What's New (2014)
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December 31 2014
Happy New Year! Our plans for the evening: appetizers, sparkling cider and a movie! Here's a recap of the year: Best Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Best CD: 2Cellos Best Book: The Maze Runner and Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star Best TV Show: Attack on Titan December 30 2014
Our new favourite holiday treat- white chocolate and coconut balls of yumminess :) December 28 2014
The Cat Rebellion has subsided and now Shade and Flynn are getting along with the kittens. We snapped this picture when we found Shade sleeping with Raven and Fang in their new Christmas bed. So cute! December 17 2014
Enjoying some Akava and White Candy Cane Hot Chocolate in our new mugs courtesy of Brenna and Kenley! Last night we were in Winnipeg and had a nice pre-Christmas dinner with my family. December 15 2014
We have a Cat Rebellion on our hands- our three older cats are NOT happy about the kittens! Here is "Rambo" Flynn preparing for war... December 13 2014
Our family just got a little bigger- introducing Raven and Shadowfang! December 9 2014
Christmas tree 2014 December 7 2014
Cookies! Our Relief Society made 40 dozen cookies for the Kenora Women's Sexual Assault Centre Christmas Party. Here are my 5 dozen I'm working on :) December 3 2014
A cold start to December: -40C with the windchill! December 1 2014
We would like to share this special Christmas video put out by our church. It is a short message to remind us what is really important this Christmas season! I tear up every time I watch it- enjoy! :) November 5 2014
It's starting to get a little cold here but not bad! Still no snow on the ground! Shade found a warm spot to lay though, snuggled in a blanket :) November 4 2014
Today the elders came over to help Micah stack wood and the sisters came over to help us paint! While they were there they left a surprise for me, a "Heart Attack" on the door. Thanks Sister Haner and Sister Porter. November 2 2014
Yum, apple pie! October 25 2014
We have decided to look into foster parenting while we wait for children of our own. The first step is to take the PRIDE training course- 32 hours. Today is the first day! October 24 2014
Today I had to go for one last ultrasound to make sure the tablets worked, otherwise I would have to go for a D and C. Luckily everything worked the way it was supposed to and now we can finally just move on. On a happy note, we finished paying off our student loans!! October 22 2014
Elder McClaws came back for a visit so we had to bring out the cheesesteaks. After they did some service of course! Elder Skabelund is our expert wood stacker! October 17 2014
Yesterday was Micah's birthday and today we went into Winnipeg to celebrate! Things have been tough on us the past couple weeks so it was fun to splurge! We did a double movie date- saw Dracula Untold and Fury and then went out for supper at Paradise with my Mom and Dad. October 15 2014
My midwife is quite concerned that my body has not yet rejected the blighted ovum which increases the chances of infection. Today I had to use Misoprostol tablets to start the process. Let me tell you it was not fun and will forever be remembered as "The Period From Hell." Enough said. October 10 2014
I had several samples of blood taken this week to measure my Hcg levels. Results show the hormone levels are falling which means I had a miscarriage :( Turns out they were two blighted ovum. Why do things have to be so unfair... October 6 2014
Second ultrasound today. It showed that one sac had grown bigger but still appeared empty. Our midwife suggested we take a pregnancy test in case we are just wrong on the dates. Test still came back positive. She would like to measure my Hcg levels to see if they rise or fall. This is getting to be very tough on us... September 26 2014
Our midwife thought I should go for an ultrasound since she thought I was around 8.5 weeks. We went for the ultrasound and found out there are two sacs but both appear to be empty- bad sign :( The radiologist said one sac appeared to be 7 weeks and the other 5 weeks. We are to come back in 11 days to see if there are any changes. (This picture is not mine, just one I took off the internet) September 24 2014
Today was our first midwife appointment! I had some blood taken, we went through our medical histories and I got a prescription for Diclectin. I have been feeling very tired and nauseous lately so hopefully the pills will help! We then had a house full of missionaries who we made supper for! September 12 2014
I'm really starting to like green apples! Don't know if it is a pregnancy craving or what...but they are delicious :) September 7 2014
We have some exciting news- I'm pregnant! It's still very early on (only 6 weeks) but because of our miscarriage last summer we thought we would let everyone know so they can keep us in their prayers! September 2 2014
We found this weird creature out near our wood pile. Micah was brave enough to hold it! August 30 2014
Tonight the Young Men of the church participated in the "Ice Bucket Challenge." Here is Micah with our Branch President, Bob Clark, braving the icy water! August 25 2014
Still recovering from our trip! Here is a rough estimate of the route we took! Lots of driving :) August 23 2014
Trip Highlights: Shopping Peter and Cassandra's Wedding August 22 2014
Trip Highlights: Palmyra LDS Visitor's Center Hill Cumorah Historic Smith Family Farm The Sacred Grove Palmyra LDS Temple Historic Book of Mormon Publishing Site August 21 2014
Trip Highlights: More Roller Coasters at Hershey Park Skee Ball at Hershey Park Chocolate Cheesecake Hershey Chocolate Tour Ice House Stromboli August 20 2014
Trip Highlights: Roller Coasters at Hershey Park Rita's Water Ice A & M Italian Restaurant August 19 2014
Trip Highlights: Columbus Ohio LDS Temple Taco Bell Driving through corn fields August 18 2014
