Guatemala Adventures 2003

So, I took a wee trot over to Guatemala in February of 2003. We stayed there for a little over two weeks. We did a lot of volunteering (teaching about agriculture, because they dont eat vegetables and fruits they harvest, built a water well, taught some basic english to children, and helped out everywhere else). We had a really good trip and only got sick once!

-A scenic picture of Guatemala.....it really is a beautiful place and I would go back in a heartbeat

-I bought a lot from this woman! They just have a way with words, "I make this for you pretty girl.....your mother love you forever you buy this for her, I make this special for you" ugh!!

- I found the picture of "the jump"

-This was a banana tree. We would pick these bananas and the locals would dip them in chocolate and then freeze them.....in the summer I still do this! "Chocoban"

-We lived with these women for a week up in the mountains called Bezaleel. It turns out that they were all older than us by atleast 2-5 years. I swear they are so short and little due to the fact that they hate fruits and vegetables and only eat beans and tortilla.

-Just a boat of us sitting in the ocean passing by a small volcanoe that was letting off a little steam....no worries or anything!

-I turned 18 in Guatemala, so they took us to a secluded baby waterfall.....this picture was taken right after we all jumped from the waterfall.

-We had a day hike trip up to the Mayan Ruins.....amazing!

-This is taken at an orphanage for children who lost family members during the 30 year civil war or just really do not have a family. We went in and spent the day with them singing songs, playing, and teaching.

-Catholicism is the dominant religion in South America. We just happened to run into a an ancient convent.....I forgot that my hair was so long!

-Lets talk about the cuisine for a moment. When we were in the Indigenous region we are only black beans, homemade curds, and tortilla. However, in the city there were many other special treats to try...like iguana eggs, guacamole, rice dishes, and pig tongue!

-This is their "capital" building. On our second day in Guatemala a woman was shot for stealing from an open market, which happened to be right infront of us. The army came flying from around the corner....we were all on the ground...it was very scary, but we made it through and had an eye opener.

-10,000 families live in the dump in the city of Guatemala.....this is a picture of the dump. (we did go visit families who lived here...it was brutal).

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving,
So I had a Celiac attack on Friday night and never made it to Regina for our thanksgiving with grandma. As it turned out grandma fell and cracked her collar bone answering my phone call. She is fine now, but oy between the two of us we were in rough shape.
Anyhow our family made it out to the farm on Sunday for family thanksgiving. We had a great time with the family and
playing with Zoe. We were teaching Zoe how to take self portraits and she was eating that up!

-This is taken after about 9 tries of getting lazy eyes, weird non-smiles, and Zoe running in and out of the room. (my sister Sarah and I)

- Tata and Zoe....she loved taking pictures and looking at them after.

-We were teaching Zoe how to do self portraits.......She did better than Sarah and I. We also have her calling us by name pretty well now "Tata Jilly and Tata Sarah" (FYI: tata is the cute term of aunt in French)

-My mom and Zoe.....Zoe wouldnt let "gramma" sit down all night....she even had her hiding under the table....we didnt think mom would come back up at one point.

Camp Tapawingo

Camp Tapawing is a children's camp located at Candle Lake. I started off there when I graduated as the Recreation Director. Basically it was a fancy term for teaching canoeing/kayaking, lifeguarding, and implementing a recreation program. In my last year at camp half way through I finished the summer as both acting director and recreational director, so a touch bit chaotic. Anyhow it was an amazing experience and I wouldnt trade it for anything.

-This is the best sunset to date...right from our beach

-This is from my first summer there.....just the female staff

-This was my main station during the summer

-We offer sailing at camp on the last week of the summer

-Ian and I creeping around

-This woman at Minowaka Beach made all these dolls.....we went there every summer and bought her out! They were so creepy just take a closer look at what they are made of.

-Believe it or not, this is taken in August. It was soooooo cold that I never took my lifejacket off, because I used it as insulation.

My 1st Home

So, in 2004 I moved to my very own condo in Saskatoon. It had yellow walls, chocolate brown carpet, and weird greenish flooring at times. So, my dad and I ripped out the flooring and put in hardwood, repainted all the walls, and put in new fixtures and shelves. Anyhow It was an awesome project to do with my dad and the finished product is pretty rewarding.


And the living room finale

This is my bedroom after

This is my bedroom after we ripped out the carpet and repainted

This is after

This is the kitchen before