If Only...

Weeks ago on Delurking Day, I told my Delurkers that they could ask me any question they want. Well, Ashley over at Turquoise Ribbons had one.

Here's a question for you: If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Well, I can tell you that I likely will always live in Ontario. My family is way too important to me to move far away, especially now that Mom's been sick. But we're going to pretend that family ties don't factor in here, nor does work/money. Here's my shortlist:

1) Greece.

St John by nicolas.gr

Watching the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" has left me with an intense desire to live in Greece. Go here to watch my favourite song from "Mamma Mia!" - SOS and check out the background... beautiful! Apparently it was filmed in Skopelos. That picture above, that's a chapel. How amazing is that? I love the idea of living on islands and boating around. And will you look at that water?!

2) Spain.

Roseta by Pablo Germade

I was a History major back in university, and Canada has nowhere near as much history as Europe does. I love beautiful old buildings, and the opportunity to walk on places where the events I read about occured. Spain has the perfect combination of history, a beautiful culture (I have a soft spot for Flamenco dancing), and warm weather (the Mediterranean, oh yeah!)

3) Tortola, B.V.I.

Tortola by turtlepatrol

I've been on two cruises of the Western Caribbean, and on my first cruise, Tortola won my heart. No island I've been to since has compared. Small, friendly, not overly touristy, with historic buildings, surrounded by the beautiful sea. It was perfect!

4) Australia.

Back under the Australian starry nights by El Fotopakismo

This could just be jealousy due to the fact that I am going to drop my sister off at the airport to go there tomorrow, but I would love to go there. I have a slight obsession with "Crocodile Dundee", and readers, if you have not seen Danny Deckchair, get your butts to the video store and rent it immediately, it is one of my fave movies that I can watch over and over again. I find Aussie accents completely charming, and the exoticness/wildness of the country makes me want to go explore it. And the stars are completely different there! I've wanted to see the Southern Cross ever since I heard a story about it as a child at camp. Also, I find the names of landmarks and cities hilarious - Wollongong, anybody?



Well, there you go, readers. Those are the places I would live if I had the option to live anywhere in the world. There seems to be a theme here: warm and not North American.

Thanks, Ashley, for your question!

Readers - do you have any other random questions for me? Leave them in the comments and I will respond!

Life Isn't Fair...

In two days, my sister will be leaving to go to school in Australia for a semester. After a short visit to New Zealand, she will be living in Brisbane. That means she will be here:

Image from here.

While I am stuck here:

Image from here.

Yeah, completely not fair.

Interview with Erin

Lily of Lily Speak did this Interview meme and I wanted in on that. So I had her interview me, here it is:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1) I know you're a big Dave Matthews Band fan. What's your favorite song and why?
Oh man, I have to pick just one?? I don't know if I can! How's about I tell you about a few of them:
Crash Into Me - this has been my favourite from the start. Granted the lyrics if sung by anyone other than Dave would be a little creepy, but I think it's super romantic. Remember the video?? Beautiful! The lyrics "you wear nothing, but you wear it so well" are amazingly romantic, I think, they show true love and acceptance of a person. That would be one of the most fantastic pre and/or post sex complements a guy could give me.

Pig - I discussed here. "Wash out this tired notion that the best is yet to come" - it's all about how I want to be living my life, being able to seize the day and not waste it.
You Might Die Trying - I discussed this one here. It reminds me that if I want to change the world and make a difference I need to take action by getting off my butt and doing something, even if it is only something small, it's better than being frozen and doing nothing.
But there's Everyday, and Grey Street, and Tripping Billies... awe man!

2) Other than your parents' jewelry shop, what other jobs have you held?
I've had a few, here are my two most exciting/longest from the past:
I've been a camp kid since I was a young teen, starting as a CIT, then a counsellor and then senior staff. I miss K-Camp crazy amounts...


During university, I worked at the art gallery on campus, a little bit as a gallery attendant, but mostly I was in charge of contacting (or attempting to contact) all of the over 2000 artists whose work we had in our collection to get them to sign copyright forms thanks to Canada's new copyright laws.
And now, I work at the youth shelter.

3) What extracurricular activities and/or sports have you done/played?
I've never really been a terribly sporty girl. As a kid I tried ballet and figure skating, and failed miserably at both. When my Aunt and I both lived in London, I went to the flamenco classes that she taught. In elementary school and high school, I did Brownies and Girl Guides and Youth Group out of my church, and Drama Club out of my high school. In university, I volunteered with a fantastic organization called Best Buddies, and at a local elementary school in a classroom for kids with special needs. I also took sign language classes at the university.

