Home: Shiny New Floors!

So the only downside with our new lovely home was the "cat pee" carpet in the back room. We got the smell of Scentsy out of the house and found out that it was masking the smell of the carpet. So a few weeks into our move in, we went from this:

To this:

And then two months of Tom sweat and tears and we have this beautiful-ness:

Home: Long Awaited Gallery Wall

This gallery wall has been a long time coming! I have wanted to make one for years, but sadly have never "owned" any walls. Now that Tom and I have bought our happy little home, I can hang things on all the walls! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I may add to it or change around, but I've got some fabulous pieces up there now. Want to see? Here it goes:

1. This is a little handmade piece of embroidery I did a few years ago of a little owl.

2. A flamenco lithograph piece I picked up in Madrid when Tom and I were there in 2011.

3. Being a proud Connell, I've got a nice silver C.

4. A painting I made of lyrics to "Inevitable" by Anberlin, which was our wedding song.

5. Early Teacher Rules given to me by a dear friend.

6. A painting of the Sagrada Familia I picked up on the Rambla in Barcelona.

7. A little heart painting I made a few weeks ago.

8. A print of "The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait" by Juan Van Eyke I got after seeing it at The National Gallery in London. I stood in front of it for a full half hour crying at its beauty. Yeah I'm a sad Art History major.

9. A little owl face done by Arty Farty in Canmore. Tom and I picked it up on our first year wedding anniversary.

10. My favourite wedding picture made into a canvas.

11. Tom got me this frame for Christmas last year, and I filled it with our family portraits from our wedding. I love Tom's Mum in red, right in the middle.

12. A metal skeleton key Tom and I bought in Segovia.

13. A painting I did of every Scousers favourite line.

14. An owl photo taken by the talented Jason Leo Bantle from All in the Wild Photography in Canmore.

Here are some progress photos to see how I did it:

So high tech!

Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

I've always been a war buff. I think it's because I grew up with a Dad who had volumes on fighter planes in the basement and who let me watch The Great Escape at a young age. WWII is a vein that flows through every countries history. It's a tragic common history. This is a book to add to my list of historic fiction that I've read from that time frame. Usually these books are told from a child's perspective. A la The Book Thief. This one is told from the perspective of a young blind French girl and a young German boy. The book cycles through their two time lines beginning at the time of the invasion of Austria. Marie-Laurie is our voice of innocence. She can't "see" the war but she talks of the emotional aspect of it. Where Werner shows us how a society could get duped into Naziism and how he was trained from a young age. We also see eventually how their lives intersect. I have to say though, one of my favorite things was the way Doerr describes things. Especially how he had Marie-Laurie make sense of the world. Beautifully written. Beautiful escape.

Book Review: Busy Months Reading

As a teacher, January to June is crazy-bananas time! I read when I can. My book club keeps me a bit accountable. Here is what i've had my nose in the past few months:

WHY NOT ME by Mindy Kaling - Goodness I love this woman! I've already blogged about the first book, and Tom got me the second one for Christmas. As like all sequels, not as good as the first, but still worth a read. I especially love her quips about body image. She "wishes she could be thin" but says she doesn't "wish for it with all her heart. Because my heart is reserved for more important things."Not to mention her commentary on ordinary life things that just slays me.

STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE by Jonathan Acuff - I used to follow his blog before he turned it into a book. Hilariously funny! Some zingers like "how metrosexual is your worship leader" "the side-hug" and "being slightly nicer than mormons". Basically any silly thing you have thought in church he has taken and made 1000 times funnier. 

THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton - We picked this for book club even though everyone had read it. Mind you it has been probably 13 years since I had last read it. We decided to meet up at the end of the month for appies and to watch the movie. I finally understand "stay gold pony boy". I wasn't very deep in high school. 

THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion - As someone who works with children in the public school sector, i've had my own first-hand experience with people with Aspergers. They are endearing. I absolutely adore Don. Can't find a woman? Make a survey! Trying to get into a fancy restaurant? A windbreaker is a "fancy jacket". Someone disrespect you? punch him. He's logical but not socially aware. I sometimes feel like that too. Also, Rosie is a hot mess. Who doesn't like reading about a hot mess, but an endearing hot mess! I have The Rosie Effect sitting on the bookcase and am going to get to it soon.

LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave - It seems that every time I do a massive book review list there is a book that broke my heart. This book broke my heart. Little Bee is a victim. A victim of bad politics, greed, and the facelessness of immigration. She snuck into the UK and was put into a facility for two years. It was impossible for her to have her voice heard. It is only when she meets up with a family that is intertwined with her past that she can start to heal (but not really). There is a quote from the book that is fabulous:

"We must see our scars as beauty. This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."

LAUGH YOUR WAY TO A BETTER MARRIAGE by Mark Gungor -Don't bother your husband. He is in his "nothing box". He is literally thinking about nothing. You are a woman. You are always thinking about, at least, 20 things. Tom and I read this book together, and it was quite the eye opening experience. It just felt like sage advice from your crazy uncle. I would highly recommend it to any newlyweds so they can better understand what makes the other gender tick.

READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline - I grew up with an original Nintendo in the house. I sucked at it. I would always fall into the hole on the very first level of Super Mario Brothers. So, I can safely say that I am not a "gamer". This book though was relatable. So relatable. In fact, it made me worry about the future. The characters log into this alternate reality called the "oasis", and the whole population spends most of their life plugged in. Not to sound all conspiracy theorist but I can see that happening in our society. We are all so plugged in that our online presence is basically our entire personality. It's freaky! Anyway the main character is this overweight, poor, geeky guy who you can't help rooting for to win the prize. You go geeky guy!

Milestones: Moving Day

Shortly after Tom got his residency (read like a week), we met up with a realtor to look for our own house. It has been something that we have consciously put money aside for since we got married. We were thinking we would get a townhouse. Tom and I are not big into yard work and liked the idea of just a small patio. We also thought we couldn't afford a house, or at least a big enough one. We had a very small list of "needs":

1. three bedrooms
2. 1 and 1/2 bathrooms
3. open-ish concept
4. a garage (Calgary gets massive hail storms)

From everyone that we talked to, it didn't seem like a lot to ask for. We also had areas of the city picked out e.g. a map with highlighted areas (yes i'm a dork). So we met with Stewart Chyz. He's an awesome realtor and I couldn't recommend him more. He talked to us frankly and said "yes you can afford a house". So we trusted him. He sent us a TON of listings that night and agreed to meet up with us the next day to look at our top 5 picks. Well we went out and the third house we saw, we just knew it was the one. It had everything on our list. In fact it was bigger than we thought we could afford! Oh, and the backyard is all patio so really you are only cutting the teeny tiny front lawn! We can handle that.

With the help of some awesome friends and a trusty U-Haul, we moved in the 30th of July. Here are some pictures of the move:

And finally, the reason we bought a house with a garage (and literally what came down our first night we moved in):

Definitely more updates as we figure out this whole "Home Owner" thing!

Milestones: 5 Long Years

It finally happened! May 12th, 2016 is a new favourite date! The above picture has nothing to do with this, but it shows my little family all snug and together (and now forever).

Tom finally got his permanent residency and now we are established here in Canada and can finally settle down. The whole process took around 5 years. Some people have been asking how it all panned out so here is how it worked FOR US:

2011-2014: Tom was living in Liverpool, finishing school and applying for Work Visas.
February 2014: Tom got a one year work permit and moved to Canada.
October 2014: We got married and applied for a residency.
February 2015: Tom got a new work permit.
March 2016: Tom was contacted for his medical for his residency.
May 12th, 2016: We were told of the appointment about a week before, went to immigration and signed his papers!

Home: Honeymoon Habitat

So I'm so excited to FINALLY have some pictures up on the blog of Tom and I's first place. I moved in the night before our wedding and i've been tweaking things and sorting things ever since. I waited for a morning when the lighting was just right. I also had a furry helper for most of these so play "where's Sofia" in the pictures.

Book Review

Good-Ol' Paper Books:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
I love Mindy Kaling. I'd totally want to have a cocktail with her and complain about random things i.e. people who block aisles in the supermarket. As for her first novel, I chuckled the whole way through. I love that she is kind of like her character on The Mindy Project, but also just very real.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This was not my first reading of this book. In fact I went to see the movie with my step-mom, read the book again, and then went to the movie again with Tom. It is not my favourite of the series. It's just a tad too political for me. But I feel it gave Katniss a good end to her story.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan
I read this book with some friends. I really enjoyed the videos that go along with this, and I definitely recommend reading it with a bunch of people.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Another instance where the book far surpasses the movie. I have it on good authority that it's pretty good at portraying Newfie's, minus all the incest talk. The author has this beautiful way of setting the scene, and you actually feel like you are there.

Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
This was one of my high-school bestie and I's favourite movies. The book is great in that it really gives you the clinical aspect of the whole thing. It has her actual paperwork in it so you can see how her stay develops. It's not just Susanna though. Polly breaks my heart every time. It's a short read, but an awesome one.

On Kindle:

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
I loved the beginning of this book. Hadfield talks about his dreams and inspirations and how he advanced to become an astronaut. I just couldn't get through it though. It was just a little too much. He saw an opportunity, applied, worked hard, got the job, and then rinsed and repeated. The loveable bit of him that you see when he speaks in public, or his videos from space, is lost in print. It's worth a read for the first few chapters, but if you don't finish it I don't blame you.

Fishbowl by Bradley Somer
Flipping awesome! Yep! It doesn't sound like it would be great. I mean some of the story is an inner dialogue of a fish falling from the 27th floor. But it works somehow. It's kind of like Love Actually. There are all these people who don't seem to have anything in common except for their housing situation. As you read you see how some of their lives intertwine. As with Love Actually, no one is perfect. In fact they all have "flaws". But it is their quirks that make them so darn interesting. As for my readers who are a bit more sensitive, the use of the F word is applied liberally so that may be a game changer. Still, I think I may purchase it in paper form and read it again.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
I FRIGGIN HATED THIS BOOK! It's just on this list so I can rant. For some reason it is okay to talk about a castrated sociopathic murder. Actually usually I don't have an issue with this. It's just that this character is a teenager. That really bothered me. And he tortures animals. Yep. After he tortured his third one I was so done.

