calgary... Jo-Ben and I finished the Transformers movie which I have to admit I was hesitant upon watching but ended up really enjoying, the main actor is acting in the new Indiana Jones movie and hes got something about him that is very funny/charming so I cant wait to watch Indiana Jones now! I was pretty pooped so after the movie and a little bit of tidying little finger prints off of my coffee table etc. I plopped into bed pretty early.
All in all an awesome weekend. Only a week and a half till I head to BC- SO EXCITED. Have lots of plans while I am there... I am going to see my nephew who I haven't seen since he was a week old and he will be over 4 months now... lots of weddingy stuff for my little sister- bridesmaids dress shopping, shoe shopping, meeting with the wedding planner, hanging out with the wedding party, bridal shower. whoa. ... going to see some old friends and family from home... lots of fun- cant wait. I will post some pics I got of Carter being silly from this weekend later tonight. Till then! CIAO :)

Hanging Tough

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20188682,00.html

Are you serious?! Beatle Mania?!? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA my side hurts...

Then:

and Now:

I'm predicting a HUGE come back... hahaha yeah, riiiiiiight.

ALSO in other news...
http://www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,20188529,00.html

oh my gosh, too funny.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor

My good friend Ryan went to Ethiopia to film a documentary for City TVs Breakfast Television (where he works in Edmonton) http://www.citytv.com/edmonton/yourcity_55313.aspx
Check it out.
Jo-Ben and I have just finally recently "adopted" a child through Compassion Canada. We should have a long time ago but with moving around so much and having our address change every 6 months its been hard to do anything like that... not that that is a valid excuse nor am I trying to use it as one. I'm so glad we finally have done this, his name is Dickens and hes a 5 year old boy from Kenya... he looks like an awesome little kid. Jo-Ben was especially drawn to his bright pink sandals. I have always been sort of leery towards just shoving my money to these large corperation type of outfits, not knowing if my money is actually going to to that amazing little child staring back at me from my fridge... Jo-Ben did some research and a rep from Compassion Canada said that a min of 80% of our money goes toward that kid unlike some others that give a majority of the money to the community. Either way, I think its good to help... I mean all of us have so much to give but I am really excited to see how our donation is going to help change THIS little guys life. Maybe one day we will be able to visit him- who knows. Anyways, this short documentary which I have posted a link for showcases a group from a small town here in Alberta that is impacting a community in Ethiopia in a huge way and their passion is pretty incredible... its also fun for me to see my friend Ryan being all 'TV guy Ryan' haha... *so proud, single tear* j/k. Please check it out, its only a couple of min long and its very interesting.
Also, some other good friends of mine from here in Red Deer have done some pretty incredible things to raise awareness by producing a full length documentary called E for Everyone... a link to one of their blogs is in my side bar (Andrew Kooman) He and his two brothers and a couple of friends basically travelled all around the world and produced a documentary http://www.eforeveryonemovie.com/about.html Here is a link to where you can read about the film... Its basically about two guys travelling around the world to find out the different ways that people in developing and developed countries seek true happiness and along the way the find how broken our world is and we see their journey of awakening and change. http://www.eforeveryonemovie.com/trailer.html Here is a link to some media about the film. They are currently showing it in film festivals and I believe that the DVD will be available shortly.
I have some pretty incredible friends- I am constantly in awe. Hope you check out some of their projects and are as encouraged as I am.

Corn on the Cob anyone?

Hey! Check it out- the Martha Stewart website always has a cookie of the day but this week is cupcake week so they are doing cupcake of the day... this was Tuesdays:

I am SO making these this weekend. My mom would LOVE them! They are just regular white or yellow cupcakes with white and yellow jelly bellies on them and the "pad of butter" is a soft candy like laffy taffy kinda softened to look like its melting with black and white sugar to look like salt and pepper... GENUS! I think they are super cute & I'm pretty sure that this is what I will be busy with on Saturday.... you should have seen me yesterday running all around Three Hills lookign for corn on the cob holders. We have a VERY small selection of places to get stuff- the IGA, True Value Hardware, Dollarland, IDA Pharmacy, Fields & the Bargain Shop... thats about it ... uhhh, yeah, I know!! So anyways, I was running all over the place asking for corn on the cob holders and everyone was looking at me like I was nuts (its JUST starting to feel like spring here in Alberta and there isn't going to be corn on the cob available around these parts any time soon) They especially looked at me like I was nuts when I was like "well, they aren't going to be used for corn on the cob" hahahaha come to think of it, I never really explained myself to any of the sales people... they are probably allllll wondering what that crazy girl wanted with corn on the cob holders that weren't going to be used for corn on the cob. HA. I finally found them at the hardware store, which doubles as the Sears pick up center... its really funny in a small town how things double for other things like we have a really cute flower shop here that also sells fudge, weird hey? Its called Flowers & Fudge... they also sell shoes and candles. Also at the video store (Video Hut) you buy coffee... its just so strange. When I first moved here I didn't know where to go for what because in a big city you just go to the Wal-Mart or whatever and everything is right there but in a small town you need to know the ins and outs. Like, for instance, in the summer there is a big fruit and veggie truck that comes from the Okanogan every Tuesday and sets up a farmers market in this church parking lot so you go shopping for all of your produce then & its the best... everyone walks there & visits and gets their fresh seasonal produce. Also, EVRYTHING is closed on Sunday, Main Street (yes, we have a Main Street) looks like a ghost town... if you havent gotten your shopping done for Sunday dinner, you are raiding your pantry. There are also weird things here and not normal things like we have a HUGE costume shop but we dont have a movie theater. And there are alot of "esentials" that I miss like a Starbucks or a Timmies. Its been an adjustment but its kinda fun. Sometimes Jo-Ben and I just look at each other and I can tell hes thinking- "is this really our life?" and my eyes are saying the exact same thing. ahhh life.

