Other corner of the livingroom

our cute chairs from mom roy

whistler rose is getting married!

congratulations to my whistler rose and her josh dykstra! i just got the exciting news that he proposed on thursday and she said yes :) way to go!

sorry this is such a lame picture, my final climbing trip to Smith Rock Oregon was back in May with rose and derek and sparky. apparently i dont have any good pics of you rose!

xoxo much love to you both

Why Rob is so Smart

My coworker Rob always seems to have some amazing new insight or some late breaking news item to talk about...at first, I felt so out of the loop...now, we've been working together for about two months I guess and finally, this week, he explained why he's so smart (my words, not his).

enjoy

TiVo hacks flourish

TiVo is such a cool idea, and there are many out there trying to make it cooler, I guess the hackers today will lead the way for the upgrades of tomorrow as usual.
TiVo hacks flourish | CNET News.com

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

This looks like it would really help writers who are having a hard time coming up with the right word. Enter a concept and it will give you several options of words.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

Email Newsletter Saavy Presidential Candidates

i thought this was pretty interesting article where Jakob Nielsen released a pre-election analysis of the e-newsletters of the Presidential Candidates. read all about it

Salmon Baby Names

Since many people ask about what names we are thinking of for Baby Salmon, I thought I would devote a post to that specifically...

We are not going to share what name we decide until the little one is born, but we would LOVE to get your input of names that you think would be cool or go well with Salmon, so we can have more ideas.

Please suppress the urge to post such names as: Smoked, Fresh Water, King, etc. and give us some serious ideas, cuz we could use the help! Its HARD work coming up with a name that we both like.

So if you want to, please feel free to post a comment and let us know of some name ideas (I always found I had more name ideas before I actually had the need to have any...so since most of my ideas have not worked out (aka derek doesnt like them or they dont sound good with Salmon)...I would love the help).

Thank you for taking part in the brainstorming. :)
~~
Ok, several people have posted comments and asked a few questions, so i'll update this to address those:
1. Please dont give names that you want for yourself :)
2. Most names that start or end with the letter "S" probably wont work so that disqualifies alot.
3. We're open to any type of name: Biblical, Classic, Trendy, Uncommon, made-up ;0)
4. A fun game might be to take DEREK and AMANDA and try to come up with a made up name hee hee, you never know right?!

Sorry Everybody

here are some voluntary apology notes from a few US residents.
Sorry Everybody

Poppies and Remembrance Day

For the past 1.5 months I've been working closely with an American. Its been very fascinating to get his opinions on politics and our colloquialisms (like eh? and right?).

The other day I was wearing a Poppy and he asked "Why?" and I asked "Do you know what a Poppy is?" (in the hopefully gingerly way that I try to ask so he doesnt think i think he's stupid--because i definitely think he's smart) and he says "Ya, they make opium from them...why are you wearing that?" and i tried to explain the whole Flanders Field and Remembrance Day thing.

Here it is explained much better, from the Veterans Affairs website for Canada:

"Poppies are worn as the flower of remembrance, a reminder of the blood-red flower which still grows on the site of battles fought in France and Belgium. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, during the terrible bloodshed of the second battle of Ypres, in the spring of 1915, wrote of these flowers which lived on among the graves of dead soldiers."

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
(John McCrae, In Flanders Fields)
Read More on How we remember

The Veterans Affairs site also details A Day of Remembrance

I hope this helps explain Rob :)

Baby Room Items List

I decided to just start a list of everything we have coming our way or currently in our possession for the baby. I will keep this list updated for any interested parties (like grandparents ;) )

-bassinet (from Grandma Jen & Grandpa Richard)
-bouncing chair (ours)
-doorway jumper with tray (ours)
-lots of stuffed animals (ours)
-new flooring ;0) (from Grandma Jen & Grandpa Richard & us)
-baby bathtub (jackie)
-lots of newborn diapers (jackie)
-dresser (leah)
-change table (keith)
-infant car seat (keith)
-exer-saucer (keith)
-baby bath ring (keith)

Belly Button Pops!

Baby Salmon is 24 weeks today.

