I decided one day that I wanted to learn how to sew.  I mastered the art of mitten and toques and decided I needed a new challenge and sewing was just the one.  I went to the neighborhood sewing machine store, googled  sewing machines and put out a general post asking for advice and decided the Janome My Style 100 was the one for me.  I went to fabric land picked out some patters and signed up for a sewing class.  I picked an apron as my first project and after 45 mins of sewing lessons I HATED SEWING!  I was bored and felt that I had not creative room, everything had to be followed according to the pattern and I was less than perfect with that direction!

Naturally, I did what ever person would do I looked for another sewing hobby and took up heroin, well actually I took up quilting, but seriously, it would have been cheaper to have a drug habit.  I started with a baby quilt and feel in love with the endless opportunity and options in the world of quilting!  I know what you are thinking – Jen seriously when did you get a membership to the geriatric club!  I say you this – quilting is pretty awesome so there!   Once I realized my new-found love I naturally had to upgrade my machine – twice!  In the end I bought a Phaff Ambition 1.0 and it has been true love ever since. Anyway, I will post some of my awesome creations soon!

JB – OUT

We left for Hawaii on March 18th we left for Vancouver at 7 am.  We left my car at my brother’s house and then took the sea bus, sky train, and then finally the plane to Hawaii!  We were picked up and taken to the “plantation” which is where we stayed.  It was dark, but the sweet smell made it feel beautiful even in the dark! We were given a tour of the house, the guest house and the pool house.

We settled into the Pool house and were just about to go to bed when we had a surprise visit from a friendly cockroach. Needless to say I did not have a very good reaction.  I was yelling at Matthew to kill it while be ran after the little critter with his weapon of choice – his flip-flop.  Matthew the great warrior killed the beast with two swats and deposed on it in the toilet.  Despite the surprise visits we had a very sound sleep!  The following day we a wonderful time checking the house out and then we took the bus into town where we found MACY’S!  We stopped the bus and headed for the big box store.  Inside we found an American version of the Bay……a little bigger, but nothing overly exciting.  I bought a paid of shoes for the wedding and we picked out a shirt for my Cockroach Warrior!

The next big even on the trip was the wedding rehearsal dinner.  We had a huge BBQ in a covered gazebo, drank beer and fruity drinks and sat around and talked.  It was so great to see so many people there for such an amazing and loving event.  I was admiring the event and joined Matthew at his table and I noticed a few minutes after I sat down that the guys became a little quite and kept looking at the beer fridge and pig roasting pit (serious).  Matthew then turned to me and admitted that they had seen something dart behind the fridge and that it hadn’t come out.  When I asked what it was he said with great reluctance that it was a rat.  We both looked with eyes wide waiting for the rat, but it didn’t come out.  Normally, that wouldn’t matter, but in this case the gazebo was attached to the pool house.  Matthew got up and went to investigate and of course I was right on his heels.  We went into the room and I darted for high ground – the bed!  We looked around and saw nothing, just as I began to relax I saw it!  It ran across the ledge on the rock well in the room which was the other side of the pig pit.  It was like the taco bell dog with a long nasty tail and gray. I wish I could say that I stayed strong and didn’t panic, but there was too much beer and rum coursing through my veins and I immediately froze and screeched “there it is ahhhhhhh”.  Matthew joined me on the bed for a better view and doubted that I saw it at first.  Matthew then said “baby don’t panic, its next to your shoes under the chair.”  I did my best to not panic, and remained somewhat ‘clam’, however, I may have cried, a little.   We went outside and everyone was looking at the rock wall. When I “remained calm” it frightened our new roommate back outside and everyone was now looking for our new guest.  The men went to work trying to construct a trap I was sent to get peanut butter.  Minutes passed, and frankly most lost interest when the rat didn’t appear again.    Needless to say, we moved from the pool house into the guest house and did not see our friend again.

I will post some pictures of the trip and share more stories soon..stay tuned to learn about my snorkeling ‘adventure’!

I ended 2010 with discovering a great new passion….wait for it…..knitting!  That’s right I have taken up knitting.  I have mastered the art of the toque with patterns!  I have also mastered…well almost mastered the art of mittens – the thumbs are not very forgiving. In total I made 6 toques, 3 sets of mitts, & 1 scarf!  I am currently making an afghan! I have to admit my boyfriends mother inspired me, she is always working on something and is a very accomplished knitter.  This year I an eager to start on some more complicated patters and am going to try to knit some sweaters!

