YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

I don't even know where to begin with Yosemite National park.

Yosemite was recommended to us by my friend H and since I strangely love a good hike (although I strongly dislike most other exercise). I was totally on board. I expected to be wowed by the redwoods (giant sequoias) and was surprised to find myself as awed by the mountains as I was by the Alps in Austria and Switzerland! The rock faces were complete cliffs and intermittently a waterfall would spring out of nowhere and plummet off the side!! It was something to see and photos can't do it justice. We spent two nights at Yosemite Village in a tent cabin with a heater and our greatest vacation achievement was the 5 hour hike to Nevada Falls. (Predicted to be 5 to 6 hours and completed by Team R in 4 hours and 45 minutes, thank you very much.)

Above: This hike was on our first afternoon in Yosemite. It was called Mirror Lake and was an easy but pretty 1-2 hour hike. Finished off with pizza in the cafeteria. Strange camping in the US of A, but perfect for people without room in their suitcase for the tent and Coleman stove.

Those hiking boots are two years old and they have lived an adventurous life. They've been to Switzerland and California. Lucky boots.

Above: Vernal Falls. This was the first part of our hike to Nevada Falls. Once at the falls you can climb up many (many) stairs to get to the top. I am a major scaredy cat and very frightened of heights so I was reluctant to do any slippery, wet, death stairs but I'm so glad I changed my mind. Even so we did about 3/4 of the stairs maybe and then turned around. This was mostly because I was worried I would get to the top and be too terrified to turn around (can you say climbed back down the high dive ladder, anyone?). We didn't realize once at the top the path continues in a loop to Nevada Falls, which was our final destination. Oops.

At the top of Nevada Falls. Behind us and to the left is the falls which was a complete straight drop off the edge of the cliff! One of the most stunning and terrifying views ever. God is so amazing! Check out my instagram for a couple of other photos (and video) of Nevada Falls.

PLAYLIST FOR THE NEW YEAR

Hello, party people!

I haven't done a music post in forever! Music is my favourite! Here are some songs I discovered in 2015 (mostly thanks to CBC Radio 2 - my new love). Some old, some new.

Bryan Adams - You Belong to Me.

This song makes me want to snap my fingers. Super catchy jam. Two things, though. You belong to me? Bryan, that's a little possessive. Second - why won't that girl just leave Bryan alone!? Can't she see he's trying to play guitar?!

Good for Grapes - The Ropes.

AAAH. This is it, guys. On repeat. And I totally recommend the whole album. Buy it. You know, if Canadian alternative music is your jam.

Sam Roberts Band - Don't Walk Away Eileen.

This is an 'oldie' (2003) but new to me. One time during my undergrad I was away with a bunch of fellow students for a conference and this group of super grungy teens cut in front of us in a parking lot. The guy driving our vehicle said, "Watch out, Sam Roberts Band," which still makes me laugh.

Joel Plaskett - When I Close my Eyes.

Advisory: if you are in a long distance relationship this will make you cry. But it's soooo good. The video is so simple and gives me all the feels. Joel's upbeat songs are great but his love songs are just on another level for me.

Hope you enjoyed these and found something new to listen to!

NYC AT CHRISTMAS

Earlier this year I was watching Jimmy Fallon clips (as one does) and saw Billy Joel had been selling out shows at Madison Square Garden all year. Billy is one of my all time favourites (we are clearly on a first name basis) and I was pretty excited about that. However, we had a pretty big year planned and a trip to NYC wasn't part of the vacation plan. Things changed a bit at the end of July when we realized commuting to different cities for work wasn't the most feasible plan and we were indeed going to be living a long distance marriage... again. At that time someone gave us the advice to organize some trips so we had things to look forward to and time together mapped out. Well, I mean, that really twisted our arm so then we basically HAD to go see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden! I am a big fan of living life abundantly.

(I apologize for the blurry phone photos - this is inside Radio City Music Hall for the Rockettes.)

If you don't know many Billy Joel songs I recommend you stop reading this immediately and buy a greatest hits album on itunes right now. He is the best. I will never play the piano again because of this man. Because really there is no point. No one will ever be as great as the Piano Man himself so why even try. The piano intro to New York State of Mind? *kisses fingers in Italian fashion* To die for. The incredibly romantic lyrics to She's Always a Woman and She's Got A Way? Sigh. That is what dreams are made of. I could go on. But I won't.

(My favourite exhibit at the Museum of Natural History - a biology student's dream.)

(At the John Lennon "Strawberry Fields" memorial. I take John Lennon very seriously. On a lighter note - I had to buy those super cute sneakers there because I stupidly only brought heels on the trip and my feet were dying! One of the hazards of living in two places - you always forget something somewhere. They're from Aldo if you like them!)

Funny enough, hubby and I couldn't afford to sit together (it would have been literally hundreds of dollars more). I cried by myself when Billy came out on stage. I danced like a maniac by myself to all of the hits. When he brought out special guest Sting - I looked at the complete stranger next to me, eyes shining, and exclaimed, "This is SO exciting!!!"

(After the show. We realized later we accidentally were photobombed by a pretty cool building.)  ;)

So if you're going to be in NYC (or you are close enough that you can possibly get there next year) more concert dates have been released for 2015. It was the show of a lifetime. And if you simply can't get there - look up his songs. You'll love them.

CHRISTMAS SONGS

Happy December first, everyone!

This year we vowed to finish our Christmas shopping before December and we were successful! November 30th we bought the last item on our list. Last year we were so busy fighting crowds at the mall that we weren't able to relax and truly enjoy the Christmas season and everything it's actually about (and yes I'm talking about Jesus). I breathed a sigh of relief knowing we can snuggle in for all of December, watch Christmas movies, enjoy the tree and each others company (on the rare occasion we get to be together), and of course turn on the Christmas tunes.

When December first hits I am in full blown "Merriest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny Kaye" Christmas spirit. Who am I kidding? I start listening to my Christmas Playlist November first. However, for those of you who don't find your Christmas spirit until December first, I put together a little playlist of five of my favourite non-traditional Christmas songs. The Matt Anderson "Spirit of Christmas" album and Amy Grant "Home for Christmas" are perfect. And the thing I like about Dolly - she doesn't just sing about the good times. She's had some hard candy Christmases. ;)

CALGARY VISIT

As you probably already know from my post last week, I took a little weekend trip to Calgary with some Air Canada credits I had to use before this fall.  I had a lovely visit with my friend F, a close friend from my undergrad at X.  Seeing her was wonderful and I was sad to leave but look forward to the next time our paths cross!

This was my first time in western Canada and it's fun to see how much our country differs from one coast to the other.  Here on the east coast we're fishermen and woodsmen (historically speaking and somewhat still) and the west is all about black gold.  And obviously black gold is a lot more lucrative than fish or trees.  I was surprised by how much I noticed this!  Even subdivisions (which in the maritimes consist mostly of small bungalows) were incredibly different, with Alberta subdivisions having much larger and nicer homes.  I didn't expect those kinds of things.  And as a city, I liked Calgary.  I'm a country mouse so big stores, restaurants, the ballet...these are a few of my favourite things.  F showed me a good time - and since the purpose of this trip was completely just to visit her, my expectations were far exceeded! :)

The Calgary city landscape.  Last year with the flooding, this low lying area was underwater!

The mountains were hidden behind the clouds and fog for most of my visit.  F's family apparently has a mountain view, but I didn't experience it!  My last day there we drove to Banff and Lake Louise and as the day warmed up some of the fog and clouds burned off and I finally got a peek of these Rockies I've heard so much about.

This was my first glimpse of the Rockies on my last day!  You can see the clouds and fog are obscuring part of the view, but I think they make the photos quite pretty.

Once in the National Park, we took a side road towards Lake Minnewanka.  (Photo above.)

When F asked if I wanted to go to Lake Louise I said yes!  You see tourist photos of Lake Louise everywhere and I was expecting that beautiful, green water - of course forgetting that this was March in Canada.  Water freezes, dummy.  It was still a lovely spot with the ice cleared for skating, an ice sculpture and the Rockies.  In the above photo, the Lake Louise Hotel is behind me, overlooking the lake.  And there's a tea house on top of the mountains to my right where F says Will and Kate stayed on their Canada tour post Royal Wedding.  (She loves them too.)

We spent the rest of our day in Banff at the hotel and hot springs having a massage (I was veeery spoiled on this trip, I'll freely admit).  It was a wonderful last day to spend with a good friend!  On our way out of Banff F quickly pulled off the road and told me to go get a photo of this guy (above).  He and a friend were just hanging out in someone's yard.  Elk, apparently.  We don't have them on the east coast, and I'll tell you, he was as big as a moose!

All in all a fabulous trip and I will definitely be returning to Alberta (with hubby) some day!  I wish traveling in Canada was more convenient and affordable.  Sadly, my ticket to Calgary and my ticket to Switzerland for June were basically the same price.  It makes it hard when you have fellow X Men who you love spread out across the country!

Thank you for such a wonderful time, F and family!

Will you hate me if I leave you with this cheesy video that hubby has been singing since I got home?  Canada is the Rocky Mountains... ;)

LISTENING TO: FLEETWOOD MAC

Right now I'm packing and listening to Fleetwood Mac "I don't Want to Know".  Total sucker for songs with clapping in them.  Something about it I just can't explain... Hope you're enjoying your weekend!  Feel free to clap along. :)

NEW MUSIC

Hi everyone!

I have been a horrible absentee blogger the last couple of months.  I started clerkship in September (AKA year three of medical school and the true beginning of clinical experience), and it has been very fun and exciting but also incredibly busy and tiring.  Shocking, I know.  I am hoping to get back to blogging but my life has been very un-artistic recently.  We have been eating frozen meals for the last month (although either my mom or myself cooked them), so I don't even have any new recipes to share.

What I do have to show you are some new musical selections.  My friend K introduced me to a few new things when she came to visit this summer.  Here they are!  (And for the record, the Miley Cyrus didn't come from K...just in case she's embarassed to be associated with Smiley.  It's a Bob Dylan cover and I think it's fantastic.)

 

Bryan and Katie Torwalt - Holy Spirit

Brooke Fraser - Something in the Water

Miley Cyrus - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

SHAKE IT OUT

I have never jumped on the Glee train.  It's funny, too, because I love singing, dancing, and musical theatre.  The music covered piques my interest but every time I watch an episode, I find the plot boring.  For me, a youtube search of recent Glee songs is the best case scenario.  This way I can listen to their music and don't have to watch (what I consider) boring dialogue.  Last week during one of these searches I found "Shake it Out".  This is a song by Florence and the Machine (Dog Days Are Over, anyone?) and I absolutely love it!  In the last few days I have probably listened to this song (both versions) fifteen times.  The gals on Glee did an acoustic version, which adds a different dimension to the song.  Both are lovely so here they are for you to enjoy!

[In other news I ran 5 km with Leroy today.  Go me!  Running outside is a whole different world than the treadmill... The entertainment factor is there, but man, hills are rough.]

HAPPY EASTER - HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter!

As I've gotten older, Easter has replaced Christmas as my favourite holiday.  It's so awesome to have this reminder once a year about how much God loves me (so much he calls me a child of God)!  I know it everyday, but on Good Friday and Easter Sunday it really sinks in that Jesus has saved me.

To celebrate, I wanted to share the song I have listened to probably ten times today (by David Crowder Band called "How he loves us").  My favourite line is:

If His grace is an ocean we're all sinking.

And thank heavens for grace!

ALWAYS A WOMAN

Chorus:

Oh - she takes care of herself

She can wait if she wants

She's ahead of her time

Oh - and she never gives out

And she never gives in

She just changes her mind

She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes

She can ruin your faith with her casual lies

And she only reveals what she wants you to see

She hides like a child

But she's always a woman to me

She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you

She can ask for the truth but she'll never believe you

And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free

Yeah, she steals like a thief

But she's always a woman to me

And she'll promise you more than the Garden of Eden

Then she'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleedin'

But she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be

Blame it all on yourself

Cause she's always a woman to me

She is frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel

She can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool

And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree

And the most she will do is throw shadows at you

But she's always a woman to me

HERDING INSTINCT

A classmate recently heard The Sheepdogs in concert and had posted one of their music videos on her facebook.  Until recently I had sort of forgotten about this and this week I began conducting a little musical research, if you will.

Their sound is very old school rock and roll.  They definitely have a 70s feel and I'm diggin' it!  (Did they say that in the 70s??)  I won't try to compare them to other bands because if I was a professional musician that would drive me crazy.  I'm sure they would like to be known for their own sound and not someone else's.  On a different note, if I'm not mistaken they are from Saskatoon - Canadian - which only adds to their cool factor.

Probably you've already heard of them, considering they were on the cover of Rolling Stone recently (I think)...  Here's a video in case you're interested!

Side note: seems like a very appropriate band to post about considering I have a sheepdog of my very own sitting at my feet!

SONGS OF THE SEASON

Looking for a hilarious new holiday favourite?  Would you rather laugh at festive songs than contemplate beautiful lyrics?

I thought so.

While traveling this summer, our host in Prague sang us this song.  Having not ever heard of it, his serenade was hilarious.  We had no idea what he was singing.  I hope you enjoy it!

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

I sometimes think I would like to be more "into" independent music so when I discovered my hosts in Prague this summer like independent music, I was quite excited.  They introduced me to a few new bands including Dead Man's Bones which features frontman Ryan Gosling (and as Jay Onrait would say - Canadian).

I ordered their cd and it arrived last week (why is amazon so slow?) so I've been listening to it ever since.  I had fallen in love with their song "Name in Stone" and was a little disappointed to find out it isn't on their cd.  Oh well.

I would describe their sound as 50s music meets zombies... Their songs are full of "shooby dooby doos" and the like.  There just aren't enough shooby dooby doos in the world, are there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEvF7qUf2Pc