Moving Forward....finally!

Greg, and I have been dreaming about having a home of our own for the last 5 years. We started out by purchasing 5 acres of land in 2004 with dreams of building a home there one day. Well, a year and a bit ago we moved up to the town where our land is here in Quesnel, BC. We rented an older townhouse in town, and we started some minor clearing, and put a drive on the property last year, but didn't get much else accomplished.

Winter set in November 1st, and so did the snow, and the snow stayed up until about a month ago. We actually still have snowy spots here, and there up in the shady parts of the property. Greg actually thought we could get some stuff done this winter, but was rudely awakened by the amount of snow we got. At least 4 feet or more stayed the whole winter at our place, and most of the higher spots.

Greg has been researching cordwood masonry for the last 5 years, and we had hopes of building us a cordwood home ourselves. I was skeptical that we could do it ourselves, but I was willing to give it a shot. Well, we have been muddling over plans, and more plans, and trying to decide what we wanted to do, and up until about a month ago, we were still set on doing a timber frame with cordwood infill. We even met with a timber framer. Having a house still seemed so long away, even years if we had continued on the path we were.

We finally decided to go to our credit union to see what kind of money we could get for a building mortgage. They came back to us with a decent figure, and not way off of the charts too, and within our limits. Until we got a ballpark figure, there was no way we could even decide on what we could afford to build. So now we are getting somewhere....We had talked about house kits before, and played around with putting a trailer on the land until we could build, and all kinds of alternative housing until we could build our cordwood home. This just made things more complicated.

So we revisited the house kit idea, and decided that with Greg's work schedule this year often having him out of town, that we would should do a house kit instead. This would put us on our land in a reasonable amount of time, and not years from now.

I had only wish we decided this a year ago! :)

So we have been looking at house plans, and we have looked at lots of websites, books, and magazines. Greg found a plan he really liked, and I sort of liked it too, but it just wasn't giving me that "I really love this house" feeling.
I was looking through another magazine the other night, and I found a plan that I really loved, and the house was very nice. I showed Greg, and he really liked it too.
Unfortunately the company that produced it was in Tennessee.

We decided to contact log home builders in the area to see if anyone could reproduce this house, and fortunately a local builder right here in Quesnel answered our email with a very positive yes, I can help you response. So we are going to make an appointment to meet with the builder, and hopefully everything will continue to fall into place.

I am very hopeful, and optimistic that we will be in our own home in the near future. I think the Fall sounds good to me, but we will see.

Here is the link to the floor plans, and a sketch of the place online, and this is a photo I took of the picture in the magazine.
House Plans

Burma Cyclone

I have been so busy over the last several days, that I had not heard about the cyclone that hit Burma until now. Such epic devastation to the country of Burma, and the world. 100,000+ dead and one million homeless, aid is slowly making its way to victims of cyclone Nagris in Burma. Please donate to your local Red Cross, or Doctors without Borders to help.

As for what I have been up to as of late....lots of online charity work.
I have been very busy working on Okala Foundation's website, and setting them up a cafepress shop.
Please take a visit over to okalafoundation.org. There are a couple of fund raisers going on, and then the new merchandise sporting various Okala Foundation logos. You can view everything new going on listed under the recent posts section at the bottom of the main page.

Spring has finally sprung for the most part, and I for one couldn't be happier about it. I am ready for color, and warmth.
I hope all is well in your world.
Cheers!~

And you wonder why such a high percentage of people are overweight....

Well, I think mostly in part that in order to eat healthy you have to shell out some extra green stuff. Since we have been on the South Beach Program, and eating much healthier, our grocery bill has sky rocketed. This is really kind of disheartening. You would think that it would be the other way around , so that eating junk would be discouraged if it cost too much. No wonder a high percentage of the population is obese. Very sad indeed. If anything could be done to make people healthier, make it affordable to eat food that is good for you.

Happy Earth Day!!!

Make everyday Earthday!! Do your part by conserving,renewing, and reusing. Plant a tree, a garden, clean up litter along the road ways, turn off lights when not in use... there are so many things you can do to help save our planet!!! This is my reason for making this world a better place. She is 22 months old, and she is my future.

Hello

Well, I have been busy with various projects over the last little while, and Molly just got over a case of roseola. So I have been pretty busy. Greg left today for the states for work for 16 days. I hate when he goes away, but this is hopefully the last trip to the states for work. The other trips will be within BC, and Alberta, and hopefully Molly, and I can accompany him on some of those trips.