In addition to knitting, I have also been dabbling with the idea of sewing.  I have been researching different beginner machines and I think that I am going to go with a brother. It has some pretty good reviews and the cost is pretty good on Amazon – much cheaper online then in stores.  I am going to wait a couple of weeks before I make the big purchase – apparently in an attempt to ensure I do not have buyers remorse!  If anyone has any suggestions on a Machine I am more than happy to hear about them.

In the meantime I will endeavor to work on my afghan and post some patterns for knitting that I have stumbled across, altered, changed all together etc….

Be good to you!

I am not going to deal with being an after thought, especially me being an after thought of my own thoughts.  Sometimes you have to realize that the most important person has to be yourself, at least sometimes.

Make this moment about you and your personal value.

Beer

Clamato Juice (I am not a wimp!)

Space Heater

Giant blanket

Flannel PJs (Its FREAKING COLD!)

Favorite Chips (I like dill pickle, all dressed, or Cool Ranch)

When you have all these friends around your party  is sure to be a drepressing success!

http://www.youtube.com/v/jQX2kC1jUB8&feature=aso

To be honest I have not formally chosen a side, but have learned a lot about what the purposes of implementing a value added tax system (VAT) is. Harmonized Sales Tax is a form of VAT. Before I move on, it is important to keep in mind that the purpose to any taxation system is to raise revenue for government spending. Taxation is a necessary evil to ensure that we have health care, education, social programs etc. available to British Columbians. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a  ‘good’ tax, but there are some that I assume would be better than others.

VAT has 3 major advantages I noted:

1) More equitable – it does not distinguish between tangible and non tangible goods.  For example if you were to buy a book prior to July 1, 2010, you would be subject to both PST and GST, however if you were to buy that same book in the format of an E-book online, you would only be subject to one form of tax.  HST does not favor one industry over another, both forms would now be taxed and treated equally.

2) Is meant to minimize cascading and double taxation.  HST is meant to eliminate having to pass on the tax the businesses pay producing the product onto the consumer.  HST allows businesses to apply for tax credits on most inputs.  Which in theory, would mean businesses would not have to increase the cost of goods sold to the consumer.  In the old retail sales tax model, business inputs were taxed and then pushed onto the consumer. The HST model should allow consumers to pay the cost of tax once. The product will be less costly to make and therefore savings should be passed onto the consumer.

3) Promotes International competitiveness and domestic prosperity. With the reduction of sales tax for capital goods for business purposes BC should see an increase in productivity and investment within the province. Also, with the reduction of sales tax for goods sold for export, the province will be more competitive in the international market. This should in theory allow to BC businesses to grow and foster new employment opportunities.

I do believe that it is important that we can be competitive with other provinces and countries, and that it is important to ensure that we have an economy that is healthy and creating jobs. If the HST can assist in providing that then perhaps it is not so bad.

I believe that in theory HST could work, however, I am not convinced that prices are falling as products become less expensive to provide to the consumer. The intent of this tax is to tax consumption, so those who have a lower-income are less likely to be affected by this sales tax as most essential goods and services do not have HST applied to them.

I am no expert on this matter, but I would like to make an educated decision on HST, please feel free to assist in my learning!

Click here to find a full list of what has been affected by HST :

I have recently begun to enjoy Ernest Hemingway, and just finished reading ‘The Sun Also Rises’, which was my book of choice over the past few weeks.  I have currently begun reading ‘ Treasure Island‘, but am looking for my next great book love.  If you have any suggestions let me know!

As I sit here and reflect on my summer adventures, I have to stop and wonder how I let the days pass so quickly.  I started my summer by visiting family – a 12 hour drive without air conditioning….not recommended!  I then went on a hiking & camping adventure to Othello Tunnels – pre camp fire ban so we sat in front of the fire, mesmerized, eating smores. We visited my family camping in Vernon and took in my little brother’s Baseball tournament in Vancouver.

All in all, it was a great summer filled with great memories and great people.

Here are some shots I captured over the past few months.

flash before your eyes

buzz off!

berry licious

There are things in my life which I desire and I no longer wish to make concessions with regards to those wants. There is one constant thing in my life, and that will always be me, and we should all strive to make ourselves happy – whether that is doing something for someone you love or for yourself!

It is important to stay challenged and improve skills, but at the core, you are who you are; we need to value that as friends, family, partners and colleagues.