"Bridge"

So I'm hiking with Janine in Minnekhada park, when suddenly I stopped in the middle of the trail, wondering if it had ended and Janine says, "Over here, we just go over this bridge.."


I would call this more of a log with a railing.

Family night giving back

Last night dad, mum, Aleisha and I all went to donate blood. Well, the three of us went to donate, Aleisha came as moral support. We had fun joking about the weird questions they have to ask you around drugs and sex to screen for Aids, and poking fun at the grumpy nurse.

I'm AB positive, which only 7.6% of Canadians have.My donation didn't go as smoothly as it could have, but I was back to myself after 10 minutes and we laughed it off at the cookie table. I know they're always asking for donors, so my suggestion is, bring a friend. :)

Clean window = bad day for birds

Today while Aleisha was studying in the living room, a bird hit our front window. When Aleisha looked out, it lay quivering on the lawn. We were both slightly dramatized, and decided to take it to the Animal Hospital, just in case it was dying. Apparently, wild birds don't like shoe boxes. When I tried to nudge it into the box, I guess it decided my arm was less threatening. I'm not sure who was more weirded out by the whole thing.


But when we did get it in the box, and drove to the vet, it flew out of the box as soon as we opened it. My friend Zoe at the Animal Hospital said they would feed the bird, and let it loose in a few hours, but chances are it would be just fine. I snapped this shot in the examination room. Fly away little birdie! 

Just once...

When I take Indy for walks, he always sticks his head in all the storm drains.
Just once I want him to find one with a squirrel or other small creature living in it. 

Stacked

Dad says, "space is at a premium on a boat."

I think this is what happens when it rains and the parents can't go play outside.

Smelly people

For a multitude of random reasons, I've been taking the skytrain a lot in the last few weeks. I understand that there will always be people who stink, and that wanting to eradicate them is up there with world peace, but today was just gross. When I was walking through the Commercial street skytrain station, the guy in front of me stunk so bad I could hardly breath. I was so relieved when he boarded a different car on the train, until it happened. I realized that I still smelled like him! His stinky smell had actually stuck to me!  I don't understand how he couldn't know he smells that bad?

My boudoir adventure

It was easy for my friend to convince me to get boudoir photos done for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day, because I'm always looking for ways to be romantic in a guys perspective. But as the shoot got closer, I started to get hesitant about it. Friends of ours had used the photographer, Leida from True Colours Photography in the past, and I liked their pictures. It was just hard to imagine meeting a photographer for the first time, putting on lingerie and making it look super sexy all in one hour.It helped that I went shopping before hand, and got some super cute (and CHEAP!) outfits to wear and I also stole Greg's cowboy hat while he was in Scotland.
When I got to Leida's house in Abbostford, I felt comfortable almost instantly. She'd asked her husband to leave for the day, which I found super respectful. Leida was so professional and encouraging. I could tell as soon as she started taking photos how passionate she was, as she climbed on chairs, and rolled around on the floor getting good angles. She gave some much direction with the posses, I could tell she'd done her homework about boudoir. She also took the time to fix small details like tags sticking out, and pieces of hair here or there before she took photos. At one point during the shoot, I was actually holding myself in and it was that point that I thought, "ok, this is the bounds of where I'm comfortable.." One of the first things I thought when I got in the car was, "I can't believe I did that...and I can't wait to show my family!"
Within a week, I got the chance to preview the pictures after editing, and got a disc in the mail with over 20 shots. I was super pleased with the results, and so was Greg when I gave him an album full of the pictures yesterday.

I think it's healthy to try something slightly out of the box sometimes, and constantly test where your boundaries and levels of comfort are. I had such a great experience with Leida, I would definitely recommend her and True Colours Photography next time you want professional photos done, especially if you want to try boudoir.