Behind the Yellow Door

Of Weird Slumps.

2014-11-20T14:04:00.000-06:00

I am in a weird slump.

I haven't written letters in over a month. But I want to. I miss my pen pal friends.

I've barely been reading this month. But I want to. I have an insane pile of books that I'm really excited about.

I haven't been blogging this past year. I have things that I want to talk about, but I'm out of practice and I can barely remember this writing thing that I like to do. I also started a channel on YouTube a few months ago where I talk about books, and I haven't posted anything this month.

I haven't even been knitting this autumn (now winter here), and I want to because I need a new hat!

I'm not sure what's going on. Maybe it's because I'm tired, and the shorter days are just kicking my energy levels in the butt. Maybe I just need some inspiration. But I feel pretty inspired about things!! Which just makes it all so weird.

I hope that soon I will be able to get back to doing things that I love. I miss them.

Some good news though, I'm painting my kitchen cabinets! I can't wait to share photos with you when it's all done! It's taking forever, but we'll get there. We'll get there.

Kitchen re-do inspiration (and a vote!)

2014-09-30T15:55:00.002-05:00

Over the past 6 months, we've been working on various projects around our house. We've been living there for 3 years now, and I felt like it was time for a refresh. I love changing the physical space around me from time to time, even if it's just to shuffle the furniture around. I think part of this has to do with the fact that I'm such an indecisive person. Which is one of the reasons that this process has taken 6+ months.

Back in April, we painted our living room/kitchen area, and all the way down the hall. It was previously a light yellow, but because we had painted over a strong blue colour, it always read as a greenish tinge. I wanted to make everything white because then I could change whatever colours I feel like in the future. I chose Mercury Glass by Benjamin Moore, and I just loooooove it! Seriously, it's the perfect white! It makes everything feel a million times brighter in our main area, which I just love.

The above is the current state of my kitchen. #reallife

The next thing to tackle is painting the kitchen cabinets. They're okay, but I just don't love them. They're just a stock, builder's grade fake oak, and I need to get rid of them! I've been putting off painting them since April, but it has to happen because I already painted some swatches on them to see what I liked better. I am just the most indecisive person about this, though. I've been wavering between 3 options. I need help! I seriously can't decide!!

Option one: all white

Option two: white on top, navy or charcoal on the bottom

Option three: all grey/greige or some such

I really am leaning toward the white/navy/charcoal combination, but those two grey ones are almost enough to sway me. And then I see the all white, and then I just get sooooo confused all over again! I keep going back and forth!

So I need your help! Choose your favourite in my survey down below - so easy! If I chose white, do I go with a shade darker than the walls, or just paint it all the same white? Do I chose charcoal or navy if I go that way? Or do I go with a greige? I'm really into greige these days. I am just so lost. I just want something that I'm going to love for the next 5+ years - hopefully before that time is up we'll be living in another home! So please, help this indecisive lady out!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Book review: If I Stay - Gayle Forman

2014-08-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do book reviews for a while, and I don't think I've ever done any. Which is completely ridiculous, considering how much I love books and how many I read. So, here I commence.

I just finished reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I didn't go into the book knowing a lot about it, which I like to do. And I was not disappointed! I really enjoyed it. It's not a book to read if you're in the mood for a happy story, that's for sure. It does have happy moments in it, but the story certainly isn't. (TFIOS, much?)

A brief summary: Mia is 18, in her final year of high school. During a snow day, her family decides to drive to their friends' place to spend the day with them. But the day turns out much differently than anyone would have imagined...

The story takes place over the span of 24 hours. The author uses flashbacks to draw out the story, and I felt that she used the method really effectively. They never felt forced, and always flowed very naturally, to the point where you hardly realize that it's a flashback. I thought that overall the story flowed really well. It's a shorter book, but because the author knew how to draw the story out, it doesn't feel like it lacks for information or details at all.

The previous edition cover. I think I almost like this one better.

I did like the characters in the book for the most part. The main character, Mia, is a very thoughtful teenager. She is a cellist, going to be attending Julliard after she graduates high school. Her life revolves around her family, her boyfriend Adam, her best friend Kim, and her musical career. She doesn't have much use for partying and staying out late, which is funny because her parents were in the music scene when she was growing up, and she was going to parties when she was a child. Her father was in a punk rock band for many years, and her boyfriend is in an up-and-coming band, as well. She just can't get away from music, it is steeped into every part of her life. It plays a considerable role in the book as well. I did enjoy the contrast between reserved and serious Mia, and her eccentric rocker parents. It's so reversed from what you usually see. The relationships in this book played out really well. It was definitely easy for me to connect to the characters.

A still of Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays Mia in the film adaptation.

