Friday, December 31, 2010

CHRISTMAS

Happy 2011 everyone!
I really wanted to do one last post of the year on December 31st but, alas, I didn't get around to it (it looks like this post is Dec. 31st but it is misleading. I just started this post on the 31st). Probably because my pictures now take forever to upload all thanks to this guy:

But I'm not complaining! I promise! The reason they take so long to upload is because Burns got me a new camera for Christmas and with it came 10 more mega pixels!!!
Not to mention cool new features that my 2005 camera did not have including the 'Art' feature:
And what is the best feature of this new camera you ask?
TAKE A LOOK:


UNDERWATER AWESOMENESS!!!!!

I was so excited when I got it! GANKS BOONIE!!
And I'm sure most of you have seen the awesome underwater footage that I posted on my facebook (yes this camera takes underwater video with sound and everything) so I won't post the link here. If you want to see it again just go to fbook or youtube and try searching for it. My username is payjling.



So Breanne and I have some pretty awesome Home Teachers. They brought us gift cards for Cora's! So we had a Roommate Christmas breakfast the day Marshie and I left for Raymond.
We had to stand in a line for half and hour but I guess it was kind of worth it.

And I will post pictures of Roommate Christmas another day because right now Burns has my old camera (I took the pictures on that one because I hadn't received my new one yet).

So I went down for Christmas and had some fun with family and friends, and since Daryanne didn't come to celebrate with us, we decided to make an eHarmony commercial about them (it's a family tradition to make eHarmony commercials every Christmas). I'm sure it will be uploaded soon onto youtube. But just for a sneak peak, Marshall played the role of Arianne and this is what s/he looks like:



On the 27th I went to the Wood family reunion with Burns' family.
Sam came up from Utah for Christmas.




Now for a fun and tasty treat recipe! YAY


BANANA POPS

First get some nice looking bananas (these are organic - I was a little bit inspired by Alex's FRESH post. Okay okay, they were the only ripe bananas in the store but still...I bought some free range eggs the other day because of the inspiration and I think I'm going to buy more organic and free range things.)

Get some popsicle sticks (0r in this case skewers) and make them look like popsicles like so:



Melt some milk chocolate.


Stir constantly on low to avoid burning the chocolate until all is melted.


Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper or tin foil for easy cleanup and get some sprinkles ready.



The bowls we used were too small for dipping and sprinkling so we ended up just putting the sprinkles directly into the chocolate and I used my hands to completely cover the banana.





Place chocolaty sprinkle covered, skewered, bananas onto cookie sheet and place in freezer.


Wait for approximately 2 hours or more (until banana is completely frozen) and enjoy!


Not only are these delicious, but they are also a lot healthier than popsicles and I think they actually taste a lot better too. AND it can be a really fun family activity! Just be warned, the chocolate can be a bit messy.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

reading lights, eating love, running home

reading lights, eating love, running home


Well hello again friends, family, foes, acquaintances. I have quite the blog post for you, for I have been up to a lot in the month of December of the year 2010. Let me start by showing you one of the things I accomplished on December 5th.

I was involved in a 5k run thanks to the lovely Christine Lyons (she was the one who invited me). I had just started going to the gym at the beginning of November and I actually really like it.

The only problem I have with it is that it takes up a lot of time...walking all the way down to KNES (15min walk from ICT [these are buildings at the UofC by the way]), getting a key (I once left from a class in the ICT to go to the gym, got all the way to KNES, realized I left my gym bag in the class, booked it back, grabbed my bag, went all the way back to KNES and there was a looooooonnnnng line up - needless to say, I didn't go to the gym that day), getting changed (they don't have change stalls in the change rooms so I change in the bathroom which is sooo uncomfortable), then working out for an hour, then get changed, walk all the way back to ICT and wait for the bus to go home.

Anyways, so Christine invited me to do this run, and I had recently decided I wanted to do a triathlon in July, so I accepted!

Christine picked me up in the -7*C weather and we went down to Eau Claire Market where the run began. We met the rest of our group and put on our great shirts and pinned our numbers on. Burns had to work but he was finished before the race to begin and he came and surprised me!

We were probably the spiciest ladies there.


Burns ran with me the first 5mins then waited for me at the finish line :D what a great boyfriend I have. My time was one of the following: 32, 34, or 36. I FORGET!!! But I was so happy with myself because I had never ran 5k outside before! Not to mention how cold it was.


Remember my preference post? Well Burns and I painted our silhouettes and this is the end result.

Berekti moved out on December 14th.

Breanne and I set up our cute lil Christmas tree!!!






So much of cute we are!



Prezzies!!!




On December 19th after church, Burns and I came home to find this!



A prezzie from me to him! He's scayowed.
So he started stripping because he was so happy to be getting a present from me.


Just kidding!!!!!! Sheesh settle down!
I actually got him a nice shirt for Christmas!


Showing off with his "smoulder"...not to be confused with "blue steel".


Dang he fine.
Then we had Christmas dinner with Breanne and Marshie!


Chicken Hurry = da bomb diggady! (See "Company's Coming - Casseroles" for recipe).

Just chillin' and waiting for the food.


