sarah's blog

If you don’t get that joke you have missed seeing a very important film.

Oh the highs and lows of a new computer.

High: I’m here posting this because I have a new MacBook Pro after the untimely demise of a lovely MacBook who gave me 4 good years. I LOVE this computer.

Low: All my files are locked in the mind of the previous computer (her name was Bianca and she will be missed) leaving me without most of my pictures, videos, other random files, all my passwords, bookmarks – the things a Mac handles for you so you don’t even know you don’t know them yourself – and the photo books I was making for So and Lo’s first birthday.

High: Those same exact files are backed up on an external hard drive in our office.

Low: After hours of trying to get said hard drive to communicate with my new MacBook Pro’s Lion OS we gave up and tried to go the long way around through J’s computer and another hard drive only to realize it doesn’t matter because the login and password for that hard drive is saved in the keychain OF MY OLD COMPUTER.

Thanks for keeping that information safe, Bianca. Next time maybe write it down before you decide to split.

And I have tried every combination I can think of. I have no memory of creating one and nothing is working. It was my Time Machine backup so it just did its thing daily without my help.

Sigh.

The long and short of it is I may have to pay to have the old files retrieved off my dead laptop. Unless the mystery login and password for the hard drive can be retrieved from the computer in my head. Which is running kind of slow these days.

I turned 28 on Thursday. As you know from years past, it is becoming an annual tradition for John to be away at training the whole week of my birthday. This year he was again across town in a dorm room with a pile of people but was able to come home on Wednesday night, beautiful flowers in hand, so he could wake up and say happy birthday to me on The Day. Coming in a close second was an early morning text from my mommy!

Last week my in-laws were here and we went out to dinner as an early celebration – I picked Swiss Chalet. My family knows what I’m talkin about. Then we had ice cream cake. I saved the cards I got in the mail to open on my birthday, so thanks Grandma H and Grandma and Grandpa B.

It wasn’t as bad to have John away this year because circumstances aligned to make Thursday an incredibly busy day with work and I ended up having to go in to the office to pick up packages and to do a million last minute things for the this conference I am helping to organize. All this kept me nice and distracted from the fact that my birthday was whizzing by.

But then some people in the office found out it was my birthday and ran out and got a cake and my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew stopped by with desserts. I was starting to feel quite spoiled on a day that is considered to be postponed and will likely be celebrated again when the dust of conferences settles.

All in all it was a very full day and a very good one. I wouldn’t say relaxing, but productive, which can have a similar affect. Not much time to reflect on another year gone by, maybe in August I can think like that!

Hey, if you’re interested, I did a charity: water campaign for my birthday like I did at Christmas, just an opportunity to give a gift to someone who really needs it instead of me who has too much stuff in my house already. The campaign is still open for awhile longer so please consider helping me reach my goal of $280, clean water for 14 people. You’ve heard me go on and on about charity: water before but they’re good people, and 100% of your donation will go directly to the projects.

And don’t feel bad for me not getting gifts. My husband is buying me an iPhone 4.

Lest you begin to suspect that I don’t follow through on things (no comment, Mom, Dad or husband) I will update you on my very real progress regarding my New Year’s Resolutions, in original order. (more…)

Yesterday I was already getting sick of all the ground beef so by today I just couldn’t eat it again. I was temporarily discouraged but rallied and decided to do some baking. Here’s what we’ve been able to make from our kitchen in the past two days…

Breakfast yesterday: Took some leftover millet cereal to work. Cup of coffee.

Lunch yesterday: Leftover peas, leftover rice and red beans. Grapes for a snack and then leftover pasta salad. (I’m trying to eat at lunch and then again around 3pm because I was finding I got tired in the afternoons and too hungry by the time I got home)

Supper yesterday: John got creative with the ground beef and also used up the rest of the frozen mixed vegetables to create a spicy beef and veggies on rice dish. Brownies for dessert.

Today was another unusual food day but I guess even if I don’t use stuff from my own kitchen, if I get free food elsewhere it helps the bottom line.

Breakfast: Cup of coffee and a donut courtesy of Tracy.

Lunch: Went out to Moxie’s because it was Tracy’s last day. Would have had leftover yam fries and battered fish from the lunch but I left them in Tracy’s car for the second half of the work day and we voted it wasn’t worth the risk. I made a batch of granola, recipe courtesy of Adrianne, to take to work for Tracy’s goodbye party in the afternoon. There were lots of snacks so I filled up on spinach dip and real fruit popsicles and there will still be plenty of granola left to munch on next week.

Supper: As I said before I just couldn’t bear to eat the last of the ground beef with John so he made a hamburger for himself and I split the last of the baby bok choy with him.

