Either you were sent here from my Twitter feed or the universe drove you here because you needed to see the picture of the coolest dogs ever…
The journey to Hifi Jørn’s (Vintage record player collector) was a long one, but totally worth it. I had my mom and dad with me where we left mainland Denmark at the ferry port Fynshav and took to Bøjden. I am not a personal fan of boat rides, the waves and I are not friends in any regard… However some sort of miracle occurred and it was smooth sailing and extremely cozy.
Our journey started off with a quick ferry ride from mainland Denmark (Jylland) to the island of Fyn where Odense is situated. #EXSM3989pic.twitter.com/uUEPGvMKN4
After docking in Bøjden, Fyn I decided we must take the scenic route to Odense, because the motorway is too mainstream. Denmark is relatively flat but, due to it being built up of 400 islands it makes for a very beautiful drive. There is always a view. My father on the other hand was not as impressed as I was faced with multiple “Are we there yet?” questions.
After arriving on Fyn, I "accidentally" set the journey on the back roads. Although I had my dad asking are we there yet, it was one beautiful drive. (It is important to note my parents were visiting from Canada). #EXSM3989pic.twitter.com/TVLptvEgEC
Once we arrived it was all worth it in the end… We sat down for some lovely food, and enjoyed the beauty that Odense has to offer. Sadly we only had a limited time there (Ferry times are limited), but we had just the right amount of time to go visit Hifi Jørn, a super kind and passionate individual, he knows everything about record players and artists. He is a hidden gem in Denmark, and those who work with him all are aware of his quality. On top of his good service he also has two beautiful dogs, which are always the highlight of popping by his store.
Here is the photo of the dogs as promised…
Overall, the family road trip was a success. We had a wonderful time and I am so grateful to have these moments with my parents. It is not often I see them, with them living so far away. Next up is the west coast of Denmark in two weeks time, can’t wait to see what that brings.
Several times throughout the year, my Baba (Ukrainian for Grandmother) makes Perogies.
If you’ve never had Perogies – you’re missing out! Perogies are small dumplings with a potato filling, boiled and typically served with butter and sour cream. Sounds super healthy right?
Perogies are a staple dish for many Ukrainian families and can be eaten throughout the year. They are also an important part of our Christmas Eve Dinner as one of the 12 Meatless dishes.
Now, Perogies can be made in various ways – each Baba has their own technique and preferred filling.
My Baba stays fairly basic – using potato and cheddar cheese for her main filling. On occasion, she will make Perogies with a blueberry or cherry filling and serve with cream for a tasty dessert. Other times she’ll make them with Potato and Cottage Cheese or Sauerkraut and Onion (these are not my favourite…)
I am a strict potato and cheese type of gal.
** If you’re more of a visual person, check out this video to watch our Perogy making process! **
If not… keep reading 🙂
Here is the recipe my Baba uses…
For the Filling:
Ingredients:
5 lbs. Potatoes
3 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Peel and cut the potatoes
Boil the potatoes until soft
Drain Well in a Colander
Mash Well
Add Shredded Cheese
Add Salt and Pepper to Taste
Mix until smooth
For the Dough:
Ingredients:
2 Cups Warm Water
½ Cup Oil
5 Cups Flour
¼ tsp. Salt
Directions:
Add water, oil, flour and salt into a mixer
Using dough hook, slowly process until dough is smooth
Remove dough from mixer and place into lightly floured bowl
Cover bowl with Saran Wrap. Cover with tea towel
Let dough rest for at least 1 hr
Making the Perogies:
Roll your dough until it’s 1/4 inch thick
Cut your dough into small circles
Add 1 tsp. of filling into the middle of your dough circle
Pinch the outsides of the dough together until it forms a Perogy
Once you have your fresh Perogies, you can plop them into some boiling water and wait for them to cook. It only take a few minutes for them to boil to the top of the pot – indicating they are ready. Drain the water and place the Perogies into a serving dish.
Final Touches:
Add your desired toppings – we’re using butter, cooked onions, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.
