Just to Say Hi

Its been so long since I have blogged! I have a post in the works for our trip to Europe but now it totally isn't relevant!


So I'll do a fast one now:)

In April Ben & I took the trip we had been dreaming of for years. We talked about going to Europe a lot when we were dating and we both longed to see a few places.

For Ben it was Holland, where his Dad's side of the family are from, and Germany where his Mom's side of the family are from.

For me it was Scotland, to see some old friend and old places I once loved.

The trip was amazing, here is part 1, Scotland:)

Our hotel in Edinburgh, it was so gorgeous. We stayed here for our 2nd Anniversary.

Our first coffees after lots of flying and airports!

Edinburgh Castle... so beautiful!

The park keepers house:)

I love this park in Edinburgh

Edinburgh City

The most amazing B&B in St Andrews, Kinkell House

The view from our room.

Kinkell House Lane

I love the ocean

A cool house in St Andrews

Stirling Castle

The Wallace Monument

The beautiful town of Stirling

Glencoe... The Highlands of Scotland. So beautiful to drive through!

Glasgow!

I hope you enjoy... I will post Part 2 soon!

Scotland

A couple weeks ago at church our Pastor quoted a Celtic Prayer. That brought me back to my YWAM days in Scotland. I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the sermon as my thoughts were inundated with the memories of the Discipleship Training School I went to in Paisley, Scotland called Celtic Way DTS. 

This picture was taken on my second trip. You have to cross the border of England /Scotland. The country side we pass was beautiful, breathtaking. In the past couple years, while watching movies set in the English countryside I am taken back to those days of just walking through God's beautiful creation. Sometimes I think I appreciate it more now, than I did while I walked it.

It was a unique DTS. We followed in the footsteps of Celtic Saints thousands of years ago, literally. We were a hiking DTS:) The main hike we did was St Cutherberts Trail, it is 100km long and starts in Southern Scotland and ends on a tiny island called Lindisfarne on the East Coast of England. It was not an easy hike as it lasted 5 days and crossed many different terrains. I got to experience this incredible hike twice.

On my second hike we got to experience Chase Anderson playing the Bagpipes at the highest point of the hike. It was beautiful, unfortunately all you can hear in the videos I took is the wind!

My all time favorite part of the hike is the last day (partly because it always meant it was almost over!). Its the day we walk across the ocean to the Island of Lindisfarne. There is a causeway separating Lindisfarne from the mainland which means cars & people can walk to the island at certain times of the day! The causeway is generally open from about 3 hours after high tide until 2 hours before the next high tide. Because we have to rely on the tide that means we had to wake up at 4am to be able to cross at the correct time frame. 

The causeway has refuge poles every 30 yards -ish and we each time we pass one, someone reads a Bible verse of their choosing. I love this part. We always meet up with Andy Raine, a resident of Lindisfarne, who teaches us. He is a great teacher/servant of God. A very hilarious man!

After our big hike we always did another trip that visited a few Islands of Scotland. My favorite Island ever is the Isle of Iona. It is a tiny island on the West Coast of Scotland, south of the Isle of Skye. You have to take two ferries to get there. Only 125 people live on the Island. From one end to the other it is 1.6 KM and one of the most beautiful walks I have ever taken. The Iona Abbey is situated on the Island, it is a beautiful Abbey that still stands.

Another hike we did was a one day hike called a Munro in the Highlands. My first couple years we did The Cobbler right near Loch Lomond.  The photo above is my first ever hike in Scotland. I had only been there for 2ish weeks! Who would have guessed the girl sitting beside me would become one of my best friends.

Then in my last year we did a different mountain and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it! But it had a spectacular view! I love that my hair and sweater are the same! 

And lastly another way we followed the footsteps of Celtic Saints was our morning/evening prayer. We called it Office. We met at 730am & 9pm every day. The prayers we read were taken from the book Andy Raine wrote called Celtic Daily Prayer. I miss those office times. At the beginning of every school we would have all the new students take 5-10 little pieces of paper and add a name to each of someone they love to it. Then before we started prayer each day we would each take a piece of paper from our prayer bucket. Halfway through the prayer we take time to individually pray for the person on the piece of paper. Office was a time that we reflected and prayed.

