Family Day and Happy 26th To Us!

Jill was away in Toronto this past weekend for a job interview. She got back in time for Family Day though so we decided to go to a cool new place, The Hexagon. It's a coffee-shop type place where you can also play board games. They're part of Calgary's hot chocolate contest right now. We had PB&J hot chocolate. Not bad!

Also, it was our anniversary today! It seems right to have our anniversary on Family Day. My dear husband surprised me with some DIAMOND earrings! So fancy!

Date Night!

Allen and I haven't always done a great job with going on dates regularly. I have a goal this year to go on a date once a week with him. Tonight was our first. It was great. We went to a restaurant that the parents of one of my students own. Fun experience! Every table has a BBQ for you to BBQ your meat. I also BBQd the raw fish we got with our sushi.

After we ate, Allen needed to refresh with a rest. The first Thursday of the month is free night at The Glenbow and I have not been able to go so I decided to quickly take off and check it out for an hour. My favorite things to see there is  Mavericks. I especially love the room dedicated to the women who fought for the vote.

Downtown Calgary is beautiful in the winter:

Day 121 Saturday Fun

The kids and I have been volunteering at Storybook Theatre for years. We truly love it. Today we volunteered in th concession with tempting Crave Cupcakes and cookies! We sold a lot!!

The play today was Goodnight Moon. It was meant for preschool aged children and definitely thrilled their target audience. I got a real kick out of hearing the kids guffaw loudly at the silliness and the jokes. It was really great.

Tonight was our ward's Cinco De Mayo party. It is one of the best parties our ward puts on all year. Tonight didn't disappoint either.

After the party, Allen and I went to the at of C to listen to Aritha van Herk. She is the author of the book my book club is reading this month. I didn't take this picture. I borrowed it from their website: 

https://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2016-04-14/canadian-novelist-aritha-van-herk-deliver-2016-lecture-lifetime

It was a lovely lecture! It reminded me of how stories are everywhere, waiting to be told and renewed my desire to become a better writer.

Here what the website had to say about it:

Hosted by the University of Calgary Senate, Lecture of a Lifetime showcases the talent and achievements of leading academics and celebrates outstanding service to the university, its students and the greater community.

This year’s lecturer, Aritha van Herk, is an acclaimed Canadian novelist who has enriched the lives of readers across the globe. Here’s why you should attend:

1. van Herk evaded the law to pursue her passion for literature.

Born to Dutch immigrant parents in central Alberta, van Herk was raised to believe that education is the most important aspect of your life. Her parents were adamant that all their children would have a solid educational foundation and life on the family farm led to a childhood that combined physical hard work with a respect for learning.  

Her passion for literature emerged very early, kindled by a family that valued and treasured books, and by literature teachers who encouraged her to write stories and recite poetry. van Herk could read before she could walk, and spent her childhood immersed in a world of books that transported her to all the worlds she wanted to learn more about.

Although van Herk’s parents had strong aspirations for her to pursue a more formal career path, such as law, she was determined to turn her love for literature into a flourishing career as both a writer and professor.

And she’s done just that. Alongside her work as an award-winning novelist with 13 books under her belt, van Herk also boasts an extraordinary teaching and academic career. She is credited with helping to develop the University of Calgary’s nationally and internationally renowned creative writing program, and every single one of her grad students has gone on to publish his or her own book.

2. She will captivate your attention with exceptional storytelling.

Recognized for her innovative approaches to prose and cross-genre writing, van Herk is a storyteller who is eager to share with the audience the invitation that story offers. She is often asked if her stories are made up. But to van Herk, the line between what is real and what we invent; what we perceive and what actually happened; and what a story tells us and what we get out of a story is permeable.

“Whether it’s real or made up, the power resides in the story,” says van Herk. “The stories that insist on writing themselves into our lives are also the stories that we are fascinated with.”

van Herk will explore the secrets of good storytelling and more as she delivers the 2016 Lecture of a Lifetime.

3. She has witnessed tremendous transformation in her 33 years on campus, and will no doubt have entertaining stories to share.

Since joining the University of Calgary’s Department of English in 1983, van Herk has noticed a new-found sense of confidence and pride, and a university that is growing, changing and embracing possibilities for improvement all the time.