Derek caught me off guard with this pic tonight but it shows my belly and you can even see that my belly button has officially "popped." Not fully out, but definitely popped. For those of you who think its really early to have done that, a little factoid about me is that i had an outie until i was like 8 or 10 years old, so it has come back to visit!

Derek and I went on a tour of the Maternity ward tonight. It was very weird...i can't believe i'm having a baby! Derek thought it was exciting and I just thought "Wow, this is serious stuff...I have to deliver a baby here!"

The rooms are seriously enormous. There is a bathroom with a full tub and shower, TV and free telephone (local calls). One tiny bed for me to have my labor and delivery. There is a pull out couch for Derek to sleep on. I think our friends will have to bring lawn chairs and hang out AFTER the baby is born, there's seriously THAT much room! So friends, if you're out there somewhere and reading this, figure out a way to smuggle in some lawn chairs and you can come visit the new Salmon baby in comfort.
Its pretty cool, pending that all goes smoothly, they never take your baby out of the room until you leave with him/her.

Derek and I received an invitation to our first baby shower!! It will be held in North Augusta Ontario on December 26th, hosted by Derek's cousin Sharon and Aunt Judy. We went to Walmart and started a baby registry (its a brand new registry they just set up and you can use a scanner to pick all your items just like at Sears or The Bay). We need to go back and check out the strollers a bit more. We are also going to register at Sears because there is a crib there that is really nice that my friend Alex has.

Anyway, looking at all the baby stuff is exciting...wow what a day that will be when we bring the little one home and see how he/she adapts to the bassinet and us as parents! Yay! we're on our way.
peace

PST has been lowered to 7%

I didn't hear any radio ads, or see any bus signs or receive a package in the mail saying that PST has been lowered...it wasn't until I was trying to order something at work that I saw that the PST rate was wrong (7.5%) so I asked for a new Quote and found out that PST has been lowered.

This happened on October 21! Why didn't anyone tell me? I'm always the last to know these things :S although now maybe some of you will know b/c of me.

The day I spammed Orangejack

sooo...I was just trying to post an intelligent comment and blogger was acting a bit slow. I guess I clicked submit a few too many times. I lean over and say "Sorry Rob, I just totally spammed you." and he says, "I know, 13 times...oh wait, 14!"
My post, posted 4 times on his blog (orangejack) but he received 14 email notifications that there was a new post. Yikes! anyway, I publicly apologize for my impatience and trigger-happiness.
humbly yours, ajs

Halloween is weird

I've decided that I think Halloween is really weird.

I went over to Andrew and Heather's to hang out with Heather and Miles the ba-BEE while the guys blew up firecrackers. The guys scared off at least half of the total number of trick-or-treaters by blowing up firecrackers in the driveway, sewer and street. So the ones we did get were the bigger kids, wearing weird half-rocker, half-butterfly outfits.

They were all nice and polite and weren't all "oh no, i couldnt!" when i'd tell them to take a handful (I guess i was supposed to hand it to them). It felt like my first time ever handing out candy and the first one, I said "Happy Halloween" to as she walked away and she said the same back and then I thought...thats weird, I don't really want to wish her a Happy Halloween or get wished a Happy Halloween...Halloween is weird.

I'm not sure what I'll do when my kids are older, but from this perspective, walking around for one evening, for 30 minutes to get candy from strangers is pretty weird, but I guess its a safe way to reverse the teaching you've been giving your kid for years of: "Don't take candy from strangers" to "Don't take candy from strangers unless i'm standing at the end of the driveway or you're with a pack of friends."

Hey, is that bee pollenating those flowers?!

Here is little Miles the ba-bee on his final day in his costume (Sunday, October 31, 2004). I'm holding him up to those flowers and I think, deep down, he's really enjoying himself.

We made a quick stop for lunch and then headed over to see our friend's new adopted baby from Florida! Kalen arrived to Canada on Saturday night and he is really cute, 3 months old and our friends are all looking forward to play dates with him.

Kalen's grandma was also adopted and she wrote him a beautiful peom about "i dont know when you're coming or where you're coming from but i love you already." Congratulations on your new baby boy!