4) Let's say you have the chance for a little threesome with two of your fave celebs. Who would you pick?
Dave Matthews.

Crap, I have to pick another? Hmm, perhaps Lee Pace of Pushing Daisies.


Or, if I could go back in time, Pierce Brosnan and Harrison Ford, my old man crushes. Heck, the back in time bit isn't completely necessary.


5) What was your favorite game as a child?
My sisters and I used to play Barbies all the time. We also played our share of hide and go seek. On camping trips, my family would always play Monopoly. With my friends, we played a lot of games in the pool, and we played boneyard in the neighbourhoods around our houses.

Alright, anyone who wants to be interviewed can leave me a comment!

Her Morning Elegance

I saw this video over at Jiscilla.com today, and it is amazingly beautiful. You all need to watch it, again and again, like I have been doing.

Erin's Red Carpet Round-up

Well, it's that time of year again: Red Carpet Season. The Oscar nominations were announced the other day, and I have to say, I'm a little bit ashamed of myself this year... Usually I manage to see at least a good chunk of the nominated movies, but this year I have not seen a single one. Actually, scratch that - I saw bits and pieces of The Dark Knight when the kids watched it at work. Pathetic, I know. Here are the nominated films:

Nominated Films from Oscar.com.

That means I have about a month to catch up. What do I want to see for sure? Australia (because I heart Baz Luhrmann, the idea of the country, and history), Defiance (again with the history thing, and Daniel Craig can't hurt), In Bruges (I've heard good things), Rachel Getting Married (again, good things), Slumdog Millionaire (people have been raving about it/ it's won all the awards so far), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (um Brad Pitt. Enough said.), The Wrestler (saw a clip on Conan tonight, looks interesting), and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (looks good). For a full list of nominations go here.

Any thoughts / suggestions / recommendations, guys? Any movies that were missed by The Academy that I should still see?

An Update in Photo Form

I finally bought a feather headband! I got this one from Urban Outfitters.


Thanks to Doniree, I got to make my very own Obamicon!


In other news, Thunder Kitty is still cute - even with creepy camera flash eyes. He's back on weight control kibble, but I think it's weight control because it doesn't taste good, he hardly eats it!

What I Do on the Internet

This week's Friday 5 is about Net Habits. It's been a while since I've done a Friday 5, so I thought I'd give this one a shot.

1. What types of blogs do you usually read?
Toooo many... there are 182 in my Google Reader. Mostly, though, they are personal blogs or art/design blogs.
Here's a few you should go read if you don't already: Bliss, Classy in Philadelphia, LilySpeak, Me Melodia, Snapshot Chicago, Stylish Handwriting, The Holly & The Ivy, The State That I Am In,The Transformation of Kern, Turquoise Ribbons, Writing to Reach You, Yes and Yes, and You Are My Fave.

2. What kinds of products do you usually buy when you shop online?
The last two things I bought online were my Matt & Nat purse (which I am still waiting for... stupid UPS...), and my Mole Book.

3. What kinds of online videos do you usually spend time watching?
Here's my fave YouTube videos:









Hope you enjoyed those.

4. Besides Friday 5, what weekly memes do you particularly enjoy?
I don't really do any weekly ones, just when the mood strikes me.

5. Where do you like to go for streaming online music?
Well, I've heard fantastic things about Pandora, but unfortunately, those of us North of the Border aren't able to listen to it. If I listen to streaming music, I usually go to AOL Radio. I will also listen to music on YouTube, which reminds me, I was doing that the other night and rediscovered the video for Crash Into Me by the Dave Matthews Band. I love the song, but it had been a while since I saw the video, so I had forgotten just how beautiful it is. Y'all need to go here and watch it (because embedding is disabled). It's like the most gorgeous dream. Seriously, go watch it.

Baking With Erin

Tonight I decided to break out my new cookbook (got it for Christmas) and do some baking. I wanted chocolate, and had the right ingredients, so I decided to make brownies. Unfortunately, I did not think that maybe the dish I had was not actually a 9 inch pan, like the called for, but in fact much smaller. All of the mix fit, so I figured that I was good to go. This nearly turned into a giant brownie FAIL when I realized that the insides were still gooey but the outsides were done. I decided to take my chances in hope that the mix would solidify as it cooled...

