End of June Update

Well, it's hard to believe but it's the end of June already. I just wish the weather would cooperate.
Here are the things I have completed this month:

Trip to Chilliwack Lake
A large amount of Medical Tests
Vancouver Sun Kobo Style
Live Musical
Father's Day at the Museum
Kilby
Harrison Hot Springs
McRib Sandwich
Canadian Hazelnut
Artichoke Dinner
Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
and a great Birthday dinner!

What a month! The most memorable challenge will of course be the Suspension Bridge. I will never forget the feeling after accomplishing what I had set out to. I still can't believe I did that!

I'll leave with a few more mini challenges I completed today:
-Strawberry Picking: There are a few local farms around that I like to go and berry pick at. However, due to weather being terrible this year, they are later than normal. However, today I went and picked a kg of strawberries. The weather was iffy today, but it didn't rain. The berries were smaller than normal this year, but still taste wonderfully. This was the first year I saved some for the freezer. Usually while driving home, I can't wait and dig right in. However, not this year. I'd like to save some for the winter months ahead.

-New Cell Phone: I may have overchallenged myself with this new purchase. My cell phone died, so I was in the market for a new one. So my husband and I upgraded to smart phones. I truly don't know why they are called smart phones. They are for anyone who is a lot smarter than I am! There are so many features on it, it will take me months to figure out! I can check emails on it, but I can't send one out yet. However, it's good to be with the times, I guess. Just don't expect to see me on facebook or twitter anytime soon!

Thanks for reading.

Lynn

McRib sandwich

I will preface this by saying that the rest of my family loves these sandwiches. They go crazy everytime they are offered.

However, I have never had one. Until tonight.

I can honestly say, what's the fuss all about? Really? Not that big a deal. No need to go crazy over a sandwich!

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Kilby

As we were coming home today, we decided to stop in Kilby. This is a small heritage site about 30 minutes outside of Harrison.
The Kilby family developed a hotel, general store and farm for people travelling into the cariboo via Harrison. It lasted until the 1970's when it was given to the Provincial Government for preservation as a museum.
What a interesting place!

It's quite a homestead and farm:

I have to say that while we were there something interesting occurred. We were in the main house, in the bedrooms looking at the artifacts. I walked out of the room into the main hallway and I see the door in front of me close. It closed gingerly, as if someone was walking in. No one was there. Then, I take a look down the opposite end of the hallway and that door was closing the same way as well. I freaked out a little bit and ran downstairs. The door that I had just used to go upstairs was closed as well! At this time, my heart was racing. As I made it outside, the curator stopped and I mentioned that all of the doors in the house were closing at the same time! She kind of laughed and said something about coming back next Halloween. Rather embarrased, I joined my husband back upstairs. When I got back upstairs, one of the doors that had been closing, was fully open again as if nothing had happened. When I joined my husband, we both started hearing some strumming noises as if from a banjo. As no one else was upstairs at the same time as us, we decided to both leave the house and concentrate on the animals outside. I'm not saying that something exists within Kilby and it's not scary at all. I just think that perhaps due to the weather (it was rather stormy) and the fact that I feel a bit weird about walking in to someones home, it wasn't the best place for me to visit. However, it is worth a stop in for anyone who would like to learn more about the area they are going to visit.

Thank-you for reading

Lynn

Harrison Hot Springs

What a wonderful trip!
As previously blogged, my husband treated me to a night in Harrison. We booked a room in the main hotel, which we have stayed in in the past. As soon as we arrived, and as we were checking in the check in clerk gave us a free upgrade. The room we were going to have was really nice. It was right off the hot pools and easy to get to. We would have gladly stayed in that room again. However, the room we received was a huge improvement! The view was literally looking over Harrison lake:

The gardens in the back were great as well:

There were a few challenges I completed here as well:

-This was the first time I got to go swimming with my skin graph. The last time I was here, I had only one scar. I was so self conscious about it, I entered the pools when no one was looking. This time, I jumped into the pools whether someone was looking or not. The skin graph fared very well. No pain and no one asked either, which was good. I won't include a picture of this, as no one needs to see that!

-We toasted my birthday and some recent good news with some sparkling wine. That was the first time I had ever had anything like this. It did not taste as I was expecting it to and it ended up going down the drain! My husband didn't even like it, so I wasn't alone!

