Home Again, Part II

As promised, here is the continuation of pictures from our trip to the Great White North! :)

On July 1 - Canada Day - we set out from the Browns with Jake, Sarah, Mary, and Ben to celebrate the nation's birthday with the Stannuses in the capital city, Ottawa. (We wore the most politically neutral colors possible! :D)
The crowds on Parliament Hill were IMMENSE.
Here, Sarah shows her patriotic spirit. ;)
I have to admit - it WAS cool to watch the RCMP (what we could see of them - the closest we got was five rows of people back).
This is Parliament from the river side.
That night, we went down to the bank of the Ottawa River and watched the fireworks - which were magnificent over the water! This is a picture of Pont Alexandra, all lit up.


On the fourth of July, we actually got to set off fireworks in the backyard!! That was really neat. :) They were followed by a campfire and s'mores.

The following day, we played the part of tourists - exploring (a very small) part of Ottawa on foot.
The church of Notre Dame in Ottawa...

The Alexandra Bridge by daylight...

To be continued! :)

Home Again

Well, dear friends, we arrived back home from the land of Oz (after all, anything outside of Kansas would qualify for being Oz, wouldn't it?? :)) Monday evening. We had a very lovely three-and-a-half weeks up in Canada. Here are a few photos from the vacation...

June 22... stranded in Chicago! Our flight was cancelled quite unexpectedly because of weather, and we were forced to spend the night in Chicago.

Not to be left in the doldrums, we made the most of our situation and visited the Sears Tower! :) It is the tallest building in North America and among the very tallest in the whole world. The view was quite something and we caught a brilliant sunset from the Observatory on the 103rd floor.

Once we had arrived safely in Ottawa, one of the first things we did was go sailing on Saturday, the 24th. It was GORGEOUS and so much fun!! :)
Here Rose mans the rudder...

On Sunday, we went home with the Browns after Mass. They gave us a warm welcome and we settled in.

We went on walks through their beautiful property...

...stopping at the various waterfalls...
...and explored the maple taps.

There were volleyball games...
...a visit to a local museum...
...a visit to The Beer Store...
...a canoe trip...
...card games...
...lots of good food...
...and a campfire to finish off the week.

More in the next post!! :)

Pink Lake

We went, on Sunday afternoon, for a hike around Pink Lake... it is called Pink Lake after the man who previously owned it, not as an indication of its natural hue. :) It was very pretty and a nice hike (except for all the ups and downs - there were lots of stairs!). Fortunately, the July weather in the Great White North allows for outdoor excursions such as this one. Meanwhile, most of those who did not go on the hike went sailing and had an adventurous time (by the sounds of it). :)

Here is a picture of Pink Lake. Pretty, eh? ;)

in Montreal

We went to Montreal for the day on Friday. It was a VERY tiring but VERY nice day. :) We're now safely back in Ottawa and enjoying our time here. Here's a picture from Friday, of Mom, Rose and I at St. Joseph's Shrine, and I'm on my way to bed! :D

'Night!

Helloooo from Canada!!

Hello all!!

I am writing from the Great White North, where Mom, Rose and I are enjoying our stay. :) We were supposed to arrive in Ottawa on Thursday evening, but our flight from Chicago got cancelled, so we were forced to spend the night in the Windy City. We made the most of it, however, ;) and toured the Sears Tower right at sunset. Quite nice! The next morning, we flew out at 9 am and made it without further ado to the capital city of Canada (we even had a really nice official at customs :)).

This is all for now, because we're about to set out for a canoe ride! TTFN~
Monnie

A Walmart Incident

Now, I realize that something with that title probably conjures up negative connotations in most minds. It would in mine. But I am happy to report that today's "Walmart Incident" was surprisingly positive. (Trust me, I wouldn't waste my time posting about Walmart if it weren't. :))

Mom, Rose and I were in Wally World this afternoon, carrying with us scrumptious shakes from Spangles. As we passed by the entry/exit on our way from one section of the store to the other, the door greeter - a man of about 55 - asked us, "Where's mine??" about the shakes. We laughed and walked on, but he continued speaking to us: "Anyway, you girls look very nice... because you're dressed like GIRLS and not like men!" He was most emphatic about it and very pleased to see us in skirts. We thanked him and moved on, marveling all the while. It can be so refreshing to be reminded (unexpectedly like that) that skirts really are appreciated. God bless that man... he happened to be the same one who wished Rose and me a good day as we were leaving Walmart on Saturday and then added, "And be careful out there." I don't know if we looked accident-prone ;) or rather vulnerable because of our dresses or merely like ladies, who indeed need protection. At any rate, both comments of his were kind... and refreshing.

However, the once-in-a-lifetime pleasantness, civility, and decency that we experienced at Walmart today didn't end with him. As we reached the van to leave, I went around to the passenger side but the gentleman in the driver's seat of the car next to us (to the right of the van) was just getting out. He said, "Oh, I'm sorry, dear!" (Or perhaps, "Oh, excuse me, dear!" I don't quite remember now.) I assured him that he was quite alright and waited for him to get out of the car. Being an older man of 70-something, it was taking him just a minute longer than it would take someone younger, so he said, "Give me a minute, please, while I get a running start." :) When he was on his feet, he turned and closed his door and then reached and opened mine, waited until I got in, and shut the door... and then went on his way.
It was amazing. There actually is just the last gasp of civilization left in this decrepit world!!

But I feel sure that neither incident would have happened had we not been wearing skirts. A woman in pants sends out the message that she's as good as any man and certainly doesn't need his help. I can not imagine either of those gentleman being "permitted" to act as they did today, by the average public school, teenage girl. They may not have attempted to at all, and I am sure the former would not have gone out of his way to compliment their clothing habits.

