Fill in the Blank Friday 2.9

play along at Lauren's

1. My favourite colour is purple and/or green. It used to be just purple, but then I realized that I was drawn to green things equally as much.

2. My travel destination of choice is currently Edmonton. My siblings-in-law and nephew live there, and I have never been there, so I want to go. Some day before I die I want to go to Australia. And pretty much anywhere that is awesome. The list is too long.

3. My favourite food is many things. Chocolate. Mennonite perogies. Anything with cream cheese in it. Ice cream.

4. My happy place is Chapters.

5. My favourite saying is "No, o people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) I think that sums up the good life pretty succinctly.

6. My dirty little secret is well, if I told you then it wouldn't be a secret, would it? (Cop out - I can't think of anything)

7. Something my friends might say about me is that I have the best laugh. And they actually do say this, so I know.

Mail post! 2.3

Yay for the postal strike being over! It lasted 3 weeks, which was entirely far too long for me. I think the system is still back-logged, but hopefully those wonderful postal workers will be able to catch up soon.

A lovely wedding present from Callie that got stuck in the backlog. But it finally arrived which made me happy. The plate was promptly placed in our kitchen where I see it every day. I'll confess, haven't used the devotional book yet, but we want to start eventually. Yikes, how long it takes to form a good habit, eh?

Oh, and Callie is having a summer giveaway! Please swing by and enter, because there's good stuff! Or don't, because I want to win :P

From sweet Olga in the Ukraine. The envelope is made from a magazine page, and I can't understand any of the writing. I love it.

 

A card from Asierleigh in Florida. Check out the rad stamps!

From Lauren, a new pen pal who found my blog! She's the first person who wanted to write to me from reading my blog!! I'm so happy right now :D

 

A letter and a necklace from Belen. I adore the Archie stamp! The necklace was a purchase from her Etsy store, and I simply love it. So pretty.

Another purchase made on Etsy. Diana is moving her store to another website, so everything is ridiculously priced.

Letters going to my sisters-in-law and my friend working in Ontario for the summer.

My mix cds going out for Bianca's swap. I totally forgot to take pictures of the stuff going in the letters until I already had them sealed up and everything. (I cheated - I got Chris to decorate the cd cases for me. Shhh...) They are going out to Gracie and Nicole.

Finally, some outgoing Postcrossing cards. I bought the Where's Waldo postcard book!! I want to send them all out and I want to keep them all. I'm such a greedy postcard giver, seriously. But if you want a Waldo card, then leave a comment and maybe you'll get one ;)

Between the Folds

Today's movie is Between the Folds. Chris and I were just browsing on Netflix, and we found this documentary that looked interesting. Yes, we are geeks and think that documentaries look interesting.

This movie was actually really interesting. It highlights the relationship between science and art, and the different ways that people who practice origami use the art in their everyday lives. For example, there is a math teacher in Israel who uses paper folding to help her students understand geometry. I tell you, that technique probably would have helped to understand math in school. I actually really recommend this movie, it is quite interesting. If you like art then you'll like it. I'll show you some examples of what you'll see in the movie.

Some randoms from July

Chris and I at a family picnic with my dad's side of the family. He says this is one of his favorite pictures of me. *blush*

Some pictures I took in downtown Winnipeg. I love the mixture of old buildings and skyscrapers.

The moon on a drive home from the night shift. (Which, if you're curious, is around 3:15 am. Puke...)

Some pictures of Storm. She likes to watch tv. She is also sitting on my lap and watching me type this. She's funny. (I've been on a Big Bang Theory binge lately. Raj is my favorite :D "You hear that Ladies Night ladies? We're eventually coming for you!")

Last Sunday was family day. We had lunch at home, and played Uno. Christopher was so mean to me! That "pick up 2" was probably put down by him, and I probably had to pick up those two cards.

My dad was so into the game. Yes, he is actually sleeping. He always falls asleep at the table after Sunday lunch. Then my mom tells him to go take a nap on the couch, and he says that he's fine. Then he falls asleep again.

We then went to Winnipeg for an adventure. Nucci's Gelati was the first stop. Best gelati place in the city. So yummy. After that was glow-in-the-dark mini golf (all those pictures are on my mom's camera)

My weirdo husband. Whom I love with my whole heart :)

I was admiring my rings, as usual, so I took a picture :D

My husband in his office, working on a project for church. It turned out really cool. If he doesn't put it up on his blog I'll put it here.

My desk and letter writing space. I love my mugs as pen-holders.

Storm has taken to sleeping on my letters. It is sooo cute. Sometimes she just drives me nuts, but then she does stuff like that and I love her all over again.

