End of Year Review

I can't believe it has been one year since I decided to challenge myself as much as I possibly could. What a year this has been.

I am so glad I was able to make this journey. This blog has been the reason I have challenged myself so many times. If I didn't have to write down every time I tried something new or challenged myself, I wouldn't have done very much this year at all.

I have learned so many lessons this year it's hard to properly articulate how much I have grown. Here are just a few:

-One never really knows how strong they are, or even what type of individual they are, until they are faced with great adversity. It is in these moments that the true nature of the person responds. I would strongly encourage every person to take a deep look at themselves when they are the most stressed and discover more things about themselves then they ever thought possible.

-Life is messy, unpredictable, beautiful, ugly and awful all at the same time. However, if you can laugh through most of it and keep a smile on your face, you'll come out further ahead than the person who has the most prized possessions.

-Don't be afraid to try new things, or put yourself in awkward situations. It is in these moments you realize who you really are and do the most growing. Either you like it or you don't. The moment will pass and all you have left is the memory.

-Surround yourself with good people. They will make you feel as though you matter, even when you make a mistake, and don't feel as though you have any real contribution to make. Contributions, even small, can make a big impact on someone, including complete strangers.

- Get outside and take advantage of where you live. I am truly blessed to live in BC and have had the opportunity to travel all over this beautiful province. I am so grateful for all of the things I have seen.

-Learn as much as you can about whatever interests you. Take the time while you can. You never know where this knowledge can take you.

-Try new foods. If other cultures can survive on it, there's probably a reason for that and leftovers can only keep for so long.

-It's okay to stick your neck out and look like a complete idiot, as long as there is a reason for it. Not everyone will understand where you are going or where you have come from. Don't pass judgment. Everyone's path is different.

May your 2012 be as happy as you make it!
Thanks for reading
Lynn

End of December Review

Here are the challenges I completed this month:

Prayer rooms

Pickling herring

Medications

Drive through

Drive through Williams park

Heaven is for real

Amaryllis

Gingerbread house

French onion soup

Pecan Pie

Brinded turkeys

Mojitos

Polar Bear Wade and windy lunch picnic

It has been quite a month. Especially with Christmas and New Years included. I have enjoyed this month. I also have discovered a few more Christmas traditions I hope will continue in the years and decades ahead.

One challenge I don't think I will do again is the brined turkey. Too much work for so little reward. However, I am fortunate to have been given the opportunity to at least try it.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Last Challenges: Polar Bear Wade and windy picnic lunch

Well, here is the last of my blog:

I have always wanted to participate in the New Year's Polar Bear Swim. Something about starting the year off with a cold splash always seemed like such a good idea.
I can't participate in this years event as I have another Christmas dinner I am going to be helping out with on New Years Day and the turkey has to get in the oven rather early.
So, I decided I would try to re-create it today: I got all ready, brought lots of sweaters, towels and a change of clothes with me. My husband decided he wanted to try this one as well.
We get to the beach and there are more people out than I expected there to be. However, that didn't stop me this time as normally it would have.
When my bare feet hit the water there was a feeling of pain just in my feet. I made it up to my knees before my husband even made it to the waters edge. As my feet were going numb and I was only up to my knees, I decided to leave well enough alone and I stopped there. When I got out of the water, my husband decided he couldn't have his wife beat him, so he made it in just past his knees.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing this challenge. There is something about acting like a complete idiot that usually stops me in my tracks from doing anything out of the norm. However, not today.
Here are some pictures:

That's my foot print!

Afterwards, my husband decided that that challenge just wouldn't cut it for the end of this years blog. So, we decided to go to another nearby beach for a picnic. I didn't have a proper coat and the wind was howling. However, I made it through lunch with the wind. I was freezing by the end of lunch. However, I also got some great photographs of the whitecaps:

I have learned a great bunch of lessons today: It's okay to look like an idiot in front of other people. As long as you stand behind what you are doing that's all that really matters. I am also capable of getting much colder than I ever thought possible.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Mojitos- Sort of

Today was the last of Christmas with the inlaws. While out, my sister in law prepared mojitos from a mix she purchased earlier. As I was a designated driver and I have health issues that do not allow me to drink that much, I was only able to have small sips.
None of the relatives really liked it. However, they finished their drinks as they didn't want to waste the alcohol.
From the sips I was able to try, I sort of liked it. I can't remember the last time I had rum. I forgot how strong a drink it is.
I would have liked to try the mojito with a shot of vodka instead. For some reason I seem to remember vodka as being a bit lighter.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Brined Turkey

I have never brined anything and still haven't. However, it was my best friends idea to brine the Christmas turkey this year.