Part of the prayer was "May the peace of the Lord Christ be with your, where ever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing and the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you back rejoicing once again into our home." I would love to be part of Office again:)


I miss the community Stanely House created, especially living in Calgary away from lots of friends and family.  

The City I Live In

Calgary is the first Big City I've lived in and I love it. I never thought of myself as a City Girl but I really do enjoy it. I love living in a Suburb that feels just like small Abbotsford yet I can drive 15 minutes to Downtown and go shopping. I love that there are beautiful settings throughout all of Calgary to walk. I love that there are gorgeous $2,000,000 plus homes that Ben and I can
walk by and dream about.

Calgary is a gorgeous city. In the two years of living here I've been able to capture a few moments of different seasons. They are mostly winter... because my love of photography was sparked in the wisps of snow!

For Christmas 2010 my family decided to not buy gifts, but make them! Since I have absolutely no craftiness in me (unlike the rest of my family) I decided to use something I enjoyed and Im alright at, photos! I thought through each sibling and their family and tried to think of a photo they would love and would hang in their home. My sister and her husband, Heidi & Josh, have always loved trees! And I absolutely love all the tree photo's they have in their home. So this picture was taken on my mission to find the perfect trees for their picture! This was taken just outside of town. I love love love how you can see the Foothills on the Rockies:) In BC we are so proud of all the mountains we have nearby but here in Calgary... its like having 50 Mount Baker's on the edge of town. It is spectacular!

Downtown Calgary Summer 2011.... You don't see the distinctive Calgary Tower because this picture was taken on the North side of the city. You can see the Bow River and the unique walking bridge that leads to Prince's Park. Whoever said Alberta was try and yellow was very wrong!

Fall 2011. One of my favorite places to walk. Along Memorial Drive. Ben and I walk along here a lot:)

This is another pathway Ben and I randomly found one day:) I love trees.

January 2012. Another favorite walk of ours and mostly because it is beside our condo! The snow beyond the bench is actually a tiny lake:) Ben and I love walking here. It is the perfect size for us.

February 2012. I was in love the moment we ran across this little place. It is in one of the wealthiest area's of Calgary. We discovered so many good walking paths down here too.


February 2012. In the same area. I cannot wait to go back in the summer AND the fall to see how beautiful it is:) This picture makes me feel like I'm back in Prague. If only:)

As much as I want to move back to BC, I love the beauty of Calgary. It is a great city to live in.

My Man's 26th!

There are only 3 months every year that Ben is a different age than me. Coincidentally we got married in those three months:) Yesterday was Ben's birthday and I wanted to make it special... I had quizzed him for a month trying to find out what HE really wants to do. He kept saying "You make me dinner" which didn't sit well with me! Everything I make, I make all the time! Except for one meal which I had made recently. I love going out, but he goes out for lunch ALL the time because of work and travel. And he wanted to go see the new Underworld.

But he already knew about dinner and the movie and I'm all about surprises... so I woke up at 630 am (which is early for me!) and made him Dutch Pancakes! He was really surprised and

loved it:)

So that was it then! I had to make him my one fancy meal... Chicken Cordon Bleu! It is a recipe I found a couple years ago on AllRecipes.com, it had raving reviews so I tried it. My first attempt failed miserably but the second time it came out amazingly!

The main course was set... the sides were easy... I had leftovers from Bible Study of an amazing salad with strawberries, almond slices & spring mix lettuce. Ben LOVES some mashed potatoes, especially with my parents Apple Sauce which we have one serving left of! And asparagus is another one of his favorites.

Dessert... that was the hard one... there are only two of us... Ive made him cupcakes before and I don't really want to buy a cake... then a great idea hit me... Ben LOVES cheesecake... and I had seen a delicious looking No Bake cheesecake recipe on Pinterest!

I had hoped to make it look as beautiful as this...

But I couldnt get the piping down right.... so mine didn't turn out was nice! But it was still yummy!

So there it was... my special meal for Ben finally had come together:) Everything turned out beautifully! I even pulled out our china dishes and white table cloth out.

He loved his gifts too:)

I got him the entire Arrested Development series which we had been talking about recently a lot and wanted to re-watch. And I got him a new leather Bible with his name engraved on it:) I had been planning it for awhile, we always share my Bible at Church because his Bible is from elementary school and is very used!

