Family portraits

I thought it'd be fun if Darcie and I went to Value Village, bought some outdated, hidious clothes and got some pictures of us wearing them. Darcie was a little hesitant at first but got into it more once we got to Value Village and started finding the worst clothes we could. We got the pictures done at Wal-mart. It was a little embarrasing at times because people could see us dressed up getting the pictures taken but after a while, it didn't bother us. We were laughing a lot with the photographer because as soon as the picture was taken, you could view it on a computer screen to see if you wanted to keep it or not. We ended up having a lot of fun. Best part is, we exchanged all the ugly clothes for ones we actually would wear once we were finished with them. Well, Darcie did anyway.

I call this one The classic 80's couple portrait

Soap opera pose

Our first family portraits, continued

Motivational speakers

The outgoing, sporty couple

Kid entertainers

Classic 80's portrait
Psycho husband in 80's portrait

Laura, too many to list

Laura, maybe you should've chosen the truthful criticsms instead - it would've been easier for Sarah!

Totem poles from cedar trees

I still think my answer is legit Josh. For your information, some of the best, well known totem poles in the world have been made from cedar trees..........or maybe not.

How tired were you Sarah? You were so funny

This was pretty funny!

Laura the gnome

Laura looks like a fiery little gnome who just burnt a batch of cookies. Perfect imitation.

Another Quelf video!!!

Sarah's funny face!!??!!

Playing Quelf in Alberta this past year

Well I finally took the time to figure out how to edit videos I took with the video camera and had transferred to the computer. Here's a video of us playing Quelf. More videos to follow.

Darcie's job at Montana's

Darcie's been working at Montana's for a couple weeks now. She likes it more than her other serving jobs. She says the managers are the best she's had which makes it more enjoyable. She's working 5 days a week with Thursdays and Sundays off. Sometimes she has to stay to close so I drop the car off and rollerblade home. Otherwise, I'd have to pick her up anywhere from 1 to 2 in the morning. She usually closes on Saturdays and Fridays. It was crazy how she got the job. She got a bunch of resumes together and we headed out one saturday to hand them out to different restaurants and the second one we went to was montana's. I was waiting in the car for quite a while because she ended up having a pre-interview with one of the younger managers. She was told to come back later that afternoon when the senior manager was going to be there and had an interview. By that afternoon, she had the job. We couldn't believe how lucky she was getting a job so quickly. It just so happened though that we went at a really good time. There were in the middle of doing a lot of hiring and with Darcie's previous experience, they hired her right away. So we were pretty happy about that. She's enjoying it and making pretty good money too until she goes back to school in September. She said she's gonna try and stay working part time on a Friday or Saturday night while she's at school. The food there is really good. I'd only been there once before in BC and liked it but never really went back. I've had a lot of different things on the menu and they've all been really good. Sometimes we'll eat there before her shift starts in the afternoon on a Saturday because her meal is free and I get 20% off, so its such a good deal. One of the perks I guess.

You Tube

Check out this guy I found some clips of on you tube. I know I've told some of you about him already. He's such a talented guitar player. He's amazing. I can't imagine how much he practised to get as good as he is. The songs I like the best are Art of Motion, Ebon Coast, and Drifting. Check out these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmE3QaGetn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSnWhsmlGec&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4&feature=related
I love hearing the guitar played like this. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Summer baseball league

Darcie and I joined a summer city baseball league. One of the girls that Darcie goes to school with started up a team and asked if we'd be interested in playing. We've played about 5 games so far and we've won two of them. We just go to have fun and hang out with the players on our team and don't really care if we win or lose. Its fun sometimes when its not competitive because you don't have to worry if you make a mistake or the other team scores 10 runs in one inning against you because no one cares, they're just there to have fun and play the game. We've played at a lot of different parks throughout the city. Some of them are close to downtown so you'll be playing in a field with the skyscrapers and CN Tower pretty close to you which is neat. Last week we had to end our game early because it started pouring rain and today we had a double header. It was beautiful for the first game but couldn't finish the second one because a thunderstorm rolled in again. Oh well. We play Sunday's and the times range from 5 to 8 pm. We got to play under the lights at one field too. Everyone on the team is really nice and we enjoy hanging out with them. Because most of the players on our team are going to CMCC, our team name is the Bone Crushers. We've all got green shirts with our team name and a cool little logo of a skeleton that's had its bones crushed, laying on the ground. We look good.......and at times we play good too. We've got a few more games and then playoffs start.