After supper I rummaged again and discovered I had cornmeal. So naturally I whipped up some cornbread muffins. I used a recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook but there were plenty of good ones online too.

I have also found during this process (and even before) that if there’s something you want to make and it always seems to be made with one ingredient you don’t have, googling “____ recipe without ____” can bring up all kinds of recipes that fit the bill. For example, tonight I looked up a recipe for lentil carrot soup because, well, I happen to have both those things and we like soup. I kept finding recipes with onion (which I do not have and from now on will stock up on before I do something like this) in them so I did my googling trick and got advice someone had given to a person trying to make lentil carrot soup for a guest with an onion allergy. Problem solved.

Another trick I use all the time is to google a substitute for whatever I don’t have for a recipe. For example, don’t have buttermilk, a search for “buttermilk substitute” will give you all kinds of replacements you’re guaranteed to have. Just make sure you pay attention to what kind of recipe you are using it for because a good substitute for an egg in a meatball recipe will not be the same in a brownie recipe.

Two more days and we will have made it a week buying only the items I listed in my previous post. I don’t think the coffee cream will make it and I know for a fact John is out of bran cereal but I am already so proud of how much we were able to make by just getting creative with what’s there.

I have to post about yesterday and today because I didn’t get a chance last night. John is on his way home with mango milk tea with pearls so I have to make this quick.

Breakfast yesterday: Coffee. I know I’m bad.

Lunch yesterday: John packed me a sandwich made with the deli meat I bought on Sunday and the homemade buns that are still going strong. I also got a granola bar, apple, grapes and leftover pasta salad.

Supper yesterday: John barbecued cheeseburgers (getting a little sick of those and wishing I had stocked up on something other than ground beef before this experiment) and we ate frozen peas with garlic and butter. Ice cream for dessert.

Today I cheated a bit and bought my lunch at Wendy’s even though I had one packed. Maybe it was that it contained the same things I have been eating for days or maybe I just gave in to peer pressure but either way it was fun to go out with my friends from work. It has been a stressful few days at work and it just felt good to get out of the office.

Breakfast: Coffee. I know I know.

Lunch: Wendy’s but if I had eaten what I brought it was peas and pasta salad. I did eat the brownie and grapes though.

Supper: I got home very late after a police incident at Metrotown Station stopped the train 3 stations away and turned my hour and a half commute into 3 hours. So by the time I got home at 7:30 I just ate peas with butter and garlic and a glass of white wine (the last bottle from the batch John made in the Spring) Oh and of course, the bubble tea that’s on its way home with John!

I guess I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow – the lunch I didn’t eat today! But I will try to make enough time in the morning for breakfast, I didn’t realize how bad that sounds until I had to type it out each time I just had coffee. Not a good habit, kids.

No new recipes to share but I will say I am getting bored with what I’ve made so far and probably need to get back in the kitchen and figure out some more pantry creations.

While we awaited the completion of The Office episode we were downloading, um, acquiring from our peers last night, John shared this blog with me. I know my posts have become more about other people’s lives than my own but just indulge me one more time and I promise to go back to writing more often.

I thought of my dear friend Claire who is an amazing cake maker when I saw this blog. Then I thought of a cake experience of my own that I want to submit to the site. My co-workers remember that fateful Team Building Day when our logo lost all its dignity on a background of chocolate icing. If any of you took a picture I think I’ve found the place for it.

Enjoy a good laugh with me, courtesy of Cake Wrecks, “when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong”.

I joined John for his staff fun day on Friday which consisted of “stick & puck” and Vietnamese food. It was so much fun to get out on the ice which I haven’t done since we lived in Edmonton.

Kim loaned me some gloves and a helmet (though my little head ended up needing a rental) and John did his best to teach me some new skills. Maybe I just need some more ice time…

We’d appreciate your prayers for our friend and John’s co-worker who was involved in a bizarre event this weekend:

Press Release

Power To Change Staff Member Survives Bomb Blast

Langley, British Columbia
November 9, 2008

Gary Stevenson, a staff member with the Campus for Christ ministry of Power To Change, has survived a bombing at his home in Langley, BC. The attack occurred at approximately 11:30 am Saturday morning as the Stevenson family was loading a van to move out of their townhouse. Mr. Stevenson picked up a package delivered anonymously to his door, thinking it was a gift, but it exploded when he attempted to open it.