Yesterday morning he prepared the brine which included salt, apple juice, vegetable broth, and spices. It sat in this brine most of the day and night.

It went in this morning at 8 and was done cooking at 2 this afternoon. Brining took at least two hours off of the cooking time.
The turkey was also very moist and easy to carve. The only thing it also did was make the gravy a bit salty, which can easily be fixed next time.
It didn't alter the taste of the turkey meat. I would have hoped for all of this work, I would have been able to taste something in the meat.
I am a little bit of mixed opinion on this. It's worth trying once, but ordinary people rarely have two days to prepare a turkey for a big dinner. If you do that's great, but Christmas is stressful enough, without having another thing to worry about.

Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Pecan Pie

During the Christmas festivities, I have been very good this year. I haven't indulged in any of the chocolate at work.
However, I did try a piece of pecan pie. I have never had it, so I decided to taste some.
I would not eat this again.
It was far too sweet. The best part of it was the pecans on top. I wish the entire pie were just pecans. Better yet, I could just eat a handful of pecans. That would be a lot easier.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

French Onion Soup

I've never tried this. However, I have served this for people during many fundraiser dinners I used to volunteer at. Tonight I had the opportunity to finally try some. I only took a little bit because I didn't know how it would taste and if I would react to it. I also gave some to my best friend to confirm this was in fact what he had eaten before just in case it was a new recipe. It was the real thing.

I found it quite a bit spicier than I imagined it to be. However, I also find Ritz cheese crackers on the spicy side as well!

I wouldn't make this on my own, but if someone made it and invited me over for it, I wouldn't refuse it either.

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Gingerbread House

I have never really stopped and thought about or built a Gingerbread house. I kind of took for granted it was a kid thing to do. I am an adult.

However, I took the time this year to help construct one and decorate it. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon. When it's cold and miserable outside.

Granted it was my first experience, and I didn't do all of the fancy elaborate decorating, but I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down and decorating what I could.

I also faced facts: this is probably the only home I will ever own, so I tried to decorate with as much class as I could.
Here are some pictures:

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Amaryllis Flower

A boss of mine gave me my first Christmas present of the year: an Amaryllis. I have never had one of these before. However, I always wanted one but Christmas is always a stretch on the budget to splurge on myself, so I was especially joyful to see it sitting on my desk yesterday.

It also served as a fundraiser for my boss whose family has been affected by Huntingdon's Disease. What a unique way to fundraise, especially at Christmas when it seems the demands for money seem unending.

I planted it today and will keep it near a sunny window. I will also keep this blog open so that hopefully it will bloom before January 1st and I can take another picture of it.

Here's what it looks like now:

Thanks for reading
Lynn
January 18th: All of it is blooming at the moment:

My camera simply doesn't do it justice. The colour is a vibrant orange. I really really like it and am so lucky the thing didn't die on me.

"Heaven Is For Real"

A coworker lent me a copy of the book "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo two days ago. I officially started it yesterday and finished it today. I couldn't put it down. I even took it to work to read it on my breaks. That's a bit unusual for me.

If you haven't read it it's about a little boys journey to Heaven and back. If you don't agree that there's a heaven, then this book is not up your alley.

However, I found it deeply impacted the way I think of heaven. It was so refreshing to hear about it from a child's perspective. His impression was so free of rules and other formalities that most religious leaders have imposed upon their believers. I will reflect on these observations of heaven for years to come, because heaven has always seen as something very few of us will ever reach.

Here are some of the observations (this could spoil your experience with the book if you plan on purchasing it ):
"God and Jesus light up heaven. It never gets dark. It's always bright."
-The marks left from the cross were revealed as marker marks to a little boy.
-On the subject of dying: "It's going to be okay. The first person you're going to see is Jesus."

What an incredible little boy and what an incredible gift he has been given. I hope this simple yet special message reaches as many people as possible.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Drive Thru Williams Park

A local park has a drive thru Christmas light display. I have never driven through it. Tonight was the night I happened to have free.

On my previous entry I stopped by a coffee shop, picked up my apple cider, and headed to the park.
It's a good thing I am so familiar with this park. I get to visit it every year as part of my volunteer job.

I pulled in tonight and knew instantly the path I was on. Except this time there wasn't any loose livestock. Go figure!

This display is a bit different than I imagined it. However, it was fun to try and get into the Christmas spirit.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Driving Through a Drive Through at night

I have a little bit of nightblindness. I don't like driving at night. Oncoming car headlights are nasty.

