do good anyway

these darling girls let me take pictures of them backstage even though i was late, even though i was nervous, even though i dragged tyler behind me, even though my shutter sounded like a shotgun, even though i clumsily tripped around them to find an awkward picture.

but they were glowing.

and i stopped thinking about i.

they were there to dance for someone else they didn't know in a country they had never been to in a world they could never imagine. they were there to raise money for suffering and impoverished children and their families. it was inspiring and beautiful.

visit here to see why they danced that night.

love,
r&y

may God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.
mother teresa.

people are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. forgive them anyway.

if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. be kind anyway.

if you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. succeed anyway.

if you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. be honest and sincere anyway.

what you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. create anyway.

if you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. be happy anyway.

the good you do today, will often be forgotten tomorrow. do good anyway.

give the best you have, and it will never be enough. give your best anyway.

in the final analysis, it is between you and God. it was never between you and them anyway.

mother teresa

parade candy

i wish canada day was every day.

except christmas. but every other day would be okay.

if you haven't tried yet, you must try canada day in raymond, alberta. you could come over to the evans family barbecue. the kids might even share their parade candy with you.

it'll be hard, but they might.

love,
r&y

jammers

harry potter
camping
mountains
internet friends
gingerbread oranges
wicked
flying model airplanes
crashing model airplanes
jammers
sunsets and ukulele music
all in one weekend

last week, someone asked me if i missed toronto yet and always having something to do because it is so darn big.

ha.

and if you have a fire pit, a fire place, a neighbour with a fire pit or a fire place, or a nearby park with  a fire pit, or place to build a fire, you must try the following:

make biscuit dough.

gently massage the dough onto the end of rather thick stick or branch (maybe an inch or two wide) until the dough is a couple centimetres thick. (i think it is better to soak the end of the stick in water for a couple minutes before to prevent it from burning). hold over hot coals and slowly rotate for even cooking for about twenty minutes and until the outside of the biscuit is golden brown.  gently pull biscuit off stick. pour whatever filling your heart desires into the vacant hole. my mouth starts watering when i think about butter and homemade peach jam, but next time i might go to the dark side and use nutella.

mmm... nutella...

love,
me
(because tyler thinks putting nutella in a jammer is a sacrilege...)

there's only one thing to be said

i've been trying to be his favourite aunt since we've come home.  however, the classic "distract, confuse, and lead away from mom" move didn't work. that amicable look is deceiving; he's one tough cookie.

and then his grammy and grandad came home from europe and he ran right up to them like he had been expecting them at any moment.

i can wait for that.

he and his uncle tyler do make a smashing duo, though. they certainly have swagger.

pictures taken while we were waiting for his grammy and grandad to come home.

we missed them, too.

love,
r&y

ps. uncle tyler would like you to grow a pirate beard like this, jacob. please don't.

 

smiling eyes

we drove for three days, slept in the car in mcdonald's parking lots, used minimal air conditioning, and learned how to drive a truck bigger than the house we lived in that happened to be pulling our car...

we needed a good road trippin' song.



i thought of a brilliant idea: we would take one picture every two hours of our trip to keep accurate documentation of our epic journey.

naturally, i forgot about it exactly thirty two minutes into our drive.

however, we did find the largest scrap metal display in the u.s. of a. on the enchanted highway in north dakota. it was a big deal. we took pictures.

love,
the currently showered, well-rested, and cultured in the ways of well pipe geese,
r&y

dandelion gardens

i got a new dress. i had a yellow dress when i was four, and i have been looking for another more grown up, less poofy sleeves version. and here it is.  

i also wanted bangs like dr. blight when i was six, and even when i try to change it up, i always seem to revert back to blight bangs... i thought they were fabulous as a six year old, too...

and i think it is too bad that it is looked rather poorly upon to have a garden of dandelion globes. thank you, city of mississauga, for not using pesticides and letting my garden of dandelions grow in the field across my old street.

love,

me

ps. all pictures taken in mississauga except the last one with an alberta sky.

  

it takes two to tango

it takes two years for an elephant to grow a calf.
it takes two years to build an eiffel tower.
it takes two years to make a toy story movie.
it takes two years to serve a mission.
it takes two years to use a costco supply of saran wrap.
it takes two years to learn how to clean teeth.

and it takes two years of being married to realize that a million more years might not be enough...

happy two years.

love,
me

photos taken by jewelimage.