Have a lovely weekend, dears!

xoxo

FITBF. 2.8

1.   I am a (morning, evening, middle of the day person)  middle of the day person. I am most productive between noon and supper-time.

2.  My favorite Pandora stations are  I don't have Pandora. Does that make me totally out of it?

3.  3 of my "must-have" songs for a road trip playlist are   Black & Gold by Sam Sparro, Viva la Vida by Coldplay, and I Wear My Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart.

4.  My favorite pattern is  zebra print. Of course I enjoy it in small doses, but I just love it. Giraffe print is also amazing.

5.  My favorite perfume is    Simply Irresistible by Givenchy.

6.  Rules are   something I tend to follow but resent if they're excessive.

7.  My most overused phrase or punctuation is    "Oh my word!" And I think I overuse commas. I tend to have very long sentences.

The pitter-patter of little feet...

Meet the newest member of the Barkman household.

This is Storm. 

She is the sweetest kitten ever. A couple weeks ago she just showed up at my parents' place. They live out in the country, so there is really no way of knowing where she came from. For all we know, she was hanging on someone's undercarriage and fell off on the road somewhere. So Chris and I willingly adopted her.

We named her Storm after the character from X-Men. We watched the X-Men trilogy and Wolverine on our honeymoon, and then saw First Class a week or so later. So we have a soft spot for the X-Men (plus we're geeky like that).

Storm has certainly brought some entertainment into our lives. She is very affectionate, and she won't leave us alone! She "hides" and then jump-hugs our legs when we walk down the hall. She doesn't meow - she chirps. Seriously, I was watching a movie where a bird was chirping and I thought it was Storm. 

Today she did the most random thing. I was trying to have a nap, and she was sitting there, staring at my face curiously, and then she just poked me in the eye! Seriously! And she did the same thing to Chris! I have no idea what she was thinking. She is absolutely nuts. But who could help but love her when she does things like this?

Fill in the Blank Friday 2.7

Goodness, I haven't done these in a while! Play along here.



1.   My plans this summer include      Going to the Forks, finish getting our house in order, go on a road trip to a 50s style diner and a drive in movie, and hang out with my friends.

2.  The best summer I ever had was    probably last summer. My job sucked, but I did cool things with my friends and my boyfriend. But I think this summer will be the best one yet ;)

3.  Summer is     wonderful for adventures and recharging after the looong cold winter.

4.  My favorite summer food is   hmmm... Disco (which is a Mexican meal prepared in a large disc over a fire. Not a dance.) My dad makes the best disco.

5.  The best way to quench a summer thirst is with     a Slurpee!!!

6.  My summer uniform consists of       longer shorts (I don't do tiny shorts) and skirts.

7.  The best thing about summer is       that it is warm and cheerful and warm and green and warm. Also it is not winter.

I love long weekends.

Yesterday was Canada Day, and it was nice to just spend a day relaxing. Chris and I cleaned our house, which always makes me feel better. I love having a clean space around me. I'm a bit of a clean freak. I think I balance the chaos in my mind by having an organized physical space around me.

I also gave myself a manicure yesterday after seeing a super cute one on several blogs the other day. (Here's a link to one.)  I think it's one of my new favorite things.

Being Canada Day yesterday, Chris and I went to see the fireworks with a couple of my friends. I flipping adore fireworks, but I'll tell you this - Steinbach does not have the best fireworks in the world, considering how big the town is and compared to the fireworks that smaller towns in the area put on. Nontheless, they were still beautiful and I got some good pictures.

In the evening I had the random urge to make brownies. They. Were. Flipping. Amazing. So I am sharing the recipe with you lovely people. I hope you make them and enjoy :D

Easy Fudge Brownies (courtesy of Pampered Chef)

Note: This recipe came with their small bar pan, so it's a tiny recipe. I am giving it to you tripled from the original, but I have no idea what size pan you'll need. I think you're smart enough to figure it out, though ;)


Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combing sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla in mixing bowl; mix well.

2. Combine flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add to batter bowl; whisk until smooth. Stir a third each of the chocolate morsels and walnuts into batter. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake 18-20 minutes or until brownie is set in center. Remove from oven to cooling rack.

3. Immediately sprinkle remaining chocolate morsels over hot brownie. Let chocolate stand until softened; spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Cool before cutting.

More notes: I pretty much hate nuts in baked goods, so I skipped that.

I found peanut butter chips in my cupboard, so when mixing the batter I split it half peanut butter chips and half regular chocolate chips. So. Yummy.

The baking time might be off, because again this recipe was really small and meant for a clay baking pan. So if you try it and find that it needs a different time, please let me know!


Enjoy your long weekend, my dears!