Tim and I were driving near Perth and we saw these oat fields waving in the wind. It was beautiful and I just wanted everyone to have the chance to appreciate it.
Monday, 26 May 2008
Sunday, 25 May 2008
The Difference between Men and Women
http://www.bengu.net/funny/photo/808.jpgI saw this and had to post it!
Basketball - I LOVE IT!
Yeah, I am still playing basketball... I feel pretty good, considering I have been playing longer than most of the girls on my team have been alive. Here is my team. We entered a local league and won the tournament! (I am in the back row #12)
I never realized how much work went into running a basketball team. My first year here, the program almost crashed. We were down to 3 or 4 girls at practices and it was fairly unorganized. This past year, I was captain and I didn't want that to happen. I spent my summer organizing and finding out how things worked. For practices, I organized a coach to run practices, scheduled gym time, and gathered equipment. For away games I organized transportation, directions, which girls were going to the game. For home games, I organized referees, table officials, gym time, who was going to play, and gym set up. This doesn't even include worrying about the budget, how people were going to get paid, entering in a local league, and running/organizing social events to keep the team together. The lists don't seem like long, but they sure felt long sometimes when I was doing it. It was an amazing feeling when I looked around and saw all of the girls at practice. I wanted to give them the love for basketball I have. We would get somewhere between 10-25 girls at practice (and that even counts our Monday morning 8 AM practice!). Our coach, despite being a little frustrated with the numbers, realized my goal, and together we continued making the program bigger and better.
As a fundraiser, I decided to run a 4 on 4 basketball tournament. It was a great hit. I had four teams show up and Arnie and Tim help ref and run the clock. We also had a raffle and a social afterward. It was the first tournament I have ever ran and I would have to say it was a success!
The Amazing JSA's won the tournament
(or maybe they were the Awesome JSA's)
Here is my team: (I am in the middle back!)
I can't remember their team name, but it was great to have them in the tournament. I wanted to point out Ellie's shirt (Third, blue shirt with red hair). At the beginning of the year, I designed those shirts. I was pretty proud to see my girls wearing them either to practices, games, or even around town.
"Team Nina" with all of their raffle prizes that they won!
The BIG chocolate bunny was the biggest treat! Nina organized the raffle and did a wonderful job for me!
I never realized how much work went into running a basketball team. My first year here, the program almost crashed. We were down to 3 or 4 girls at practices and it was fairly unorganized. This past year, I was captain and I didn't want that to happen. I spent my summer organizing and finding out how things worked. For practices, I organized a coach to run practices, scheduled gym time, and gathered equipment. For away games I organized transportation, directions, which girls were going to the game. For home games, I organized referees, table officials, gym time, who was going to play, and gym set up. This doesn't even include worrying about the budget, how people were going to get paid, entering in a local league, and running/organizing social events to keep the team together. The lists don't seem like long, but they sure felt long sometimes when I was doing it. It was an amazing feeling when I looked around and saw all of the girls at practice. I wanted to give them the love for basketball I have. We would get somewhere between 10-25 girls at practice (and that even counts our Monday morning 8 AM practice!). Our coach, despite being a little frustrated with the numbers, realized my goal, and together we continued making the program bigger and better.As a fundraiser, I decided to run a 4 on 4 basketball tournament. It was a great hit. I had four teams show up and Arnie and Tim help ref and run the clock. We also had a raffle and a social afterward. It was the first tournament I have ever ran and I would have to say it was a success!
The Amazing JSA's won the tournament(or maybe they were the Awesome JSA's)
Here is my team: (I am in the middle back!)
I can't remember their team name, but it was great to have them in the tournament. I wanted to point out Ellie's shirt (Third, blue shirt with red hair). At the beginning of the year, I designed those shirts. I was pretty proud to see my girls wearing them either to practices, games, or even around town.
"Team Nina" with all of their raffle prizes that they won!Thursday, 22 May 2008
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Cake Decorating 101
Last Summer, I got a Cake decorating bug. After I was expected to do it (and realized that I was a little less than artistically talented), I stopped, but here are some of the cakes while the bug lasted...