Les poissons, les poissons, how I love les poissons........and poutine

Ah Montreal, we had such a great time in Montreal. We left on a Thursday night, June 12th, and landed around 12:30am. We got a really good deal on flights thanks to Sarah notifying me of a seat sale Westjet was having between Montreal, Toronto, and Quebec City. Thanks Sarah!!!! It was cool flying in to Montreal b/c out of my window you could see downtown and on one of the buildings at the top they have really bright lights rotating like a lighthouse. I only realized just before we landed that we were in the province of Quebec and that I'd never been to Quebec before. Darcie hadn't either. We were both looking forward to hearing some french being spoken. We managed to find the shuttle we wanted which took you downtown, which is where our hotel was, called Hotel de Paris. That's Paris Hotel for those of you who require the translation.
While waiting in the shuttle, Darcie and I struck up a conversation with a guy that flew in from St Thomas for business. He lives there year round and is originally from Florida. I told him I'd been there and it was the most beautiful place I'd seen. He was a nice guy - not your stereotypical American. We got to our hotel around 2am. It was a pretty cool place. 100 year old mansion with lots of character. http://www.hotel-montreal.com/ We knew we weren't going to be spending too much time at the hotel so we didn't mind if it wasn't that great but we both liked it. We stayed there Friday and Saturday and had to get up at 4:30 in the morning Sunday to catch our flight back to Toronto. Oh well. For breakfast, we headed to a little bistro that was open in the morning, right underneath the hotel. They made us croissants stuffed with eggs and cheese. The croissants were so fresh and so good. Not hard and flaky.
The first day we decided to check out Mount Royal. A big park on a hill near downtown with a great view of Montreal. When we were done, we headed to an area for lunch we had heard about from a lady I used to work with at Custom Plastics. She's from Montreal so I got in touch with her and she told us about all the places we should check out and where good places to eat were, etc. One of her suggestions for a place to stay while we were there was Hotel de Paris. Anyway, on our way to lunch we were walking on St Catherines street which is just like Robson street in Vancouver or Yonge street in Toronto. Lots of shopping and very busy. We ended up eating at a nice pub and of course had poutine. Poutine there is so good. Much better than A&W's poutine.
After lunch we strolled up St Catherines street the opposite way and made our way to Parc La Fontaine. It's a beautiful park with a fountain at one end of it. We relaxed there for a while, pet lots of dogs, and did a lot of dog watching. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and to get ready for dinner. For dinner, we checked out the restaurants on a popular street called St Denis. We ate on a second level balcony at an Italian style restaurant. After dinner we strolled around a bit, then headed back to the hotel.
The next day, Saturday, we decided we'd check out old Montreal, down on the waterfront. We took the subway there cause we didn't feel like walking the distance. When we boarded the subway, Darcie saw someone she knew from highschool that she graduated with, Megan Stewart. It was so random. We couldn't believe the odds of that happening. They chatted until our stop came. We spent most of the day down there. It was really cool to see so many buildings built in the late 1600's, early 1700's and still being used. Walking around the streets down at the waterfront made you feel like you were in Europe with all the old buildings. We had lunch at the main square and ofcourse had poutine again. There are so many bistros and sidewalk restaurants everywhere. There were so many nice ones, it was hard to choose where to eat for lunch. We watched a street performer for a bit, then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We relaxed at the Fountain park again for a while. Then for dinner, we decided to eat at a restaurant we noticed in Old Montreal that had a really nice atmosphere. There was live jazz, and the outside courtyard had lots of seating with no roof - it was all exposed to the open air but had huge umbrella's covering everyone incase it started to rain. The atmosphere was really nice. Nice lighting and one edge of the courtyard was blocked off from the sidewalk by the old facade of the previous building that used to occupy the space. Food and service was great as well. We really enjoyed it. After dinner we strolled around like everyone else and just relaxed.
At the end of the weekend, our legs, knees, and feet were pretty soar from all the walking we'd done. Sarah, I'm sure you and Leah could relate when you went on that trip together.
While we were there, we spoke English the whole time. Thankfully people in Montreal are forgiving with that and pretty much everyone is fluent in English and French. Not as much in Quebec City I hear though. Darcie picked up on a lot of conversations and would then tell me what people were saying.
All in all, we had a really nice weekend exploring the city of Montreal together.