Trip Highlights: Nauvoo LDS Temple Historic Nauvoo Wagon Tour Inspiration Point Carriage Ride Carthage Jail August 17 2014
Road trip begins! To read more about it see our August Journal section! Trip Highlights: St. Paul LDS Temple Panda Express Walmart Chicken Camping July 23 2014
Today the Elders came over to help us paint our house. Last summer/fall the other missionaries started painting but then snow came suddenly and never left! So our house has been half white for awhile... Hopefully we can finish the job this summer! A very sad thing happened today- we were driving to our house and found my little fox friend dead on the side of the road :( Poor little thing... But when we were driving home 5 new little foxes came running out! July 20 2014
Vacation time! 11 whole days off of work :) Time to go out to the cabin July 13 2014
Our desserts from the last two weeks have been terrible! I tried a couple new recipes and they did not turn out well. Kind of sad when we only have dessert once a week! July 6 2014
We ordered some speakers on amazon.com from a company called founderdirect back in May. We had such a horrible customer service experience! We wanted to write a negative review but amazon.com would allow only so many words to be written on their site. Read our May Journal to find out what happened! July 4 2014
Today was an exciting day- I did a push up!! I have been trying for weeks to do just one but could never get myself back up... I did it today though! Micah also got to try out our new chainsaw. He says cutting wood is now fun :) July 2 2014
We are starting to get ready for winter already! We currently have propane heat and last winter we spent hundreds of dollars each month on heat :( We have decided to switch to wood and after a lot of research we agreed upon the Savannah Drolet Wood Stove. Not the prettiest but it is the best for heat! Stove is on order, now time to cut the wood! June 29 2014
For dessert this week- Florida Pie! (Key Lime pie with a twist) Our Grade: 4.5 out of 5 stars June 28 2014
Seven years ago today I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I have not regretted this decision for a second! It has changed my life for the better- thank you Micah for sharing this beautiful gift with me :) June 26 2014
Today we went into Winnipeg to see the Michael Buble concert. We stayed overnight and went to see Transformers: Age of Extinction. Sadly we both thought that each event was so-so but we still had a fun time! June 22 2014
This Sunday's dessert was Frozen White Chocolate Soufflé. It has rhubarb in it which gave it a tangy flavor and once frozen it was very similar to ice cream. We liked it a little better when we let it thaw out in the fridge for a couple of hours! Our Grade: 3.5 out of 5 stars June 18 2014
Today we went into Winnipeg to do some shopping at Costco and to look for tile at Home Depot. While we were there we also went to see The Fault in Our Stars. Driving home we saw tons of wildlife! A big black bear ran across the road right in front of us and a little while later so did a wolf! We also saw a couple of foxes. We have a little fox family that lives up the street from us- there are two super cute baby foxes that look like the picture here! I see them when I drive home from work and today Micah actually got to see them too. We stopped the car and the baby walked right up to it! |
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June 17 2014
Micah built our two new computers and they are up and running! Here is the fancy mouse we bought to go with each computer |
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June 15 2014
Another new recipe for Sunday's dessert: Cottage Cheese Pufflets Our Grade: 4 out of 5 stars |
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June 8 2014
Every Sunday I get to make a dessert! I have a couple of cookbooks that I am so excited to go through and choose the recipes I want to make :) This week was a Raspberry Lemon Tart Our Grade: 4.5 out of 5 stars |
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June 1 2014
We have started a healthy eating diet. Every Sunday though is our fun breakfast day! We have scrambled eggs, sausages and lemon ricotta pancakes with blended berries. So good and so fun! Traditions are fun to make :) |
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May 21 2014
We found a really good article on LDSLiving.com called "What Not to Say to Childless Couples." Some of the points made us laugh and some made us (me) cry! Very good article to help people be a little more sensitive! We added the whole article to our webpage here. :) |
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May 19 2014
We took another quiz "Which Transformers Are You?" Micah got Optimus Prime (his favourite superhero ever!) and I got Bumblebee :) |
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May 17 2014
Micah has started to build us two computers from scratch! We have ordered all the parts to make two gaming computers. The picture is of the computer case Micah chose for his :) |
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May 13 2014
Today we woke up to this disaster- more snow! The rain had washed it all away but it has returned... Go away snow, we want summer now!!! |
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May 12 2014
Micah has been researching healthy foods and found that one of the best vegetables you can eat is pumpkin. So today he made us a recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Soup! |
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May 11 2014
Our doctor has not approved a laparoscopy (he says my MRI looked fine and when I explained my extensive family history of endometriosis and he told us that family history alone does not warrant a laparoscopy). So we have now moved to Path Two of our plan. |
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May 5 2014