One of the things that bothered me most about the book - there is a character that is never given a name! Mia's parents' friends have a baby, and the baby is always referred to that - "the baby!" It drove me crazy!! I mean, there are characters just mentioned in passing that play less of a role than this baby, and they got names! Why, Gayle Forman, why??

Overall, I would recommend this book if you're looking for a story that draws you in. I could probably connect with the story in a deeper way than a lot of people would, because of things that have happened to me and others close to me. (Trying not to be spoilery here!!) I will probably be thinking about this story for a few more days. The movie version came out on Friday and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Plot: original, very well paced
Emotions: you will feel them
Characters: mostly realistic and well-rounded

And for those who like to be prepared for these things (I appreciate a heads up, for sure!)

Language: moderate, as there are a few f-bombs and other choice words
Sex: one scene that's not explicit but there is a lot of stuff implied
Drugs/alcohol: social drinking, no drug use that I can recall
Spiritual content: Mia's grandma believes that loved ones who have passed on come back as angels (in the form of animals); the family attends a funeral at a church where the officiant talks about the deceased going to be with the Lord.

My overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Art for a gallery wall.

2014-07-01T15:14:00.002-05:00

I've been wanting to do a gallery wall in our kitchen for about a year already. It's a long, blank, open space, just begging for tons of beautiful art! I've been sourcing out things that I want, and there's just too much gorgeous stuff out there for me to choose. I thought I would share some of my favourites with you today.

[via whatkatiedoes]

This one has been on my list for ages and ages! I just love it! There are 3 colours to pick from, and I think I like this one the best. I can't wait to order this print.

[via OldEnglishCo]

This is my second favourite, and I can't wait to get it on the wall! This one has 20 different colours you can get it in, and you can choose to flip the negative space as well. I'm having a hard time choosing my colour, but I think I might just go with this one.

[via Alice X. Zhang]

Tangled is my favourite Disney animated film, and this is my favourite scene in the movie. I love the feel of this piece.

[via PrettyPrintShop]

I actually bought this one already! (I actually plan to put this in my office, but I still wanted to show you.) It's an instant download for you to print out at home, which is totally my speed. The faster I can get it, the better. Plus it was only $2ish. Score!

[via David Fleck]

I have a thing for hot air balloons. Someday I will go on a ride in one! But for now, I'll settle for some art.

[via WatercolorBook]

See? Hot air balloons. I also have a thing for watercolours.

[via unravelleddesign]

This store has tons of beautiful quote prints like this. It's so hard to choose. These are two of my favourites.

[via Mareike Bohmer Graphics]

Another shop with so much pretty. She also has some photography, but I like her geometric prints.

[via thebigharumph]

I think it's only fitting to have one of these prints in my kitchen. And the difference from all the rest I've shown, which are digital prints, this one is a linocut. This shop has lots of other lovely lino prints of food.

[via penandpaper]

There is a variety of different prints on this shop. Quotes and illustrations, which she also makes as cards.

[via KellyVentura]

I love ice cream and I love watercolours, so it seems only natural that I would desire this lovely thing.

[via Korrina Carmona]

Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favourite shows, and Appa definitely has my heart. I enjoy this wanted poster that is featured in the show.

I totally have a bent towards quotes and watercolours, and more feminine looking pieces, so I'm sure I'll get Chris to find a few he likes, and maybe he'll make one or two as well. I'm planning on getting a variety of sizes. I got some frames from the thrift store that I will (eventually) paint the same colour, and probably get some Ribba frames from IKEA to mix in. All of these pieces were found on Etsy or Society6, and that's only a fraction of the ones I found. If you care to see, I made an Etsy collection. I haven't spent as much time on Society6, and I'm not sure if I should because I get overwhelmed with options pretty quickly. I'm pretty excited to start curating my gallery wall! If you have some favourite shops I should know about, leave me a comment and I'll check it out!

And now we return to your regularly scheduled programming.

2014-06-18T21:43:00.003-05:00

Hola, blog! ...half a year later, she says.

Well, there have been a lot of changes around here in the past 6 months. I intend to put my blogging hat back on after a much needed break. I still have my days where I just feel really down, but that's normal. For the most part, life is really great around here, and I can't wait to share bits and pieces of it with you! Also, I really miss writing. I've realized that it helps me a lot to process my thoughts and empty out my chaotic mind a little bit. I have some ideas about where I want things to go with this blog, but for now, I just thought I would pop in and say hi. Feel free to comment if you still read this.

This is a picture of me like 2 months ago, with our niece Sadie. I'll probably write a post about her story, it's pretty cool.

A time to mourn and a time to rejoice.