They were SO GOOD!
I had so much fun learning how to make Perogies and got to spend quality time with my Baba. To top it all off we had a tasty dinner or “the fruits of our labor” as she called it.
One day I’ll bring out this recipe and teach my own children how to make Perogies.
I am blessed with an amazing immediate family. We are small (my parents, brother & his wife, and their two sons and a daughter), but we have strong ties that persisted when I moved away to live with the soldier I ended up marrying in 1999.
Life was good. He had a life with a purpose, and I fully embraced that. When he was added to a deployment to Bosnia the year we were supposed to get married, we moved our wedding up and spent that first year mostly living in different countries and time zones. He often called me at 2:00 am, because no else was using the phone over there at 10:00 am. I started drinking coffee, just to keep my eyes open at work the next day. That was 2000.
His father in New Brunswick sent me some beautiful roses for my birthday that year. I felt special.
When my husband got home, they attached him to the Immediate Reaction Force (IRF). It was just a name to me.
Then September 11th Happened
If Canada responded, he was going to be in the middle of it. That was the start of a whirlwind of three more overseas deployments, 1.5 years travelling with the Strathcona Mounted Troop, and finally a 3 year posting to a different Base. We lived one year, one experience at a time, and waited for life to slow down.
Change came in unexpected ways
In the end, change came to my life rather than his. I transitioned from being fiercely independent to needing a cane occasionally in 2016, to needing it most of the time outside the house. It was progressive, so destined to get more problematic. I talked with my immediate family openly about it, and they helped me make some decisions about what mattered most.
Remember those roses in 2000? Since then, my sister-in-law had 3 little girls I had never met, and not knowing how quickly things would progress, I had to go. Without him. To meet his whole family on the other side of Canada. With the cane. But I didn’t want to have regrets. I didn’t want to look back wish that I had done things differently.
First I needed to find the right cane. I am not that old. I was not that disabled yet. I felt a little bit like an imposter using one, so I wanted something special (read not old lady-ish). So I used Google and social media and found Top and Derby:
And I was ready to go. It was pretty intense, not knowing what to expect, but I felt right at home. Here is a picture of me with my father-in-law from that first trip:
Nelson and Rae
Getting to know my three nieces was so incredible. They love to have fun, and made me feel entirely welcome to join them.
Edie, Coco, and Molly (left to right) 2016
They did a lot for my self-esteem, getting used to the way my life was changing. Best decision ever. I have been there three times now, and now that they are getting older, I appreciate so much that I went when they were still little and had time to spend together. I found my second family. Who knows where life will take us all after 2021? I have a feeling we are all going places.
What is your story? How did it happen? How did you know they were the one?
My lovely parents on their very own wedding day
These are the questions you get most frequently asked as a bride; I would know since I’m probably one of the many that ask. We all want the details. We are the audience – along with your guests – who listen intently as you tell your love story. How does that look for you as the storyteller, or more importantly how do you want it to look.
With all of the things we are inundated with today as a society, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and get lost in someone else’s story and aesthetic. There are so many categories and styles that may not always be one fit. On top of that, there are the themes, the colors, and all the many little details.
Think of your wedding as the embodiment of your love story. How do you visually want it to unfold.
You take your guest on a journey of where it all happened up until this magical point of your wedding. That will help you streamline your story and make it your own – after all no story is exactly like yours… and the best part is you get to tell it and relive it.
There are the different themes; romantic, rustic, modern, ecletic, black tie and there are the different styles; classic, trendy, elegant etc, what does it all mean? The buzzwords are all there, but can quite describe your full story. Lucky, with a plethora of wedding vendors, blogs, magazines and websites at your disposal, you get to chose whatever it is that feels right for you. That’s where I come in.
As the narrator and the main character of your story, you get the visually be the representation of your story. You get to look however you want, and in the most beautiful way. You get to play a part in your own story and how it is seen.
Your look can give meaning to your story, if you let it.
As a makeup artist, I can help you translate your story into a design you get to wear all day long. Makeup is an expression of who you are and want to be. You can represent yourself, or the character you want to play, above all else, makeup has the power to create and express emotion, it is yet another part of your story that gives it life and visuals.
What makes you feel the most beautiful is whatever you decide it to be – whether it is always having your favorite lipstick on, not leaving the house without mascara, or just showing off your radiant skin. There is so much that can be read through the image of yourself. People analyze your face and facial features before you even say a word to them.
Expanding on my Instagram “get to know me” video, I wanted to open up on how I got into makeup, what it means to me and why it is my passion to explore the beauty I see with you.
This summer marks my 8th year since I started doing makeup.. professionally that is! I am so grateful that I get to do what I love, and share that with so many of the people around me. Doing makeup has afforded me so many new friends, and opportunities that I would have never imagined possible. It has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone, as well as given me many challenges along the way that has brought me deeper into who I am. As I look back on when I first started makeup, and I see how much it’s meaning has changed and grown with me.
My first ever encounter with makeup is thanks to my sister; she passed on to me the grungy black inner liner, and curled lashes with loads of mascara. We would both call in our orders to Avon and excitedly wait for their arrival, or browse the shoppers by our house on Fridays. I would carry this look on with me all throughout high-school, adding in a MAC’s black track winged liner on special occasions. There was not a day I didn’t go without a little mascara. As I got older I started to watch YouTube and experiment with my look and try to undo the major pluck job I did to my brows in high-school.
One of my very first makeup selfies
Smokey eyes of all colors like dark purples and browns dominated my look with pale lips and lots of highlight, and of course my false lashes and mascara. I was obsessed, so much so that my now sister-in-law pushed me into taking some makeup classes as a hobby. From there I met artists, who gave me the basics of doing makeup for others, which I had never done before. This led me on a whole new career path, and to meeting some of the most influential makeup artists I’m lucky enough to call friends and countless others who have all been a part of imparting their wisdom on me, and helping me define my own aesthetic and artistry. The world of makeup is where I’ve found so much of myself, and where I strive to have every client, model, and friend I do makeup on, help find themselves. Makeup to me has been something I’ve worn on and off, depending on my mood, but it’s meaning runs much deeper for me: in the conversations I have, and in beauty I see in the world. I’ve learned to truly love my face, regardless of what look or product I’m wearing at the moment, or no makeup at all. So it’s my turn ask you, what does makeup mean to you?
Makeup doesn’t define who you are, but it adds to another facet of your character.
It’s no wonder why makeup and aesthetics is so important in movies. We can start to understand and integrate that concept into your life and one of the biggest days of your life, your wedding. It is my passion to help your find that in yourself and fall in love with that, after all it is a love story!
Makeup has been a part of my story, learn what it can do for you…
Let yourself be the narrator of your love story, one piece at a time..
Visit my IGTV and Twitter if you haven’t had the chance!
Alex is 18 years old. She just finished high school and is moving to the big city for university. She’s both nervous and excited!
It’s the last week of August. School starts in just one week! But not only does Alex need to buy her textbooks, she needs to find a place to live. And hopefully a part-time job close to school.
Where will she live?
Alex searches online and finds a few basement suites advertised for rent near school. She messages the landlords to schedule viewings. And she’s off!
The first place isn’t great but Alex really likes the second one. The monthly rent is within her budget and the location is perfect. She tells the landlord she is interested.
The landlord responds that she must fill out an application form. The landlord says they expect to get about a dozen applications. Whoa! Looks like it’ll be tough competition!
Once Alex is done with the form, the landlord tells her she must pay a non-refundable application fee of $100 to be considered as a tenant.
Wait, what?! This fee was not noted on the application form!
Is an application fee allowed?
Alex is not prepared to hand over $100 without more information. She wants to know if the landlord can request such a fee.
She quickly pulls out her phone and googles “application fee apartment Alberta”. The first result is for a website called Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta. This sounds promising!!
Google search results for “application fee apartment Alberta”.
Alex clicks through to the information. The website tells her that landlords can charge an application fee, even if she doesn’t move in. This is news to Alex. The website also has a few tips for tenants.
After reading the webpage, she decides she does not want to rent this place. First, the website warns that application fees should be in writing – which was not the case here. Second, she doesn’t want to be out $100 if the landlord does not accept her application. She’s on a tight budget after all!
With a sigh, Alex politely tells the landlord she is not going through with the application process and leaves.
What does she need to know about being a tenant?
After this incident, Alex realizes she does not know ANYTHING about the laws for tenants and landlords. When she gets back to her hotel, she decides to spend a little more time learning about her rights and responsibilities as a tenant. After all, she doesn’t want to end up in a legal problem if she can help it.
She goes back to the website from earlier and starts reading. And reading and reading.
Screen capture of Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta website.
DISCLAIMER | The story and characters described are not real. Any resemblance to real life persons or situations is coincidence. The information provided is legal information only and does not constitute legal advice.
Brad and I have always talked about taking a trip to Jasper. See, I am from Calgary, and though we both live in Edmonton now, it’s no surprise that I spent a lot of my youth in Canmore and Banff. Surprisingly, however, I had never been to the town of Jasper before, while my St. Paul native boyfriend had, and man, that drove me insane.
We decided one day in May of this year to just do it. The campsites were just starting to re-open again, and the weather was finally starting to heat up. We packed up a tent, a cooler of food, and some other supplies, and drove off.
Thursday.
The campsite was very cute, and seemingly popular among campers (it was pretty full, and is a mere few minutes from the town). The only downside? Where there were once lush forests shielding your site from the ones next to you, there were trees no longer. We learned that the trees were infected with a dangerous species of pine beetle, and the trees all needed to be cut down, and burned to eradicate them. As a result, we got nice and cozy with our neighbours.
We built a fire, and had some s’mores. I read my book (I believe at the time I was reading Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare, the second book in a trilogy set in Victorian England, in which a race of Angel-blooded mortals fought demons and other nefarious villains). We enjoyed a nice night in before our big upcoming adventures.
Friday.
We woke, headed into the town, and did what we do best. Got coffee, and walked around. We browsed the shops, checked out some of the parks, and then we had a delicious lunch at Harvest Food & Drink. That wasn’t all we did. We went to Maligne Canyon, and did the entire hike. It was gorgeous.
That evening, we walked around the campsite, and then hung out by the fire, me reading my book, and Brad reading his.
Saturday.
We spent a lot of Saturday on the road. Brad loves to drive, and the driving in the mountains is so incredibly scenic. We went to Maligne Lake, which was about an hour from the campsite. We were scheduled to go on a boat cruise, which was cancelled due to the weather, but we still wanted to see the lake, and walk around. We did some light hiking, and had a picnic by the river next to the lake. A bird kept eating the seeds that were falling off my everything bagel.
While we were driving around, we encountered Annette Lake, which ended up having a beautiful, if not random, sandy beach. The water was blue. Like, really, really blue. I have never seen water so blue. We sat on the beach for hours, soaking in the sun. That was where I got my very first sunburn of 2021.
Sunday.
Gone was the reckless sense of abandonment from real life and responsibilities, as our impending trip home was on the horizon. We packed up, as slowly as possible, to extend our vacation, and we set off on our drive back to Edmonton, stopping on the way for snacks.
I put together a slideshow of the alarmingly little photos and videos I took, attempting to piece together the memories we made.
You can really tell that it’s summer when the farmer’s market starts up. There’s nothing better than farm fresh fruits and veggies (and those delicious sausage breakfast sandwiches for brunch).
It was at the Lacombe farmer’s marker two weeks ago when inspiration struck. While perusing the stalls of local honey, fresh bread, and various seasonal vegetables, we stumbled across a stall selling apple chips. We bought a bag for $5 and ate so many they barely made it home.
The next week we returned and bought a bag of fresh Pink Lady apples from the same vendor with the intention of making our own apple chips.
My mom, sister, and I have made apple chips before and they’re the perfect summer snack. It’s been a bit of a process each time as we tweak the recipe:
One early attempt resulted in paper-thin apple slices that stuck to the tray while baking.
Another had more cinnamon than apples.
A particularly memorable attempt was made by my roommate in our college dorm where she spent nearly 5 hours baking a single tray of apples only for them to turn out both soggy and burnt (we blame the finicky oven).
This time, we think we have finally perfected the recipe. Our recipe is listed and the end of this post but first I’d like to share and few tips and tricks for making the perfect apple chips.
3 Tips for Making Apple Chips
Start with the right apples
For our recipe, we use Pink Lady apples. Apples that are sweeter and crisper – like Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, and Honeycrisp – work best because they don’t require any extra sugar and hold up well to baking or dehydrating. But really, any baking apple will do. We’ve even had success baking the crab apples we grow in our backyard. Just be aware that the baking times may vary for different varieties.
Keep the slices consistent
The key to making perfect apple chips is to make sure your slices are a uniform thickness. This ensures that the apples bake evenly. We recommend using a mandolin to cut even slices but it is possible to get the same result with a knife. The ideal thickness is a few millimetres. Apples that are too thin tend to stick to the baking sheet. Apples that are too thick take a very long time to dry out.
Experiment with spices
Baked apples taste delicious on their own but they also taste amazing with some classic apple pie spices. Our personal favourite apple chips are just sprinkled with cinnamon but you can also try allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger or a combination of all of them!
The Simonette River at the Simonette River Recreation Area east of Grande Prairie, Alberta.
A fun day trip for our family is going to the Simonette River Recreation Area. It’s a great little spot that is close to our home in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Getting there
From Grande Prairie you travel east on Highway 43, 10 kilometres past the Smoky River valley, then you travel about 10 kilometres south on the Forestry Trunk Road or Highway 734.
There you cross the bridge over the Simonette River and immediately turn west into the Recreation Area. There is a campsite, however, we only use the day-use area which provides access to the beach area.
Here’s the view of the river as you cross the bridge:
What you can do
The beach area is a mix of areas that are either covered with river rocks or sand that can be explored.
Our favourite time to go is first thing in the morning as it can get quite busy on nice days. We pack a simple picnic lunch, lawn chairs (there are no picnic tables along the beach area) and whatever else we want to bring and make the short 55 kilometre trip.
There we played along the edge of the water. Small children enjoy playing in the sandy areas along the water as well as swimming or splashing in the water. We wear our water shoes as it can be rocky which can either be slippery or hard on the feet.
We have our picnic lunch and within a couple of hours we’re ready to head home after our hours in the sun, sand and water.
It is a narrow sandy little path to the beach from the parking lot. Not too serious for carrying your stuff but something to be aware of as you decide how much to take.
Things to pack:
Camp chairs
Sand toys
Floating toys
Lifejackets
Water shoes
Whatever else you may want to have a fun day.
Safety
There are times when the flow can be high so it’s important to check the Alberta Parks page for any advisories. It is a river so there is a current to it so you should have your lifejackets to be safe on the water.
There are often kayakers who start here or further upstream. For more details there is the Wapiti Whitewater Kayakers club who offer lessons and other information.
So, you've got a story? Set yourself apart and ensure its heard by following the best practices below.
Without taking advantage of these principles, your story runs the risk of being lost among the endless noise!
...and the best stories are worth sharing. So write it, and hopefully it will take on a life of its own.
We’ve all experienced writer’s block, and while it’s not completely unavoidable, you can plan your story to help the ideas and inspiration flow more easily. Below is an infographic sharing three principles of good storytelling that’ll help get you on your way to telling a focused and compelling story with less hair pulling.
Often times, the human mind will overthink and that can be the start of writer’s block. Help your noggin out by beginning the writing process with purposeful and strategic planning. Don’t let those words scare you as a story only really needs to be incubated with a few simple starting points to help it grow into an informative or entertaining piece. Don’t just take my word for it, Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats has shared The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar, which are bite-sized nuggets of advice you can incorporate along with the three principles below.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 