Mr. Stevenson was taken immediately to the hospital where he was treated for lacerations and burns. Surgeons removed shrapnel from his abdomen. No other members of the Stevenson family were injured. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The townhouse complex was sealed off by police who swept the area to ensure there were no other explosive devices. Investigators gathered evidence until late Saturday evening at which time residents were allowed to return to their homes. Police investigators say that they have no suspects or information about movtives and caution against premature speculations.

Mr. Stevenson serves with Campus for Christ on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia where he works with students. Mike Woodard, National Director of Campus for Christ, expressed shock at the attack. “Gary is just a great guy,” Woodard said, “one of our most innovative staff who really enjoys engaging with university students on life’s most significant issues.” The director of Campus for Christ at Simon Fraser, Derek Hill, added that “Gary really loves people. He spends time getting to know students, and is always ready to help someone with a problem.”

Stevenson is married with two children. In addition to his work at Simon Fraser, Mr. Stevenson has also served internationally. A brief assignment took him to North Africa. He has worked most extensively in Nicaragua, where he served for two years.

Power To Change President, Leonard Buhler, expressed relief that Mr. Stevenson had survived the attack. “Our hearts are saddened by this terrible event,” Buhler said, “but our staff and others in the community have rallied strongly to support Gary and his family.” Buhler is asking people to pray for the family during the weeks of recovery ahead.

Power To Change is a Canadian Christian ministry with more than 500 staff serving across Canada and around the world. The ministry seeks to assist people in a spiritual journey where they discover the relevance of Jesus Christ to issues of life today.

For more information contact: Dr. Guy S. Saffold
guy.saffold@powertochange.org
604-514-2000
Power To Change
20385 64th Ave
Langley, BC

For more information on Power To Change, visit www.powertochange.org

We’re back from Staff Conference 2008 in Whistler. We got home last night after an 8 hour drive that should have been 3. Don’t know if you heard but there was a landslide on the Sea to Sky Highway so the road down from Whistler to Vancouver was shut down until at least Monday.

Once the panic subsided we realized the only other way down was a twisty, turny road through Pemberton (too bad the festival was over and Jay-Z and Coldplay were long gone) that takes more than twice as long.

In fact, the road was so rediculous that poor little Boo threw up her blueberry breakfast all over herself halfway down the mountain. We had to pull over while Angie redressed Boo and John and Kim cleaned out her car seat. I couldn’t blame her though, I felt sick most of the trip myself.

Besides the adventure of getting home we had a great time. It was alot more laid back than last year- I think the 40th anniversary celebration and the unveiling of the organization’s new name was more than most of us could handle. This year the only thing that got people’s knickers in a twist was the speaker, Erwin McManus. Despite the anxiety hanging in the air that, as Kirsten pointed out, could have been cut with a knife, I think it’s awesome when speakers come and challenge us. I personally loved listening to Erwin and both John and I have put a visit to Mosaic in LA on our list of things to do before we die.

A few of our friends from out East crashed at our place between Campus Staff Days and Staff Conference. It was fun to tour around Vancouver; it had been awhile since we had been down to Granville Island or the 218 Flavours ice cream place.

Of course now I’m sad that I got to know Emily, Brad, Joe and Kolten better and then had to say goodbye for another year.

It’s late and I should be heading to bed so I’ll just end this here. Another Staff Conference over and the best news of all: they decided we’re don’t have to join with the American Staff Conference next year after all! Whistler 2009 baby!

Campus Days were last week and Staff Conference starts up in Whistler on Monday so this weekend our apartment is the place to be. Four campus staff are staying with us: Brad, Emily, Kolten and Joe.

It’s been non-stop RockBand, NHL 08, food and beers. Our place is admittedly probably too small for more than 3 people and only Emily gets an actual bed but it is great to have some friends out that we don’t get to see often. It’s a major downside to our job situation: we make friends at various events, projects, etc. throughout the year and then we all fly home and don’t get to hang out until the next event. Gotta love the long distance friendships!

Random fact: today at Superstore I saw the most milk jugs ever purchased by one family. You see we live in a predominantly East Indian area (if you know Surrey you know this) and they tend to live in large family groups and cook a lot of curry-like dishes. This requires a great deal of milk. My sisters-in-law and I have a running competition to see who can find the family buying the most milk. This always takes place in Superstore because, well, East Indians love warehouse-style shopping.

Today I witnessed the motherload: 3 carts FULL. I tried to count but I didn’t want to stare. The one I did count had 16 jugs so an estimate for the whole caravan has to be around 48. Not cartons, jugs. I have never seen anything like it. It took a mom, dad and a grandmother just to get it all to the checkout. I wish I had photographic evidence because my sister-in-law with never believe me.

I’m telling you, my weekends are full of crazy things. P.S. tonight I’m cooking Indian food.