less than perfect

in the spirit of anti-bullying day,

i am compelled to do some self-reflection. i sit at my kitchen table

wondering why we live in a world where it's 

acceptable to pass judgement on people on the basis

of nothing.

we make assumptions of people based on perception

and not what is fact. and what's even funnier, is that when

we learn fact, we come up with something else to 

slander people with.

like, why can't we genuinely care about the

well being of people, and why can't we address conflict and move on?

why do we hold grudges and use those grudges as ammo 

to fuel situations of catastrophic proportions?

why do we care about what's cool or what's in or

what's trendy? that doesn't define us. materialistic things

are never meant to define us. neither are appearances.

why do we assume that because a guy chooses to dress in ratty clothes

to run his errands it's a direct reflection of

his true being? why do we assume that a woman is self 

centered because her hair is never out of place and she never leaves

the house without make up on?

do we know these people? do we know if they

have struggles? do we know how their day went?

can't we be okay with the fact that 

people are who they want to be without passing that judgement?

we live in such a self absorbed world that the second

we see something that doesn't suit our own ideal, we 

immediately need to create justification for why it's happening.

i am guilty.

it's toxic.

the older i get i know that you shouldn't care about anything

other than the genuine well being of someone.

 if you care about frivoulous garbage you're

letting bullying and judgement get

in the way of getting to know someone's true being and in doing so

you are sabotaging a relationship that

could have potential.

now i'm not saying you have to befriend every person

you see walking down the street. or that you have to like

everything that someone says; we are human we have

the right to an opinion. if we could all just be good

to one another. what a concept.

i think about how my children would feel,

or even how i would feel if i learned that my children

were being bullied for trivial reasons.

setting that path for my kids is an important one.

that to treat people fairly and with respect is the

only way you will receive that treatment in return.

that in life, "the more the merrier" should be a rule to live

by, and that exclusivity hinders growth.

i know i have a lot to learn and in turn

i hope that the people around me take the time to 

do some soul searching and realize that perception

is not everything.

i proudly put my children in pink today to support the

movement to end bullying. children learn by example.

let us as adults, aunts, uncles, moms & dads

be the example!

putting some spring in my step

spring break is just around the corner and 

i'm looking forward to spending a good few

days with the girls soaking up what our little township of langley

(yes i'll forever call it that) 

has to offer.

i'll keep sunny weather in my prayers so that these

awesome little ventures are even that much better

though i know it likely won't happen!

here are my top 5 places to be over spring break:

1. fort langley.

chock full of charm and antiques for days, fort langley

is a wonderful place to take your children on an outing.

go for lunch at wendel's, browse antique shops for old toys

or walk along the river.

2. derby reach.

a recent discovery for this fam! a beautiful

park that stretches along the fraser river with

trails, green space and plenty of river to throw rocks in.

3. go bananas.

what kid doesn't enjoy time at go bananas? 

they can go bananas so their parents don't go bananas

trying to clean up after them in their own homes.

4. chuck e cheese.

typically known as a breeding ground for airborne bacteria,

place where a kid can be a kid, it's really where parents

can be a kid, cuz really? what parent doesn't enjoy skeeball 

or that super awesome game where you pull the lever

and slam on the big red button (usually only to get 3 tickets but STILL!)

or stealing the strip of tickets that some kid (HAH loser!)

left behind or nonchalantly picking up that token on the floor.

super awesome right?

5. home sweet home.

as fun as outings can be, sometimes you can get up

to some funny business right in your own home.

the girls love helping me cook and bake, and dress up

is pretty much a requirement around here so there's really

no telling what kind of fun we could have.

there you have it! looking forward to blogging about these fun days!

this blog sporadically participates in:

link up!

embracing lent: ash wednesday

 moving to a different city

(ok fine township, seriously i don`t get why langley 

isn`t a city yet)

and accepting a work schedule that makes me 

less available on the weekends, has made 

it very challenging to uphold our ritualistic 

visit with God in church.

this was even more evident when i went into my glove box 

(yes, that's where i keep my offering envelopes!) 

and realized, that we haven't gotten our new ones for the year yet.

oops.

yet in the midst of my non-catholic-ness

(i know, i make up words all the time)

the 40 days of lent leading up to easter is a time

that i look forward to.

in our technologically advanced world, and heck,

world of complete convenience, it is very easy to 

lose sight of the simple things in life.