It didn't, but I decided to try it out anyways...


And it turned out to be a GIANT BROWNIE WIN! Like brownie pudding or a molten lava cake! I may or may not have gone back for seconds...

So, ladies and gentlemen, the lesson for today is don't bother measuring your pans, because way too thick brownies turn into amazing brownie pudding cake!

I'm Just Waiting 'Til the Shine Wears Off

I've been a neglectful blogger again, sorry guys. It's not that I don't have things to write about... I just haven't been feeling it. Don't worry, I'll be back again shortly! Tonight I am being a domestic goddess - I put up my new shower curtain, did laundry (including trying out the at home dry cleaning kit I purchased to get the cat pee out of my coat - that's right, he peed on my coat), and currently am baking brownies. That, my friends, is about as domestic as it gets around chez Erin.
So now I'll leave you with the video to the song I haven't been able to get out of my head for weeks it's so good: Lost+ by Coldplay ft. Jay-Z. I think it's just beautiful (and this is coming from me, a former Coldplay fan who thought she was so over them).

Join Me on Facebook!

Now you can join my blog network on Facebook! Please do, it will make me terribly happy!
Click here to do it.

"Standing on Your Mama's Porch..."

The 20SB January Carnival's theme is your first kiss. I've never really written about my relationship past on here, and because this blog isn't entirely anonymous, I'm going to keep most of it fairly brief and impersonal. I can, however, talk about my first kiss.

All I Need by -roosevelt-

I've always been a bit of a late bloomer. I guess I haven't yet even exactly bloomed all of the way, but that's beside the point. It was the summer after my first year of university. I was 18. That summer I was the Environmental Learning Coordinator at camp, and as senior staff, I lived at camp from April until August. At 18 I had never had a boyfriend, never been kissed.
One of my friends who worked at camp with me had moved to Florida a few years back because of a parental divorce/remarriage, and he was due to work at camp that summer. He ended up driving back to Ontario with a friend that he went to school in Florida with, and, being short on male counsellors for the summer, we asked his friend (who, from now on, we will call The Surfer) if he wanted to stay and work at camp. This guy was always up for an adventure and trying new things, so he rearranged his summer plans to stay. Our group of camp friends would get together whenever I had time off from camp, and The Surfer would join us, so between that and camp training, I got to know him before the camp session actually started. After our first whole wee together at camp, he made up a lame excuse for us to spend the Saturday together, kind of like a date. Another week went by at camp, and we spent the Saturday with our group of friends taking a trip to one of the neighbouring cities so we could go shopping and to the movies. We held hands in the movie theatre. Our friend who was driving dropped me off at home that evening, and The Surfer offered to walk me to the door. We talked for a few minutes and he told me that he was amazed that I had never had a boyfriend before, and asked if maybe he could be my boyfriend. Of course, I was smitten and overwhelmed and said yes. I was standing on the step on the porch and he was standing on the ground, making us about equal height because he was very tall, and then he leaned in and kissed me. I had never realized how amazing something so simple as touching lips could be. We said goodnight after that simple kiss and they drove away. I immediately ran inside and jumped onto my parents' bed with maybe the biggest grin ever to announce with a squeal that I had a fantastic day and that he kissed me.
And there we have it, my first kiss. The relationship didn't end perfectly, I got very hurt and have spent the years since then building up walls to protect myself from getting hurt again. If I could re-do that relationship, I would do things very differently. However, even if I could re-do that first kiss, I wouldn't change a thing. Being gently kissed on your parents' porch on a warm July night is pretty much the perfect first kiss.

(title lyrics from Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69")

Best Child and Youth Worker EVER

15

Created by OnePlusYou

Found via Carmen in Calgary.

Fancy Dressing

Over at Classy in Philadelphia, Jess asked all of us ladies in blog land to share our formal dresses. I thought that even though I haven't had that many, I'd still share my pretty dresses. Unfortunately, although most people have been to quite a few formals and proms, I've only been to one highschool prom and I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. That's it. I'm okay with it though, I get kind of awkward when I get really fancy.

Here I am at highschool prom, grade 12. I'm with my BFF Jim and my pretty hairdo is battling the wind here. I was so excited about this dress, but in hindsight I should have either left the gloves or the wrap. Also exciting was the fact that I got to wear my Mom's pearls (after a stern lecture about what would happen to me if I broke them)... from her wedding I believe.


