Surprises, surprises!!!

Stephan has been bugging me all week, saying he knows what we can do this weekend but he wouldn't tell me yet. Finally, last night before we left for the German club he told me that he wants to take me out to dinner tonight and I get to choose where! Just because he feels like it. Its so cute.

So I chose the Keg, and off we go later today for dinner! YAY!!

I also got an e-mail from my Mom. She hosted a jewellery party, and basically sold A LOT of stuff for her seller-person (whatever they are called) and has a lot of money to use on jewellery, plus 4 hostess discounts which she can buy anything from the catalog for $16 or $22 dollars, no matter what the price. And its really good quality nice stuff.

So I have to go here today and pick something out and let my mom know! Anything I want, no matter what the price. She basically gets it for free. AWESOME!

project update - cross stitch blanket

So, I've been working hard on the blanket for Stephan's baby nephew...its a cross stitch design of baby animals. I thought I would update with pictures as I complete each animal. So far, I have two animals done: the panda, and the monkey.


Right now I'm working on the tiger. I'll post a pic of that one when I finish it.

oops, sorry!

I have been THE MOST HORRIBLE blogger this past week! Its just been so busy! I've worked 2 jobs, worked on the scrapbooks, worked on the blanket, picked out church hymns and choir hymns, and I had an appointment for some blood-work on Saturday (no worries, just standard check up and tests, nothing wrong!).

But really, its been the scrapbooks and blanket that have been eating up my spare time. I live-eat-breathe them because I'm trying to get them done by the middle of November or the week after, so I can mail them in time for Christmas. And when there are 4 scrapbooks, and a blanket, its a lot of work!

So, I know I haven't posted in a week and I'm SORRY, and promise NEVER to do it again. :D

But, this week I have more time to breathe. My schedule changed for piano teaching, so I have more time at home on Thursdays and its only Fridays that are now crazy insanely busy. And no appointments this week, and I am finished picking out songs for church...so that frees up a lot of time.

This past weekend was nice...as I said I had an appointment for blood-work in the morning, and then we spent some time shopping. I bought myself 2 new pairs of jeans, badly needed but I got a really good deal on them at American Eagle.

But boy, did STEPHAN shop!! And this is one boy who DOES NOT like to spend money! I think this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing! He bought 2 new pairs of jeans (granted he needed them...he had ripped one pair, and had a broken zipper on the other), a bottle of cologne AND some addidas running shoes and an addidas baseball cap.
Now, I know this isn't a HUGE shopping spree...but for Stephan, good lord! He told me I will never see this again! And I believe him!

Saturday night I tried some new recipes from a German cookbook Stephan's dad sent me, as a present. It is all recipes specifically from the area of Germany Stephan comes from. I tried a recipe for some potatoes, and some fish and it turned out well, Stephan said it tasted like home.
Some of the stuff in the cookbook I'm not touching with a 10-foot pole!! Like the liver, or the snail soup!! EEWW.

Still, I think it was really sweet that his dad sent me a gift...he also sent me a coffee mug too. It was really cute and thoughtful.

Our weekend in Waterton!

This will be a long post! But I can't wait and want to do it all at once! (ok, so I'm impatient...I prefer to call it excited). Mostly its pictures! I promise!

Our trip started off on Friday morning and leaving Calgary it looked like this:

Good thing my winter tires were already on! And luckily, it cleared up.
First stop was to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump...Stephan hadn't seen it yet and I knew he had really been wanting to. He enjoyed the museum as much as I did the first time, and I had no problem seeing it a second time. Sadly, the trail at the bottom of the jump was closed due to a cougar being spotted 5 days earlier. I still haven't seen the bottom trail!

Second stop was over to Crowsnest Pass to see Frank Slide and the museum there. I had been before but not into the museum. Stephan hadn't seen it all. Needless to say he was really impressed with the museum, and how big the rock slide actually was. About 90 were killed in the slide.

We also checked out a cemetery in the area where the dead of a mine blast in the early 1900's were buried....189 were killed, Canada's worst mining disaster.
Then we headed into Waterton Lakes National park. We stopped on the way into drive through the Bison paddock where there was a small herd.

We checked into our hotel room, which turned out to be a really small room but it was very quaint and nice...country style with a wood bed and a quilt comforter. It was cozy, and we loved it. We went out for dinner to the only restaurant still open in the park. It was a very nice place, decently priced! We quite enjoyed it.

On Saturday, we went for a few hikes. The first on our list was Red Rock Canyon and Blakiston Falls, both were in the same area.

We stopped through town to check out the view from the Prince of Wales Hotel (very fancy place best view in town!).

Then we headed out to Cameron Lake, where grizzly bears abound at the south end eating in the meadows. We hiked on a trail by the lake, until we came to a sign that told us not to go any further because of the mass amount of grizzly bears in the area (yikes!!)!!