I will remember my time at harrison with fond memories. Perhaps this can become a tradition!

Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Canadian Hazelnut

As part of my birthday present, my husband treated me to a night out in Harrison Hot Springs. The area is quite special to me for some personal reasons.

On the way there, Harrison has a circle farm tour that anyone can participate in. Here is the link: http://www.circlefarmtour.com/index.php?page_id=13

One of the stops on the way out is the Canadian Hazelnut shop. My husband and I decided to go in and see what they had to offer. What a wonderful nut store and goody store. They have all kinds of hazelnut butter, chocolate covered hazelnuts, fresh local honey, various jams from around the area.

We had to try the beer nuts (a little salty a little sweet) and my husband piked out chocolate covered hazelnuts. They were a very special treat!

It was a worthy stop in. Now that I know that they're there, the next time I'm out in the area, I'll be sure to look them up again.

Thanks for reading.

Lynn

Artichoke Dinner

I have wanted to try using artichokes for dinner in several different dishes.
My in-laws have a recipe for crab and artichoke dip which is very good, but I wanted to try artichoke in a main dish as well as an appetizer. So, when I got home this evening I made dinner.

Here are the recipes I used:

Italian Style Pasta Toss

Ingredients

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) bottle Italian or Caesar salad dressing
• 1 (6.5 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
• 1 (6 ounce) can pitted ripe olives, drained
• 1 (3 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 4 cups cooked tortellini
• shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Add tortellini and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with a slotted spoon or refrigerate.

Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo-style pasta sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place garlic in a small baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes, until soft. Remove from heat. When cool enough to touch, squeeze softened garlic from skins.
3. In an 8x8 inch baking dish, spread the roasted garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, Alfredo-style pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and cream cheese.
4. Cover and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm.

Because I was a bit rushed for time, I did not roast the garlic before placing this in the oven. I would say I enjoyed dinner very much. The pasta toss was very good. I would eat it again. As for the artichoke dip, I also enjoyed it as well.

To my surprise, my husband also enjoyed dinner and doesn't mind the leftovers. I think I like artichokes now!

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

I had quite the day today. I met an ex-coworker of mine in North Vancouver for lunch. It was nice to see her and catch up.

After lunch, because I was out there anyways, I decided to go for a walk in Lynn Canyon. They have a suspension bridge that I felt like trying.
I had to take transit there. I'm okay taking transit most places around my home. However, in a new city, I was a bit nervous. The bus driver seemed nice, however, I got off 1 km further away than I needed to.
So, I arrived. I headed directly to the suspension bridge. Just as I had sauntered a few steps onto the bridge, I briefly looked down. Not a good idea to do when someone is behind you. The lady behind me asked if it was alright if she went ahead of me. I laughed at her and said gratefully "sure". She then said that the trek was easy and there was nothing to it. Easy for her to say! After I got off the bridge, mildly panicking, I reasoned with myself. I did not come all this way, on one of my precious days off, to chicken out now!
So I went back onto the bridge and crossed it. I did not stop in the middle on my way across. I promised myself that all I had to do was cross over and then cross right back over. Well, I made it across the first time and even stopped on the other side before coming back over. On the way back over, I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a picture! I amazed even myself for handling this!

After I got back across, I went to look for the ecology centre. It's a small building with quite a bit of information in it including animal tracks, and human history. It was worth stopping in.

I have to say after this challenge, I felt like I could do anything. It's rather hard to describe. However, that feeling lasted all the way until the bus came to take me home. I sat next to a hardened criminal on his way to his probation officer that thought I was a good conversationalist!

I have attached some photos of my journey today below.
Thanks for reading
Lynn

this is the view before I came back over        

this is the view from the middle of the bridge

 Some info about the bridge from one of the signs

Sign at the entrance to the bridge           

Birthday Dinner

Today is my birthday. I had an excellent day off. This evening my friends took me out for dinner to a local steakhouse for dinner. I haven't been there since my 16th birthday and I'm not going to say how old I am turning today. However, it's been a long time!

They ordered starters: shrimp in a garlic butter sauce, and spinach artichoke dip. It was so good, but filling. My dinner was prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes and fresh veggies. I have never had prime rib as good as this was. It could be just me, but I'm not that big of a meat eater but this was by far the best piece of meat I have ever had! I couldn't eat all of it! I got to take some home for leftovers!

