Polican Apartment!!

Hello my dear family!!

I know I know Becky I said Wednesday but if you think about it Wednesday and Friday have a lot in common. Both are happy days as Wednesday you are thankful that its not Monday and that you have only half a week to go till the weekend and Friday because the next day its the weekend. As well, Friday has just as many hours and minutes as Wednesday and is much easier to type on the computer or to write since I always forget to insert the first 'd'. All in all, Friday is a much better day to post than Wednesday is.

Yesterday was Women's day and the day before was Teacher's day. Yesterday I went out with some friends and ate delicious Baklava in the rain!!! It was like a torrential downpour!! And the stairs down to where we live were like an ever aboundant water fall. However, the water fall didn't stay just on one side of the stairs but wandered back and forth so one was continually trying to jump from one side to the other. By the time I got to the house I was soaked almost up to my knees!!

I started and finished Persuasion within two days. A wonderful book by the way, but its not as good as I remember it to be when Becky read it out loud.

So here are some wonderful pictures of my house!! I hope that you'll like them!!! I always get it confused and post the pictures upside down so please start reading from the bottom up.

The kitchen! The garbage bag is too small to fit into the garbage can and always falls down so we put it on the ground. But we only have one 'bomb' for gas. Ha ha, I thought that it was called a 'bomb' and laughed everytime i was talking to people who said that they had to get theirs filled. But really the joke was on me because its not called a 'bomb' at all but a 'bomblen'. I'd been calling it a 'bomb' for about 2 years and yes, in Albanian a 'bomb' is the thing that explodes, just like in English.

This is one that Hanna drew. She's an awesome drawer! I love how most of her characters have a Asian look to them! Soo cute. Lili is the little yellow thing, Hanna the girl and I'm the smiling Sun! I think that they are making reference to my big hair here. Oh, and look, there you all are, your nice smiling faces! Someone asked me ther other day: "Did you plan to all where white and black?" To which I had to respond "What??? We are??? How did THAT happen?" :)

Hanna is part of the furniture.

The three of us had a roommate night and we drew three pictures. Can you guess which one is mine? We wrote 1 Thess. 5:16-18 One verse for each picture. Be joyful always. Pray Continually, and Always give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Our living room!

From the entrance into the house here we have our three rooms: living room (left), mine and Hanna's (center) and Lili's (right)

Lili's room/guest room.

This is the front entrance from the view of my bedroom.

I've been thinking a lot about when Jesus says that we need to deny ourselves, our own lives and pick up our cross and follow Him. I love contrast! So I was trying to draw a picture of a man walking away from the world and following the footsteps of Christ. Ha ha, there are many things that I need to learn about painting but I had fun with this. in my mind the man should be a sillouette as he walks towards the truth (the light). But then I thought I already have lots of black in the picture he can't be black. So then I mixed some colours and came up with a very nice pale green. I painted him that but then he looked like a marshon going towards his UFO to go into his other plant. So then he because white. The poor guy, but i haven't figured out how to do any sillouettes or shadows or anything yet so white's the colour.

I've thought about this picture for a long time. Iwas reading Isaiah and it talked about all the trees being cut down (trees of lebanon) but then it gave hope! "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." I saw this mental picture in my head of all these trees cut down and it being covered in fog, but then one zooms his eye on a Branch coming up out of all the dead trunks. I mentioned the idea to my friend who is a painter but never thought that I could do it myself. However, after I did that one paiting of the sunset. I thought to myself, "Lynnette, now its the time to do this one." So I sat down one night and did it. I loved to do it!! And I like how it turned out. Not completely like I had in mind but I think really good! God gave me grace to make it beautiful! Ha ha, but the next morning Hanna and Lil both asked me "Lynnette, why are the clouds on the ground?" ha ha, note to self, must practice drawing fog. :)

This one is part of 1 John 4:18. We have some tulips in the hall and I really like how they look! I thought that I'd try to draw one. And the verse that came to mind is the one about perfect love. I thought that when you have perfect love you blossom and are free to be who you are. It doesn't matter about others because you enjoy being who you are. Like a flower that doesn't become something else just because one says its ugly or beautiful.

My art wall!! Hanna drew the one with the hands for my birthday. Gramma made me one of the cards for Christmas (really lovely by the way) And Nicole gave me the other card for my b-day. But the other paintings are what I had a great time doing. The 'sunset' one on the right was my first one. I liked the thought of painting but was too afraid of what people would say or think if it was hideous. So I never felt right to try it. But one morning, I felt that this was part of my worship to God. To let go about what others might think and to paint because I enjoyed to do it. So I did and I really felt blessed by it!

Pictures!! Ha ha, I forgot to take a close up but picture on the far right is one that our team took in Pogradec. Its really funny. We are all in cowboy hats, helio is siting and the rest of us are around him and we are in front of a cartoon house that has a Christmas tree. The best team picture yet!!

This is my side of the bedroom. "My room was clean yesterday, sorry you missed it!"

Hanna's side of our room and the door to the balcony. I forgot to get a picture of the balcony, but I really love to sit out there!!

Thats our house. Minus the bathroom but its just a bathroom and I believe that you've seen one or two of those before. If you haven't ever seen a Turkish Toliet, then you'll just have to come visit me to have the please of using one!

Love you guys tons!!!!

Netty

Taiwan Photos

Yummy recipes

This just sounds yummy . . . . http://cookieandkate.com/2011/breakfast-quinoa/

I have just arrived home from my first time downhill skiing trip (Grade 6 doesn't count), and I have - obviously - survived. I was picked up this morning at 7:45 and we drove out in poor visibility and very wet (and slippery roads) to Mont Avalanche - a ski hill approx. one hour north of Montreal. (We, being a group of people from the lab along with their respective significant others.) We arrived at 9, picked up our gear and then myself and three others headed to the baby slope for our lesson. The instructor was good - very nice and patient. English was NOT his first language, but I just watched him, and the others, and it wasn't too bad. After about an hour, he left us on the baby hill with the rudiments - stopping and turning. I spent the rest of the morning perfecting my falling technique. In all honesty, I wasn't THAT bad, but I would bail if I felt myself lose control - normally when I was getting to the end of the baby hill where a bunch of parents were video tapping their kids (who were zipping around me with the greatest of ease) - so I am sure there are tons of home videos which have captured me sliding to a stop on my rear-end. The baby hill had a neat conveyor belt thingy (picture to follow), which allowed one to ride your way to the top. The lady operating the conveyor was very nice and provided many helpful hints and tips (including a hand up at one point), so that by lunch time I had made it down the slope, successfully stopping without needing to bail, a couple of times. This of course, made me feel quite confident in my ability, and since I knew that I just had to take the chance, when one of my lab mates asked if I felt ready to tackle the 'big-kid' hill, I agreed. Thinking back, maybe the high-altitude had this flatlander a little delusional, or maybe the age-old proverb of "pride goes before the fall" was just in effect. But I should have known that it was not a good idea, especially when I met up with my instructor from the morning lesson, whom when I informed it that I was going up the hill, looked really worried. He very quickly stated that I should stay on this one certain route, and that I should take it really really slowly (or at least I think that's what he said - remember, English was not his first language). With his warnings (forebodings?) ringing in my ears I headed my way to the ski lift. During lunch one of the other first-timers (who had gone up the big hill before lunch) had been talking about the lift and how hard it was to get on/off, this of course did not help with the growing doubt. But it was too late to back out - my pride was on the line. So with the spouse of one my lab mates at my side I took a seat and was soon winging my way up the mountain. The ride wasn't long enough, but it wasn't bad (I didn't look down, and he didn't rock the lift (NUTTY!!!)) which helped me not get too freaked out). At the end, I just got off - I think it would have been easier if I had done it on my own, but he 'helped' me by staying right at my side . . . which of course made me terrified to fall, which made me very unsteady, but it turned out ok (I blush about it now, but at the moment, I wasn't really thinking - I was just trying to decide if I was rational or not). Once at the top, the moment was immortalized by a photo (see below) and myself and two very patient lab mates started down. I had been warned that the first part of the slope was quite steep, and let me tell you, looking down, it looked like a cliff (obviously it wasn't, but the mind plays some funny tricks on you - especially when you are doubting your sanity). I spent the first part skiing-turning-freaking out-falling to a stop (at least I didn't scream). My coaches were very encouraging, and helped me get up time and time again, after I bailed. One of the girls was a snowboarder so she just provided moral support and encouragement, while the other was providing the instructions. It was a little frustrating, because she was trying to get me to do it nice and slow (which is good) but the way she was doing it was go down slightly, turn then stop. I was getting the hang of turning, but I was having a heck of a time stopping - thus the continual bailing. Eventually I got to a point that I would do two turns (a nice looking S) before stopping (I can really only stop with my left leg - which is mysteriously stronger than my right - which is why I think I was bailing so much at the beginning of the slope, because I couldn't stop after a left turn, only after a right turn). Finally we arrived at a point that I could see the parking lot (the run I was on, curved along the back of the mountain), I think at that point, I just decided that I was going to get down - I was tired of continually stopping so I just went. Actually I lost control, but instead of bailing managed to stay upright and not hit anyone. Apparently I looked really good, but all I was thinking was 'HOW DO I STOP THIS THING!!!" Eventually the hill evened out and I was able to slow to a stop in front of the lodge. I HAD SURVIVED!!! I was invited to go up again, but I had learned my lesson - I was not ready for the big hill. So I politely declined and forced myself to go down the bunny hill a couple of times to shake off the experience (get back on the horse and all that jazz). At about 1:50, I had had it. My legs, hips and back ached, I was desperate to bend my ankles and I was starting to get a head ache. So I headed in and sat with the other first-timers as we commiserated on the experience (One note of pride, is that I succeeded to stay out longer than the other first-timers: one girl stopped after the lesson - she just didn't like it at all - and the other girl headed in 30 minutes before I packed it in). At about 2:30 the others started drifting back to the lodge, and by 3:15 everyone was heading back to Montreal. When I got home, I made myself a pot of soup and a cup of tea and am now resting on my couch - feeling my muscles tighening even as I type. I am going to be so sore tomorrow.

The bunny hill - from the top looking down - notice the kids, there were so many of them at one point - all better than me. It's a kick to the ego, when you go down the bunny hill all morning and see no improvement, and these kids go down once and are ready for the big hill.
Me, at the top of the mountain. Its difficult to tell from the photo but the look on my face is an attempt at a smile - at this point the stupidity of my choice was sinking in (I had just seen the first part of the slope)
Again from the bunny hill (after I made it safely down the big hill). The area was really pretty. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it was really overcast, so its hard to see, but the 'mountains/hills/whatever' were really pretty. We had just got a dump of snow and all the trees were ladened with snow.
The conveyor belt thingy - so much nicer than a tow-rope!
I went up that mountain - and came down it - in one piece. I took this shot as we were leaving, and there were a lot less people on the slopes. The hill isn't really well known so it wasn't too crowded - between 10am-1pm there were a lot of people, especially around the lodge, the stairs to the right of the photo, but it still wasn't bad. The weather was actually quite nice - around -5 or so. It was overcast all day, and a little windy. As the afternoon progressed it was starting to get cooler, and the wind picked up quite a bit, but still it was a nice day. Only one person of the lab had a notable injury, when she collided with another skier and went down hard. She hit her head and has a nice purple bruise/lump on her forehead. Otherwise no one else was hurt - sore but not injured. All in all it was an OK day. I am glad that I went, though I wouldn't say that I particularly enjoy skiing.

Love you all lots!

Great Quinoa recipe

Hi all, 

Alright so we have not been great at posting things but I am going to change that.  I wanted to post a great quinoa recipe that I made tonight and I liked how it turned out so much I determined that this is something that I had to share with my family.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Some substitutions I made were I only used 550 ml of beans (so about 10 oz) mainly because I only had one can of beans and I also added it after simmering the quinoa for 10 minutes.  I also used two cups of corn, well because I like corn.  In my opinion the one can of beans and two cups of corn was perfect.  Everything else I kept the same except I used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock (you can probably use any stock you like) and used parsley instead of Cilantro (again had parsley but didn't have cilantro).

Anyways, the recipe turned out GREAT.

Love

Wes

P.S Netty since you are going on a retreat I expect to see some pictures posted to remember to bring your camera (NO FORGETTING) and mom and dad where are your pictures from your trip?!?!?!?!

Apartment Part 2

Hi all,

Here are the pictures of my apartment with stuff in it.  As you can see there is still lots of stuff to do but it is getting there.

My living room (notice my sweet couch which turns into a bed (becky this may look similar)

My Ikea desk/table

The view from my front door

My bathroom (not sideways)

My bedroom

So there is my apartment, as you can see it is small but cozy.  I also have a storage room outside my apartment that I can store stuff.

My Apartment

Hi Family of Mine

As I had originally challenged here are pictures of my apartment.

This is my living room (as you can notice the floor was recently cleaned).  On the wall you will my Ikea coffee table (some assembly required)

This is the picture of my couch (some assembly required)

The Entry to my apartment

The view of my kitchen from my living room

My kitchens (as you can see it is a little bigger then my kitchen in Winnipeg)

A picture of my bathroom

My bedroom (a little small especially when you have a queen size bed in the area)

The view of my bedroom to the rest of my apartment

The other wall in my bedroom.

The pictures of my apartment unfinished (I had just moved in about a hour earlier and had yet to have set up anything (except for my bed because that is important),

The pictures of my finished apartment will soon follow.