I have a ton to do it seems, and I just don't know where to begin. I feel I need some "me" time, but I don't know when I will get it. I have some little breaks here, and there, but nothing specific. The crafting, and knitting is coming along, and I keep practicing the knitting.

Well, I need to do some things, just wanted to poke in and say hello.
I hope all is well in your parts of the world.
Peace~
Jen

be sure you hop over to see my new blog
right action

I am over the moon!!!

As of this morning, I have lost 11.6 lbs on the South Beach diet! I don't feel like I am dieting at all. :)
I am on my way to a leaner, healthier me, and I am happy about that! :)

I have added a new blog

I have started a new blog. Please take a trip over, and take a peek. :)

Right Action : a page dedicated to making a difference, helping those that need our help, and to make this world a better place to be.

Right Action

Happy Dreary Snowy Easter

Well, today feels like winter instead of the coming of spring. :( It is overcast, cold, windy, and now it is snowing. :( So much for taking nice pictures outside today.
Bah!
Hope it is nice, and springlike where you are.

World Water Day

World Water Day March 22
"The Walk for Water is inspired by the example of women in water stressed countries who often walk 6 miles each day just to get water for their family."

"Join us as we take action to address this critical global problem. Major events and activities are being planned in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle as well as select local communities. Walk for Water in your city or virtually, and please help us spread the word."
"If there is not a Walk in your area, you can join the global "Virtual Walk For Water". We’ll include your name in a symbolic water jug to be carried by a participant in one of the local Walk for Water events." - World Water Day

Wanting to make a difference...

As of late I have been doing charitable work through the power of the internet. Just take a look at my web page, and you will see all the things I am currently involved in.

Just today, Greg, and I are helping a new friend Tamara Davy we met on Facebook. She has started a foundation, the Okala Foundation to help the children, and people of Cameroon. We are going to set up her website as our contribution to helping her get her foundation out there beyond the walls of Facebook.

She had a chance to volunteer with a chimpanzee sanctuary in Cameroon, and had a chance to get to know the people of the villages there in Cameroon.

Last year she found sponsors for 57 children, and provided them with school supplies, and books. This year she is raising funds to build them a new school.

She is also collecting prescription eye glasses for the villagers as well.

If you want to donate eye glasses or donate money to help build the school, please drop me an email, and I can forward her contact information to you.
Cheers!
Jen

A state of mind...

I have had a change of mind...I don't know why it has taken me this long to realize that eating healthier, and eating wisely makes you feel good physically, and mentally. We have been on the South Beach diet now going on 3 weeks. We just entered phase 2, and we are now able to introduce things we were restricted to eat during phase one...namely fruit, and starches. I have felt better than I have in years, and I am eating my veggies daily, and lost about 5 lbs so far. South Beach isn't so much a diet as it is a tool to retrain the way you think about eating. It gets you ready for eating for the rest of your life.

I have been watching a lot of things on tv as of late, and have found out just how bad refined wheat products are for you. We had pretty much decided to start eating nothing but whole wheat, and whole grains before we started South Beach...you will no longer see white pasta, flour, rice, or bread in our house.

We even cleaned out our pantry of the bad stuff. It is going to be hard to never eat a doughnut, or cake from the grocery store again, because they taste oh so good, but they are oh so BAD for you, in more ways than the obvious. I have never been a big fruit eater, but I think I will be able to manage a sweet tooth with some berries, and fat free sugar free yogurt. :)Splenda is my new best friend. :)

Anyhow, I am feeling pretty confident that this is just the beginning to a much healthier life. :)
You really are what you eat!!!
Cheers!
Jen

I have been on the South Beach diet now for the last week, and I have shed 4.6 lbs!!!
I am so excited that this will be a life altering event for me! I am really liking this program.

This chaps my ass!

Extremists claim to be doing good for what they believe in...extremists are pollutants in my eyes. You can get your point across without doing more harm... Violence, and crime is not an answer. There are many things in this world I do not agree with, or am happy with, but resorting to harmful, potentially deadly actions is not my idea of how to fix a problem. This environmental extremist group in the Seattle area decided to blow up some of the Woodinville Street of Dreams houses because they claim they were not "green" homes. Whether they are green or not green, using chemicals, and the burning of things that release harmful pollutants into the air sure didn't help the environment!! What a bunch a freakin' retards!

Read this storyhere.

Make Poverty History Campaign

I just saw an advertisement on tv for this website.
All celebrity cast...quite compelling.
When you sign on to the Make Poverty History campaign, your name is added to the list of a quarter of a million Canadians who are asking our elected representatives for:

* More and better aid
* Trade justice
* Debt cancellation
* An end to child poverty in Canada

Your voice will be united with millions around the world committed to making poverty history.