2013-12-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

I changed the name of my blog a little while ago. I was going to post about it, but then some things happened.

On Sunday, November 24, at 2:25 am, my dad passed away.

It still isn't real. I was there, I watched him take his last breath, and still I haven't grasped it.

Just about 2 years ago, at one of our family gatherings, my dad slipped on some ice and broke his arm. That kind of ruined the day, but what came as a result was kind of a blessing, and kind of ruined everything. Turns out the reason his arm broke was because the bone was full of cancer. And when you have bone cancer, that means that it started somewhere else in your body, and has been there long enough to spread. The blessing was that now we knew about it, and he could start getting treatments.

In June last year, Dad had surgery to remove one of his kidneys, where the cancer originated. After the surgery he had problems with his lungs filling up with fluid. They had to be drained a couple of times, and he was on oxygen for a couple months after. But it looked like his treatments were going good for the next year and a bit, and the cancer wasn't spreading. He had a good year.

In the middle of October he had some scans that showed that there was a metastasis on his remaining kidney. Not good. The scans also showed a build up of fluid in his lungs again. As a result of the fluid buildup, as well as changing his chemo, his appetite went way down, and he was hardly eating anything after this point. At the beginning of November, he was in the hospital over a weekend to have it drained. We thought that would be good for a while.

November 17 was the last Sunday lunch that we had together. He wasn't feeling very well so he only ate a bowl of pudding. He slept most of the day, and was having a lot of pain because his lungs were full of fluid again. The next day, my parents went to the hospital to have his lungs drained again. The doctors didn't do anything that day, so they went home to go back the next day. That was the last time he was home. From Tuesday on he was in the hospital. Finally on Thursday his lung were drained. My brother Mico and I went to see him that afternoon, after the drain was in, and my dad was not in good shape. He could recognize us, but he seemed really out of it. They thought it might be the combination of medications they had given him, and that it would wear off. It was really freaky to see him that way, because my mom and the nurses would ask him questions, and he wouldn't answer them. His eyes were kind of glazed over. But I never thought that the next day I would get a phone call from my mom where she would tell me that the doctor gave my dad 24 hours to live.

As soon as we got the call we headed to the hospital. I was in tears the entire time. The next hours were a blur of crying and waiting and praying. When we got to the hospital he could still respond a very little bit: he didn't talk at all, really, but he looked at us and could make noises in acknowledgment. That was around 6:30 pm on Friday. By noon on Saturday he wasn't responding at all anymore. From then on he was in a drug-induced sleep, because otherwise he was in too much pain. As the day went on, his breathing got worse and worse, and finally in the last few hours it seemed like any breath would be his last.

I can't even begin to describe how terrible it is to watch your father in so much pain, barely able to breathe anymore because one of his lungs has failed, and all of his organs shutting down, except for his stupid big strong heart. You don't want him to go, but you don't want him to stay in that suffering either. We prayed a lot for God to just take him home, to end the suffering.

36 hours after we arrived at the hospital, he breathed his last breath. I stood there and watched his soul leave his body. And in the two weeks since, it has been a series of moments where it hits me again that my dad isn't here anymore. The week it happened was so busy with planning the viewing and the funeral, and family coming around, and people texting and messaging condolences all day long, I didn't have time to really feel it. I thought about it but I didn't have time to feel it. Now the texts have stopped, and everyone else has forgotten, but now is when I can feel the hole. As I was finishing up this post, I was suddenly struck by the worst crying fit I've had since the hospital, just overcome by my grief.

There is some good news in all of this. My dad went to be with Jesus, and I have absolute complete assurance that I will be there with him someday. My dad has been completely healed of all cancer and pain and sadness and fear. We can rejoice because of the salvation we share.

We do not mourn like those who have no hope. We have the most incredible hope there is, and without it I can tell you that I would be the hugest wreck ever. Yes, I am so sad and I grieve, but I can go through my day and I am not overwhelmed.

I can still say that God is good and give him glory.

Progress report.

2013-09-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

It is halfway through September (okay, over half but shhh) and I am taking a look at how I'm doing on the challenge that I posted at the beginning of the month.

Put things away, not down. I think that this is still going well. Yeah, I have a little bit of clutter here and there, but I have been so busy this month that I haven't had much time to do proper cleaning, and overall the house looks good. I'm getting back to my previous level of clean-freakness that I once had, and honestly I like it. There is something to be said for having a home that is comfortable to live in, isn't there? I've been to homes that are absolutely sterile, and you feel like you're in a hospital and you don't want to touch anything because you were a disease, and I've been to homes that made you feel like you were in a dump and you don't want to touch anything because you were going to get a disease. There certainly is a happy medium with comfortable and homey, isn't there?