Triple Layer Strawberry and Cream Cake
Chocolate Layer Cake (with White Chocolate chips, and white chocolate drizzle) (Not the prettiest, but it was delicious!)
My Friend just bought a new black car (VW Golf). That is supposed to be the Scottish country side... can't you tell?
Standard Birthday Cake (Two layers, one white with chocolate marble, and the other chocolate with white marble)
My Ultimate Favorite - You can't TRULY appreciate it, unless you know what Irn Bru is! (Just a standard chocolate cake)
A can of Irn Bru for comparison!
Triple Layer Strawberry and Cream Cake
Chocolate Layer Cake (with White Chocolate chips, and white chocolate drizzle) (Not the prettiest, but it was delicious!)
My Friend just bought a new black car (VW Golf). That is supposed to be the Scottish country side... can't you tell?
Standard Birthday Cake (Two layers, one white with chocolate marble, and the other chocolate with white marble)
My Ultimate Favorite - You can't TRULY appreciate it, unless you know what Irn Bru is! (Just a standard chocolate cake)
A can of Irn Bru for comparison!
Cutest Niece
I know everyone thinks their niece is the cutest, but really... Just watch Haylee perform:
In Order:
Camel
Scorpion
Puppy
Kitty
Cow
Santa Claus
Witch
Skeleton (So Kelly had a slight brain fart... she was thinking of these things off the cuff.)
Ghost
Oh, and I can't forget the elephant!!!
There is nothing more satisfying than teaching a youngster lifetime skills that they will be able to use for the rest of their life! :) If not this, what else are aunts for!!
In Order:
Camel
Scorpion
Puppy
Kitty
Cow
Santa Claus
Witch
Skeleton (So Kelly had a slight brain fart... she was thinking of these things off the cuff.)
Ghost
Oh, and I can't forget the elephant!!!
There is nothing more satisfying than teaching a youngster lifetime skills that they will be able to use for the rest of their life! :) If not this, what else are aunts for!!
Thursday, 8 May 2008
My Family
It has been quite awhile since anyone has seen my family (and I am even amazed at how big everyone is...) Here is a picture of us at Christmas time.
Back: Amy, Jeff, Floyd, Connie, Kelly, Nick (Kelly's Husband)
Front: Ewa (Jeff's Wife), Jackie, Haylee (Kelly's little girl)
Back: Amy, Jeff, Floyd, Connie, Kelly, Nick (Kelly's Husband)
Front: Ewa (Jeff's Wife), Jackie, Haylee (Kelly's little girl)
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Corn Memories...
What spurred this memory is I was browsing Facebook (It is a social internet network that is becoming more and more popular. EVERYONE in St Andrews has a Facebook account.) and someone had written on their profile, "Who knew you couldn't microwave corn on the cob to make popcorn." A flood of memories came when I was little and my dad planted Indian corn (I am not sure if that is the politically correct name, or if it just what I call it.) Anyway, it is the corn used to make popcorn.
I remember that you have to let it get REALLY, REALLY dry. We had the drying corn cobs sitting on these grates in the back shed. When it was ready, I remember spending tons of time "peeling" the corn off the cobs. Or if we wanted popcorn, we would go get a cob and start peeling. To "peel a cob", basically, you have to pick a small area on the top of the cob off to start it and then you rub the cob with your thumb or hand to get the rest off. My thumb hurt SO bad after getting the kernels off the cobs!! The popcorn was fantastic. We had purple and yellow kernals. YUMMY!
I remember that you have to let it get REALLY, REALLY dry. We had the drying corn cobs sitting on these grates in the back shed. When it was ready, I remember spending tons of time "peeling" the corn off the cobs. Or if we wanted popcorn, we would go get a cob and start peeling. To "peel a cob", basically, you have to pick a small area on the top of the cob off to start it and then you rub the cob with your thumb or hand to get the rest off. My thumb hurt SO bad after getting the kernels off the cobs!! The popcorn was fantastic. We had purple and yellow kernals. YUMMY!
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