“We don’t just follow a plan that gets imposed from above. The university engages a real sense of spirit,” she says. “From the people that work here, the students who come here, the community that surrounds and supports it, there is a very strong pride that wasn’t here 30 years ago.”

van Herk's rich experience and writing talent are two reasons she was asked to pen the University of Calgary's 50th Anniversary commemorative book. She felt it was important to communicate all the different elements that have made the university the place it is today and used her signature writing style to capture a condensed and energetic version of what has happened to the university over the past 50 years.

This commemorative book will be unveiled during the 50th Anniversary weekend, and will be available for purchase following van Herk’s lecture on April 30, along with her other works and her latest book of prose-poetry, Stampede and the Westness of West. 

4. van Herk has taught, given lectures and travelled all over the world. Her passion for travelling is contagious and you can bet she will have plenty to say about her experiences. 

Located in a quiet corner on the 11th floor of the Social Sciences building, van Herk’s office reflects her passion for travelling. Alongside hundreds of colourful books rests a figure of van Herk as a witch that a student in Germany made for her; a tiny polar bear with real seal skin from her travels in the extreme Arctic; and a number of other interesting mementos van Herk has collected from her adventures around the globe — all with a unique story signifying a special occasion, moment or stop along the way. 

Her most prized collectibles are tucked away on the very top shelf — dusty old carrying cases representing the first briefcase she ever owned along with her first typewriter case. And yes, van Herk still has a little portable typewriter that she uses every once in a while to hammer on the keys.

“There is something therapeutic about pounding away on a manual typewriter,” she says.

5. This is an opportunity to check out the new Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Following the official grand opening on April 18, Lecture of a Lifetime 2016 will be the first public event held in the new Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. This innovative building will transform how the University of Calgary engages in creating, experimenting with, and assessing the impact of teaching and learning that represent not only best practices, but also leading-edge next practices.

The Taylor Institute is an integral part of the University of Calgary’s Eyes High strategy and will contribute significantly in the university’s journey to become one of the top five research institutions in Canada. This institute will allow the University of Calgary to better adapt to the anytime and anywhere learning needs of its students, shine a light on teaching excellence and serve as a touchstone for educational improvements across the country.

Day 106 Quiet Night

Allen isn't feeling well at all so he went to bed early and I spent the evening with a book.

It could have been beautiful.....it seemed like a great book....but blech!! What a waste of a Friday night!!

New Year's Eve

What a night! We ended the year off with a bang!

Peirce and I worked at a hockey game. Did you know they can do fireworks right on the ice?! That was pretty cool.

After we went and found Allen and then subsequently found a restaurant that had tables available. It was a bit of an eye opener for Peirce: loud music, DJ, fancified people, champagne (well, not for us) and lots of noisy people. They handed out party hats and noisemakers for the countdown. Fun!

These are terribly grainy pictures....apparently I need a better phone. 

Jill on the other hand, had five parties in one night:

1. Shop and have a friend over to get ready for the dance.

2. Go to the before dance party at a boy's house.

3. Go to the dance.

4. Go to the after dance party at another boy's house.

5. Have a friend sleepover (attempt to watch a movie first....which didn't last long. Valiant effort though!)

Translation: That meant a bunch of driving for Allen. I'm always amazed at the number of kids looking for rides on nights like tonight. I wonder what their parents did for New Year's Eve? Oh well! It is good bonding time....a win for Allen.

Now bring on 2014!

Inspiring Old Friends

Tonight Allen and I attended our stake's High Priest dinner and fireside. Mmmmm! Chinese food! Love it!

Even better than the Chinese food thoug, they had Lynn Rosenvall speak about his research on the geography of the Book of Mormon.  I have heard him speak on this topic before and I especially love watching how animated and excited he gets about it. He knows so much and has done some amazing work. When I listen to him it find myself wanting to be a more dedicated student, not only of scriptures and doctrine, but many other things too.

President Rosenvall's son, David, was a friend of mine in University. David has accomplished some amazing things. He basically created the online scriptures that the church uses and is currently responsible for all things involved with technology in the church. I remember so well when he was working on electronic scriptures. Who would have thought that the church would totally adopt what he had created? It is amazing.