And here's me posing outside of the men's washroom at my church. Classy, I know. I got to be a bridesmaid in one of my elementary school BFF's wedding. She told us what colours she wanted, and we got to pick out any dress style we wanted as long as it was long. I got mine for about $50 which was amazing, but it was a few sized too big so I had to get Mom to take it in for me. Thank goodness she can sew! I was sooo thrilled about my hair - I felt so classy and elegant, even though it took about 1,000000 bobby pins to keep in there. The hairdresser's wife has the same kind of hair as I do, so he was able to make it look amazing - and he attended the wedding and reception, so he was always there to stick another bobby pin in when it started to loosen.


Finally, for your viewing pleasure, photo evidence of the fact that I have always been freaking adorable/stylish!

So, ladies of the blog world, I expect you to show us all your pretty dress photos, hopefully you have more than I do!

A Few of My (Current) Favourite Things

I have zero ambition to actually write a real post, even though I have many things to write about. Instead, I am spending my evening with laundry and apartment cleaning and Don't Forget the Lyrics. So, instead of writing a real blog post, I will share with you a few of my favourite things (that I have purchased) from the past few weeks:

Live and Live Luxe by Jennifer Lopez - they were both at Winners and I was pumped to find them there (for you U.S. viewers, Winners is like T.J. Maxx I think - brand names at a discount). They smell gorgeous and are light enough to wear every day! Score!

My Geode Necklace from Urban Outfitters. It reminds me of the rock/geode/jewel collection that Dad used to have in the garage growing up. I went through a stage when I was super interested in rocks and minerals too, I think it may have been a mandatory stage for a jeweller's daughter to go through, no?

My Foxy Necklace from Montreal-based company Frug. I mentioned way back in October my newfound obsession with foxes, and this necklace is just perfect!

A week or so ago, my lips were crazy chapped. I tried every lip gloss I owned and nothing helped. I went to the drug store in hopes of finding something to relieve my lips, and they hardly had anything. Dismayed, I grabbed one that looked alright, LypSyl with Eucalyptus, and ended up even more disappointed when I realized it was the kind you squeeze and the gel comes out when I thought it would be a soft solid. Well imagine my surprise when I put it on, and it feels amazing! My chapped lips healed up incredibly fast and I've kept using it ever since because of how awesome it makes my lips look and feel. I totally recommend it!

And finally, I splurged on some new body wash yesterday. Olay Botanicals Hydrate is amazing! With patchouli and soy, it smells incredible and helps fulfill my secret dreams of being a hippie (a clean one!).

There you have it - Erin's Current Favourite things, you know, other than the things I have already blogged about (like my new bag and feather headbands).

Fiscal Irresponsibility With Erin Continues

I just got myself a new purse. Or, at least, I will get it in a few days and I can not wait.
It's the Matt & Nat Jorja Small in Coffee Japanese Paper and it is perfect and beautiful. Y'all know how much I love Matt & Nat. (I told you about it here, here, here, here, here, here, and also here. My goodness.)

Please arrive soon, beautiful purse??
Please arrive sooner, paycheck????

Mole Mail!

Look what arrived in my mailbox today:
The package was adorable on it's own, and my mole is super cute! Now, what to name him? I am aware that I am approximately 7 years old.

It's Delurking Day!

Alright, y'all. I found out from Ashley over at Turquoise Ribbons that it is apparently Delurking Day. I missed the memo on this I guess.
Anyhow, today is a day for all of you readers to come out of the shadowy bushes of internet anonymity and expose yourself to me as a reader. Leave me a comment to let me know you're here!
You can just say hi, you can ask me a question, tell me a story, or just tell me about yourself! Any questions you have for me I promise to answer in the form of a post. Those of you with blogs yourself, leave the address and I'll be sure to stop by.
So what are you waiting for!? Leave a comment and delurk!

'Cause You Might Die Trying

I love this song. Not just because it's Dave, also for the idea behind it.

To change the world,
Start with one step.
However small,
The first step is hardest of all.

Once you get your gate,
You will walk in tall.
You said you never did,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
Cause you---

If you close your eyes,
Cause the house is on fire.
Think you couldn't move,
Until the fire dies.
The things you never did,
Oh, Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
You'd be as good as dead,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.

If you give, you, you begin to live.
If you give, you begin to live.
You begin, you get the world.
If you give, you begin to give
You get get the world, you get the world.
If you give, you get to give.

You might die trying.
Oh, you might die trying.
Yeah, you might die trying.

