September 1st and all is well

I can't believe it is already the first of September! I have to admit, I'm one of those people who gets really happy when fall arrives. I love how it smells, I love the colours of the leaves, I love pulling out warm sweaters and (the true sign of fall) I love when Starbucks brings back their Pumpkin Spice Latte!! Truly a piece of heaven in a cup!! :) (I've actually got one sitting beside me right now!).

Along with all the great stuff listed above fall also brings a return to the classroom. I've been in each day this week puttering at getting organized. Addie's back at daycare and it's amazing to think, in another month and a half she'll be two! (Ask her, she'll tell you!)

I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with our Stampin' Up card club and I'm excited to report that it sounds like I will actually be running two clubs this year! I'm still looking for a few more confirmed members for the second club - so if anyone's interested or has friends that would be into it please let me know!

We're going to start our clubs this fall with a fun Halloween card and a fall/thanksgiving card. I'm also hoping to have a Christmas card stamp-a-stack towards the end of September (I'll pick a date once our house has sold). Oh, yeah...our house is on the market and it looks soooo pretty. We finally finished the painting and other jobs and then we had Tara (an interior designer) come in and stage it for us and I think it looks fabulous! Now we just have to get someone to buy it!

I hope everyone has had a great first day of September! Let's get together and stamp stuff soon!

Trying to get back in the swing of things...

Well, I've been home from Africa since July 21st. We weren't entirely certain we were going to make it home at times! Oh, the stories...needless to say, we did make it home. It took me another week to get over the jet lag...seriously! I went to bed at 8:00pm the first Saturday I was home (Addison was up later then me that evening!). Since I've been home it's been go, go, go. We are in the last stages of getting our house ready to sell (in fact I'm in the basement right now, listening to the house cleaners give my house a good scrub down). We should have the house on the market by next week Thursday! Oh, I really hope it sells for a good price...we've put so much time, effort and money into making it look nice.




I wasn't able to post any pics in Africa so I thought I'd post some of them now.


This is the view we woke up to every day at Likhubula Lodge, at the foot of Mount Mulanji. It was awe-inspiring! I loved it.




This is our group on our very first day at the job site. Starting from the top left we have Dawn Birch, Kevin Kitching, Deb and Taylor Naaykens with Meag Luckay tucked in behind them, Sue Luckay, Vera, Karyn and Ken Fanstone and Shorai (our Habitat organizer). In the front row is me, Marleen Jonker, Barb Birch and Sue K (a really long, Ukranian type name). :)




These are the bricks we worked with while building Agogo (Grandma's) home in Juma Village. The bricks are homemade, they make them from mud, and then they stack them in huge piles leaving it open in the center, and then they build a fire in the center and that is how they fire the bricks. Some of them were really well made and others fell apart in your hands.





This is Babbie, Tadeo and Shorai...all of whom worked for Habitat. Shorai was the boss, she was always travelling between Blantyre and Llongwe; Tadeo was our host and was with us for the duration of the Habitat build and Babbie...I'm not entirely sure what his role was but he was there some days and not on others and he helped translate and with the building. They were all very sweet people...I think every one of us wanted to bring Tadeo home to live with us (I don't know if you can actually adopt 25 year olds but we were all willing to give it a try)!



I don't know if this is true for other countries in Africa but in Malawi (and what I saw of Zambia) people use their own two feet and bikes as their main modes of transportation. Bikes were everywhere and apparently people save up for them the way we save up for cars.


This was the view beside Agogo's soon-to-be home. Stunning! The poor tree was short several limbs by the time we left because they kept cutting off branches every time they needed to support something.



This is what Agogo's house looked like on the day we arrived. It was to be a three room home with a tin roof, real doors and glass windows...the ultimate in luxury when your other home is made from twigs.



This is how (mostly) women carried everything in Malawi. It was crazy to see two women walking down the highway, babies on their backs, buckets or trees or bundles on their heads, talking and laughing and usually eating sugar cane.


Anyway, this is just a small glimpse of the 5000 or so pics I took over the course of 21 days...thanks goodness for digital, right?!? I'll post some more another time.

Oh, and in Stampin' Up news...I had my first workshop, thank you Tracey for hosting it! It went very well, and I think I have two or three new people interested in joining card club - which rocks! For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the new catalogue is full of delicious goodness! So much fun!

