Travels to Canada: Bridges and Boxers

Last Friday night my best friend Charissa and her wonder-dog Roxi picked me up and we headed north.

To Canada.

Its what we do, we two.

We get in a car and drive. Usually no printed out directions, no GPS...we just figure it out!  We had originally planned to stay in Vancouver but 3 seconds after I saw a picture of Whistler I made the decision that was a much better place to spend the weekend.

We headed down the road toward the freeway, Roxi excitedly prancing around my lap as we headed off on our adventure.

On the way there I called 1-800-Whistler to book our reservation at a lodge in (duh) Whistler. I talked to the travel agent who had originally helped us, and to give them quick props they were awesome! The rate they got Charissa was $30 less per night than if I booked online! While I was in the midst of giving her Charissa's info, Roxi's name, yada yada, Roxi let out a silent-yet-deadly fart.

I tried to continue to read the credit card numbers, but had to pause to whisper what happened to Charissa. As she plugged her nose and her face turned red trying to hold in laughter, I continued to try to talk to the agent in a totally normal voice.

Which was totally impossible.

Do I sound like a valley girl? Like, totally.

After far too many pauses where I attempted to suppress my giggles I finally blurted out (rather uncouthly):

I'M SORRY BUT THE DOG JUST FARTED ON ME!!! BAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!

And we were gone.  Ironically I had just bragged to the agent what a great dog Roxi was, so thankfully she joined in our laughter which was good because it took a minute to compose myself enough to finish reading off the credit card.

It was a good start to the trip.

As we pulled up to the border agent at around 10:00 that night she made no attempt to hide a massive yawn.  Taking our passports she glanced at them and asked the obligatory questions, completely and utterly annoyed with us for some reason. And the worst part was they don't stamp your passport anymore!
Boo!

Leaving Sour Sally behind we headed towards Vancouver.

Charissa had assumed her iPhone's GPS would work in Canada...but when we pulled it out to plug in our hotel address we got nothin'.  Hmmm...well I had looked (glanced) at a map before we left and knew if we stayed on the 99 it would go right by our hotel, so we'd call when we got close (we were staying in Vancouver that first night since 1) it was late and 2) the drive to Whistler was supposed to be pretty).

As we drove around we both got a kick out of not knowing entirely where we were going or how we were going to get there, but we were just enjoying the scenery. Cute little homes, bikers, late night walkers...we were taking Canada all in while making stupid jokes like, "Oh, I didn't know they had stoplights in Canadia, eh?" and "Oooh let's put some maple syrup on that now, eh?"

You know, mature stuff like that.

Fast forward 30 minutes and we were driving circles in the dark at some University campus. We had thought we followed signs for the 99 but all of the sudden our street dead ended so we took the northernly route (good guess, right?).

Hmmm...devoid of anyone to ask directions from, maps or GPS, or even the sun to get our general bearings we found an information center on the side of the road and were able to deduce the way out of that scholarly-like maze and get back to the main part of Vancouver.

Which we discovered is a big town.

Lights.  That's how we found downtown.  We followed the big buildings and the lights! And you know what? It WORKED! We found the 99 and too the route that said "99N to Whistler: Lion's Gate Bridge."

It being dark and all we thought we had crossed the bridge and pulled over in a park to call the hotel.  A very jolly Indian man answered the phone and Charissa asked for directions from the 99. I whispered "mention the Lion's Gate Bridge" to her and she did.

"OOOOOHHH!!!" he exclaimed, "the BREEDGE the BREEDGE !!! You are ON the BREEDGE ?"

"Uh," Charissa said trying not to laugh, "Yes."

"Are you in the MIDDLE of the BREEDGE ?"

"Did you go OVER the BREEDGE ?"

"Have you CROSSED the BREEDGE ?"

The man was entirely too enthusiastic about this bridge, yelling so loudly Charissa didn't need a speaker phone, and she managed something the affirmative while I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle giggles.

"O-KAY. You are on the BREEDGE ! YES? O-KAY. You go OVER the BREEDGE , yes? O-KAY.  You stay on the right inside, then the left inside at the end of the BREEDGE . O-KAY. Then AFTER the BREEDGE you get to CAPILANO and stay right. And a LEFT at CAPILANO. This is AFTER the BREEDGE ? O-KAY?"