Then Breanne started a grease fire. Here's how it went:
Paige walks into the kitchen to check on some of the food she was making.
She notices a putrid smell....a smell of burning/rotting flesh.
Well not quite but it was gross.
Paige: It smells really bad in here.
Paige looks over to see a pot smoking profusely.
Paige: Breanne...the pot is smoking.
Breanne comes in to deal with the pot, grabs it, and puts it in the sink.
Suddenly it BURST INTO FLAME!!!
Not kidding...flames licked at the sink tap, they reached for the ceiling, they clung to the grease which created them. Enough? Okay moving on.
Paige was about to turn the tap on and put water in it, then she thought....would water just make it worse? So she didn't do that.
Marshie grabbed a towel and started trying to put out the fire.
Burns walks in, cooly, calmly, opens the window and throws the pot in the snow.
*Note: some of this dramatization may or may not be true/exaggerated.

All she wanted was to cook some mushrooms for the pasta!


Then the missionaries came over right after this little incident while our house was FILLED with disgusting oil smoke. They shared a message with us then left us to our food.

It turned out so great!





Then we had dessert! MMMMmmmm pie and ikes cream!


So sultry


I'll just mention quickly that Breanne and I planned this dinner on Saturday..or maybe even Friday? Anyways I told her I would take care of getting all the groceries for dinner. So I was pretty busy Saturday and went to Lita's Christmas party and 8:30pm. Then Burns and I went to Denny's with Christine and Blake at 12:30am. Then I realized that I was supposed to get the groceries! I was so sad because I knew Breanne was excited about this dinner and so was I, but where could I go at 1:00am?
I mentioned this to Christine, and bless her soul, she mentioned that Wal-Mart was open 24hours a day during the holidays! I was saved! And so were our bellies for the next day. So Burns and I went to Wal-Mart at 2:00am and got food. I was kind of surprised at how many people were there at that time of day. Not that there were a tonne of people, just more than I expected.
So anywho, we had dinner and then we headed to the Choirside put on by the Institute Choir. Breanne, Marshie, and I all sang in it.



I was headed over to Rick and Denise's for dinner yesterday when I noticed this fantastic sunset! SOOOOO much better in real life...but most sunsets are when I take them with my lil camera.


Denise cooked a fantastic dinner of enchiladas and then we had a cute little Christmas. We exchanged gifts. Denise got me some yummy perfume: Lolita Lempicka. Burns opened his other prezzies from me: some slippers and a book that I made for him (ganks Arianne! - she helped me).
Then Burns, Arianne, Daryn, and I went to THE CALGARY ZOO LIGHTS!!! :D
My first time! And Burns. And Daryn? Arianne???...no not Arianne....?


Writing wishes for the wishing trees. I wished for my tuition to be paid off. *knock on wood*

So much of Asian! ^_^

Awww Darianne sooo cute.

Burns doesn't kiss girls on the lips.


Drizzt Do'Urden and Guenhwyvar

The tunnel of llllloooove.




Burns couldn't resist the inner child in him.


Then we went to Timmy's to warm up with hot chocolate.


Oh and we were sitting pretty close to some other people (a guy and a girl) and he was hitting on her like CRAZY!!! Seriously I didn't know people were actually like this. He was just ridiculous and soo loud! Talking about his gf and what he should get her for Christmas, then telling the girl at Timmy's that she's cuter than his gf. "Be my girlfriend from Monday to Friday. Come on I have an opening. Be a maneater." OH MY GOSH!!!! and the whole time she was just like...whatever. When he left to throw stuff away I wanted so bad to just look at her and tell her to run. "Come meet my mom." "Let's go to a hotel, my room, I just want to be comfy you know? Right? RIGHT???" Sorry I'm just so overwhelmed with his pushyness.
I'm officially done exams as of 8:30 this morning! WOOT!!! Hence the reason I am finally updating my blog. Last week I woke up at 5:00am (most likely going to bed at 12:00am) 3 days in a row. I woke up at 5:00am again this morning cause I had my last final (finally) at 8:00. IT'S OVER!!!
And I can't believe I'm done my 5th semester of University! 2.5 years baby!
And I'm sooo PROUD of Burns! He went back to school to upgrade Math30 and Physics20 this semester. He is done Math30 and guess what his final grade is!
93%
!!!
GOOD JOB BOONIE!
He still needs to finish Physics (he'll be done in January).
Now we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the Christmas spirit.
AND I FINALLY GET TO GO HOME!!! TOMORROW!!
I haven't been home since Thanksgiving.
Oh and Breanne and I are having Roommate Christmas tonight when she gets home from work.
Now just a fun fact. These are all the books I read this semester.



There's supposed to be another text book in there but I forgot about it until I started posting. Oh and it looks like I read the His Dark Materials series but I was just substituting this series for the Hunger Games because I don't actually own those books. Lita lent them to me and I don't even know how I got good grades while I was reading them.


Infants, Children, and Adolescents (600)
An Introduction to Brain and Behavior (500)
Principles of Microeconomics (300)
Cognition - Exploring the Science of the Mind (500)
Historical Linguistics - An Introduction (200)
Gang Leader for a Day (300)
A Long Way Gone (200)
The Hunger Games (300)
Catching Fire (300)
Mockingjay (400)
For a total of (drum role please).....
3600
3600 pages in 4 months. How did I do it you axe?
Not a clue.
AND
Not only did all this great stuff happen, Without the Fall (me band) finally recorded 2 songs!
Check 'em out!
2 more coming after the break!