Travel Tuesday - A Sneak Peek

So last week I didn't post. Since Tuesday is my day off, it was the only day I could work on my new project.

I got so busy painting and cleaning up the HUGE mess that I didn't have a chance to. However, I did find some time to work on decor.

Considering it is the master bathroom I thought it would be a great idea to hang this sign by the shower. And of course being inspired by Pinterest, I had to make it by hand. Anyways, excuse the crooked lettering and I hope you get the same chuckle out of it that I did while making it.

Travel Tuesday: Cultivating New Skills

Ever since Charming bought me my wonderful camera I have been avoiding the manual setting. This is apparently a bad thing. In an effort to improve my knowledge of its inner workings Charming and I are taking a photography class. This is no ordinary photography class as it is being taught by none other than Charming's father who gleefully gave his children homework for the week. This week we were told, among other things, to take pictures in black and white that haven't been photoshopped that way afterwards. 

Now it is fairly common knowledge that I dislike to take photos without people in it. For some reason it feels like I have taken a useless photo when I do. Unfortunately for me, when I finally found the time to pull out the camera there was no one around to model. This hiccough was not enough to hinder my determination to take portraits so I decided to take some selfies!

Behold my studio!

First I needed a tripod to hold the camera at a decent height. Since we don't have one I improvised a tasty tower of boxes from my pantry. 

My too often neglected Swiffer became my focusing double. It did not mind at all to be unceremoniously tossed out of the way as I ran around to take its place.

And finally to add a little extra interest, I borrowed Charming's box fan.

I ran back and forth many times with many failed pictures, some with distracting hands and others out of focus. 

Practice improved my off-centered poses.

 And eventually I came up with a shot worthy of a facebook profile.

I can't wait to see what's next in this adventure!

Travel Tuesday: A Little Idea

Have you ever had one of those great ideas that you think will be a cinch to accomplish and then quickly gets blown out of proportion? Well I had one of those today. I am afraid it might be a hereditary thing that I can do nothing about. Thankfully I have a particularly understanding husband who also doubles as a decent handyman.

Behold the en-suite.

It is a sad neglected room. Void of colour and love.

But no more! I have some plans in the works and a handyman at my side. This room shall soon be conquered.
 

The smaller the room, that faster it will go right? At least that is what Charming is hoping for!

Travel Tuesdays: Coastal Cruising

I introduce Prince Charming's parents, the King and Queen. In 30 years of marriage much knowledge and experience has been gained. Children and a new grandchild are among their vast blessings. However the growing family has spread across western Canada and is not easily brought together. To rectify this issue and to celebrate the special occasion we were invited along on a special holiday.

The plan, prepared by the ever photogenic King, was to spend a week on the Oregon coast. This, being the first extended trip with Charming's family, would prove to be a much different kind of vacation than I usually experience. No poolside lounging, lazy afternoons, and attempted suntanning this time.

We drove along the coast for hours stopping at only the best view points. The windswept and weather worn trees reveal the climate's true nature. I am the only one concerned. My fellow homo sapiens are content to brave the chill to capture lonely rock formations or aviary species in their natural habitat.

In an effort to chronicle the true adventure I captured the professionals in their favourite environment.

The main event, at least in my mind, was having bonding time with this baby dinosaur. The next time we get to see Rorasaurus he will be quite a little man so I took every opportunity to snuggle with him.

It was a pleasure to be able to give his very tired parents a chance to rest. Hopefully I didn't come across as too much of a beggar like the little friend we met along the way. The Queen is quivering off on the side spouting something about the danger of rabies.

When the Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't spending his time talking to his lost love back home, we spent time enjoying each other's company.

Playing games...

With an intensity not anticipated when I agreed to join in.

Enjoying the attractions.

The enormity of this solid wood hanger is hard to understand until you are standing at the front door.

The hours flew by as all enjoyed antique planes and followed their history.

Throughout the week only Charming seemed willing to wait a moment for me to adjust camera settings, all the while holding a smile.

There will be many more of these to come for him as there is much more practicing to be done.

But Charming wouldn't let the sun set without him having a chance to try his hand at a photo shoot.

 Even if his model was a little unwilling.

It was a tiring yet fun filled week. Certainly an adventure!

Charming's Chores

While the List has been getting me started on a few things, Prince Charming has been inspired to do some of his own projects.