Amanda is thinking: Where are you spring?

Its been a stressful Tuesday... the week is in full swing and there is so much happening around the office today. There is an air of lightheartedness around here, however, because ITS APRIL FOOLS DAY! hahaha what a silly holiday. Check out these April Fools jokes: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
My friend here at work and I took full advantage of the day and pranked our boss... he is obsessed with his door lately (closing it even though it has a glass panel so we can see in and the walls are paper thin so we can hear him, making us knock before we come in, etc.) basically he has become door hungry (instead of power hungry... maybe door hungry is a form of power hungry...) With so many women running his life around this place I honestly don't blame the poor guy buts its funny to the rest of us. SO Irina and I got this bright idea to April Fools him and take his door right off the hinges and hide it... so last night we came to the office at like 10 and took his door off & hid it in the back furnace room... then we thought we need an aversion prank to distract him from the missing door so he doesn't realize its gone first thing in the morning... so we toilet papered his office... like I'm talkin MAJORLY toilet papered... hanging from the ceiling, his chair wrapped in it, his phone wrapped in it... oh and we unplugged his phone and he didn't figure out why he was dropping calls till like after lunch... and he just realized that his door is missing a few mins ago. hahahaha we're awesome. We are playing totally dumb too... we are actually blaming it on the mice that were roaming our office a few months ago (we had a mice problem when the shop was being built onto the office because of all of the holes in the existing office going to the new shop... ugghhhh so annoying) Anyways, we just keep blaming the pranks on the mice... do you think he'll buy it? hahaha... I hope so.
Its my cousin Angela's birthday today... pretty sure shes like turning 21 or something.... ahhh to be young again. heehee :) You can check out her blog on my side bar... I was thinking about having your birthday on April Fools... pretty sure that would be worse than having your birthday on Christmas... you would like pretty much FOR SURE get pranked every year because not only is it April Fools but the attention is on you for sure because its your birthday... I've never asked her about if she got "fooled" allot when she was growing up on her birthday. Ang, if you are reading this, did you?
The last couple of days have been awesome... Jo-Ben is soooooo happy that his up north work is done for the year, hes so less stressed and miserable, its unlike even when he was home for visits over the past few months... hes the fun loving Jo-Ben I know and love and I like it- I married a very funny man & I'm glad to have him back. :) Last night we went to a friends place and watched the Bachelor... uhhhh I mean just us girls watched it... Jo-Ben was not interested at all. hahaha, afterwards Irina and I pulled our prank (Jo-Ben stayed behind and rolled his eyes at us with Irina's husband Ken, who I also work with) and then we went back to their house and we all played rockband and then hit up the hot tub... I am HORRIBLE at singing (pitch, tone, ALL OF IT) but I sang my little heart out and it was a blast. Tonight we are having some other friends over for dinner and to play hearts... the 4 of us pretty much always play cards when we get together and its pretty much the most competitive card game you have ever seen when the 4 of us play. I was inspired by a Asian peanut salad that I saw on 101 cookbooks blog that I am adapting for tonight. I have already made the dressing and I made it the exact same as hers (but maybe with a pinch more red pepper flakes!) ... my favorite part of this dressing was that I was at the bottom of my peanut butter jar, I am pretty sure that there was about the right amount left, so I just added the rest of the ingredients for the dressing into the jar and shook it up. I think its a good way to use up every last bit of peanut butter in the jar! I am making the salad with Vermecelli noodles instead of Soba and asparagus, sugar snap peas and shredded carrot as well &I don't have any peanuts in the house so I am using some Cashews instead. Should be delish. I am also making the tofu the same as her Caramelized tofu recipe (I believe she made it with pecans and shredded Brussel sprouts) to fan on top of the salad. I am also going to make some fried brown rice with lots of veggies & chicken stir fried in there because that's what was left over in the fridge & I am pretty sure caramelized or not the boys will cringe at the very word tofu! I am pretty excited for this throw together Asian meal. For desert we are having fruit with chocolate fondue & fruit dip (had some left over whipped cream and yogurt to use up too so theres fruit dip!) Maybe this fresh meal will bring some fresh spring weather!... one can only hope* OOOooo in other exciting news my cousins John & Heather and their baby boy Carter are comming to visit us this weekend! Our first over night family guests- can't wait.