Then we went back to town to explore the town sites, and decided to hang out at the beach for awhile.
We headed out to dinner at the restaurant again where we watched my Habs game (yes, seriously...highlights anways).

Sunday, we decided to climb up Bears Hump...part of a mountain that over looks the trail. I think the climb was about 700m up, and it got steeper as it went. I thought I was going to DIE...and it was MY crazy idea. It was the hardest hike of my life. But the view was totally worth it.

Lastly, we checked out Cameron Falls right in town before heading home!And that was our trip to Waterton! Sorry it was so long, there was just so much to share. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

1 more sleep!

Tomorrow we leave for our weekend away in Waterton Lakes National Park!! WOOHOO!!!

And, now I can officially say what I wanted to say in my last post! Johnny and Rachel announced at Johnny's birthday on Sunday that they are expecting a baby! You can read their news here!

See you when I get back from my trip! Happy weekend everyone!

catching up

This past week has been crazy busy!

Working on the scrapbooks take up lots of time, as does the blanket. And I can count out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as total write offs for getting any work done on my projects. Wednesday I work, and then have church. Thursday and Fridays I work until 2:3o, and then rush home to change and be ready for piano teaching at 4:30 (which means I have to leave the house at 3:30 or I get stuck in traffic). Thursdays I teach until 8 (ok, so most Thursdays I have a 1.5 hour gap between lessons, and could therefore work on my blanket in between. But tomorrow and last Thursday not so! I've been doing make-up lessons for this weekend), and Friday until 6:30 and then its off to the German club!!

This weekend I also had my cousin Johnny's birthday, which I baked 2 cheesecakes for. Cousin Andrew and 2 of Johnny's friends showed up for the party from Ontario, and we stayed up late chatting and drinking in the garage. It was great to see Ontario people again, and have some fun. It was a great party! Rachel also provided food for about 30 people: a turkey dinner (since it was also our Canadian Thanksgiving). VERY delicious!

Monday was a lazy day, and I spent a good chunk of it working on my blanket. We had a lazy night watching a movie, then off to bed.

Last night I had an appointment to get winter tires put on my car, and an inspection. That inspection turned into an additional wheel alignment, which cost me an additional $120...no so much fun. And I had a doctor's appointment, which normally doesn't take that long...but I was brought back into the doctor's office and then sat there for 45 minutes until the doctor showed up. And that was my night...not much work done on the blankets or scrapbook.

Tonight is church, and doing laundry to get ready for our trip. Which is 2 more sleeps away!! Yay!!! I have to get most things done tonight, as tomorrow is Thursday and that means another 6:30am-8pm work day.

Tomorrow, I need to call the park to make sure the trails we're planning on doing are still safe and open for us to do. And I need to find some time at some point to buy some bear spray and a whistle. And I need to pack, which has to wait until Stephan gets home from Ardenville and does his laundry. And I need to coordinate driving directions to our different destinations...which I have put off and not done yet! haha, oops! It will get done, don't worry!

....I am SO ready for a weekend away from it all, just us, relaxing and having some fun. I can't wait!! It is definitely much needed and over due!

crazy busy

Stephan comes home tomorrow...I may or may not have to pick him up. The rest of the crew might finish early and so Stephan would be able to drive home with them, if not...I have to pick him up in Sundre. I won't know until late tonight, which means that in case I am driving all day tomorrow I need to bake my cheesecakes for cousin Johnny's birthday tonight, after I get home from piano teaching at 7:30. Late night for me!

On top of that, last week I decided to do a couple of projects for Christmas and I started them this week. I've decided to do some scrapbooks on our lives out here in Calgary for those missing out on it back home. I'm dong 4 total (all the same): one for Omi, Grandma, Stephan's dad, and Stephan's mom. Then I've also decided to cross stitch a quilt for Stephan's baby nephew. And I have to have it done all in time to mail by beginning/middle of November. YIKES! I spent last week and the beginning of this week gathering supplies, and then I've been up late every night working on my projects...I'm slightly addicted to my crafting right now. And that is how I will be until they are all done!

Yesterday was the Hab's season opener against the Leafs...they lost. I didn't see it, I was working. I most definitely taped it though!! (I know, I'm sad...I don't care) and will be watching it tonight to see how they did and where the problems are.

Yesterday was also the 7th, which means time to buy flowers again!! YAY!!! Look, so pretty!


I can't resist Lilies. They are one of my favourites.

P.S: 7 more sleeps until our trip to Waterton Lakes Provincial Park. And 1 more sleep until Stephan comes home!! YAY!!

Stephan gets all the fun

So Stephan is working in Limestone this week, a.k.a the middle of nowhere. I can't even find it on mapquest, it doesn't exist. All I know is it is about 3 hours north-west of Calgary in the mountains. He is about 70km down a gravel road from Sundre staying in a fishing lodge in the middle of the bush on a lake with waterfalls and nature all around. Can you say I'm jealous?