The things you never did,
Cause you might die trying;
You'd be as good as dead.
You never did.

It's hard to do something to make change, but if you don't take the risk nothing will happen at all, right?
I love the idea of making a difference and changing the world, but usually when the opportunity to really do something, even something little, comes along, I freeze up and do nothing. I mean, I help people because it's my job when I'm at the shelter, but outside of work I never go out of my way to help people. I need to stop freezing and going on with my day, doing nothing.

I was riding the streetcar to work today. It was freezing outside and starting to snow. At one point, a homeless man hopped on through the back doors without paying, carrying a garbage bag full of cans. His slightly odd behaviour struck me as potentially schizophrenic, and so I got my guard up like I usually do around people with mental health issues on public transit (not without reason, I've seen a few scary incidents). Sitting on a chair was a leather glove that everyone else who got on had ignored. The homeless man grabbed it and tried it on, appearing thrilled that he would now have a warm hand. After a while, a homeless woman got on. They greeted each other and she sat down near him (in front of me). He then told her about his glove, and offered it to her. She declined, saying she was already too hot, but I was really touched by the gesture. This man who clearly didn't have very many things to call his own and who spent his time outside collecting bottles in the cold without proper winter attire, was willing to give away his newfound glove to somebody else who might need it more than he did. He was willing to try and make a difference and help somebody else. Meanwhile, I sat there with my hat and two gloves and scarf and iPod and just observed.

With Feathers in Her Hair

I was perusing the accessories section of Urban Outfitters today and completely fell in love with the feather headbands / hair pieces:





And my favourites...I am trying to convince a friend to have a cowboys & indians themed birthday party so I can justify buying one (what are your thoughts on this, readers, is it racist or a social faux pas, or is it retro throwback-y enough for it to work?).
I'm trying to decide whether or not I could rock one of these in real life, maybe not over my forehead, but in the normal headband position. Thoughts?

Polaroids on YOUR Computer

Have you downloaded Poladroid yet?
No? You're missing out.
Check out some of the pretty pictures I made even prettier:

my camp

the road in front of my house

my favourite man

I Finally Did It!

I just bought my first thing from Etsy, I'm crazy excited about this:


A mole on a Moleskin notebook! by ArgyleWhale.

It's hilarious and super-cute! And I like to believe that it will help me with my goal of being more artsy in my spare time.

Underemployment Plans

Now that I'm done school and a real working girl, I have a bit more free time. Okay, that's a lie. Now that my only job is relief work, I'm discovering that I have a lot more free time. It's only my second day off this week and I'm already bored stiff.
I'm still looking for another job (either a full time job or a second part time job), but I'm taking my time, playing it by ear. I want to see how much work I get at the shelter before I look for something else.
In the meantime, I need things to occupy my time. There are a few things that I know for sure I need to do, and a few other ideas I've been thinking about but am undecided on. And, because everybody likes lists, here are my thoughts on things I can do outside of work to occupy my time, in list form:

• Cleaning the apartment, and not just average cleaning, but hardcore cleaning - that way I can keep on top of it for the rest of the year, a la my New Year's Resolution. Yes, this includes the closets and ALL of the laundry.
  
• Finding my local library branch, getting a Toronto library card, and reading, reading, reading - for free! This will help with that other resolution.
• Training the cat to use the toilet rather than the litter box. Yes, I'm aware that this is basically a pipe dream, but I'm still considering it.
• Catching up on the episodes of Pushing Daisies that I have waiting for me to watch on my computer.
• Going for walks daily, bringing my camera, and taking pictures. I'm considering taking part in Project 365.
• Joining some type of exercise group or class. Taking yoga, dance, swimming, joining an organized sport... I'm not sure which. Any ideas?
• Being more artistic: printmaking, painting, photography, etc - just do more of it.
• Taking some sort of art and/or crafts class. Know of any good / inexpensive ones in the GTA?
• Learn to sew, with a machine, meaning I need to procure a sewing machine somehow.
• Borrowing my little sister's Game Cube that she does not use, kicking butt in the games.
• Writing thank you notes to the older generation of my family for my Christmas gifts. I have the cards, I just have to sit down and do it.

Have any ideas to add to my list? Any suggestions? Help me out here guys, I'm going stir crazy!

"Rock and roll is - and should be - a kid's place."

Guess who I'm going to see in concert on February 17th at the Kool Haus in Toronto...


Ben Folds!! Ben F*ing Folds!! (The post title is a Ben Folds quote, btw)

That's right, this Ben Folds:


... and this Ben Folds:


Not only am I going to see THAT Ben Folds, but I am going with some of my favourite kids from our camp years!
February 17th cannot come fast enough!!

But I Hate Resolutions...

I am a notorious New Year's Resolutions hater. It feels like I always am just setting myself up to fail with the same old goals of losing weight, exercising, and eating better. But I got to thinking, and I guess if I keep choosing the same resolutions every year and I keep failing at them, then maybe I'm not ready for that just yet. So instead, I've thought up a few other things that I would like to see happen in the new year:

1) Stop biting my nails. - I have been a nail biter since I was little. In the past few years though, I've mostly stopped. Now I only bite them when I am stressed or when they get chipped badly. I want to stop all together.

I really should stop biting my nails by diurnaldreamer

2) Drink more water. - I drink way too much diet cola. The problem is that I don't like the taste of water (I am really picky, I know). I am going to try to cut it down by bringing my Nalgene to work with me and some Crystal Lite singles so I can get it down.

Fill 'er up by acermate433s

3) Keep the apartment clean. - My apartment is pretty much always a disaster zone as soon as things in my life get busy. I want to keep on top of things this year. I am going to take the garbage out on the same day every week so I remember, and I am going to do the dishes as soon as I am done with them. I am also going to make the litter box clean out a daily occurrence. If I stay on top of those things, then the rest of it will be easier to get done when I have time.

Banksy by Simon Crubellier

4) Read more. - Now that I'm not in school, I can read for pleasure without feeling guilty that I'm not doing my homework. And now that I'm done the Twilight series, I'm left with a gaping literary hole to fill. I want to keep reading on a daily basis - whether before bed, at work, or on the subway.

On the platform, reading by moriza

5) Keep at this dating business. I'm still doing the online thing, but sometimes the idea of dating seems like more effort than it's worth. I do want to meet someone I like though, so I need to keep trying.

Date by XXVIII

I will keep you posted on my progress. You guys can keep me accountable so that I actually have to work on these. Wish me luck!

On Homes

So, I've known about this for a while, but was bound to secrecy by my family until they began to tell people. Mom and Dad bought a "farm". I say farm, I mean 60-something acres of land about 45 mins from where we live now that has 2 small sections that are cleared for farming and the rest is forest. Dad hasn't been this excited in a long time (if ever...). Here they are on Boxing Day posing with their Sold sign:

My Mom, looking beautiful in spite of having spent the past year battling cancer, and my Dad, looking about as excited as a kid in a candy store, and their "farm". Mid-life crisis much?

It is a pretty large property, with a small section of farm land on either side. There is a creek that runs through it, branching off into a Y shape in the middle. It's a 5 minute drive from a beach on Lake Erie. Over the next couple of years, they plan to bring the trailer out there and spend weekends on the property. Ultimately, but not for a while, they plan to build a house on the property.

I have mixed feelings about this.

Part of me is not pleased. We have lived in our old farm house since I was in grade 2. I'm attached. Mom and Dad have put in a ton of work on the house, and the majority of my childhood memories are there. That house and its location... well, it is home to me. I am fairly attached to it, even to the town we live outside of. I hated that town growing up, but perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder, as I feel nostalgic and proud of it now. There was once a time that Mom and Dad planned to live in our house the rest of their lives, in fact, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have been certain that they would never move.

But Dad has always wanted a forest, that is where he is at his happiest. Give Dad walking shoes and his Tilley hat and leave him with the bugs and plants and animals and he will be content. And I think this past year has shown my parents that they have to stop putting off what they want to do. A brush with your own mortality will make you think twice about your priorities in life.

Oh, and the possibilities. I love the idea of it all. Buying a plot of land in the country, designing and building your own house in the middle of the woods... it sounds amazing. We might force him to put in internet and tv, but if Dad had his way he would live as a hermit, completely cut off from the world. I know he dreams about being self-sufficient, off the grid. Mom wants the house to overlook the ravine where the creek runs, and Dad has talked about having a huge glass wall. Their house (in my head) will look like my idea of the Cullen's house in the Twilight book, and the Cullen's house in the movie.

Remember this, anyone?



So, I suppose I'll have to wait and see. What will they do? When will they do it? What will it look like? How will I let go of the house I love now? What's most important, really, is that Mom and Dad are happy. And maybe that they stop mentioning that the forest will be fantastic for their grandchildren to play in.