I wish I could say I took this picture – wish I was in Florence to experience the wonders – but I wasn’t, my friends Olivia and Liz were though and I borrowed this pic from Olivia. Since it’s Good Friday, I thought a Basillica picture would be appropriate. The original Baptistery doors in Florence..beautiful.
Now that Spring Break is over, I’m busy thinking about the next break. The older I get the more I like down time and no work time. We started the Spring Break off with work. Yep – always start with what you dread so it feels so much more fun when you’re finished. We painted all of our entrance way, up the stairs, upstairs hallway and the laundry room. Who would of known that these three little innocent words below could cause so much trouble:
Those three little words caused this:
Yep – took the plaster right off the wall. Hubbie was not too happy with me, since I insisted those nasty three words go up in the first place. Stencil, people, stencil! No more using two sided tape to hang letters on the walls. Had to use a heat gun to get the letters off with minimal damage. No living, loving or laughing at that point. A lot of screaming, shouting and swearing. After the work was done we decided it was time to treat ourselves for all of our hard labour and headed to White Rock for an Italian dinner at Italian Touch. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. Bought a Groupon and it was worth it. Here’s our view from our table:
The dinner:
The dessert:
The next day we decided to head down to Marysville, Washington and spend the night, do a little shopping and more eating. The Tulalip Resort is five minutes away as well as a great outlet shopping mall. I spent a total of $35.00 shopping and got three items. The boys are into the Under Armour hoodies – $150.00 later the boys got three hoodies and one Nike jacket. How did that happen – I get the cheap the boys get the expensive!
That night we decided on Mexican for dinner and I found this little authentic gem on the GPS. Reading the reviews through travel advisor – all said not to be turned off by the restaurant’s appearance inside and out. Not your trendy place but good down to earth authentic Mexican food served and cooked by the father and son owners. El Rinconcito in Marysville – worth a visit if you’re travelling through the area. We didn’t get to the restaurant until 8:50 pm and the restaurant was closed at 9:00 pm. I told the owner I would understand if he didn’t want to serve us as we were so late. Through his broken accent – “no, no, please you and your family sit down and eat!” Very true to the trip advisor reviews the appearance of the restaurant in and out was not appealing. The area looked a little rough and I didn’t take a picture of the view from our table because there was a police incident going on outside!
Looking at the prices of the dinners (all $10.00 and under) I assumed there wouldn’t be too much food. I wasn’t terribly hungry so I ordered one enchilada with re-fried beans and rice – cost was $7.75. My youngest wouldn’t try any mexican so he ordered a cheeseburger and fries, my husband and other son both ordered combos – cost $10.00. Well the food came and I couldn’t get over the amount of food. The meals were fresh and delicious. Total cost of the bill was $54.00 for the four of us – 64.00 total with tip added.
The next day we woke up to snow. On the way home we stopped at the Tulalip Casino Resort for a few photo ops. Beautiful resort owned by the Tulalip Bands.
Nothing too exciting but we had a ball this Spring Break..Until the next break!
I felt compelled to press this – everyone should see this video. Originally seen on: http://poet4justicedotwordpressdotcom.wordpress.com
This man gets it, he gets what it is to be a loving, giving, generous human being. I’m in awe of this man’s beautiful spirit.
Hockey season just finished up today. The league I play in finished today and the boys finished yesterday. However, we are heading into Spring sports and this year the boys have picked, you guessed it, more hockey. Both of them want to focus more on hockey, so they’ve chosen to play in a Spring league. Even though I’m finished for the season, I’m going to find some way of getting ice time so I can continue to practice. This past season was fun, I gained more confidence and was able to focus more on the game instead of constantly worried if I was going to blow it for the team. I always tell the boys “don’t play scared”, yet I got a good dose of playing scared in my first year. I can’t thank the girls I play with enough, they gave me constant constructive criticism and their coaching helped me tremendously.
