A to Z 2016: TV Shoot in Stanley Park

hanging with a friend

wandered into filming set

Backstrom, Rainn Wilson 

{For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Rocky Mountains

the rocky mountains

Canada spectacular

scary in winter

A to Z 2016: Oh Canada

Oh my home sweet home

astounding diversity

nature and culture

 

A to Z 2016: January

last January

spent winter in Canada

much like our childhood

{For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Human Rights Museum

beautiful structure

Winnipeg's newest landmark

light, limestone and glass

{For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Farmer's Fields

live in the country

surrounded by farmer's fields

oh, those prairie skies

 

{For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Dragonfly

dragonfly in marsh

thanks for sitting still for me

you are so pretty

{For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Cacti of Cache Creek

cacti of Cache Creek

or the Middle East in films

aunt Martha's garden

A to Z 2016: Beaver

Canada beaver

national symbol in park

not just the nickle

 {For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Photo backlog with haiku narrative.}

A to Z 2016: Atrium

classy atrium

Union Station in down town
welcome Winnipeg

Election 42: A Voter’s Guide

The next Canadian General Election is happening on October 19, 2015. Are you ready?

It’s not that difficult but it is important. First thing, make sure you are registered to vote with Elections Canada. You can visit their website or call them. (http://www.elections.ca/ or 1-800-463-6868) Because I had moved since the previous election and have a wonky country address I had to call in. It didn’t take long at all.

We knew that we would be out of our riding at the time of the election so my husband and I cast our vote in advance. There are a variety of reasons that one can vote early. This was very simple. We just went to our region’s Elections Canada office and filled out a short form and voted!

Are you registered now? Good! Now, whom to vote for…

There are a variety of quizzes that you can do online that will try to tell you which party you might side with but I don’t really trust any of them. The very popular “I Side With” site seemed to claim everyone should vote Liberal regardless of your actual affiliations. CBC uses “Vote Compass” which might be better but still that’s not the best way to decide whom you will vote for. Everyone should do a little research. Find out what the various parties core values are and try to get to know your local candidates. (You can find that list at Elections Canada or on the various party websites.)

There are many theories on how to vote. Different strategies, be loyal to a party or decide based on the actual candidates… And these methods can change depending on the current political climate. How you choose to vote is your business.

I was going to provide a brief summary of some of the major policies for the various parties but it looks like that’s not going to be as easy as I had hoped. Pretty much all of their websites are terrible. Very flashy and piles of information all over the place. You’ll have to wade through on your own… Sorry.

Conservative Party of Canada

Slogan: “Proven leadership for a strong Canada”

Green Party of Canada

Slogan: "A Canada That Works. Together."

Liberal Party of Canada

Slogan: "Real Change."

New Democratic Party of Canada

Slogan: "Ready for Change."

In case you’re a nerd like me and would like a better understanding of how our voting system works, here is an interesting video talking about “First Past the Post”:

Thankfully we haven't devolved into only two parties but for the longest time it seemed like we were. I keep hearing people say they will vote for a party they don't necessarily want to win but rather has the best chance of winning over a party they really don't want to see form the government. It's tricky. 

Vote early and vote often! Just kidding. You only get one vote. Make it count.

How to make a River Song Journal cover for your eBook on the cheap and with limited supplies

Long title. Sorry about that. This is your how-to guide (with photos!) on making a River Song Journal style cover for your eBook if you have little money and few supplies on hand. I'm currently working remotely from a guest house in The South and had some free time and the creative urge and a need for a cover for my new Kobo. I don't have any of my usual sewing or art supplies so I had to use what was available with one quick trip to the nearest Micheal's.

My version of the River Song journal book cover.

Please note that this is not super professional or amazing but for a few dollars and a few hours, I am happy with the result. There are other tutorials on the interwebs that have nicer end products and you can order some on etsy but I wanted to do something with my hands. So I thought I'd share. 

13 in 2013

I'm a bad blogger. I've done the A to Z challenge twice where you have to blog every day for the month of April but then I go months in a row without posting anything. It's the beginning of a new year so it's time for a quick review. I'm still planning to write some blogs on travel we did this past autumn once I find the time...

Coincidentally, I read 13 books and visited 13 countries in this past year of 2013. So that's how my review is going to go this year. In chronological order (note that the Philippines has been our temporary residence and all trips came and went from here this year):


1. The Philippines (The Street Lawyer by John Grisham) - I live in the Philippines right now so it seems an injustice to try to summarize it but here goes: It's really hot and the people are really nice. Done. Grisham is classic and my husband said this book changed the course of his life when he was in school so there.

A to Z 2013: Health

For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Winnipeg versus Davao City. Not to prove a winner but simply to explore the differences and similarities between my home town and my current location.

H is for Health!

Getting shots before we left from our nurse friend.

International Day: Canada!

Hello! Bonjour!

The school that our organization is affiliated with had an International Day. The students and teachers are from a variety of countries so each year they have a mini Folklorama. We know some of the Canadian teachers so we were asked to help with the Canada booth. It's funny how one becomes that much more patriotic when one leaves one's county. Vive Le Canada!

Flags to represent the student body.

I'm Writing From the Future!

I haven't written a post in a really long time. It's not that life has been boring or I haven't been making awesome food... rather I've been in a very different head space lately.

I won't be going into a lot of detail here, but basically my husband and I have moved to the Philippines to work for an NGO. My hope is to write about life out here on this blog. I've already photographed some awesome fruit that we've had!

The time difference has taken some getting used to. We are 13 hours ahead of "back home". So when I call my mom and dad it's like I'm calling from the future!

The flight over was interesting. We were in transit for a total of about 28 hour, of which we had brilliant sunlight for 22 hours. Here are a few travelling shots:

Leaving Manitoba