I also have never driven through a drive through at a fast food restaurant. I don't want to scrape the car up with my stupidity. However, tonight was a real treat.

I took my truck through a local coffee shop's Drive Thru for the first time ever at night and didn't hit anything. I was even close enough to the lady that I didn't have to get out of the truck.

I ordered only one thing on the menu because I was a bit nervous, but it worked out okay. I won't be doing this again, anytime soon but know I can do this again if need be.

Thanks for reading
Lynn

Enough Medications

I never thought I would have to blog about this, but here goes. I have never been on as many medication as I am on now. I had cancer and still didn't have to take as many pills every day. I am a bit down because of this. A bit of this is personal, so I will spare some details.

I counted 7 different medications or special procedures I have to work on for 7 different  parts of my body. That's got to be some kind of a record.

My skin has two different medications or procedures for. The skin graph takes care morning and night using cream. Skin in my neck region uses antibiotic cream that takes care morning and night.

Then there's the ever present ear infections. They take pills.
Then my stomach takes another pill. And then there's my intestines. Another couple of pills a day for it to thrive or allow me to work without issues.
I won't even get into how screwed up my back is and the medication I have to take for that!
There's one more but I seem to have forgotten what it is. However, be assured there's a good reason I have forgotten what it is.
If only the doctors would recognize somethings not right here. No offense, but I am still somewhat young. I can't imagine how life will be like when I am officially old. And I worry about drug interactions now, what happens 15 years down the road, when another 6 proceedures have been added?

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Pickling Herring -warning pictures attached!

It was once a tradition in both my husbands family and mine to make Pickled Herring each year. When I was young, a local radio station hosted a herring sale fundraiser to benefit children. About 6 years or so ago, this fundraiser was cancelled.

However, this year another group of fundraisers came together and offered the sale this weekend. My husband and father took advantage of this, making today an early start.

We picked up two 20 lb. bags before 7:00 this morning. By 10:30 all 40 lbs. of fish had been filleted and are now sitting in crocks waiting for either 2 or 3 weeks until the next round of preparation.

I have never filleted or gutted a fish before. I do not like blood. However, all of that changed today when I was faced with the daunting task of helping to clean 40 lbs! By the end I was like a seasoned pro.

However, the day was not without injury. About 1/2 hour in, I cut myself filleting one of my many fish. It's not that bad, but everytime I hit it, it bleeds.  Furhter, I halso hurt my hands cutting so many fish. I'm not used to holding a knife that long. However, I figure it is a small price to pay.

Here are some pictures:

My first fish of the day.

My last fish of the day
Thanks for reading

Lynn

December 17th: Today was the end of my pickled herring story. My family and I processed the fish into jars filled with brine, onions, and other spices. These should now be ready to eat in about one week. I am glad to be finished this as today was a task and a half. The longest things to wait for included rinsing the fish and waiting for the brine to cool once it had boiled. I am so grateful this is over! I am tired of smelling herring on my clothing. Here are some more pictures:

Prayer Rooms

There have been a few profound personal issues that have surfaced recently in my life. I am not going to go into them, but will say that if it weren't for some good friends, things wouldn't be going as smoothly as they are.
One of my friends was going to a local Prayer Room to pray for directions on an issue that has been bothering her and invited me to come along.
I am so glad I went.
When I arrived, it was like a physicians office. They ask you to fill out a questionnaire with your name so that if you ever come back, there's a file.
You sit in a waiting area, except there's relaxing music playing, the lights are softer and there's so many pamphlets to read.
When you go in for your turn, about three people sit down and talk to you to see how you are doing. They find out what you need prayer for and then they ask you if it's okay if they pray for you. And then we all pray.
It was a wonderful experience. I felt like I actually mattered and the people genuinely took the time to ensure I was alright. I felt like I was floating a bit, and had a definite sense of peace.
In the prayer, the people who were praying for me, also wished for a sense of joy to come back into my life. Apparently to experience joy is a great strength to have. After the prayer, my friend and I went out for coffee to discuss what had just happened. We had a good chat and laughed together over so many things. It was a nice evening and I am glad I experienced something new.
I would go back to this Prayer Room again, especially if these personal issues keep persisting.
Thank-you for reading
Lynn

End of November update

It hasn't really been that great of a month. Most of the blogs involve food:
Chocolate
Lasagna
Fusion Food
and Pumpernickle Bread

and only a few actions:
Remembrance Day Ceremonies
Craft fairs
and checking ID

However, I have enjoyed my time this month challenging myself with my diet. As it is December, my last month with my blog and keeping up with my challenges, I will do my best to continue this next month.

Thanks for reading

Lynn