Enjoying some poutine for lunch at a bistro in the main square of Old Montreal

Darcie enjoying some poutine too

Down at the waterfront after dinner Saturday with the main square behind us

The main square in Old Montreal

1 Year Anniversary

On June 23rd, Darcie and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. Its gone by quick. June 23rd fell on a Monday so we celebrated on the 22nd so we could do what we wanted all day and then go out for dinner in the evening instead of having to work on Monday, then go out for dinner. We spent most of Sunday strolling through a couple malls together doing some shopping. Darcie's parents gave Darcie some money to use for buying some nice clothes to celebrate the occasion so she went shopping the day before and found a nice dress for her and a really nice shirt for me. Thanks so much Brenda and Bruce. It made the dinner that much more special. We really appreciated it.
For dinner, I had made reservations at the CN Tower months ago and was going to surprise Darcie with us going there but decided to spill the beans a while back. We were both really excited about going up and having a great dinner with an amazing view. I had been up once before the first time I passed through Toronto when i was playing with the Bozeman Icedogs so I remembered a little from then but Darcie had no idea what to expect. There's a deal where if you make reservations for dinner, the elevator ride up is free but you have to pay for one of their main courses which is fine if you're going up for dinner anyway. We got to the top and the view was obviously amazing. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees every hour so you don't just look at the same vantage point from your table while you're up there. Our food was so good. Darcie got a steak which melted in your mouth and I got a half order of chicken which was so flavorfull. The service and food was top notch. Food is expensive but you have to expect that with the experience you're getting. There's a cheaper restaurant down a level at the other viewing level where you can get a burger and fries type meal.
We went around just over 2 times and were lucky enough to see some lightning as well. It so cool being up there. We got up when it was still light and left when it was dark so we got to see the view in two totally different ways. There's an airport on the water for people who need to get downtown quicker and you can see them take off and land which is weird because the planes are so high in the sky and you're level with them. An interesting fact or two I remember reading up there was on a clear non humid day, you can apparently see the plume of water from Niagra Falls from the higher observation deck and you can see as far as 160km's away. After dinner, we went to the observation deck below us and because it was getting late it wasn't very busy. You can go outside at that level too so we did. Also, on the same level is where the floor has sections with glass in it so you can see down to the ground below you. They say it would support 16 fully grown rhino's but walking over them still gave us really queezy feelings. Last time up I laid on them but this time when I walked over one it would creak a little so I walked fast. I kept thinking it'd be ok but in the back of your mind you're thinking what if and at the same time you're mind is saying 'What the hell are you doing. You're going to kill us!!'
We'd love to go there with anyone that comes and visits if you're up for it.

My beautiful wife

Me in my nice new dress shirt

A view from our table, just passing the main downtown core. Eating a chocolate tower dessert.

Still weathering the winter storm!!

Just kidding. There's not really any snow here anymore - I was just kidding. So what have we been up to lately. Not much. Well that about does it for this entry. See you in another 4 months.



