This made no sense but we both could see that was the best we were going to get so we thanked him and told him we'd see him soon.

Hanging up we began to chuckle as we related how many times the man had said THE BRIDGE!!! What bridge? We wondered! Did we go over it? There was a section where we could kinda see water on both sides but it was nothin' to write home about! Heaven's sake!

We were still wondering why the man had been so excited about that particular landmark???

Then we rounded a corner.

OOOOOHHH we said in Unison.

THIS Bridge!

Photo by Clarke Photo...couldn't find any copyright so hope its okay!

This bridge was HUGE! I mean Golden-Gate proportions! No WONDER he was so excited about the dang blasted bridge! We somehow managed to figure out his directions and find ourselves at the North Vancouver Hotel.

By now it was getting closer to midnight and we were ready to crash. We met our jovial friend who was glad we had made it OVER the BRRRIDGE, Charissa paid an extra $25 for having Roxi with us and we walked into our room.

Which smelled like motel.  And not in a freshly-cleaned-good sort of way.  Oh well, we thought as we tossed our stuff on the beds, its only one night.

I headed to the bathroom and had just noticed the toilet was a bit rusty and dirty when I closed the door and saw...a pair of boxers hanging on the back of the door.

Uhhhh...Charissa? Are these your boxers?

I picked them up using as minimal finger area as possible and brought them out.

They weren't hers. They were the previous' travelers.

Ew.

After all that a drink sounded so good, so Charissa brought up some Coronas she had in our trunk. When we realized we didn't have a bottle opener.

Hmmm. I whipped out my trusty Buck knife and started prying away while Charissa...to the everlasting horror of all mothers....went to town with her teeth.

Maybe I'm a more difficult travel mate than I thought if she needed it that much...

Juuust kidding.  We eventually got our beers open, broke open some tortilla chips and settled in for the night, snuggling Roxi and all that good stuff.

Next up: Whistler!

I heart Canada

Pics soon to come, but just had to get it out there how gorgeous our trip to Whistler was! Holy moley no wonder they wanted to host the Olympics!

It was SO gorgeous and in our day and a half (not even that) there Charissa and i didn't even scratch the surface of all there was to do there! I actually convinced Matt to cancel our reservations in Leavenworth the following weekend because we're GOING BACK! And this time Matt gets to see it!

So far on our list is the Monkido ropes course, the Peak 2 Peak ride with hiking around both mountain tops, and eating lots and lots of really good food.

Cause the day I get back I'm going on a detox...oy.  But more on that later. For now I'll revel in the pictures and memories and get excited for this weekend!

Oh, and funny stories coming later, too...stay tuned.

Aprons from the Giggling Gourmet

*UPDATE: After realizing I wanted a shop name that would reflect a variety of craft items, and after a lot of help during the naming contest I'm now The Ruffled Owl. You can check out my Etsy store here and the blog here*

If you haven't headed over to The Giggling Gourmet The Ruffled Owl yet take a look! I think I may try to start selling a few of my aprons, and last night I posted pics of my lovely models Carol and Eleni on the Aprons For Sale page you can find just below the header.

hee hee hee I love this pic!

I don't have prices yet cause I'm still working out how much it actually costs me and how much time I spend on it (in between working full time, walking the dog, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up, trying to spend quality time with my hubby...yada yada yada).  Anyways, I really enjoy making these so why not do its some more!

Oh, and there's a few new posts on Thursday Farms about Contentment and Telling Your Money Where to Go and how we FINALLY paid off our credit card debt! Hallelujah!

So head on over and check it out!

Compelled

Yesterday evening we headed to church at the Mars Hill Bellevue campus. This is the Mars Hill pastored by Mark Driscoll (and not in any affiliation with Rob Bell), and though we've only managed to go sporadically due to Matt's work schedule, we really like it.  Pastor Mark doesn't really hold anything back, but speaks truth in love.

This was last nights' sermon and for some reason I just felt compelled to share it with you.  It is a full sermon so grab a cup of coffee and a Bible if you want and settle in.