An African Update

Sorry it's been so long, each time I've tried to blog the wireless here has decided it's tired and doesn't want to play. Saturday was spent going to the market in the morning, we bartered and traded (including a pair of full length, red, long underwear) for our souviners. In the afternoon we went for a hike up Mount Mulanje to a water fall. It was stunningly beautiful, but holy crow, it was the toughest hike I have ever gone on. Ironically, earlier in the day there was a porter's race up, over and down the side of Mount Mulanje, we watched the winner cross the finish line - in bare feet! And, as we were dying, hiking up the mountain all of these Malawian women (and lots of girls) were walking down the mountain, carrying trees on their heads. That's right, trees! And they weren't even breaking a sweat.

On Sunday we ended up spending a leisurely morning at the lodge and then we went to a secondary school to play a game of football with a group of girls. They tromped us, and we even had two goalies in net, at the same time! (I don't know if we actually call it "in net" in soccer?).

Monday, we were back at work at the jobsite. The house walls are so tall now that we need scaffolding to place our bricks. The scaffolding, for those who were wondering, is made out of tree limbs jammed into holes in the wall. Super safe!

Unfortunately, I've had to stay back at the lodge yesterday and today because of my stomach. But tomorrow is our last day here. We're going to a primary school and then we're having a celebration in the village so I'm so doing that. I don't care what my tummy has to say about it!

Love, from Africa!

TGIF - but no hot water!

Well, we've survived our first week of house building, brick laying and mortar slapping here in Malawi. It was actually great fun and what was a foundation when we arrived is actually looking like a house now, there are two door frames and three window frames already installed. Today we started to build the inside walls and they are all about waist high now (the outside walls are actually too tall for us to reach now). It was a bit of a slow day on the job (typical Friday, right?)...our usual Master Mason, Robin was away sick and so we had a much more difficult time communicating with his replacements. There was some frustration on both sides but eventually we got things figured out. I took a turn making the lunch today, I said it was funny I came all the way to Africa to cook! We played with the kids like crazy, jumping rope, playing with the soccer balls and taking pictures. They are all really coming out of their shells now and seem a lot more comfortable with us.

We're taking the weekend off. Tomorrow we will be going to the market, (maybe getting our hair braided) and going for a hike up Mount Mulanje to the waterfall. Sunday will be a day of rest, spent (I believe) in Juma Village. We plan to go to church with the villagers and then have some play time.

Anyway, more details later. I don't think I'll be able to post any pictures until I get home.  Love from Africa!

Mulibwanji from Likhubula House!

We made it! It took us five days to get to Africa but we are finally here in Malawi, we actually arrived on Monday in the afternoon. We spent the night in the city of Blantyre at the Gold Card hotel. And then we drove out to our village, Juma, on Tuesday afternoon. We built the beginning of a wall that afternoon and then packed up around 4:30pm and headed to Likhubula house at the base of Mount Mulanje. The next morning we were up and off and able to get in a full day of brick laying in the village, it's amazing how tall the walls are getting already! When we arrived there was just a foundation laid, and one corner built up to about 4 feet. Monday evening they built the other three corners after we left and so when we arrived on Tuesday we were able to work on all four walls. By the time we left yesterday the walls were anywhere from waist high to almost shoulder high. 

I stayed back today thanks to a lovely case of 'something' that can strike travellers. ;) And I'm excited to see how much higher the walls are going to be tomorrow. I will attempt to post some pictures later today...I'm not even sure if it's actually a possibility. It is so beautiful here! We wake up in the morning and when we walk out of our room the first thing you see is Mount Mulanje, shrouded in fog and clouds. 

Hopefully I'll have a chance to post again later! If not, see you in Winnipeg!

Hello from TO

Oops!

I promise I'll get better at this whole blogging thing after I get home from AFRICA!!! That's right, I leave for Africa in 2 days! I've still got so much to do to get ready but I wanted to drop a quick note saying that I'll be back and I'll work on being a rockin' blogger when I get home! Love to all, see you again towards the end of July!

PS. Happy Canada Day! Here are some images of our Canada Day last year.

New Catalogue! Squeal!!