Our first project of the spring is to change over our propane stoves to wood burning! It was just way too expensive this winter... Our upstairs has a "fire proof" backing on the wall but it was super ugly (see picture to the left)! So we decided to change the colour of the rocks. Check it out in Our House: Work section. We think it looks a lot better :) Next task: get rid of the terrible white tile! |
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May 4 2014
We have been trying to start a family for a couple years now with no success. We have been seeing a doctor at a fertility clinic and now after trying Clomid for ten months we have decided it is time to come up with a plan. If things don't work out, it is time to move on with our life! |
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April 23 2014
Today we drove into Winnipeg again (our car is now not stuck in the barn, so our Winnipeg trips have been more frequent) this time to buy some paint for our first project of the spring. We will include the before and after pictures in the Our House: Work section when we are done. While we were in Winnipeg we got some Pita Pit and saw Draft Day. |
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April 21 2014
We drove into Winnipeg today to go see a movie and have wings at Montana's. After eating 1.5 pounds of wings (same as Micah), I still couldn't say no to dessert :) There wasn't a movie we were dying to see so we ended up flipping a coin and Heaven Is For Real won. |
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April 20 2014
Happy Easter! Sun is shining and the snow is starting to melt :) We added a new page to the website, Micah's Music, and I am just about done our Wedding Music videos (finally!) |
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April 12 2014
Micah made this picture today after looking out the window and seeing...snow. I giggled when he said he felt like he was living in a snow globe. At least we can say we survived the coldest winter in Kenora's recorded history! :) "April showers bring may flowers... April snow storms bring swearing art-forms..." |
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April 11 2014
Today was a full day! We went in to Winnipeg to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier in IMAX and then we went to the opera to see La Boheme. The movie was fantastic and the opera was decent. The sets were beautiful but we weren't blown away by the singing. Neat experience though! |
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April 10 2014
Today we took a quiz, "What Kind of Person Are You Actually"? In the 1970s, Gary Gygax sat down to figure out a system that would categorize the moral composition of every possible person. What he came up with was the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons alignment test, and it applies to literally everyone. Micah's results: Chaotic Neutral You follow your own rules, often in direct contradiction to the law of the land. You’re not beholden to traditions, and you believe strongly in freedom, regardless of how it is obtained. Notable peers: Aladdin from Disney’s Aladdin, Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time, Sterling Archer from Archer, Captain Kirk from Star Trek and Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Ashley's results: Lawful Neutral You’re motivated by tradition and you strongly believe in law and order. You put a lot of faith in process, and you’ll often follow orders without questioning them, as long as it doesn’t cause you to act immorally. Notable peers: Andy Dwyer from Parks and Rec, Argus Filch from Harry Potter, Sam Eagle from The Muppets, Lana Kane from Archer, and Spock from Star Trek. Funny how the characters we got from Archer and Star Trek are partners :) |
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April 6 2014
This weekend was General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Click here to listen to or read the great talks! |
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April 1 2014
Mother Nature played a cruel joke and dropped almost a foot of snow! Winter has definitely overstayed its welcome this year... |
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March 26 2014
Thank you for all the birthday wishes! It was a great day complete with a yummy strawberry cake (that I made)! |
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March 22 2014
Today we made a trip into Winnipeg and we went to see Divergent with our friends Chris and Chasity. This weekend we also graded a lot of our CDs so our music section has filled out quite a bit! |
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March 15 2014
We discovered 2Cellos when The Blaze had a link to their youtube video of their cover of "Thunderstruck". They are so good! These two guys play pop/rock songs with just their cellos! We bought two of their cds- so fun listening to. Would be amazing to see them live. Some of our favourite songs: Thunderstruck, Smooth Criminal and With or Without You. |
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March 14 2014
Growing up my favourite stuffed animals were bunny rabbits! They are so cute! Easter is a great time to admire all the cute bunny things, but this year these lambs at Shoppers caught my eye. I smile every time I walk past them! |
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March 13 2014
Homemade trail mix! The strawberries and kiwi turned out great! :) |
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March 11 2014
Trying out more fruit in the dehydrator- strawberries, kiwi and bananas! |
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March 10 2014