30 letters in 30 days. This is going well! I have amended it to be 30 pieces of mail in 30 days, so that includes a swap or a postcard as well. I sent off a travelling scrapbook that I was part of that I had for the better part of a year! Yikes! I have been making very good progress at replying to my inbox, though, and that is great. I hate that I am such a slow responder. Currently there are 11 letters from before September 1 to reply to, and only 3 this month! 14 to go isn't bad!

Do 3 things a week that I have been putting off. Ha ha, that's funny, I totally forgot about this one! Oh well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad. And I still haven't done the thing that I was thinking of when I made that goal. C'est la vie, eh?

Social media fasting... meh. I broke and have been on Facebook, and while I have just glanced at the others, it has probably only been a total of 15 or 20 minutes for all of them combined this month, which I am terribly pleased with. YouTube usage has kind of risen a bit more (of course, what else would happen) but I caught myself so I think I have it under control now. Isn't that silly how when we cut out useless things, more useless things tend to pop up?

Confessions of a lazy lady and a challenge.

2013-08-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

I am a lazy person.

This is the thing I like least about myself. I want to be a person that works out, cooks healthy and delicious meals, has an impeccable house, responds to letters in the same week they're received, volunteers tons at church, spends time connecting with friends, and has time to relax at the end of the day. Unfortunately, that is a level of perfection that just isn't in my reality. I am far too lazy to do all of these things. It's easier to just sit on the couch and veg on the Internet all evening. And really it is just because I'm lazy. I do have plenty of time to do all of these things! It's easier to choose the things that are lesser, and that is not how I want my life to be at all.

So I've decided to challenge myself to a couple things in September:

- Put things away, not down. I've been working on this already, and it has been helping the clutter level in my house, especially in my kitchen. My kitchen sets the tone for my whole house, I think. We all have those rooms, don't we?
- 30 letters in 30 days. I'm bringing it back. It was great in January, high time to do it again.
- Do 3 things a week that I've been putting off. Isn't it so annoying that there are always things we put off, when really it would take 20 minutes to just get it over with? Yeah, I'm gonna tackle some of those.

I'll also be fasting from social media in September. I'll still blog and be on Instagram, but so much of my time is spent on Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook, Feedly, etc etc, and I need a break from those. We also cancelled our Netflix, which is such a huge time suck for me. I just watch things because they're there, not because it's any good. I once spent an hour watching a show about Australian mermaids - it was so cheesy and not worth my time at all, but it was there so I watched it. And Buzz Feed is the absolute worst when it comes to time sucking!! Just the other day I spent an entire evening reading one Buzz Feed article after another. There's 4 hours I'll never get back! I could have cleaned my entire house from top to bottom and still had time for a movie with Chris but no.

Time to get my rear in gear and stop wishing I had the perfect life. I have to make it if I want it to happen. Time to put off the things that hinder me.

Summer musings (I try to get poetic from time to time).

2013-08-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

Today has had the most beautiful weather that we have had in a long time. Hot, but with a delicious breeze that makes you feel happy. I drove home from work with the windows down and the music turned up. I went for a walk to the mailbox, which held treasures from new friends, and I just wanted to stay out there. I probably will go back out for a short walk when I'm done writing this, but when my soul feels filled, I actually have words to write, and so I want to write them before I lose that feeling.

I've been relishing this stage of life that I am in right now. Married and enjoying every moment of life with my wonderful man. We sure want to have children at some point, and almost every day lately there is a little pang of longing to have a baby growing in me, but I still love this freedom that we have to just enjoy our youth together. We are still young, and we have a lot of things we can do before we become parents. I hear so much from our friends and cousins who have young kids - "enjoy this stage while you can; you don't get it back." And I know that having kids will be the greatest adventure, and I look forward to it. I know that the biggest call on my life is to be a Godly mama. But for now I treasure the call that I have in this moment, which includes being active in my church, working the best that I can (although I don't always succeed, I am trying and I am learning about myself at the same time), giving my husband a home he loves to come back to, and building up relationships with friends that I have let slip away a little bit. I dream of baby names every day, and I pray that they will love Jesus and that they will have blue eyes like their daddy. All the while I dream of this, while I think about Paris in springtime, staying at the Sylvia Beach hotel on the Pacific coast, walking in an Italian vineyard in autumn, and watching the snow fall while I enjoy a cup of hot chocolate from my very own kitchen window. My heart is full, and it longs for more. The future looks wonderful, but my present is where I want to be.

Wishlist Wednesday 1.3 - Geeky baby

2013-07-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are expecting a baby girl in September, and I'm super excited about it! Since I seem to have babies on the brain, I was looking on Etsy for possible gifts to shower my new niece with. I'll tell you this, we're all a bunch of geeks around here, and if you type "Marvel baby" or "geeky baby" as your search query, you will find a bunch of things that make me squee. Keep them in mind when the day comes for me to have a baby.

