wishing that christmas lasted all year round

we got to go home to calgary last weekend. we took a million pictures, but until they're developed, i've been looking at our christmas pictures. here are some of my favourites.

first picture taken at ty's parent's house. chase must have gone down the hill ninety times. he finally made it further than ty's dad. fastest kid EVER.

next few, christmas tree hunting and decorating with the christensen's.  jacob bundled up inside alana's coat. pictures taken with a vintage SLR and 35mm film, part of our christmas gift from ty's parents. they set up a dark room in the laundry room so we could develop them ourselves. changed our lives forever.
the last were taken of the russell boys and eli at my parent's house with grampa's camera. best. day. ever.
best christmas song ever? i will never deny that this is my favourite...

it doesn't interest me what you do for a living...

i want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

oriah mountain dreamer

here are a few pictures we took the last couple weeks when we were supposed to be studying.

i have found another favourite flower. magnolia's only blossom for a few days at the beginning of spring. even before they blossom, they are gorgeous. i miss my mountains, but i think i will miss spring beginning like this.

we found radiohead to be an excellent study soundtrack. this one is ty's favourite. but, bon iver or iron and wine could help me memorize oral bacterium any day.

one day, we'll tell you a story about an evening on our honeymoon when we accidentally walked into a concert and we thought it was iron and wine playing. it turns out it was only a guy who sang about being an ex-doctor and an ex-husband who left everything to pursue his musical passion (which included covering iron and wine songs). we did not stay long.

it also turns out that i just told you the story.

r&y

edythe allegra jackson

my gramma jackson passed away this evening. she was almost ninety-eight years old. it is a blessing, as she has been suffering, but i am still heartbroken. i miss sleepovers at gramma's house, i miss her cold toes on my legs in the middle of the night, i miss her always singing, i miss the smell of her house, i miss laughing allegra, i miss her pussy willows poem, i miss her mumbling 'oh hells bells' under her breath, i miss her many beautiful shoes, i miss her diamond heart necklace, i miss her maraschino cherries story, i miss her tissues tucked in every sleeve, i miss her scotch mints in every pocket, and i miss so much more.

i love looking at these old pictures while i am waiting for more news from home. i am happy for her, for she has been waiting to be with her sweetheart again for a long, long time...

i love you, gramma. and i miss you terribly.

r&y

you can't stop these kids from dancing.

we're in the middle of exams. however, it is hard for me to concentrate when the weather is so nice, and there are lists to be made for our trip home... i love this picture of andy taken during christmas break with my grampa's ikoflex, after a day in the snow. he melts me. i will see you soon.

we watch this video to keep us going. and this video to keep us working towards something, which, right now, is our next break of studying, to dance.  we make sure to take plenty of breaks to sing and dance.

r&y

we only live once. but, if you work it right, once is enough. - joe lewis

this year, i decided to stop hating and embrace valentine's day. we went to montreal for valentine's with black and white film, my grampa's camera, polaroids (thanks to our iphones), and two of our most favourite people in ontario, vanessa and justin. it was the closest to paris we could afford (because paris is the love capital of the world, oui?). and this is why i love the east: everything is relatively close (new york, d.c., montreal, virginia, etc...).

we asked an innocent bystander to take this last picture for us. he had never used such an old camera before. we could see that he wasn't lining it up very well, but we didn't care. he was having too much fun anyways.

alberta bound

we are coming home VERY SOON.  although we are pretty busy in ontario, i have been extremely homesick lately, and so we have made a list of things we MUST have and do while we're back in calgary.

and here they are...

1. ginger beef. did you know it was INVENTED in calgary? and it cannot be found anywhere in ontario... we miss you, deep fried deliciousness...

2. sushi at the globe fish. sushi is just not the same here...i crave the mango sushi daily...

3. vietnamese food. we will start at pho mai with #19, and top it off with a bubble tea and sub at thai tai. i don't care what they say, it just tastes better in calgary.

4. tubby dog's peanut butter and jelly hot dog. don't say it's gross until you've tried it yourself. it will change your life...

 

5. we've saved the best for last, and even if i don't get any 1 through 4's, as long as we have a bit of this, we'll be the happiest ever...

if you notice, all except #5 are food. we were told that toronto's multiculturism was going to blow us away with all the different foods available here. however...we have yet to find a suitable vietnamese place, any gourmet hot dog joint, and although the sushi is not bad, nothing beats mango sushi at globe...and i'm pretty sure i made ty drive me to hundreds of chinese restaurants and call a million more before we gave up on ever finding our favourite, ginger beef...

we love you calgary. we'll see you soon...

b&w photos taken with the ikoflex at christmas. more to come...

the rest are iphone specials sent to me via text message (thank you forever to my sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers) or taken with my own phone. i love to look at these but i would much rather BE THERE to see all my nieces and nephews...

r&y

a little bit alice and a little bit queen of hearts...

what is better to start off a great blog than an alice in wonderland dress-up date and movie?!

the weekend of alice's release, we bought cheap clothes at good will, cut them up and tye-dyed them till they were unrecognizable, took a bazillion pictures, and then went to the movie at the imax. even if the movie was a bit cheesier than expected, at least it gave us the excuse to have silly fun all day long and not feel bad. for that, i thank tim burton.

 

 

we've been experimenting with my grampa's 1940s ikoflex camera and, as you can see, we sometimes have some issues with it... so, if anyone has any secrets we've been missing, do not hesitate to leave a comment.

also, it thrilled me that one of my most favourite bands in all the world was on the alice soundtrack (which is called "almost alice." it is fun. check it out). i am so glad that okgo will never go away...although, i'm sure tyler wishes they would...

r&y