Been having fun as of late looking up and reading “mental states of mind” and relating them back to the gospel with the Elder Lyons (now Brendon Lyons). He showed me some interesting articles on “traits of successful people” and it was funny how the traits listed are all things Jesus tells us we need to strive to be doing. Some of things they listed were “always having projects to be working on” and “finding alone time to meditate” which were really good to remember, relearn, and strengthen testimonies of. I then shared a link about “psychological projection” that I found at Wiki- it was interesting to me because it explains why/how Satan tricks the majority of his prey. He looks deep inside you and drags out the “weaknesses” that God has given to you so that you may be humble, and makes you spend all your time trying to drag others down for having the same (if not less) of the same problem. By so doing you will spend all your time focused on other people and not on yourself- damning yourself in the process and condemning yourself later at the judgement bar. If we realized that the faults we see in others was and is most of the time just a projection of the darkness in ourselves, maybe so many of us wouldn’t be damned souls. I then was given an article to read from my brother on “paranoia” which was also a good and simple read. It was most likely written by a RN because the concepts are really simple and the words are really small; it even had purple font! It was also a good read and I am looking forward to going back and forth with Brendon over it more fully in the future. It is amazing how “the righteous need not fear”, and they who live Godly lives know this, and yet historically they are the ones who were labelled as “paranoid”. With the movie “Noah” coming out soon, I can’t help but wonder how many people thought he was “paranoid” while he was actually living without fear? Moses, Noah, Lehi, and on and on and on- how many lesser people full of groundless pride (great and spacious building) mocked them and called them paranoid? It is interesting to note that Jesus asks that you always be prepared so that you will never live in fear; Satan teaches his children to live in the moment and mock all those who ‘worry’ about their future. Religious high ground is the only way we will be safe from the rains of judgement. If anyone has any other interesting articles please feel free to send them to myself or Brendon Lyons! Thank you! |
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March 9 2014
We bought a dehydrator and today we made homemade raisins! Just threw some left over grapes in there and 48 hours later they are raisins :) |
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March 8 2014
Micah gave me my birthday present a little early this year! He got me a new laptop! What a sweet guy :) |
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March 3 2014
Micah found our three cats sleeping together by our propane fireplace today! I was in shock because the boys don't get along with Eve. I guess they could put aside their differences for a bit while they try to get warm! |
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March 1 2014
I finally finished my crochet blanket! It was hard to take a picture of, but it is white with a dark grey shell border. Fun to make! |
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February 27 2014
Another "polar vortex" has hit- sooo cold! Let the winter hibernation continue! See our new page of TV Shows that we have been watching to pass the time... Hope spring comes soon :) |
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February 26 2014
The beginnings of a soup that didn't turn out too well...Won't be keeping this recipe! |
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February 25 2014
Trying out some new recipes this week- this one is really good! Strawberry Chicken Salad |
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February 16 2014
Today we finished watching season one of Homeland. It started off really good but did not end the way we wanted it to! Not sure if we will move on to season two... |
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February 14 2014
Happy Valentine's Day! I'm so lucky I can spend this day with Micah :) I made stuffed pasta shells for dinner tonight- they are stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, and parmesan then it is topped with more sauce and mozzarella cheese. So good and super easy! |
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February 10 2014
The last time we tried to go to Montana's on wing night they ran out of wings so we didn't get any! But today we did :) We also went to see Monuments Men. |
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February 5 2014
Today we made a trip into Winnipeg. Micah's cousin showed us this really good poutine place in the Exchange District- Smoke's Poutinerie. We stopped there and got the Pulled Pork Poutine. Super good! Then we went to see 47 Ronin at the cheap seats. |
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January 30 2014
We finished watching the first season of a new show called The Following. Not our absolute favourite but decent! |
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January 25 2014
So we are kind of on a Triscuit kick and found them on sale at Safeway... Favourites: Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil, Tomato & Sweet Basil and Rosemary & Olive Oil |
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January 22 2014
Goodbye Elders! We love you and will miss you! |
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January 21 2014
The Last Philly Cheese Steak |
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January 16 2014
Elder Kendall claiming dibs on the pizza again! hehehe |
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January 13 2014
The Elders got permission to go into Winnipeg with us for wing night at Montana's! Too bad they ran out of wings... |
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January 11 2014
Katie Murray got the game Telestrations and we played it during Game Night tonight! This is a replication of a picture Micah drew and everyone guessed it correctly- Elder Hirschi! LOL |
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January 5 2014
Here is Elder Warren about to enjoy our Spicy Bacon Burgers |