No I won't be that mean. Lots has happened since then. I'm on the lap top right now so i can't access some pics and vidoes of us playing Quelf. Also, I haven't burned our trip to Montreal or our 1 year anniversary onto a disc yet either so when thats done, I'll defenitely add those too. I'll have to make another entry this weekend. I promise it won't be another 4 months from now. Anyway, I'll try and load video and pictures of everything i have. in the mean time, try folding a piece of paper more than 7 times and enjoy some pictures of a project I've been very busing working on at work. It got shipped out today, finally, so its like a big weight's been lifted off my shoulders. Its a Dolce & Gabanna merchandise display for a duty free shop at one of the main border crossings in Ontario, near Sarnia, about two hours west of here. Ask Darcie how much time I've spent on it to get it done on time (it was a rush order). Last couple of days and last friday, I stayed at work till 10pm or later. Her and I are both glad its done so I can go back to living a normal life again. It turned out looking really nice in the end though. I was happy that it turned out looking good but I hate having to rush through jobs like this. In some of the pictures, you can see the top of the shelves are wood which will be coverd by black glass so you can't see the wood but the glass is being delivered seperate. I had to include pot lights on the bottom of each shelf, and lights within each shelf shining down on the one below it, as well as lights in the top shining through the name. Mom and dad, you guys say you never really know what i do at my job, well here's an example of one project i did. I helped in designing it, then came up with a parts list, making sure all the parts would fit and could be assembled together properly, programmed the cnc machine to cut the pcs out (the stainless steel pcs were outsourced), and fabricated it together, which took the longest part. I don't normally fabricate too many things at work but it was easier for me just to do it rather than go through everything with someone else. Anyway, next time you're passing through Sarnia, maybe stop at the Dolce & Gabanna area at the Duty Free shop and you'll see it.





I'll post again real soon with many more photos and hopefully video too. Love and miss you guys.

Winter Storm

Well, as many of you probably heard, we got a lot more snow here in the last couple of days. I was just looking forward to it all starting to melt when we got another foot of snow. We may even break the all-time record for snow fall this year. My neighbor said he hasn't seen this much in a year for 18 years. That makes it official. Anyways, I thought I'd post some pictures of all the new snow we have and all the huge snow piles at the corners of driveways. The pictures don't do it justice. I don't remember seeing this much snow on the ground in a very long time, if ever, aside from ski mountains. I know you guys are jealous but that's one of the joys of living here.

Our pathway up to our door

The Genius at work

Here is my hard working wife studying for an upcoming test. Helloooooo!

LOOK, GRASS!!!

Snow on our block

Just thought I'd show you all the snow we have outside. Look at Darcie's good shovelling skills! After her hard work shovelling, Darcie decided to take some time out for herself and slide down a hill of snow.

Squirrely's back!!

Well he/she's around all the time really. I still put peanuts out on the fence and ground almost every weekend for them. This time I got pictures of a squirrel eating them. Their so funny to watch eat. I love watching them. As soon as I started cracking the peanut shells open for them, one heard it and made its way down to the fence but waited for me to leave before he started eating.

Dog sitting

This weekend Darcie and I got to dog sit a puppy pug named Zoey. She belongs to someone Darcie goes to school with. They asked Darcie if we'd watch her when they had to go to a wedding fundraiser party. She was a lot of fun. Funny to watch play and to listen to the noises she makes. It was nice having a dog around for a little while again. She's sitting with Darcie in a couple pictures while she was playing super mario brothers on our laptop. I got the games off the computer and bought a single controller so we could play. It's fun playing the classic super mario games from nintendo. Brings back a lot of memories playing the games with friends..............at their houses. I stayed up too late playing last night though. Darcie wasn't too happy.

Fixed my shirt

Well I know I haven't added to my blog for a while now but I finally have something amazing to tell everyone. That's right, I sewed up the holes in the armpit of this shirt. Both armpits had holes and I fixed them. Pretty good job hey? Its Uncle Rogers old shirt. Its should be good for another 20 years or so.