A Year of Mobile Moments

It has almost been a year since we've been married, and in a few hours we are off to embark upon a anniversary road trip to mark the event.  It has also been almost a year since I bought my iPhone... so I decided that it would be nice to go back through the pictures and see where the year has taken us.  Sometimes our phone cameras capture on the fly images of something we thought was important or special.  Let's see what mine captured this year:

Beautiful London

Fundy Nataional Park

Jonathan relaxing on our road trip last summer

enjoying life to the fullest

The first painting I sold in years, it went to a great home!

New car, now dubbed "The Grasshopper"

My first attempt at sewing solo.  Not the greatest!

London and Marya love

Baking with Marya (who is making great use out of my apron)

My two hunters on the Northern Pen

Wonderful halloween make-up

Times two (again, watching too much Walking Dead)

London protecting supper

We always get a real tree, one of our favourite Christmas traditions

An unimpressed Christmas elf

BINGO!!

A beautiful droopy face

Snowshoeing adventures

Winter wouldn't be winter without sledding 

Game night with the sister

Reliving Maine by making some homemade clam chowder

Road trip to the city

Happy third birthday London

My favourite passenger

park happiness

snuggle buddy

recognition for an awesome piano year

A rare night out on the town

Two of my favourite people

Bachelor party enthusiasm 

Wedding P.I.Cs (Partners In Crime)

Celebrating our Aboriginal heritage with the kids at work

Fav cousins

My first wedding photo booth experience.  Uncle Jase was such a good sport!!!

Mom finishes her masters. Way to go!!!

And there you have it.  I'll see you after our vacation!!  Here's to another solid year of fun and new adventures!!!

Tara

My Favourite Place On Earth

Imagine a place where there is no time.  Where the only thing that measures your day is the rising and setting of the sun.  Where there is no rush- no vehicles, no phone, no internet.  A place of the past, with only the occasional airplane to remind you of what time you are.

Imagine waking to the sounds of the ocean- wind and seagulls and, if you're really lucky, a rain shower.  The smell of salt water, wild mint and the remnants of a beach fire, smouldering on the shore.  The touch of sea weed entangling around your ankles as you find treasures during low tide. Imagine the feeling of complete freedom, the opportunity to know that this is where you came from, this is why you are who you are, this is what your ancestors left to you.

Imagine 11 acres of paradise, with no price tag.

This is my favourite place.  A place where I am granted the serenity to search deep into my soul, and realize that there is no separating this island and me.  A place where my grandmother teaches me not to forget that knowing how to split a fish is more important than what you wear and what you have.  A place that teaches me that only when we shed the materials of this world can we find true happiness.

Penguin Arm.  Once a fishing village where my grandfather grew up, now an isolated cabin by the bay.  It is my heritage and my sanctuary.

We gots us some chickens

I feel that even before I begin I must defend myself here.  First of all, I am one of the biggest animal lovers you will ever meet.  I call myself mommy to my dog, and I spend hours in the forest looking for tadpoles, frogs, birds and rabbits.  I do, however, love to eat meat- as do most of you!  

Today, which differs from our history, we, as a society, are very disconnected from what we eat.  Chicken- well that's a pale looking chunk of meat in the super market deli, not a feathery creature standing belly high in it's own feces, in a completely dark barn with no room to even turn around.  We don't like to think about where our food comes from, in fear that it may make us uncomfortable.

The truth is, where a lot of our food comes from are very unpleasant places, with very unpleasant practices.  

Take a look at this clip from the documentary Food Inc.

What I'm getting at is that recently Jonathan and I have been trying to think smart about our food.  We try to eat wild game as much as we can, because we know that then we aren't eating steroids, anti-bioctics and countless bacteria from factory like farms.  We try to buy foods that are local, and foods with the fewest amount of ingredients.  One of our favourite quotes is that our food should be ingredients, not have ingredients!  We think logically about marketing gimmicks such as omega 3 and pro-biotics.  Another quote we love is that when buying food, you should consider if your grandma would know what it is.