Alicia Mellenger on her way to becoming a Nylund

Uncle Richard walking Alicia Mellenger down the aisle on her wedding day. It was a beautifully decorated wedding which was not too Halloween-y as we thought it might be but the unity candle was inside a pumpkin that looked Tim Burton style with the stiched mouth. it was cute.

Salmon Family Ninjas

Derek and Amanda dressed up as Ninjas with Miles the Bee.

we were the only ones dressed up at the ceremony...the invitation said the wedding was at 3pm with reception to follow. It didn't give any times, so we didn't know there would be a break...there was a big break in fact. Dinner was served at 6pm.

Andrew and Heather were supposed to dress up with us, but decided to wait until the reception (but didn't actually tell us that ahead of time). So we were the ONLY ones at the wedding dressed up.

Apparently, someone asked the wedding party if we were muslim and sitting at the very back because of our religion. Oh dear! Anyway, I am pretty sure we will never be in that situation again, going to a Halloween Wedding, but if we ever are, we'll know not to dress up. grrr....

Heather calms the Bee

Heather managed to calm Miles down so that he spent a nice evening in his bee suit. Since this is the only Halloween it will ever fit him, he is going to have good wear out of it. Friday night, Saturday for a costume wedding and Sunday for church.

Uncle Derek and Miles "the Bee" Mellenger

Miles was pretty upset by the tag team effort by his dad and uncle to get him into this bee costume. But he sure looked cute!

Fit for a Bee

Derek and Andrew wrestle the Bee suit onto an upset Miles. The teamwork paid off in the end.

23 weeks Pregnant. Only 17 weeks to go!!!

I'm excited to learn that my baby is over 1lb now and approximately 11 inches long! Soo cool

My week 23 newsletter says "Your baby is continuing to develop their facial features. You are probably feeling a lot of movement as your baby is continuing to learn and assimilate their abilities in the comfort of their own personal,"living womb." Your baby now has eyes that open and close, ears that can hear, a thumb well worth sucking and lots and lots of hiccups."

The baby moves alot and I can see a lump when the kicks or punches are high enough. I don't know what the hiccups feel like yet, but I guess i'll be paying attention for those these days.

We found out that Derek's family in Ontario are going to throw us a Baby Shower on Boxing Day down home, in North Augusta. We're really excited about that. It will be fun :) Going to Ontario for Christmas will be great. I haven't been home to Ontario for Christmas in 8 years probably, and this will be our first Christmas with Derek's parents.

Baby Room Items

We have a few baby room items so far:
-the dresser was from Leah
-the second drawer is FULL of diapers already from my friend Jackie and I have 3 newborn sleepers from her too.
-the nursery rhyme wreath is an adaptation of a wreath that my step mother Diane gave me (it was an peach wicker wreath that was pretty dusty so I decided to sew a little cloth wreath and attach the items onto that. I'm quite please with how it turned out...it will be hung on the wall eventually).
-the bassinet is from Mom and Richard and I just figured out today that it is a very close match to the wreath which is soo cool!
-the toys are from my childhood and adulthood ;) some were made by my Grandma Emma, some were gifts. There is a white bear from Craig from when Derek and I were first dating. It is such a cute bear and Joanna, a former Dental Receptionist, said "you should call it Diastema." and I asked "why?" and she said "You dont know what a diastema is do you?" and I said "no" and she said "Derek has one." http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=diastema So thats his name.
There's also a really cute bunny from Derek that was actually a gift that made me mad because I thought he was going to propose to me on Valentine's Day 2000 but instead he gave me a bunny!!! Anyway, he came through and proposed several hours later after i had already resolved that it was "the worst day ever! take me home, i'm so disappointed" poor guy, i was such a baby!! but he DID ask :D

-another view of the bassinet
-doorway jumper with tray: with Kanga and Roo (handmade by Grandma Emma)
-bouncing chair; bear from Diane
-good view of our new flooring!!! Derek, Richard and Guy all worked hard a couple weeks ago to get that put into the baby room and living room. Its so nice and clean. I love it!