Then they gave me dessert: a piece of mocha ice cream, pie with almonds and chocolate sauce. Okay, so I totally overindulged, but what a wonderful evening.

For whatever reason my husband flat out refuses to attend this restaurant. I will have to pass the message along that he's missing out on a wonderful thing!

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Father's Day at the Museum

Today I celebrated Father's Day with my dad. I got to pick the activity we did as it's also my birthday coming up.

I took my father to the Vancouver Museum and for a walk down Vanier Park. According to my father, I had been there before. However, I couldn't remember ever going.

What a great day that was! I learned so much about the history of Vancouver and the culture during the 50's. Going with my father was also great as he could remember certain things happening around the city during the "hippie movement".

What a great way to celebrate today. I have attached some photos into this blog. Thank-you for reading.

Live Musical

As part of my birthday present this year, my husband and I went and saw Hairspray. We don't often get the opportunity or even the time to do special things together. It was a nice treat.

The play was wonderful. It was hard for me not to be pulled in to the story line. I think I even chair danced to some of the music!

Despite it not being my husband's "cup of tea" he still humoured me and went along with it. I am very thankful for that.


Thanks for reading

Lynn

Vancouver sun Kobo Style

I'll be honest, I haven't had much time for a lot this past little while. I purchased my kobo a while ago, but haven't read anything on it recently.

So I decided to change that. I signed up for the free trial of the Vancouver Sun today. I'll give it a whirl.
I take the bus so frequently that I could use something to read during my commute.

I'll keep this blog open to let you know how it is working out.

thanks for reading

Lynn

Medical Tests

This week is going to be one of the most challenging I will have had to deal with in terms of my health. I'll keep this post open until the week is over.

Today was the bone scan. They inject you with radioactive material so that it shows up on your bones. It takes about two hours for the material to show up. When you get into the exam, you have to lie perfectly still as they scan your entire body. Although you are only immobile for 15 minutes it feels like forever. They tape your feet together and your arms are strapped to the rest of your body.

The worst part is the injection. You are expected to drink lots of water for the remainder of the day to flush out as much of the radioactivity as possible. Also, they give you a card in case you travel to a foreign country or the airport indicating you are radioactive in case you set off sensors. That's just great.

I don't feel that great after the exam. My stomach is upset and my joints hurt. I'm hoping this will go away tomorrow as there's another exam.

June 7th: Well, I had another exam this morning. It didn't go very well. It was an ultrasound on my abdomen. I've been for several of these before. Every time I go for one of these, I don't feel that great afterwards. My insides feel as though they have been scrambled. My ribs also feel a bit bruised. So, I am taking the rest of the day to rest up. I'm hoping something will be better tomorrow.
Thanks for reading

June 10th: What a week! The last exam was today. It was a contrast ct scan over my abdomen. I had to drink radioactive particles last night and then had an iv just prior to the exam. The drink is quite bitter. The iv didn't go in very well today. The nurse was fishing for a vein which hurts more. However, the technician in the ct scan was very helpful. She helped quide my arm into place when the contrast was running through. I won't know these results until the oncologists appointment next week.

Aside from these, I have been unable to digest any food for over a day and have been unable to attend work. I managed to keep some food down today.
I have never been through so many evasive exams in one week. I have never been as stressed as I am now, which I am hoping is the reason I haven't been able to digest any food. Oh well. I now know the meaning of the phrase: what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

Thanks for reading.
Lynn

Lynn

Chilliwack Lake

My father in law's birthday was this past weekend. My husband's family decided to go to Chilliwack Lake for the weekend and celebrate.

I've never been to Chilliwack Lake before. I didn't even know there was a lake there. Although I have passed by the campground many times before. I've just never had a reason to stop in.

It's quite a pretty lake. Although there are signs warning it is rather cold. Apparently the water was high for this time of year.

Although I enjoyed my time there, I don't think I would ever camp there. The lake is rather far from the campground and there's no real trails around the campsite. I guess I've been rather spoiled when I've been camping. The lakes were always closer by as well as some hiking trails nearby. However my father in law enjoyed himself as well as everyone else, so I guess that's all that matters.

Thanks for reading
Lynn