Ironman onesie

Marvel hair bow clip

Marvel diaper bag

Classic Nintendo controller onesie

Superhero girls pacifier clip

Avenger in training onesie

Avengers cloth diaper

Avengers baby booties

Level 1 human onesie

Totoro crochet toque

Just so you know, Ironman and the Hulk are completely acceptable for baby girls.

Wishlist Wednesay 1.2 - Promopocket

2013-07-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

I am not sure how I found this shop on Etsy, but I'm glad I did. Promopocket is run by Tomas, who lives in England, and it's full of wonderful graphic design and typography. He sells his large prints as postcards as well, and I think if I bought them I would never mail them out. I would hoard them. That means it's good when you don't want to share, right?

Monday mailbox 4.5 - incoming

2013-07-15T11:50:00.001-05:00

Hola! It's time for an incoming mail post today! I am incredibly behind on my posting and replying - some of these letters are from April! Oh my! I apologize to everyone that thinks I may have forgotten about them. I assure you, I haven't. I just got caught up with being warm and sunshine and green grass. Ya know.

A first letter from Em, who is also a member of the League of Extraordinary Penpals. She writes an awesome intro letter.

A birthday prezzie from Laura! Oh my, I felt so spoiled!

This postcrossing card makes me grin every time I look at it! What a sweet cat! I hung him up on my wall so that I can have smiles readily available :)

A letter from Alecia in Jamaica! I posted my reply a while ago, but I never posted this picture. Seriously loving those owls. She also included a couple of seashells that made it all the way intact! They certainly made me long for warm weather when I got them.

From Miss Olga, who is just a dear to correspond with!

From Belen! She's cool. That's all.

How much do I love the Pixar stamps?? A LOT!

From my oldest pal, Callie. Golly, she's an awesome lady :)

I hadn't heard from Julia in nearly a year, and then I got this! Oh I was so happy!

From Miss Mikaela in Finland, who never ceases to amaze me with her impeccable handwriting.

From Erica in Finland. She recently posted pictures of her office on Instagram and I was crazy in love with it and now I want to redo my office!

From Miri in New Zealand. I think that musical note washi tape is the bomb.

Oh dear, ignore the date on the postmark! *blushes* Merissa's calligraphy of my name always makes me happy! I feel like framing it!

PURPLE TEA from Sarah! Can it get any better? I think not!

Helen in England write awesome letters! She's not afraid to ask great questions!

Dancing men from Emilie in the US.

More goodies from Laura. You spoil me, lady.

A sweet Easter card from Jasmine. I die over the little pastel chick.

Does anyone else struggle with keeping normal routines when summer comes around? I've come to realize that when summer comes to Manitoba there is no such thing as routine. When there's cold and snow for literally half of the year, you kind of tend to grab warm weather by the horns. IE blogging and letter writing kind of take a back seat. As well as keeping my kitchen clean, but that's another story...

My very first vlog!

2013-06-30T20:26:00.001-05:00

Hey all. I'm currently sitting here with tonsils swollen to the size of Canada itself, very patriotic for our Canada day weekend. I feel like crap, but hey ho, here I go anyway. I shouldn't be allowed to blog in my current mental sick-for-a-week/frustrated-at-my-body state, but they don't have any rules about using the internet so hurrah.

Jasmine posted a cool vlog about her accent, and I loved it. I thought that I would post a vlog with my accent too. I filmed it on Friday, when I suspected that I might have bronchitis, but now I'm thinking I have strep throat. Joyously on the long weekend, when all doctors, clinics, and pharmacies are closed. ANYWAY SHUT UP ABOUT BEING SICK FE GET ON WITH IT.

SO HERE IS MY ACCENT! I hope you enjoy my southeastern Manitoba/Mennonite tinged accent. ALSO I apologize for my crappy webcam. I didn't know it was so crappy until I was done, and then I wasn't about to make it again. And I started talking before the camera started going. Sorry. I didn't say anything too important.

And here is the list of words that I read:
Aunt, roof, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pyjamas, caught, orange, coffee, direction, naturally, aluminium, herbs.

And then some questions:
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

And then a passage to read:
Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

I love to hear people's accents and voices, they usually sound so much different than I think they will. If you end up doing this, or have done it in the past, please let me know so I can watch!

Mail post 4.4 - outgoing

2013-06-18T16:24:00.002-05:00

Here's some outgoing mail from the past month or so. I haven't had any time for collaging and stuff, which I do miss. Hopefully I'll get a day to do that again soon.