And our newest endeavour is raising our own chickens!!  With the help of our neighbour and his farm (which is just behind our house), we are now the proud owner of 18 chickens!!  Most people I tell this to kind of look at me like I've lost it.... and say I'll never be able to eat them!!

But I'd pick chickens that were raised humanly and naturally over the birds in that video any day.  They were all once living breathing creatures.

Here are some pictures from our first visit:

Tara

Wednesday Ramblings....

Here is what has been on my mind this week...

1.  The things I am looking forward to include:  the afternoon BBQ we are hosting for all our friends on Sunday (Lets hang our brooms in trees that this unbelievable weather holds up), our mini-vacation to St. John's (camping, YAY!) in two weeks, gifts from Hawaii from my parents, and the season premier of Breaking Bad (and getting to watch it with Antoine).

2.  Here is a picture from the most epic moment at the wedding for me this past weekend:

Why? you ask.  Well, for one thing I hardly ever play guitar in public.  I NEVER play guitar in public with feet that are roughly 45 degrees, in a potato field for my best friend and his new wife (who is totally awesome by the way, but we all already knew that).  I was so honoured that the duo asked me to, not only perform for their first dance as a married couple, but to sing at the ceremony as well.  And the ten million complements I received after didn't make the day any worse.  I bet you it was the most fun any grooms woman/bridesmaid has ever has in a receiving line.  The best part about it is that they loved it, and the song ("Feels like Home" originally by Bonnie Raitt) has been stuck in their heads for days.  I'm so glad I could add something special to their day.  Maybe, if you're really nice, I'll post the video.

3.  My favourite things this week include:

Scarves with animal prints 

such as this one from H&M, and this one from Old Navy.  When I go shopping in the city in a couple weeks, I may just have to buy every single thing with animals prints like these.

Aloe Vera Gel

For those of us too silly for sun screen

Netflix

and all the odd shows you would otherwise never see again.

That's it for now.  I'm sorry if you feel slighted.  I'm hosting Aboriginal Days at work this week for the kids, and it's busy busy.  I still haven't recuperated from wedding week yet (and living on Oxford time since Antoine has been home, i.e. never going to bed at night, doesn't make it any better), and for the first time since I can ever remember I have puffy eyes.

Tara

We're on a boat!

Wow, am I exhausted!!

The excitement of the wedding weekend is over!  This is the first moment I have really gotten to relax (and blog) in as long as I can remember (which isn't that long, because my brain is not running on all cylinders right now).  it's back to work tomorrow!

The wedding went splendidly... and I promise to share more about that when I get some pictures done, but for right now I want to share our after wedding boat ride with the Oxford family.  The Oxford's run a tour boat called "True North", which makes us fortunate enough to enjoy the sea during the charter's off time.  We sat sail on a windy Sunday night, with the whole family (including the grandchildren) and us.  We are honorary family, so it was all good!  The waves made fishing a little challenging, but made the ride so much fun.  Even standing up was a challenge.

It's amazing what beauty we can find in our own backyard.  It's times like these that make me love my home:

This lovely building behind me is the fish plant.  It's unattractive, the it smells pretty strong, but many Newfoundland communities have been built around them, and exist only because of them.

Our ride for the evening.

Cox's Cove from the water, on an angry looking day.

Bree enjoying the waves.

Cabins on Green Island... one of the islands that gives our bay its name.

A beautiful evening.

Nautical is so in right now... ever wonder where the red/navy colour combo comes from?

Jonny caught Bree a fish, which she is unsure of.

Green Island from a different angle

Heading back toward the Cove during sunset.  

Catching more fish before we call it a night and head for home.

Enjoying the cabin during an unexpected rain shower at the end of the ride.

Back to the wharf to dock.

Its amazing how much there is to do at home that we all look over- no matter where you live!!  Here is to fulfilling days and endless nights to come.

Tara