So why is this post called “Number 4?” It’s called Number 4 for Bobby, that is Robert Gordon Orr. The other day my husband was practicing at one of the local rinks and as he was getting off the ice there was this little guy, couldn’t of been more than three or four, waiting to get on the ice dressed head to toe in Boston’s uniform. My husband is a huge Boston Bruin’s fan which can be a problem in this town as we live in Vancouver – Boston beat us to the ever so great Lord Stanley. My husband wears his Boston Jerseys all over town, even during the Stanley Cup games. He gets lots of stares and dirty looks, but usually no one says anything as my husband is a big man and like he said to one guy who had to nerve to say something to him ; “when you’re my size, you wear whatever the hell you want!” So back to this little guy, my husband gets off the ice and comments on his Bruin’s uniform. The little guy just stared at him and my husband says “Do you know who Bobby Orr is? He is the greatest hockey player alive and I was really lucky when I was a little guy, I got to see him play.” The little guy’s eyes just lit up and his father says “he’s very shy, but if he wasn’t so shy he would not stop talking about Number 4.” How is it that a little guy like that knows about Bobby Orr?
When I think back to when my guys were three and five, I was running errands at Costco with the two of them in tow. I put my youngest sitting in the front of the cart and my oldest was walking with me holding my hand. We get in the store and all of a sudden the two of them started screaming at the top of their lungs, “mommy, mommy take us to see Bobby Orr, Bobby Orr mommy he’s over there. My eyes darted here and there but I could not see Bobby. Then I saw him; Costco had this travelling road show displaying sport pictures for sale and there he was, one great big picture of Bobby. The display was on the other side of the store, I had to squint my eyes to see it, but my boys saw it right away. My oldest bolts from my grasp and runs like crazy over to the display all the while screaming “Bobby Orr, Bobby Orr.” It was quite the scene; I ran after him got to the display and this man looks at me and says, “can you tell me how boys this age know Bobby Orr?” “Well sir, if you knew my husband you would know why they know Bobby Orr, he has shown them every video of Bobby’s greatest scores and he constantly tells the boys that Bobby is the greatest hockey player that ever played the game.” I had to drag the boys away from Bobby, they just wanted to run from one Bobby Orr picture to another.
At the beginning of each hockey season both boys always ask for Number 4 hoping that some of number 4’s greatness will rub off on them. Just a few of Bobby’s greatest moments – enjoy!
“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness”
~ James Thurber
Totem pole carved by the Nisga’a tribe exhibited at the ROM
If you like cheese scones, you will love these beauties. Super easy, super quick and super delicious. For a twist I crumbled a bit of blue cheese with the Cheddar -turned out awesome. Betcha can’t eat just one…
Tip – no buttermilk – use regular milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar – works like a charm.
Cheese Scones
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cup old cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cayenne pepper and salt.
2. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in the cheese.
4. Add the buttermilk all at once, stirring with a fork to make a soft, sticky dough.
5. With lightly floured hands, press the dough into a ball.
6. On a lightly floured surface, knead gently 10 times.
7 Pat out the dough into a 3/4-inch thick round.
8. Using a 2-1/2-inch floured cutter, cut out rounds.
9. Place on a ungreased baking sheet.
10. Gather up the scraps and repat dough once; cut out more rounds.
11. Brush the tops of the scones with egg.
12. Bake in a 425 degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.
**Recipe and picture taken from food.com…the recipe site for all your needs.
Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/cheddar-cheese-scones-144780#?oc=linkback
Today is the day I walk through the woods
to find a wooden walkway,
as I cross the path
I imagine my life behind me,
forward I move and
focus on my steps and breath,
slowly my soul emerges
as I breathe in the pure air
look up to see the beautiful sky and
the magnificent and wonderous trees,
I begin to let go of the strains of life
and feel God’s love within me,
this is who he wants me to be
at peace and at one with the world
around me,
At this moment I ask God
to give me the strength to carry
this peace and tranquility
into my everyday life,
to remind me that no matter
what storm my life is churning
it is he who sees me.
momwhearingloss
The Art of Silence in a Noisy World 