The only hitch was the movie... we got there... got great seats... the commercials started... and previews... then BAM Neon Pink & Neon Green... the movie looked like it was showing in Negative... 10 minutes later after 2 people leaving and my eyes getting sore trying to figure out what the heck was going on in the movie the manager came out and announced they downloaded the movie in 3D! this was no 3D! Anyway, they handed out free movie passes and said it would take 15 minutes... 20 minutes later they handed out free popcorn passes.... and another 10 minutes later they finally announced that the movie would not work and handed out another movie pass as we left. Oh well.

That part didn't work out the best... but we got free movie tickets!

All in all I would say the day was a success:)

The Superbowl

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl... I'm very excited about. Not because of the football that is going to be played for hours and hours but for the food! The food at super bowl parties is always the best! This Chef In Training blogger has so many cute and yummy ideas that make my mouth water... like this one:)

The other thing that I am really

excited about is hanging out with new friends! We are going to be watching it with our new Care Group!

Our Care Group was recently started by another couple and us... we desperately wanted to meet other young couples in our church. So we got a bunch of names and set it up:) Each couple is fairly newly married (I think 5 years is the longest marriage so far & one is engaged), we are all quite new to Calgary and last of all we all are Kidless!

Funny enough the couples are dropping like flies! Not leaving our group but the first week one couple announced they were pregnant... two weeks later another TWO couple announce they are pregnant too! So 3 out of 7 couples are going to have babies in car seats in September! I know what that means... LOTS of Baby Showers this Summer!

I'm very excited for what this year holds:)

Not A New Years Resolution

Everytime I think about my blog I feel bad... I always want to have such amazing things to say which causes me to feel like I'm climbing a mountain every time I write!

I don't like New Year's Resolutions... so this is just a new way of looking at my blog... Im not going to write a chapter of a novel everytime I post... Im just going to write what I'm thinking or feeling and write it from me:)

So here goes nothing:)

and a picture that made me happy today:) I took this picture while travelling with my brother James in Green Park in London:)

Have a great day!

Cherie

I'm Back

The horrible blogger is back again!

See the thing is, I rarely have anything interesting to say! Life goes on, its all routine! Although the past few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind for me... which I will get into detail at a later date:)

But currently Im excited about my two new toys:)

So I turned a quarter of a century a week and a half ago. It was a great birthday:) Ben and I spent the Saturday night in Fantasyland Hotel (located in West Edmonton Mall) - And no we did not get a theme room! We got a regular room which was really nice:) Anyway, I had been dropping hints for quite awhile that I want an IPhone. The issue was that I was only a year into my contract... on a three year. So it would be expensive. Well I had made myselft not expect it... and the gift I opened was a picture... of an IPhone... it was amazing! Ben had found out it would be way cheaper than we had originally thought.

Well... I absolutely love it! And my plan is the same price which is awesome! I'm amazed at how much stuff you can do on it! One of my favorite Apps is IMDB (internet movie database) I am always curious about actors and where I have seen them before... and now I have it at my fingertips!

But anyway, there are so many Apps to choose from its crazy!!

And....

I bought one (Canon T2I) of these in November of last year... and at Christmas an error popped up! A normal error that just says to clean the lens connection. Well.... I tried... and it didnt work.... So I sent it in... It took 6 weeks... it came back... I was so busy and it was winter so it was dark out every day! Anyway, after a week I turned it on, snapped a few pics and BAM same error message... So i immediatly took it in...

5 weeks later it was back again... we go home and Im thinking "it has to be fixed!" Turn it on... take about 10 pictures right off the bat... then BAM error... so Im frustrated... its almost summer, I dont want to miss anything... So I go in to Black's Photography... I explain that this is a lemon, cant they see that! There were a few tears... especially when they said they cant do anything. I was so frustrated... I went to Black's Photography for their customer service... AND NOTHING!!! I really do wish I had gotten my camera at Costco because they would have replaced it immediatly when they saw it was a lemon!