Sarah included me in her 365 mail art project, and I loved it so much, I had to send her a letter back.

A first letter for Astrid. I won a giveaway from her shop a while back and we kept in touch after that.

For me seestur. I was tired and decided to just write Mumford & Sons lyrics on the envelope.

For the wonderful Laura

For Callie

I used my wax seal on my letter! I hope it made it through the mail!

I wish you all a mailbox full of joy today!

Movie Monday: Star Trek: Into Darkness

2013-06-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Ah, I bet you'd forgotten all about these! Well, I kind of did, too, until a couple weeks ago when I was browsing through old posts, and I realized it's been... too long since I did one of these. I'm a little rusty, so forgive me if this doesn't persuade you to watch this movie. You definitely should go watch it.

I will prove to you once again that I am an enormous geek (not the most enormous, by far, but still quite enormous) as I tell you about today's movie, Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Star Trek: Into Darkness picks up where Star Trek left off, with Captain Kirk leading his team on the USS Enterprise. On an observation mission, Captain Kirk is forced to reveal the Enterprise to the native population as Spock's life would otherwise be lost, thus breaking the "Prime Directive." Mr Spock, being the Vulcan that he is, puts this information in his mission report, and this information ends up getting Kirk relieved from his position as captain of the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, the plot is underfoot as agent John Harrison bombs a Starfleet base in London. An emergency meeting is called at headquarters with the highest ranking officials. All seems to be going smoothly... until Harrison shows up in a gunship and unleashes fire on the building. What ensues puts Kirk back in the captain's chair of the Enterprise and a personal mission that takes the team into Klingon territory and the most life-threatening situation of their careers.

Hi. Can I just tell you how much I love Benedict Cumberbatch? Look at Sherlock, being all bad guy and stuff. Awesome.

Well, really, the casting in this movie was super perfect, in both my opinion and Chris'. After we saw this movie, we watched the original Star Trek movie on Netflix (which I wouldn't recommend unless you have something else to distract you because it is the slowest movie of all time) and it was spot on with this movie.

I would recommend bringing something with you to keep your hands busy, because I was biting my nails almost the whole time. Because I'm not a Star Trek expert or anything, I didn't know anything from original movies or the tv series. So everything was a surprise for me, and I didn't see some plot twists coming. We were sitting beside some die-hard Trekkies - I should have asked them what they thought.

This is a great date night movie, something for everyone in this movie. Action, romance, hilarity, drama, etc, etc. If you haven't seen Star Trek at all or it's been a while, I would recommend watching it first before you go see this.

And now here's a picture of Benedict Cumberbatch being a sweetheart:

Etsy wishlist: Quill and Fox

2013-05-27T13:40:00.001-05:00

Recently I've been browsing Etsy for stationery and lettery bits, as I have become extremely bored with my collection. Never mind that I could write 100 letters and still have quite a bit of paper left over, I think. That's neither here nor there.

Quill and Fox is a lovely shop that offers delicious graphics and illustrations on cards and postcards. I love the quirky and cute, yet classic elements of the designs. My favourite listing is the Monster postcard set - it's so wonderful I wouldn't be able to send it out!

Hello Meanings card

Lord Ampersand card

Get Well Soon Teapot card

Moon and Back card

Monster postcard set

Mail post 4.3 - outgoing

2013-05-19T14:56:00.004-05:00

Hey, y'all, a mail post! Here's some outgoing mail, probably all sent out in February and March. Yikes.

For miss Lauren in New Jersey

For Mikaela in Finland

For Erica in Finland

For Lady Kay in California

For my old pen pal Suzanne in Arizona

For the lovely Katyha in Australia.

From miss Penny in Brazil

From Helen in England. Officially the first pen pal from England that I have received 2 letters from ever!

For my Correspondence Club partner Kaitlyn, who is a dear.

More mail for you soon! Excited about this catching up!

I'm a cutie, didn't you know?

2013-05-17T09:43:00.003-05:00

*dusts off blog*

Oh, hey guys! You're still here? Sweet!

After 8 months without internet at home, we have taken the plunge and signed up for it again. Chris has been doing a lot of freelance design work lately, and it's really inconvenient for him to not be able to email his clients and collaborators from home while he's doing the work. Plus, I like blogging, hanging out on the League of Extraordinary Penpals forum, and stuff. And it feels good to be able to Google whenever I want to. So you'll be seeing a lot more of me again! I know you're excited about that :)

Last night I was looking through some old pictures I had on my hard-drive, and I found the folder of the pictures that we had in our wedding slideshow. It kind of made me want a baby really bad, because I realized that Chris and I were both amazingly adorable babies, so naturally we will make amazingly adorable babies.

Exhibit A:

So I guess I was cute at one point in my life.

Exhibit B:

This picture cracks me up hysterically every time I see it! He still makes that face from time to time, haha.

See? Our kids will be freaking adorable. So I really want to have a baby now and see who they will look like more. I'm hoping Chris, he's hoping me. If only I weren't so afraid that I'm too immature to be a mama. But I know that when the time is right then God will let us know! Til then, I guess I'll stick to looking at baby pictures and praying and dreaming.

Mail 4.2 - outgoing

2013-02-18T18:14:00.000-06:00

Hi friends! Today is a crazy day - it's Louis Riel Day, which is a day off in Manitoba. I guess the rest of Canada calls it Family Day, and in the States it's President's Day, yes? So the day off is great, but it started snowing yesterday evening and it's been blowing so bad ever since that I would wake up in the night and think that the house was going to blow away. We are severely trapped in the house, but my parents' neighbour is going to come with his big tractor to clear the yard. They are very lucky to have a neighbour who is a farmer and owns things like that. So hopefully I'll be able to get to work tomorrow.

Yesterday y'all saw my more recent incoming mail, and here is my outgoing today! In January I challenged myself to write 30 letters in 31 days, and even though I only made it to 22, I would say that's a really good number too! Again, I missed some pictures, and I have some pictures still on my camera which I don't care to get right now. So I'll just save those for next time :)

::OUTGOING::

For sis Melissa in Edmonton

For cousin Jules in Ontario

For my dear Jasmine . She's hosting a sweet giveaway right now - check it out!

For my oldest pen pal Callie, who just had a beautiful baby girl!

Milton the cat says "Hi" to Charlotte

A first letter to a new friend Alecia. I wish I was in Jamaica right now, we're having a crazy blizzard today!

Some outgoing postcrossing cards. I'm sending out 1 a week this year, so I've already sent out almost half of what I sent all of last year!

I found this funny picture in my ephemera stash for Laura. Sadly I couldn't come up with better captions but c'est la vie.

My correspondence club partner from Jan-March, Kaitlyn. I was very excited to get paired with her because I've been reading her blog for few months now, and I'm absolutely in love with her handwriting. I realized after that I spelled her name wrong every time. Sorry, Kaitlyn!

I hope you are enjoying your days off, if you're having one, and I hope you're not stuck in the house if you are!

This is what it looks like right now. There's about 3 feet of snow packed in the driveway.

Mail post 4.1

2013-02-17T18:31:00.003-06:00

Hi friends! It's been a long while since my last mail post, eh? To avoid this post being ridiculously long, I'm just going to split it into incoming and outgoing. I know I might have missed some in the past few months, so please forgive me!

::INCOMING::

From my fellow Canadian geek and commander-in-co of the LEP, Laura

From Charlotte, who has just moved to a new house!

From my cousin Julia, who moved to Ontario in the fall. Our family gathering at Christmas felt so empty because half of the family moved away.

A Christmas card and letter from my sis Melissa! She just started a really cool blog, you should check it out!

A wooden postcard Melissa got for me on one of her adventures.

From the lovely Lady Kayy.

Beautiful doodle from Katyha. I wish I'd taken a picture of the contents, she sent me a letter booklet. Very cute.

A letter from Mikaela in Finland. Mikaela is going through a very hard time right now, so if you're so inclined, lift her up in your prayers.

A fun letter and card from Penny in Brazil.

A first letter from a new friend Erica in Finland.

Look out from some outgoing mail later this week!

January has hit southern Manitoba.

2013-01-10T21:33:00.000-06:00

Hi kids! Did you all have a good Christmas and New Year? I had wonderful holiday, albeit very busy, but the January blahs have set in. Does anyone else experience that? I just want to sit and watch movies all the time. But for my School of Ministers program, we are doing a media fast, so basically: no non-Christian movies, books, or music. Added to that, we still don't have Internet at home. Even more added to that, we cancelled our data plan on our phones. Yes, Felicia is living a life of extreme forced boredom. So what to do?

Our Christmas gift from my parents! Yay! The cats love it - they look so comfy when they lie on it all day.

Go to our favourite café to have a wi-fi and chai latte date with Chris.

Do a 30 letters in 31 days project.

Join the League of Extraordinary Penpals (so excited!!!)

Get a copy of Les Miserables (from the church library, so it must be allowed!).

Dream up plans (that you may or may not hear about in the near-ish future *winkwink*)

My handsome husband on Christmas day at his parents. Wearing a shirt that I gave him for Christmas.

Along with those things, I am also doing a Postcrossing challenge with myself. Last year I only sent out 16 postcards! Pathetic! So this year I'm challenging myself to send out a card a week. I bought a little day planner from Dollarama (Disney Princesses! And Rapunzel, my favourite of all, is on my birth-month ! It's May, for future reference...) to keep track of my mail this year so I can see it in a more linear fashion than my other mail log notebook.

My Christmas gift from my dear Jasmine. Such a sweetheart.

What are some of your goals for 2013? How are you combating the January blahs? Do my friends in the Southern hemisphere experience January blahs too?

Mail post 3.11

2012-11-22T12:18:00.000-06:00

Observe: Storm the jerk.

Hey peeps. So I'm sitting here, feeling like Wolverine crawled into my throat and started slashing around in there for fun, and my nose is going at a steady drip, so what better way to spend my morning but to finally do a mail post?!?!? (I'm not really that excited but I got carried away with the punctuation there)

I received a delicious letter from Katyha - literally! I love Tim Tams! Australian peeps, take note.

From miss Kate in Alaska

Pac-man comes a chomping! Thanks Penny!

From Steffi. I believe this letter included a lovely postcard. (I'm not home to check so I'll just say that my memory is awesome and it did.)

Miri sent me a sweet pen and bookmark from her hometown.


My lovely sis-in-law Melissa sent me an accordion letter! I love it!

Olga sent me a sweet letter, and I love her glittery doodles on the envelope. And of course, a portrait of me and Chris!

A sweet letter and postcard from Callie. She also included some nail stickers, which I am so excited to try out!

From my new friend Zada in England. Thanks for all the treats! So sweet!

From the ever awesome Olive

I received a lovely swap from Elena. I requested matryoshka dolls and she delivered!

Yesterday I got my very first letter from Patty, who poached my address off of my blog here! Patty, you made me feel so famous! :)

From miss Lady Kay. I need some "hello my name is" stickers! So cool!

A cute letter from Elizabeth in Mexico!

This is how my desk used to look when I wrote letters but now that we don't have Netflix or internet that computer doesn't get taken out much.

Reply for Penny

Sorry I didn't have a velociraptor, Laura! Hopefully my Triceratops friend is good enough!

A reply for Katyha

What I sent to Elena for the swap. It included some airmail and bird items because she asked for either and I'm random like that.

For my auntie who moved to Ontario.

Suzanne is the only pen pal I've met in real life, 5 years ago already! We've lost touch through snail mail but we're hoping to start that up again.

For my cousin who got married and moved to the States. Why her hubby wouldn't want to move here, I don't know. Haha.

For another auntie who moved to Saskatchewan. I'm realizing that my family is becoming quite widespread here...

These are a bunch of notes I wrote for friends at church/school (which is actually the same thing haha). Now that you read this, I dare you to write a note to one of your real life friends and mail it to them or leave it in their mailbox at work or church or wherever! I double-dog dare you! Hahaha I don't think I need anymore medication, thanks. Wolverine, get out of here...

4 Things Sunday 1.3

2012-11-11T16:15:00.000-06:00

Time for another round of my goals for the week!

Last time I posted, these were my goals:
1. Finish organizing my office!
2. Paint the spare room (we bought the paint and I have a day off on Friday!)
3. Write 5 letters (only did 2 last week)
4. Make my Christmas list

I did pretty good - I am almost done organizing the office, I painted the spare room, and I made my Christmas list!

For this week:
1. Absolutely finish organizing the office
2. Write 5 letters (so behind - my apologies)
3. Finish Christmas shopping
4. Clean my house

As always, feel free to comment with your list!

Christmas music swap

2012-11-11T16:07:00.003-06:00

In the spirit of Christmas, I am organizing a Christmas music swap! Sign-up is open until November 17! Please email me at openupthesky42 (at) gmail (dot) com with the following info:

*name
*address
*blog link/whatever social media you're using
*musical tastes

4 Things 1.2

2012-10-28T18:17:00.001-05:00

I have had a very productive week, and yet it feels so unproductive at the same time! I completed item one from last week - 2 garbage bags of clothes for the thrift store, 1 garbage bag of old jeans for my mom to cut up and make into jean quilts, and 1 garbage bag of actual garbage. So that felt super great to accomplish, but those 3 bags to being away are still sitting in my car, waiting for me to drop them off, so it feels like I'm not done yet. I did also complete item 2 on my list last night, go for coffee with a friend, and we had a great time! But I started some other projects, and right now my office is a disaster area. Dis. As. Ter.

So for this weeks goals:
1. Finish organizing my office!
2. Paint the spare room (we bought the paint and I have a day off on Friday!)
3. Write 5 letters (only did 2 last week)
4. Make my Christmas list

What are your goals? If you play along please let me know!