What a world we live in!

June - Month of the Sacred Heart

June... it's been a lovely month so far. Busy as heck, but overall off to a pretty good start.

I felt that I should update here, for my own future reference ;) and to dust a few of the cobwebs off the ol' blog. ;) The fact is - blogging falls into the classification of a leisure time activity and leisure time has been hard to come by lately.
The past week has been largely spent doing sewing, wedding planning, paperwork for an au pair visa, and a little bit of video editing... all of which I must finish, as far as humanly possible, before we leave for Canada in two weeks. I must finish them because I will be gone for nearly a month, which is utterly too long to be a "break" from any project... so best to finish them beforehand, else I fear they would never reach completion. :)

Jim and Anna got married on Saturday (June 3). It was a very lovely and very large wedding and I was their videographer. (This explains the video editing that has been ongoing... slowly but surely.) Their wedding and reception were both so beautiful. And they themselves were simply charming. I'll post pictures of both of the recent weddings when I can. Next wedding up: Adam and Jenny! That'll be July 28. And after that: Adam and Christa!! Their wedding is planned for August 5. I have been honored to be asked to be a bridesmaid in the wedding and have accepted! It sounds very tasteful from what I've heard.

Oh, and I don't believe I informed my blog readers of the popularity of Lindsey's wedding date. :P There will be THREE weddings here in our very own chapel on that day!!! A.J. and Nicky, Matt and Andrea, Joe and Lindsey. 11, 1, and 3. Crazy, I tell you!! And besides, Tina's sister recently became engaged as well and she has also chosen October 7 as her wedding date (only their ceremony will be in Post Falls)!! The conflicts are incredible but we're working through them as best we can.
As far as our planning with Lindsey goes... it's going. :) We've had a number of bumps and jolts and there are a million things still to be ironed out. But the date is set. And the time is set. And we have bridesmaids' dresses and a Mother of the Bride dress. And we have a reception site. Outside of those things... LOTS yet to finalize... but we're making progress. :)

Meanwhile, Rose and I have both found and finalized opportunities to spend this coming year (or, rather, 10 months) in France!! The result: that many more decisions to make and that much more to do! We've had our own setbacks and speed bumps along the way, but nothing fatal so far. :) Our visas still have not been started processing, but hopefully that will happen very soon.

Thus things progress. And now my coach is about to turn back into a pumpkin, so I must be off! I hope to be back with you sooner than later... God bless!

The Final Final is OVER!!!

WOW!!! It hasn't really even sunk in yet that I'm finished!!! I've completed (at least) the first two years of college and will get my A.A. on Saturday!!! I don't know for sure yet whether or not I will be going back to school after this (although I'd like to if it's possible and I have the time and money for it), so today may have been my LAST time to take exams!!! Wow.
They went decently (especially considering how little I was able to study for them)... although I'm a little scared to know how I did on today's tests. However, I'm confident that I did pass all of them (passing wasn't the goal, though... doing WELL was). ;)

I'm making progress regarding the plans for nannying in Paris next year. Things are coming along very satisfactorily as that goes. I'm actually getting excited about it!! I talked to the lady (my "employer") yesterday for the first time - for about 15 minutes. It was a very constructive and positive phone call. So that's a morale booster!

Tonight, Michelle and I are going to Topeka to enjoy ourselves and celebrate the end of finals, of the school year, and of our stint at SMC! Sounds like it'll be fun, even if it IS warm and sticky outside. ;)

~TTFN~

May 21

Andy and Caitlin got married yesterday. Lovely wedding and lovely reception. If we can pull Lindsey's off as nicely, I'll be happy! :D (Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to post that Lindsey and Joe got engaged a little bit ago! They got engaged in Lake Tahoe on May 11!!!! :D The wedding is set for October 7 - along with everyone else in the world, but that's another story. ;))
Joegi graduated Pharmacy school at KU this weekend. So he's officially a "doctor" now. :)
It's been an absolutely crazy weekend, with friends (future family) visiting from out of town, a funeral, a wedding, and exams starting tomorrow. I've given up on being ready for finals. I'm just gonna do the best I can and leave it at that.
I have SOOOO much I need to do (think - Taming of the Shrew editing, finalization of plans for France, bridal shower planning, CLEANING MY ROOM, etc!)... and sooo little time. :( Maybe early June... maybe...

Anyway, I just thought I'd refresh my blog for my faithful readers. I must get back to outlining my last Metaphysics chapter now. Sara, I look forward to seeing you soon! God bless you all~

Finding of the True Cross

Today is the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross... and our 16th anniversary of moving to St. Mary's! Hard to believe it's been 16 years... I remember when being here for ten years seemed like it was long time. :)

We're on the third day in this month of Our Lady and on the third day of a Rosary novena at Riverside Park, for the intention of putting our town in the hands of Our Lady and for the sanctification of St. Mary's. The turnout has been very good, including a number of parishioners from Immaculate Conception Church. It's a wonderful, beautiful idea and will undoubtedly reap great benefits for St. Mary's.

Three weeks of school remain!! To be specific, there are 12 more days of regular classes and 3 days of exams... graduation is 3 weeks from this Saturday. I'll actually have finished at least two years of college! :) It's maybe not such a great achievement by today's standards, but I'm proud of myself. I know that these two years of college have profited me a great deal, both in lessons learned in the classroom and lessons learned outside of it.

But speaking of lessons learned, I'm supposed to be learning my history for the quiz day after tomorrow! ;) So it's adieu for now... God bless!