like, how many of you would seriously 

consider giving up your computer or your

smart phone capabilities for 40 days?

seems so much harder than it should right?

we are constantly 'plugged' in, that even the thought

of disconnecting is scary.

even things like giving up fatty foods or driving to work

or eating less meat can be a challenge.

while i can't say that i'm prepared to give up social media

yet, hehe, the point is that these 40 days is a time of reflection,

self examination and growth.

can we truly test ourselves to give something up

for the improvement of ourselves? 

in having a discussion with emma this morning regarding lent,

i asked her what she wanted to give up this year.

last year i gave up sugary drinks but THIS year i'll
be giving up alcohol.

yep, my friends, no wine, beer or
any alcoholic beverage. you all know that me and wine
are two peas in a pod most days so it'll be interesting
to see how well i hold up!

wishing you all a successful lent!

days of summer: haystack rock

so, after you read this post, you'll be thinking

what were they thinking?

well, i guess, we weren't thinking, we thought,

hey! it's all part of the adventure! lets be like

the goonies! 

anyways on to the post:

the next morning we had crepes for breakfast to send off my

sister and fam as they spent an extra

day before we arrived at cannon beach.

the crepes were so delicious we almost went for seconds! almost.

once breakfast was done, we were off to explore the little

town of cannon beach and see what it had to offer.

if you don't already know, the oregon coast is known for it's

salt water taffy. bruce's was in full taffy making swing when we arrived!

but it didn't only have taffy, it had rows upon rows of CANDY!!

bacon candy!

MORE bacon candy!!

bacon. floss.

bacon. toothpaste.

moving along...lol they also had an excellent collection

of starwars memorabilia and -you guessed it: candy!

complete with a darth vader cookie jar!

too many salt water taffy flavors to count!

once we satisfied our sweet tooth, we visited the local toy

shop to get away from the rain.

a vacation isn't complete with the hubby trying on

silly wigs/hats

he's even got emma in on it!

after all of that browsing we built up a 

good appetite so we visited a charming little cafe that

had THE most delicious curried carrot soup (still thinking

about that one lol!) and lamb wraps.

then: it was off to haystack rock. i should note now

(if you can't already notice) that it's dark and gloomy,

rainy and windy. BUT! we were heading down there anyway!

look at all the beautiful houses!

no, she's not crying...

no it's not totally windy..

look! beautiful rocks!!

this is a shot of the wind picking up the sand, which in turn would

pelt our ankles as we trudged through the sand. we also very quickly 

learned that this part of the beach is a seagull graveyard!

every 5 feet you`d see feathers buried in the sand!

there`s haystack rock!!

see! not so bad!!

after rinsing all of the sand off of ourselves,

we managed to have a great relaxing night by the

fire, watching movies while drinking hot chocolate.

there's something so calming about a storm going on outside

your door!

see, it wasn't sooo bad right? i mean sometimes

during a vacation you have to seize the moment, even if it means

your kids will end up hating you! this is a vacation i know they

won't soon forget!

days of summer: cannon beach

when we arrived at cannon beach 

we did not waste any time soaking up

the sights and eats!

it was perfect weather for flying kites

so we ventured through the shops to find the 

perfect one.

the little ones had more fun throwing bird seeds around in the

hopes that they'd find some birds...

there were far too many, which one would we choose?!

we finally settled on a:

mermaid! (sorry its so high up!)

off to the beach!!

it wasn't quite swimming weather, but warm enough to

dip your feet in the water..

and build sand castles..

and bury ourselves in the sand..

haystack rock, made famous by the goonies movie!

perfect weather to go treasure hunting!

or..

be completely silly on the beach!

it cooled down quite quickly which worked out

cuz it was time to check into our little bungalow!

complete with a little fireplace, fold out sofabed (ektorp ikea lol)

a separate room with a queen sized bed and shared ensuite.

and a little kitchen too! super cute and everything we needed

for a weekend in.

once settled in, we went to have dinner at a very

popular pizza joint.

after dinner we strolled along the beach and watched 

as people set up bonfires and played volleyball; so cool,

wish they'd let us build fires on the beach here!

also wish they sold $4 bottles of wine up here too.

and ended off the night with some wine and a sampler

of the donuts we purchased at voodoo!

stay tuned for our wild adventures by haystack rock!