Anyway, I got a call about 3 weeks later (on my birthday) that they had a brand new camera sitting there for me... I was so excited! FINALLY!!!! Anyway, Ive used it here and there (as Im still so busy!) and it is great! I asked when I went to pick it up if Canon said anything about it being a lemon & they said No, they just tried it out when it came back and the same issue happened immediatly. But I have a new camera now... and I will NEVER buy anything from Black's Photography EVER AGAIN!

To end things off... last night I had a dream... that I was here....

Glasgow West End... sigh. I miss it a lot sometimes.

Nothing To Tell

Its amazing how so much time can go by with nothing extremely interesting happening... there really isnt much to say!

Life is going by... still newly married... still working... still living in Calgary... still lots of things! Most of our days consist of getting up... going to work... coming home... making/eating dinner... maybe going to the gym or watching TV... that is it!

Even with my new camera I havent even had time to go out with it. It gets dark the moment I get home from work. PLUS it was broken at Christmas... then would randomly work... then all of a sudden it doesnt anymore! So I had to send it in to get fixed, which is very unfortunate!

I do have news that I am going be having a fourth niece join the world at the end of July! My sister has two boys... and wanted to keep it that way... but God had a different plan... and she is expecting the first Stewart Girl:) Im so excited (ive already bought 2 outfits!)

The longer I live in Calgary... the more I realize that the main topic of conversation is... drumroll... The Weather! mixed in with some Flames talk. But I cannot get over how much people talk about the weather here. Mind you, it does a lot of things to make it worth talking about. For instance... yesterday it was -34C which for you Americanos is -29F... so that was all yesterday... there is snow everywhere, I can barely see any roads... and the snow is frozen... so when you drive you are constantly sliding all over the place (which i like:)). Then today... oh look a Chinook is coming... weather people are saying! +4C!!! (39.2F) How crazy is that! No wonder I have a really really bad headache! Although it hasnt even reach -10C yet... so maybe they are wrong about this so called Chinook:)

At least it gives people something actually interesting about the weather to talk about!

To make this post at least a little bit interesting...

Ben and his new car, it is so amazing! Such a blessing to have, his old car was so horrible... it never heated up one bit... whenever i would drive it to work, I wouldnt be able to feel my feet when I got there!

This is what it has looked like since November! Quite pretty though!

Hanging out with the little girls in Edmonton!

Decided

I did it! I found a great design that I love!

Today it was FINALLY light out as I drove to work, we are out of the dark ages! I got to watch the beautiful sunrise during my commute this morning, stunning! I do miss my commute from the South though. I had to drive up this massive hill which over looked the city. Seeing the sunrise behind the city skyline was just breathtaking. With my new commute I only get glimses of the sunrise here and there. Oh well! I love where we are living so much more now so I guess I will get over it.

On the radio all they were talking about was Balzac Billy the Groundhog... and if he was going to show is shadow or not! (Balzac is a small town just North of Calgary) I have never actually heard of waiting for Groundhogs telling us when spring is coming!! I know about it from the movie "Groundhog Day" but I have never experience people actually waiting to find out when Spring will end from a Groundhog! I guess that is what happens when you have severe winters and you want to know if the end is near!

I even found a lovely picture of Balzac Billy:

Oh and it is official! I just found on 660 News that Billy DID see his shadow... that means we are in for 6 more weeks of winter! The 3 Groundhogs on the East Coast of Canada all DIDNT see their shadow... so I guess the West gets endure more winter... Interesting as right now Eastern Canada is buried in snow.

This past weekend we were up in Edmonton... We stayed with the Timmermans! It was a lot of fun to see them and play with the girls. Kyla is almost 2 (the picture below) and she is turning into quite the hilarious character! While I was up there I got my hair cut! Chopped it all off... finally! It had been long for way too long! It feels so much better and no more dead ends!

On the trip up there was a pretty bad snow storm... so it took us an extra hour to get there! And my arm was hurt from being tensed while driving for part of it! But we made it!

It looks longer than it actually is in this picture... it sits above my shoulders... but in this picture I was VERY cold (in the -28C) so I was scrunched into my scarf waiting for the car to heat up!

Ben n I have been slowly decorating our new place. It is coming together... I will post new pics soon!

So I'm having issues... I can't find a background I like for my blog...

I would like some feedback on this background... thanks!! (I will post soon! I have a great idea!)