Easter Get-away

Easter weekend 2006, Kirsten and I took advantage of the great weather, and the time off from work and headed out to Bonnyville to spend a few days with the "Family Wood". The added news of knowing that the Oilers had finally made the playoffs helped me to decompress - partially... But, the time spent out-of-town took care of the rest. Just 2 1/2 hours north east of Edmonton, the family acreage is what I'd consider an oasis of comfort. There, you can sleep in late and no one will rouse you. You can relax in front of a huge flat screen televsion and watch news, movies and sports all you like. You can go for hikes along the surrounding trails or around the nearby lakes. And after all of that you can eat yourself silly and get into a good deep converation on world politics. It was fantastic.



Attached are two quick shots I took, one of Kirsten and her mom (Patti) checking the horses, and the other of the sweet-bread (PASKA) that we baked on Friday night (Even I tried my hand at it)

Ty and Carla's Wedding in Banff ~ The Legacy of Coca-Cola

We spent a lovely weekend in Banff where we went to Tyler and Carla's wedding. The wedding was beautiful. The ceremony was at St. George in the Pines Church - a small old stone chapel likely bult in the 1800s. It was very cool indeed. The reception was at the Juniper. This was a run-down old hotel first built in the 60s that recently got a massive face lift. They did a great job bringing it up to date. We'd definitely stay there again. You should have seen the view from the restaurant. It was end to end floor to ceiling windows which opened up to a terrace that looked out across the valley and the surrounding mountains. It was a great spot and Ty and Carla know how to throw a party keeping the dance floor "bumping with classics" like Maestro Fres-Wes, N'Sync and some vintage Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation.



The next day we went on a great hike on the Cave and Basin trail.


On the side of the trail we found an old rusty 280 mL Coke can from the 70s. It was strange to imagine how at the time it was thrown away, littering was almost publically accepted. But even more stange to think about was how this can had survived out there, in prestine wilderness, and a National Park, with no one picking it up???

Kirsten's First Green Stripe

This week Kirsten received her first green stripe after only having enrolled 2 months ago. The slog of the beginner student, in any new sport or discipline, is never an easy one and this remains true in Karate. You have to observe patience and be determined not to become discouraged when learning the basics, which can be at times, repetitive and even tedious. In the past, it was tradition for martial arts students to be left to work on their own and only on beginner material for months, and months. This was a form of a weeding out process. Only those who stuck it out would be rewarded through further and more advanced training. Kirsten has already cleared one of the biggest hurdles. There is no question that the first 2-3 months of training are the most difficult motivationally. It most definitely gets more interesting from here.

Congrats Kirsten!

Off to Graduate School!!!

I received some very exciting, and unexpected news recently. I have been enrolled in a BPA program in Communication Studies for the last 6 months and recently decided to apply to the Athabasca University MAIS graduate program. My application was late (by only a few hours) and I was told that it likely wouldn't be tabled for review. I figured I would need to re-apply in the Fall. But, unexpectedly, I received confirmation this week that I was accepted into the Sept 2006 intake. I find it so odd how, after high school, I had no interest in anymore schooling of any kind and now I am about to begin my Master's... I can't help but smile.

The beauty is, the MAIS program is flexible enough that I, along with my advisor, will be able to taylor course selection and content to fit my focus of study exactly. It's eleven courses to completion, which at 3 manageable courses a year will hopefully only take me 3-4 years while working full-time. It's pretty exciting - now all I have to do is do it!

This, That and The Other

Kirsten and I wanted an easy way to keep our close friends and family up to date on what we've been up to. We both have family and friends living in other parts of the country, and the world, who we don't get to see anywhere near as often as we'd like. So, we hope this will help with that. We'll try and update it on a semi often basis and we hope you enjoy.