Home: 25 Days of Christmas Ornaments

Milestones: Decking the Halls for the First Time

So this year I finally broke down/convinced Tom to buy a "real" tree. We got a pre-lit 6.5 foot lovely, and I promptly went Christmas crazy. I want to remember these first decorations forever:

p.s. I made that ^ and it's perty!

Musings: The Awesomeness That is Scrubs

So I spent my summer vacation this year recovering from 2014 AND watching ALL the Scrubs. I never understood the big deal about it. And then I watched it. Now I love it. Here are some favourite bits:

Family: The Best Grandma

Grandma turned 88 in October. We went out for fish and chips. I hate fish, but I think they're cute. We sat next to the giant aquarium and I took pictures of fish.

They're pretty cute, and so is Grandma

Craft: Keepin' it Scouse

So I married a Scouser. More commonly referred to as people from Liverpool :) They have some lingo that is common to the area, or has unique spin when said in the distinct accent. When I first met Tom he would walk into a room and ask me if I was alright. Every time. I started to ask him what he meant? Did I sound sick? Was I breathing like Darth Vader? Well he was just asking me if anything was new/how's it going. I'm still getting used to it, and can do a pretty horrible impression, but for now I just make art. I've got some ideas to make this a bit better (i'm thinking of making it in sharpie and not in paint). Here goes version 1.0:

Book Review: I Haven't Done This In FOREVER Addition

Now because of my full-time teaching gig, reading for pleasure is really a summer time occupation. Don't get me wrong, I read, but finishing a book take a long time. This summer I binged. Here are some thoughts:

Chocolat: I had seen the movie a long time ago, so I had a little idea of what to expect. It was a cute and easy read. I really liked how they had the Priest as a sort of nouveau-Philistine. A Philistine who ends up rolling around in chocolate like a PMS'ing woman. I also like the liberating of the woman from the abusive relationship. 

And Then There Were None: I read this book when we were at the cottage. Which was a hilarious coincidence as we were on an island, and the whole book is an island murder mystery. I looked at Tom sideways the whole time (that's a bad joke by the way). This is quite possibly one of my favourite books. I have read it several times. We did a book report on it in High School and I remember it completely fooling me the first time I read it. A fooled me, need to reread some of it to fill in the blanks, wonderful twist. I love that Vera Claythorne isn't your typical smelling salts/swooning girl of Christine's other books. She is a fighter who isn't too afraid to stand up to a murderer. I won't say too much about the plot, as I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone.

Not Quite the Classics: Tom and I watch a lot of Whose Line on YouTube. I love me some Colin Mochrie. This is an improv meets classic literature delight. He takes the first and last sentence of famous books and rewrites the middles. Whether it's Conan Doyle's "Study in Scarlett" being about Sherlock Holmes learning what funny means, or "The Cat in the Hat" about surviving the zombie apocalypse, I giggles the entire read through. Plus, they are short stories, so you can enjoy it in small doses. I will definitely read this one again.

Happy Handmade Home: This is a crafty book written by the talented bloggers at A Beautiful Mess. It's all about special touches you can do to make your house unique. I'm definitely going to be trying out some when we finally buy our own place.

Boneman's Duaghters: Oh Ted Dekker. You spooky spooky man. I've been reading his books for probably 10+ years now, and I love it. I describe him as the "Christian Stephen King". This one is about a serial killer who kidnaps teenage girls and breaks their bones to kill them if they don't prove to be a loyal "daughter". The main character is Ryan, who is just back from Iraq where he had a traumatic hostage experience. His daughter gets taken by Boneman, and he tries to save her. The FBI start to think that he might be Boneman, and well, it gets complicated. As per usual I finished this in a few days as I just could not put it down. 

Craft: Matryoshka Dolls

One of my students got me a craft kit as a teacher gift. It was a paint your own Matryoshka Dolls kit (such a cute/thoughtful gift). Unfortunately because of the Calgary climate the smaller ones were stuck shut, so I could only paint 3 of them. They sure turned out cute though! Here's a picture:

Family: Mom Keeps Everything

I love the fact that my Mom has kept some of my toys from my childhood. I spent some time reminiscing when we were visiting:

Shirley my Cabbage Patch Doll in full 90's clothes:

Jo from New Kids on the Block, Troll Barbie, and Pocahontas:

Third Grade photo. I'm in the red shirt and overall-skirt thing:

Family: The Cottage

After Niagara Falls we took off to the Woltz family cottage. I've had friends ask me where it is, but my GPS was like ??? when we were there. Georgian Bay area-ish. It was absolutely beautiful! We spent two days filled with hummingbirds, chipmunks, boating and outdoor showers: