When I was 19 I worked at a summer youth hostel in Grande Prairie Alberta. One night a traveling yoga instructor showed up with her backpack and yoga mat. (Unbelievably - her job as well as mine was funded by the federal government!) She showed me some cool yoga moves and I remember thinking some day I'll do that. Well someday didn't happen until a couple years ago when I found myself propelled to the door of our local yoga studio. I showed up in non fashion nonlululemon pants and Tshirt and put myself in the very back row.

Two years later I find that I can't go a week without a yoga class...

Home Stretch of the semester

So I realized I have just 7 more days of classes and then final exams. It should be an interesting stretch. My roommates have been playing this video game called Call of Duty: Black Ops, I realized this videogame made $360 million in just one day which is pretty crazy. Anyway, it hasn't been a distraction for me so far and hopefully I can close out the semester.

Snowfall

So I realized I have a streak of four flights now where I have stepped off the plane to walk around in snow. It all started of course when I walked off the plane when we landed in Edmonton, Alberta. This really should not be much of a surprise. The return flight back to Salt Lake City also had some snow (albeit it was much less than the amount of snow in Edmonton) But that still makes the streak at two. Then leaving from Salt Lake City to Seattle, I got caught in a snow blizzard, but I still made it out of Salt Lake City, only when I got off the plane in Seattle there was a ton of snow, that makes the streak three. Then flying back from Seattle to Salt Lake, we landed while it was snowing, making the streak four. I wonder if I can get the streak to five when I fly back to Seattle after finals are over. By the way when I say we I mean Rachel and I.

First tobaganning run

It was certainly Ben's first time down the hill when we went out last weekend but I don't think this was Oliver's first time tobagganing - you wouldn't have thought so either way because he was zipping down the hill on his own and begging to have us aim him over the bumps when we pushed him down.

winter vacation in Edmonton

Thanks to the generosity of Char's mom and her offer to take the boys for three days, Char and I had a long restful break last week and were able to spend some time on our own. The days went by quickly and due to some illness on our part during the same time unfortunately, we really only had one day to explore Edmonton. But on that day we made the most of it and explored downtown Edmonton on foot. And yes if you can believe it, we enjoyed a winter's day on foot in Edmonton (luckily it was only about -8 C) checking out the Huddlezone they set up on Churchill Square for the Grey Cup celebrations, wandering around Chinatown amazed by all kinds of interesting (and abominable) food and animals displayed in the windows, funky furniture stores, the city centre mall and the extraordinary view of the River Valley dusted with snow. It was the first chance we had to take a step back and explore downtown Edmonton by foot and hoping it will be the first of many such opportunities to come.

I'm on active duty

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy
I woke and saw that life was Duty
I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy

- Rabindranath Tagore

During my undergrad I chose quite a few poli sci classes that dealt with international development. I was fascinated with underdevelopment - why some countries were so poor while others were so wealthy. I really loved learning about this and loved meeting other students who were equally concerned with international social and economic issues. I remember one guy named Mitchell who wanted to farm onions in India when he finished his degree because he was disgusted with our greedy, indulgent North American capitalist system. His parents once returned from a vacation in Mexico and when they went to show him their pictures he mocked "That isn't Mexico! You guys didn't go to MEXICO, you went to some American resort that doesn't even come close to representing what real life in Mexico is....." He was passionate.
I too wanted to make a difference and my interest in humanitarian work grew....but then my view kind of shifted. At the end of my degree, after all I had read and heard my conclusion was this: The world doesn't need big heros, the world needs good mothers and good fathers. People who live decent lives and serve their immediate communities and their immediate neighbours. I'm not saying humanitarian work isn't important, I just really think there would be so much less of it to do if every one lived the gospel. I gave up my dream of being a Mother Theresa for being a Mom and I genuinely feel that I'm making a difference as well.

End of an Era

NOSTALGIA. I'm having an introspective moment looking back in time.

Melissa turned 13 in 1990 and Rachel turns 20 on Dec. 5. That's 20.5 years of life with at least one teenager. Now - the end of an era. No more crazy, chaotic, insane, creative, hormonally fueled energy. Unfortunately that means full steam ahead for the blahs. End of an era - sure gonna miss it.