Well, I recieved my new Stampin Up! catalogue in the mail yesterday and I haven't been able to put it down since! It's so pretty! My husband's going to kill me because I'm so going to end up spending a fortune. It was so cute, as I was perusing it yesterday Addison came up to me and insisted that I let her look at the book. She took it from me and started turning the pages (keep in mind that the catalogue is pretty much the same size as her entire torso), and every time she'd see something she liked she would squeal, kiss the picture and hug the book! Everytime, for like 20 minutes! It was way too funny!

On another note, in the midst of marking, report cards, renovations, looming yard work and preping for Africa...yeesh, Paul and I are trying to talk ourselves into going to Mexico for a week or so this summer. We went for the first time when I was on Mat leave, loved it and so we went as a family this past December (see pics). And now, because we don't have enough going on we've both got the itch again and are toying with the idea of a family get away this August. It's kind of funny, because first Paul will want to go and I'll be the one saying, "No, probably not a good plan." and then a week later it's me saying I want to go and Paul being the one trying to talk me out of it. For a couple who spent 8 years together and the biggest trip was a weekend in Grand Forks, boy, things have changed in these last two years. Jamaica, Mexico, Mexico, Africa and now, hopefully, Mexico again!

Here's Addie on our first day in Mexico this December. We had bought her a little soccer uniform during our previous trip and so we dressed her in it as soon as the plane touched down. It was cute, everyone loved her in it. Paul has her staged her on the overhead luggage rack of the bus that took us to our hotel (with Lambchop, of course!)

This is her being oh so impressed with me trying to get a cute picture of her with the hibiscus flower.

Anyway, I can hear her crying upstairs (doesn't she know she's supposed to be sleeping?) and I should be packing for tomorrow's crop and marking and...it never ends!

One Month From Today

I will be flying to Africa! I am so excited to be a traveling to Malawai to build houses with Habitat for Humanity on July 1st. My sister-in-law, and long time friend, Marleen and I are going with a larger group. It will be the fulfillment of a life-long dream and I cannot wait! I just thought you'd all like to know that.

Iced Venti Vanilla Latte, Oh My!

So, it's official...I'm addicted! To Starbucks that is!

I recently discovered this new drink at Starbucks, the Iced Vanilla Latte, and I have to say I'm in love. I've been having one every day (maybe that's why I can't lose any weight!?! - You think?) but today I was busy and I didn't have time to go and get one. Well, by about 5pm I was in full blown, caffeine withdrawal, headache mode! Lame! And I usually pride myself on not having any real addicitions that way, shows you what I know!

I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for my June card club, my ladies have all asked me to show them some Stampin' Up scrapbooking and I really want to impress them with a beautiful page so I've pulled out the Sunny Day scrapbooking package and I'm going to get designing.

On another note, Angela, if you're checking in...I was going to post the pictures from your wedding album tonight but it turns out that my sd card was in the "lock" position in my camera and so none of the many pictures I took are recorded! Arghhh! Anyway, maybe one day I can bug you to let me come over and take some pics again quickly. ;)

I'm going to end with a few of my more recent scrapbooking pages I've created (they are very different from my usual style but I think they are very fun).

--- I've always wanted a blog and now I have one --- I rule!!

I am so excited to be starting my own blog! I love checking out other people's blogs (especially scrapbooking peoples) and now that I've started my own stamping business I really wanted to get out there in blog land and become a part of things.

It's funny that this worked out this week because, omg, it's been a long week! Addie's been sick with a "gastro-intestinal virus" to quote the nice Children's Hospital people (also known as the stomach flu in non-medical people talk). She's starting to be on the mend but is still not really eating and trust me, you should thank your lucky stars that you're not the one changing the diapers right now!

Part of my Stamping Up business is running monthly card clubs (I only have one right now but I'm hoping to have at least 4 by September) and at this month's club we had some fun creating a generic birthday card and a Father's Day card.









At last month's club we made one card and then decorated some enviro-bags using the big shot. I was really nervous about how it was going to go but they ended up being so cute and a lot of fun (thanks Tracey and Julie for letting me showcase your bags - without asking of course! Oops).

Well, here's to the beginning of a beautiful adventure in blogland!

ps. Can anyone name the movie quoted in the post title?