Good Causes Revisited.

I am a facebooker, and I have become quite an enthusiast of charity applications on there. I am a loyal clicker on the hungersite, and all it's affiliates. It makes me feel good that I am making some small difference in the world for someone not as fortunate as me. I hope also that I can make a much bigger difference by recruiting others to do the same. I have been doing this for a while, but I have been going strong 26 days in a row! I am going to try to do this everyday that is humanly possible.

All it takes is one click per day. A few minutes out of your day to make a difference in the lives of someone that needs our help.

For each click you provide the equivalent of 1.1 cups of food to the hungry.
For each click you are helping provide a free mammogram to a woman in need.
For each click you you are helping a child in need get health care.
For each click you are helping a child attain literacy.
For each click you are helping to protect 11.4 sf of rainforest.
For each click you have given the value of .6 bowls of food to a rescued animal.
100% of sponsor money goes to charity.

They also have wonderful items for purchase in their online store that goes toward the cause.
The hungersite provides a pie chart, and other information to show you how people are making a difference by purchasing items, or clicking.

With Ripple.com
Each click provides 6 days access to fresh water.
Each Click provides the tools for a village to feed itself.
Each click provides 2 days access to education.
Each click helps finance a $100 loan for a day.

Greg, and I are both supporters of Kiva.org as well, and have helped entrepreneurs in developing countries by donating $25 in micro loans, that will be repaid to us. Once the loan is repaid, we can turn around, and use that same $25 to help another person get their business off the ground, and make a difference.

Even if you only have time to do it once a week, it still makes a difference.
Thanks! :)
Peace, and Love,
Jen

A post with no real title...

I went to the store this evening with Molly to get a few groceries. As usual Molly is very social, and loves to say hi to people. Some are taken aback, and if they don't respond the first time, she promptly says hi again. she always gets a response back, and usually a compliment or two...mostly about her beautiful blue eyes, or her big smile. In my experiences if you say hi to someone, and they don't respond, you move along.

Growing up in a small Alabama town, I was raised to be polite, and speak when spoken to. People greeted each other on the streets, and in most cases you will see many people you know. You stop for a moment to exchange hellos, and well wishes.

When I moved to Vancouver aside from a few rare occasions, I found people in the city to be stiff, closed up, and sometimes downright rude. If you greeted them with a smile, and a hello, they look at you like you have the plague. Now, not everyone was like that, but a huge majority of them were. After some time, I stopped speaking at all to people passing by, and I closed right up. This did not make me a very happy person. In the city, you have so much at your disposal. It is a fast paced lifestyle, and many hunger for it. Not me...

When we moved to the BC interior nearly a year ago, I almost immediately noticed a difference. The people were nice, they spoke to you, and most will strike up a conversation with you if you don't do it first. Now, we live in a small town, but aside from small shopping inconveniences, we have everything we need. Including the kindness, and socialization that makes a community strong. People ask us why did you move to a small town in the middle of the BC wilderness? My answer would be because it gives me peace, it gives me hope, and it gives me what I need.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we stayed in the Vancouver area. Would Molly be greeted with the same positivity that she gets here when she says hi to someone? In most cases probably not. I am glad that we moved here, and I am looking forward to a much happier, and healthier life here....
now if all this snow would just melt! :)
Peace!

Some relief, then more snow today...

Well, after my winter blahs post, we had a couple of nicer days in which I actually got to take Molly for a ride on her sled, and I got to take a nice walk. Today, however, it snowed like mad again, and we got at least 8 iches or more. The only good thing about it was that is was a wet snow, and I could build us a snowperson! :) I was thrilled. Our snow is usually powder dry...this was the stuff I was used too. :)
Won't make for a nice drive tomorrow though. :P

Winter Blahs!

Well, I haven't posted much lately, because I really don't have anything new to talk about. We are getting a bunch of snow as I type this, and that will be more than a foot inside of a week. It has been cold, and not much fun to be outside. So we have spent a lot of time indoors. We are currently under a snowfall warning. Everyone is tired of the snow, and say it is worst than last year. I for one am dreaming of warmth, and color. I guess we should have expected this moving further north, but didn't expect it to be this bad.

Life is too short...

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets,
so love the people who treat you right,
forget about the ones who don't, and
believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your
life, let it."

All it takes is a few minutes a day...

Please take the time to make a difference. All it takes is one click per day. A few minutes out of your day to make a difference in the lives of someone that needs our help.
100% of sponsor money goes to charity.