He took the year's accumulation of pop cans and juice boxes to the recycle depot. (I was surprised it all fit in the car and he didn't have to take two trips.)

He cleaned out the garage. (This and the previous chore went pretty hand in hand.)

He did some spring maintenance on both of the cars. (I won't get into details because I don't speak car very well.)

And, with the help of his dad, he put some holes in the roof. (He claims they will make it leak proof this the winter.)

But my favourite chores he did this past month were the ones he did outside.

Not only did I get some very beautiful flowers this year they are also going to live because of the automatic watering system Charming put up.

As you can tell this guy didn't get hooked up right away and, in my usual fashion with flowers, was quickly forgotten. Hopefully, now that the watering system reaches him, he will perk up a bit.

Charming's other project was getting rid of the weeds. He spent a couple hours pulling up dandelions and spraying the holes with weed killer so they won't grow back. The lawn looks pretty spotless to me!

I am so blessed to have such a hard working man taking care of me!

A Beginning

Since Charming and I moved to Alberta there have been many things we have been meaning to start but never seem to get around to doing. Since The List got started we were inspired to actually get going on some of them.

The first thing was to become more active. We both may look slim and trim but if a two minute jog can knock the wind out of you something needs to be done! At first we got swimming passes but a certain someone doesn't like to get his face wet so we both got a pair of running shoes. Browsing through Pinterest, several times I have seen a routine called "From Couch to 5K" and have been meaning to try it out. For once I actually saved the Pin. I have it handy so that Charming and I can spend some quality time chasing each other, not talking, trying to catch our breath. This is just the first week of ten so hopefully in a couple months we would be able to sign up for a race and jog the whole thing no problem, or at least with less problem than right now.

The other thing we wanted to do was get some toys. There are so many people we would love to invite over but don't because we feel bad that their kids will have nothing to do. Since we have had a break from our stormy weather today, we headed out to some garage sales to see what treasures we could find.

The other reason we decided to get toys was because this wonderful lady is about ready to pop and when Wee Three comes along she promised to send up Wee One for a couple days!

I hope you meant it when you said I could have Wee One cause we've been preparing. I got some puzzles and books just for her!

For only bringing along a 20 dollar bill I think we got a pretty good haul for this week!

And this one is my favourite. If I read this one for a bedtime story I might never get to sleep!

An Adventure

For me The List is more about the journey than the destination so in keeping with that spirit, Charming and I went on an adventure for the long weekend.

Right after I came home from work on Saturday, Charming decided we should go somewhere, so we booked a mystery hotel on Hotwire and packed our bags. We were on the road within an hour, which in relation to Charming's usual packing schedule is VERY good. We drove down to Calgary to our hotel right on the airport. Once we got there he seemed pretty pleased with his choice and the camera seemed to find him almost angelic for it too.

The only thing was when we woke up on Sunday, I realized we hadn't really prepared for it at all! I had some granola bars and juice boxes stashed away for breakfast but we didn't have lunch or dinner. We went to the Calgary Reformed Church and within five minutes we not only had lunch plans but dinner plans too. It is such a blessing to be part of the communion of the saints! Thanks to the van Ellenburg's and the Helder's for keeping us so well fed and for great company. Charming even got to play a game of Ticket to Ride.

On Monday we were on our way to Banff to see the sights. A light breakfast at the exceptionally busy Timmy's and we were on our way.

We walked through the beautiful little town and did a little shopping. We stopped for some fancy steeped tea.

And a very nice meal at a Greek restaurant in town.

We went to Lake Louise, we took the scenic route back and found a nice little spot to practice with the camera. Apparently I was taking too many pictures because Charming kept sneezing.

We fooled with the settings trying to get the right picture. This one was a good picture of Charming but the mountain disappeared into the sky and took away the definition in the clouds.

 
Once I finally found the settings to make them look the way I wanted it to ...

 
I put charming into the picture but I would have needed a flash or some sort of reflector to make him brighter.

The whole time Charming was looking for wildlife as he was driving and he was finally rewarded when we came to this guy crossing the road.

While the window was still open I thought I should make up for all the pictures I took of Charming

All in all it was a wonderful drive to and through the mountains, with some stops along the way to take in the beauty of God's Creation.