I have to say I've never really paused on this portion of the scripture. After having gone through private Christian education from Kindergarten through graduating college, I feel like I've got a pretty thorough grasp on things. I'll never understand everything fully, but most sermons sound vaguely familiar and it irritates the heck out of me when its so elementary I feel I could have written that sermon in junior high. I'm done with baby bottles, where's the meat???

Well I got some meat last night. And thought I'd give you a taste.

Okay the embedded one isn't working, so here's the link:

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-before-all

You can watch it there or even download it to your ipod (or ipad or droid or whatever you have)

I'm Making the WHAT? (or Wedding Part I)

So here we come at last to the wedding!

(Finally, most of you say!)

I was very fortunate to be able to go to Orange County the last weekend in July to attend the wedding of a friend I've known since the fourth grade when we started Girl Scouts together.

Growing up, Heatherly was usually one step ahead of us.  When my dad led a Girl Scout camp out in our backyard and convinced everyone we were hunting for Naugas (three-legged creatures you were supposed to trip with a stick and put in your pillowcase), Heatherly was the only one to get the joke and throw stones into the bushes along with my dad to make the rest of us scurry into the darkness wielding our sticks.

Here's a typical gathering in our elementary school years...

In case you can't read my awful photo shop scribble...the H is Heatherly, the C is Chelsea and the J is my bro...

When Junior High and High School rolled around we developed our own code names so we could write notes to each other during class. I was Madame Butterfly (not sure of the reasoning there other than I liked butterflies), and she was Lord Vader. Notes often included stick figure cartoon strips involving Lord of the Rings.

I found this picture looking through some old photos and couldn't resist putting it in...Heatherly had a birthday party a that was a life size Clue game. Each invitation included the character you were supposed to come as (I was Cleopatra), and throughout the course of the night we played the game and took Polaroids along the way...still one of the best birthday parties ever!

So when she finally decided to say yes to Chaz, you can imagine how much I wanted to be there!  With air fares the way they were it was looking doubtful I would get to go, but last minute everything managed to work out.

After my parents picked me up at the airport, my mom filled me in on the flower situation. Yvonne had not felt comfortable making the bridal bouquet, so my mom volunteered me.

Uhhh...ok...but I've never made a bouquet....I guess its like an arrangement but smaller...hmmm...I agreed and shrugged it off.

Saturday morning we arrived at Mayesh to pick up the flowers. I love seeing the evolution from these tight rosebuds all encased in cardboard into arrangements.

We loaded everything ever so carefully into the cars and were on our way!

We took everything to Yvonne's and set up the stations. There were four different types of centerpieces, each with its own name, and we sorted the flowers accordingly. I was completely selfish and took all the prettiest flowers for the bride's bouquet.

I had learned Heatherly wanted her flowers in a nosegay - a really awful name for a pretty thing that holds a wet oasis that you can stick flowers into. I'm not a huge fan of the wrapped stem look anyways, and I knew how to work with an oasis.

Only problem was...no one could find the nosegay! We finally sent the bride's mother off to get one, and three hours later she returned triumphant.  It was only after she left and I tried to soak it in water that I realized it was a nosegay for dried flowers...it wouldn't hold any water. Which meant on a hot day in Yorba Linda, the bouquet would look like a wilted mess.

What to do?

We worked on the centerpieces all day, and slowly things began to take shape.

when we ran out of greens we improvised and used some bougainvillea from Yvonne's backyard. 

Then we spied a tree in the neighbors yard with gorgeous foliage! Hmmm...Bridget, being nimble, shimmied her way over and got us some more greenery!

We made quite a mess of things...too...

All day long it was in the back of my head: how am I gonna make this thing? Its kinda important!

Then I would shrug it off and say to myself, "You'll manage!"

But then people kept dropping hints about what a big deal it was...how it needed to photograph well...not fall apart...how this will be what she sees in pictures for the next 50 years! YIKES!

We were running out of time, so we loaded up all the bridal bouquet flowers into the car and headed back to the Spangruds. I'd figure it out there.

By the time I had stuffed my face with Karli's amazing spaghetti and meatballs and we got home from seeing Inception, it was late and the creative juices were just not there.

Not to mention by this point I was getting nervous. I knew I could work with an oasis, but making one of those stick-thing bouquets look good is harder than you think!