There is no cell-phone reception out there, so communication is difficult. There is supposed to be internet, but well, that hasn't happened yet. So far we've only been able to talk when they've driven the hour or so into Sundre (where there is reception) to get food. That was last night. Stephan told me a little bit about it.

They are so far into the bush down this gravel road that Stephan will not let me drive down it when I have to pick him up on Saturday. There are deer and moose galore, and even more bears than you can imagine. One of the guys who works at the lodge saw some grizzly tracks the other day, and he said they were the biggest grizzly tracks he's seen in years. So its big. The crew were also told no hiking AT ALL, too many bears that are active right now. They do want to see this waterfall, but they must MUST bring bear spray. There are also cows. They are tagged and owned by some rancher, but there are no fences. So they just wander around in the middle of the backwoods, onto Stephan's job site for example. Do they not get eaten by animals like bears and cougars? And how does the rancher round them up if they are all over the bush?!!
There are also wild horses!! A herd of about 20 ran in front of Stephan's truck yesterday morning on his way to work. He had no idea there even was any, and so didn't have his camera :( But, they are common to the area and so there is a chance he could see them again.

Wild horses, bears, lakes, mountains, fishing, waterfalls, back bush country...I'm so jealous. First Montreal, now this. Stephan gets all the fun.

A Fall Saturday in Kananaskis

Since Saturday was really Stephan's only day off before he had to go back to work, and the weather was gorgeous, we decided to spend the afternoon driving around Kananaskis in the mountains. I wanted to see fall in the mountains before all the leaves fell off the trees.

We went without any plans, just drove around and explored. The first place we found was a place called Barrier Lake, and it was just gorgeous! The colour of the water was amazing, and it was crystal clear. It was just a beautiful spot. It also happens to be one of those rare lakes you could put a motor boat on. There were little trails and picnic tables all over the area, it's a really nice place.

Then we headed over to another spot, on the river this time...I don't remember the name. We walked down along the river bank, and came to a shallow spot where the river split, with an island in the middle. And then Stephan had the great idea to try crossing the freezing cold mountain river to the island! We rolled up our pants and took off our shoes...and I made it half way across before turning around! It was SOOOOO cold, and the pain from the cold was surprising. Stephan still wanted to try to go across by himself. Me, not wanting to be left behind (for fear of bears and angry moose), and wanting to prove Stephan wrong decided to attempt the crossing again. And on the 2nd painful, excruciating try I made it across the river onto the island. And then, to get off the island we had to cross it a 2nd time! CRAZY! But, the 2nd time was a narrower section and so it didn't take as long to cross, and Stephan held my hand this time. I was quite proud that I did it! Never did I expect it to be THAT cold!! And I surprised Stephan. After my first failed attempt, he was almost 100% that I wouldn't make it across. Well, I proved him wrong! I can be tough!

TRIUMPHANT after crossing the river a 2nd time from the island to the mainland

We drove a little bit more and then headed home to pick up some groceries. I made Stephan a big meal since he was leaving for work again on Sunday (today): stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and a salad. Yummy! Stephan is already on his way to his next job, 3 hours away. He'll be gone until Saturday, but then he'll be in the area and working his normal Monday-Thursday shifts and our life will be a little more normal. AND it will be that much closer to our weekend away! Can you tell I'm excited?!

PS: hotel is BOOKED! Now we get to start planning what we are going to do while in Waterton!

October love

Everybody is gushing about October now, and rightfully so. It's a fabulous month. The weather has been gorgeous, this weekend its supposed to continue. But, that is not why I am gushing about October today. October is the month in which I will be going away for a weekend.

In two weeks, the weekend after our Canadian Thanksgiving Stephan will finally be working in the area and home on weekends (He's gone Monday mornings to Thursday nights, that's his normal schedule). And so, we have decided that in two weeks we are going on a vacation, just the two of us. And do you know, we have never gone away for a full weekend trip JUST the two of us?!! It has always been with friends or family, never just us. Isn't that crazy?! The entire time we've been dating and we've never done this...although we've been wanting to. So we've booked the weekend off! I've booked Friday off of work, moved my piano students around and got out of playing piano for church. It's a done deal!

So we talked, and had two plans in mind: To head into the mountains into B.C, or to go visit Waterton Lakes National Park. Well, everybody we talked to about this just kept gushing about Waterton Park and how gorgeous it is, even more gorgeous then Banff is apparently. So that's what we've decided on: Waterton Lakes National Park. But we've been told to be careful hiking around. Apparently there are more bears (black and Grizzly!) in this area then here in Banff, and they are much more active especially given the time of year. So no letting Stephan wander off into the bush to track down wildlife!!

This weekend we will book our hotel, and plan out what we want to do! And I'm really excited...the pictures are just gorgeous. And I can't wait for my little weekend away! YAY!!

This is where we will be going: