27 years.

(One last intermission before getting back to Central America.)

Last week my parents celebrated their wedding anniversary, and since I wasn't working or in school during the day, I got to put together a simple brunch for them. I don't often put much effort into cooking breakfast/brunch (breakfast/brunch is Mum's specialty.... I am a leftovers-in-the-morning kinda girl! That, or a I'm-way-too-late-to-have-breakfast sorta girl), so this was really fun to plan and put together, and very simple to do too.

Growing up, I was taught that wedding anniversaries were days to celebrate. I thought of them like birthdays.... each year you remember the day that something special officially began. They are special enough days I guess. At any rate, I make sure to remember my parents' anniversary, if for nothing other than it was what I grew up always doing. In the past few years though, I find that this annual celebration has taken on new weight for me.

I am understanding a little more what being in this relationship actually means. What each person must pour into it to make it work. How it is more than rose-coloured glasses and happy endings. How ugly it can get when two imperfect people are to live as one unit. How the sole purpose of this relationship - as is everything else - is supposed to be a reflection of His glory (and not for my self-gratification or happiness). How it can be the greatest shaping tool that God will use to knock off the stubborn sin in our hearts, and how painful a process that is. How difficult it can be to stay together - to win together. But - oh - how sweet this hard-won victory is. Staying married is hard, but I am still convinced that there is nothing sweeter.

So yes - a wedding anniversary marks the passing of another year in a marriage. But it's so much more than that too...... it means a year of growth. It means that through the tears and the smiles, two people are still holding on to each other. It means that they have not given up - on each other, nor - more importantly - on a God that is faithful to complete the work that He starts. It is a testament to an entire year of His goodness.

27. That's alot of years. I can't wait for 50, Mum and Daddy!

Tuesday's finish.

Remember Monday's little project? Here they are today, all finished! I printed out some shots from our big trip and framed them up. I sure hope the recipients enjoy these little souvenirs from our travels. :) These are so simple and affordable to do..... and (to me) they mean alot more than cheap trinkets! I'll report back on whether the giftee's think so too.

ps: If you're wondering why all the frames are hidden behind each other and blurred out, that's completely my intent. The full shots will (eventually) make their way to flickr.... after these get gifted. ;)

Monday at home.....

Something different today - an intermission of sorts. :)

Today's project....

Today's colour....

Today's lunch.

It's nice to see and shoot something different, isn't it? I've been looking at trip photos non-stop lately, so today was definitely a good break for me! Hopefully you too. We'll get back to Nicaragua (and Belize! It's coming too!) shortly. ^^

More glimpses.

More like faces this time. ;) The most recent batch of uploads are portraits of some of the people we met in Telica (see the set in-progress here). More to come, naturally!

4 days of photos down.... 3 more to go........

Glimpses of Nicaragua.....

Trying my hardest these days to get through all the photos from our drill trip. I've been posting some here, and attempting to be less cryptic about what's going on in the photos too - compared to the first trip to Guatemala. Check back often! Sooner or later the whole set will make it up. And then hopefully, the stories will follow too. :)

aaaand we're back.

We made it home! After almost-three wonderful, adventure-filled weeks, Miss Jean and I are home again. We're getting re-situated into Ottawa-life, and I'm getting into the herculean task of processing a mountain load of photos. Fortunately (for Franki), there are some imposed-by-others deadlines for getting the photos done as soon as possible, so it won't be forever and a half before they see the light of day. ;) I'm hoping to post some photos along with little stories here too.... I have lots of half-formed ideas about that, but more to come.

For now, I'm wishing that a loud alarm would go off whenever your skin was in the process of getting sun-burned. Or that there would at least be a loud sizzling noise. It sure would help..... especially when the burning involves one's scalp.

Leaving on a jet plane.....

In a few hours, I'll be on my way. Heading south. First to Nicaragua: Unknown. Promising. Exciting. Then to Belize.... it almost feels like I'm going home; there are so many memories there.

I forfeited sleep tonight.... yes because there were many many last-minute things to do, but also.... I find it so hard to sleep before a big trip! The thought that WOW, this time tomorrow I will be in a completely other world! keeps my mind running around in endless circles. Also, plane travel thrills me... I don't know what it is. But to get on a plane, spend a few hours above the clouds, then descend to find yourself a thousand miles away from home..... wheee. I don't even really mind airports. :p

And even sweeter still? This time, Miss Jean will be with me! To share the next few weeks of experiences with her makes me so happy. There's nothing quite like shared nostalgia on those days a couple months down the road when you're missing it all.

So yep.... things'll be quiet around here for a few weeks. Until then, I leave you with this:Um. Don't ask. I don't think I would have an answer for you.

A month of sweet.

April's a pretty busy month around the Wong house. It's Easter and since we're a minister's family, that means my parents are usually up to their ears with ministry tasks. While we were still in university, April is exam month.... which just about puts everything else on a back-burner until they are all done! This year in particular, I was rushing around to finish up at Parks, while doing fundraising for our missions trip (Leaving next week! How did that creep up so fast?!), while getting things in order for school (school!!), etc. etc....... You know how life goes.

And then, there are birthdays. Two birthdays in April for us - mine and Dad's - and while sometimes there is more time to celebrate, and in other years the busyness catches us up in the current leaving no time to plan a fiesta; there are always some pretty sweet memories made.

Since we were anticipating a packed weekend of Easter activities, my sweet parents decided to treat me to a birthday dinner at Red Lobsters' a few days early. There we are.... can you tell who the birthday girl is? *lol* Excuse how odd my hair looks in the picture.... I had just gotten it trimmed and Maria decided to do something special and curl my hair. Not that I don't usually like curly hair, but it looked really weird and unflattering that day. :p We had lots of delicious seafood.... so much so that we were too full for dessert!! So the waitress got creative:

That's right! A pat of whipped cream, drizzled with raspberry and chocolate syrup..... bedecked with the all-important birthday candle. You'd THINK that it was unappealing, but it was the perfect amount of sweet. Unhealthy? Maybe. Sweet? Definitely!

On the day of my birthday, my sweet friends *surprised* Andrea and me with a delicious mango-raspberry mousse cake. Didn't get a photo of it though.......

After Easter, our family celebrated in earnest: we spent the afternoon and evening with some good friends, and shared a delicious dinner. Of course there was cake....

Not one, but TWO sweet ice cream cakes! Happy accidents! OR it's because I am soooo loved.....? Yes I'll go with the latter. ;)

And I got to run after these sweet boys, which is really all I wanted for my birthday.

About a week later, it was Dad's turn! Again there was a wonderful dinner shared with friends. Um.... ok they were my friends and not Dad's, but nonetheless! Shared joy is always so much greater, no matter whose friends it is.

(excuse the dumpy sweater I had on in the photo... and the bad photo quality..... and doesn't my sister look like an angst-y teenager in this photo? And NO I'M NOT REALLY THAT SHORT.)

And of course a sweet cake made an appearance too..... black forest this time. Dad's favorite!

I think there are still slices of this cake left in our fridge. Maybe I'll have some.... after I recover from the sugar coma that looking at all these photos gave me! Much more sweetness to come.... sweetness from Central America. I can hardly wait. :)

I'm trying to be better about posting.... in preparation for when I move away and have to try to keep in touch with as many of you sweet people as possible. How am I doing? Heehee....

ps: More photos on flickr.

I believe I can fly......

Ok, this time the video I'm sharing with you all is not just for the sake of sharing. Dear Anna, a super talented animator and artiste, has entered her animated short in a contest. To make it to the final round of judging, she needs lots of people giving her high ratings!! Watch and enjoy this whimsical delight, and if you want to vote, you need to sign in/register with SuperU. Once you've signed in, you should be able to click the stars beneath the video to rate it. Should being the operative word. I can't seem to do it, but we all know me and computers (code 20 code 20!!). So to make up for my lost vote, I'm asking all of you to!! :)

Moving.

This is so beautiful..... the creativity and honesty that it must have taken to do this just astounds and touches me. What a sweet picture of how amazing Jesus is. :)

It's spring.... not!

It snowed today. Big. Fluffy. White. SNOW. As if it were November, and not April. What is UP with that????? I was so sad.

But as a friend said so well the other night in a prayer, "Thank you God for the rain [or snow], because we know that it means that the grass will grow green soon [and the flowers will come!]"

Geesh. How easily I turn to complaining....... I have ALOT to learn about being grateful and seeing the good side in things (and people).


ps: Added Anna's blog over there on the right. She is one talented girl! Definitely go check out her animations and sketches.... and if you need something designed/animated, Anna's your girl! :)

And then.... a beginning.

Green. Gold.

An end.

For the past two years I've occupied office 359a at 25 Eddy St.... filled it with pictures, paper, mosses, music, the sounds of mad typing, and all manner of other things. I managed data, organized thoughts and functions, and made lots of really really great friends - all with cubicle 359a as home base.

Yesterday was my official last day.

I'm still here.... slowly tying up loose ends and getting ready to go. I just began the long process of cleaning up.... returning things to their proper homes (whether it be others' or mine), finding new homes for other things, and taking down markers of the last two years of my life. As I unpinned photos of cute kids and landscapes from my wall, stowing away the pins and magnets for another time, the fact that this signified an ending finally started to sink in. The thought of leaving, and the now-barren space, suddenly made me sad.

As someone said yesterday, "this is the end of an era."

Too good not to share..... part II.

Oh MAN........

Watch Cute Girl Flushes Fish on CollegeHumor

This reminds me of when I had to flush my last beta fish.... I was not nearly so willing to spend time looking at him. Him just lying there with his eyes open (like he's staring at me.... as if it's MY fault he died?!??) was just too creepy. There was no eulogy, no "Fishie was a good fish".... just.... FLUSH.

Thanks to Son-shine for sending that one over! :)

Morning distractions

I was so close to making the express bus this morning.... but then I saw this in the morning light:

It looked so perfectly delicate, hanging at the end of the stem just so. Utterly soft and beautiful in the morning light. I couldn't resist. Tell me, how was I supposed to walk out without trying to capture it?

So I stopped. One shot turned into 10. I missed the bus.

Sigh.

So I checked the bus schedule to see when the next bus was coming...... 10 minutes 'til go-time. BUT THEN I saw the tulips. I couldn't resist:

Good thing I still made my bus. ;)

Pretty flowers, perfect morning light, a relatively good commute, and still getting to work relatively early...... a good start to the day!


Mmmm.... Did I promise Valentine's Day pictures? Really.... I should know better than to make promises I can't keep..... Soonsoonsoon. I promise. Whoops there I go again.......

Another perspective

I really like this. It neatly (and witfully!) sums up why I love photography so much. :)

Valentine's Day photos coming soon!

Please knock before entering....


Chinese new years was celebrated a couple of weeks ago, and this year found our family on a weekend jaunt down to Toronto to help dd move house. There was lots of driving (for Dad), lots of moving, painting, and sharpie action...


The finished space looks fab! It was great fun to paint the walls grey and red... and draw all over them. d created the mural design on the computer, which he copied onto a transparency. Then, using an old overhead projector, we projected the design onto the wall, and got busy tracing it all out/filling it in with sharpies. It was fun, and a quick job too with 4 people working on it together! It looks great, don't you think? The finished mural has this neat coppery sheen to it when light reflects off it.... but it really is just black. I love that d is all creative like that. I do think that he has the coolest, most "put-together" room out of us all now! (more photos of the room in process on my flickr) Not that I would trade my room for his. :p


And of course, a trip to T-dot just wouldn't be complete without lots of delicious food!!!

We had two great reasons to celebrate (not that you need any sort of great reason to eat.... seriously.) - Chinese New Year and b's birthday, which fell on the Saturday. We were also blessed to have some friends join us for dinner on Saturday. I hadn't seen them in a long time and it just so happened that they were in Toronto that weekend too!

It was a whirl-wind trip, but a sweet time with friends and family nevertheless. Happy year of the ox!

ps: More photos here.

Finally!

After who-knows-how-long, my photos from Guatemala (a small selection of my "best" shots) are all posted! See the whole set here.

Also finally, I got around to making some changes around here. New banner (SO much better than the other one), and updated lists over to the right. Aaah.... it's nice to get stuff done!

Too good not to share.....

Well. More than a month later and we Ottawans are still without public transportation. Thankfully, I feel like I've fared pretty well despite the situation. There has been alot less jaunts downtown or to Chapters to unwind, but I think my piggybank thanks me for that. ;) Nevertheless, I really hope this gets sorted out soon!

But WAIT.... think we've had enough winter fun in the Great White North? Wait til you hear what fun is heading for us next! Snow squalls, extreme windchill (-35°C anyone?), 15 cm of snow... take your pick. Hey, why not take all three?

So be sure to bundle up warm tomorrow... stay inside if you can! And while you're snuggled up (ideally with a cozy sweater, thick blanket, and hot chocolate!), enjoy this great story by an immensely creative little girl:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Dear Ottawa,

You are a beautiful city. Since moving here 8 years ago, I have enjoyed living here and discovering all there is to find out about you. I love the mix of city and country, the history of downtown, and the treasure trove of local shops and restaurants to explore. Some things I'm loving about you right now:

1. How the bridge to get to work is closed, making an already long commute even longer.
2. How the public transit drivers are striking.
3. The wack-load of snow that got dropped on us.... such that we wouldn't be able to reach the bus stops, even if the busses were running.
4. How my arms are now super buff (ha!) after 3 hours of shovelling your snowy gift and pushing cars out of snow banks.


I really do love you, Ottawa. I love you all year-round. Now if you would graciously skip winter and fast-forward to spring and the tulip festival, I would be ever so appreciative. Thanks!

Yours,
Steph