I am amazed at the things some of the people I know have accomplished. I remember Brother Bennion speaking once at the institute and he said that the people we were rubbing shoulders with then would become our life long friends and that we would look back on those days as the formative days of our life. I never could have imagined how true that could be.

Saturday

Today has been a great day. It started off with lots of nothing....mostly resting. Now and then I really need a day like that!

Tonight has been fun. The kids went to Storybook Theatre. Allen and I went to a basketball game (4A High School Provincials....Cardston versus Bishop Grandin...Cardston won!), and then we went and watched UFC. I don't like UFC at all really. I tell myself to chill about it....but watching men beat each other up causes me to get all tense and stressed. I just do it to hang out with Allen.

The things we do!

Morning Date

This morning Allen's office had a Christmas Breakfast. It was so fun to have a date on a Wednesday morning! We had a great time visiting with friends from the office. Wonderful day!

Romance!

My dear husband brought me flowers at work today. Why? Just because!

He's a keeper :)

Rained Out

Tonight for our date night I suggested we go to a walk along the river. Allen really doesn't like walking though (back issues) and sometimes it's worse than others. Tonight walking was out. Well, how about we drive down to the river and sit on a bench?! It was a deal....until this happened:

 
This is the view from our front door. Unbelievable!!
 
We decided we would stay home and play Scrabble. Allen hates Scrabble. I had to let him win :)

Date Night at Box Wood Cafe

Usually we have some time during the week when we take the calender off the fridge and make sure we're all understanding what is going on in the week. When we did that this week I told Allen we'd be going on a date on Friday. He joked, "Oh good....grocery shopping together."

Sadly, our date nights are often like that. We don't do it too often because life is just too busy. By Fridays we're dead tired, and usually Saturday is packed with more to do than we can do, so we opt to rest and get ready for the craziness of Saturday. However, this week seemed like the perfect time to get ourselves out of the house together to do something with each other!

This is Stampede Week, and judging from the attendance at the Vipers Game on Thursday, not much else happens in this city besides Stampede! So it took some thinking to decide what we'd do. Actually, I put a post on Facebook for suggestions for our datenight. We decided to go with dinner out at the Boxwood Cafe. What a great place! I had actually driven by their earlier this month and made a mental note to tell Allen about it. It looked like an interesting place. Turns out it is owned by the same people who own The River Cafe another amazing place in Calgary!

I had Quinoa Salad with Cucumber, Roasted Peppers & Feta , and Spiced Almonds & Pecans with Citrus & Rosemary....and they were both so delicious!! Loved loved loved it! Allen had lamb with some kind of sauce on it, and a lentil soup. I was amazed at how our serving sizes weren't that big, but we were totally satisfied by the end of it all. Truthfully, I found myself eating slowly and wanting to savor the amazing tastes.

They try to serve food produced and sold around Calgary....I love that too. They even had Broxburn cucumbers from Broxburn farm! The menu even says: To reduce our carbon footprint, we offer water that is filtered onsite. Still water is complimentary, and unlimited sparkling water is available at a small charge of $2 per guest. Thank you for supporting our efforts.

It was a refreshing change from those places where all the girls wear black revealing clothes and all kind of look the same.

Definitely recommend Box Wood!! Thank you Lynn Ursenbach for the recommendation!

After that we drove around and looked at beautiful houses around Elbow Drive....another favorite past time of ours!

All in all, a great night!

Happy Birthday Jeni!

I thinking I'm going to change the song: Friday is a special day. It's the day I go on a daaaate!

Tonight we went to Jeni's birthday party. She is one of my favorite people. Great Time! I ran into some old friends and enjoyed visiting with them. I enjoyed visiting with some people I often see. And most of all I enjoyed hanging out with Allen! And just like Jeni's style, she provided a great venue for our first date of 2011.

One of the great things about our life right now is our kids are old enough that we can just walk out. They were both busy doing things. Peirce had just bought a coloring poster on Thursday (you know the kind...the ones with velvet....he loves those!) and he was content to sit for hours and work on it. Jill was uploading music to her phone. So we just did the 'be good!' and off we went. I love that!