Around midnight that night I pulled out the nosegay and tried to pry off the top of the cage. Darn thing.

Then Mark the Magic Man asked to take a crack at it. I sleepily climbed the stairs and left him hacking away at it with a knife.

The next morning I was woken up with the news that there was coffee and a bouquet waiting to be made downstairs.

Whaddya know? Mark had pried off the top of the cage, carved a wet oasis in a shape to fit into it and popped the cage back on--I could use the nosegay! HALLELUJAH!

I got to work...

And you know...by the grace of God I think it turned out pretty decent!

I have to say I LOVED her wedding colors! So vibrant and summery!

We headed off to Yvonne's to pack up the flowers for the trip to the wedding site...and walking into Yvonne's house was like walking into a florist's shop!

Over 20 centerpieces of all types filled her downstairs! Leave it to Mark and my Super Dad to pack them all safely and snugly in the truck! The ladies made the rounds doing touch ups and spraying everything with finishing spray.

Julie's best friend, Bea, was a powerhouse!

SuperDads #1 and #2

They wedged those puppies in there so good we could have gone through a tornado and those things would have stayed put!

Once at the wedding site we found there was another wedding going on in the ballroom...yikes!  We were about to freak out on them because our flowes (well-wedged as they may have been) were sitting in the HEAT and all our hard work would have gone to waste!

Luckily they let us inload into a back room with air conditioning and we didn't have to go all crazy on them!

That's it for Part 1...Part 2 you'll get to see the finished result! But before I go let me leave you with my favorite moment from the day.

The best part of the wedding for me was right before the ceremony began. 

The entrance to the ceremony area was a long winding staircase which made for a grand entrance for the bridal party, but in order to enter at the right time my mom and I coordinated with the on-site coordinator for the entrance timing.  This had me at the base of the stairs with the bridal party, and as they were beginning to file out Heatherly came around the corner...and took my breath away!

She was stunning! More stunning than any makeup/hair/jewelry or dress could make her but absolutely brilliant with light from the inside out. And I started crying.

Then she pointed to her bouquet and put a hand over her heart and mouthed "thank you" and I was totally gone.

Bye Bye Kaitlynn's eye makeup gone.

Guard Dog

Before we delve into Heatherly's wedding, I wanted to give you a little update on the Roy Boy.

Most of you, by now, are familiar with his crazy antics. How he helped me paint, sometimes loves a little too much, and how he personally edited my Bible.  

I haven't given him much blogspace lately because, well, he's calmed down a bit. 

I know, I know. Impossible you say...especially those who have actually met him. But lately he's been doing a lot more of this:

and this:

But today while repotting some plants in the backyard, I noticed him staring into the greenbelt and ever so slightly sniffing the air for a long time.  Then slowly the mohawk of hair began to raise along the ridge of his back.

The dog has pretty good senses about people and what's around him, so I called him into the house and locked the door.

Twenty minutes later he went into stealth mode again:

I peered over his shoulder to see what it was, and saw...

a cute little bunny.

Now we may think its cute, but to Roy it was an intruder on his territory and he was not going to have it!

The mohawk rose and a deep growl emanated from his broad retriever chest.

With his sight on the bunny he slowly sank back like a coil being tightened...

Then he SPRANG into action and let out a bark and a growl to scare any intruder!

hair was even standing up on his tail!

the bunny scampered to the far end of the house and Roy bolted to the bedroom to ward him off!

he kinda looks like a bunny here...

Once in the bedroom he got his sights on that terrible, awful intruder again...by jumping on the bed...

Roy get OFF of there!

What? Aren't I a guard dog???

Back and forth from the living room to the bedroom he bolted trying to get a better look at that bunny. 

When I couldn't see the rabbit anymore I let Roy outside (on his leash, of course...who knows how far into the tangle of blackberries he would chase a rabbit!). 

He roamed the perimeter and sufficiently marked every bush to let anyone know this was his home!

When he was finally satisfied he had scared off every furry or feathered creature in the vicinity he headed back, and plopped down in front of the door again...cause you never know if that thing might come back...

Good dog, Roy! I know no crazy bunny is going to attack like the killer rabbit with big pointy teeth from Monty Python!

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

The end. I will catch you up to date on the wedding soon, I promise.