-baby bath from Jackie and the plug in it turns from purple to pink if the water is too hot
-more nursery rhyme stuff

18 weeks to go! Baby Salmon, 22 weeks today

February 24, 2005 is still looking a ways away even though its only 18 weeks! wow

how much excitement can happen by 9am in the office?

ok...so Rob tells me to blog everything right? and since he was nearby, he said i really should.

first, i went to delete some roombookings from our roombooking software. I had booked some rooms when i was in my previous position and needed to delete them so the new person in that job could have the rooms in her name, to lessen the confusion.

but really, thats when the confusion began...so as I began to tackle this task i discovered that my bookings for those sets of meeting were recorded under "amanada" and since "amanada" does not exist, i did not have permission to delete them. i called reception who generally has some power in that software, but her computer had crashed.

then, leah came over saying "i need to staple my pants" and i looked at her and said "...you need to staple your pants? oh, you need help." and i got her to stand up on my guest chair and turn about as I proceeded to hem her pants with the stapler. she left, content with the staple job.

then, i called the woman with "all powertochange roombookings" (direct quote from receptionist) and she laughed at me alot about "amanada" as i walked her thru where the bookings were. taa daa

all that happened by 9am, fancy that.

salmon to eat, Clova, Baby kicks

we went for a quick salmon dinner at the mellengers last night. it was very tasty, thanks to Poppa for the fish!

then Derek and I met Leah at the Clova to see Princess Diaries 2 and Wimbledon...it only cost $3 per person on Tuesday nights so it was a great deal.

the end of Princess Diaries 2 has this song for the country of which she is Princess, called Genovia...its their national anthem, I guess....anyway, it was pretty loud and moving (leah was laughing through it all b/c it was so over-dramatic). So Baby Salmon starting doing little flips or something during the song...he or she really seemed to like it.

During the break before the next movie, Baby kept doing these flip kick things and so Leah got to feel it! She's the third person to feel the baby (Grandma Jen was first, then Derek). So that was pretty cool for all of us.

We have a dr.'s appt today so we'll find out what he has to say about the ultrasound measurements and if i'm on track for my due date and such.

peace

some day i'll know you with a smile

my current blog title comes from a song from one of my favorite musicians, Mike Knott...the lyrics are slightly more depressing than my interpretation of that sentence, but i just thought i'd share the genius of Mike Knott with y'all:

Call on You

Call on You most often when
It seems that I will never win
Gettin' black and blue
Beaten to a pulp
By mis-choosed avenues
Light I see down the street somewhere
Turns chilly, dark by the time I get there
Everyone is foolin' me
With happy smiles and half-sympathies

Some day I'll know You
With a smile
Some day I'll see You like the dew

But for now I'll call on You
For help with cash and bills overdue
And strength that I can influence right
Little One I hold so tight
Like slingshot breaks
Snaps a hand
I know one day I'll understand

Call on You most often when
It seems that I will never win
Gettin' black and blue
Beaten to a pulp
By mis-choosed avenues
Light I see down the street somewhere
Turns chilly, dark by the time I get there

http://michaelknott.com/lyrics/altwor.html#call

Courtney BC

We went to visit my daddio in Courtney over the weekend. It was a really nice visit. It was cute to see him baching it and serving us dinner on camping plates with only two forks between the three of us. I didnt know how modern he was, he actually ate salad with chopsticks when we had our fresh salmon dinner on Saturday!

Poppa fishes alot and drove us around to see all the cool little beaches. Each one was nicer than the last. It looks like a great place to bring grandkids to. I hope that it all works out for them to build a house on the lot they are buying. It looks like a great opportunity and location.

He sent us away with many salmon filets--yummm! good thing we love salmon.

ciao

21 weeks...but who's counting anyway? ;o)

well, i'm 21 weeks pregnant now...it goes so fast. next week i have a doctors appointment again where we'll discuss the ultrasound.
we had some guests over earlier, 6 adults and 3 babies...it was nice. i've still been feeling pretty good and today was great because several people were saying how cute i look so thats always good to hear!
we are going to visit Poppa this weekend in Courtney for the first time. He's lived there since August but we were waiting for Miles to be born then Mom and Richard came to town for a couple weeks, and this is the first weekend we've been free.

Baby Salmon came thru and kicked for daddy

It was very exciting, after going out to the "final" baby shower for Miles (the church and friends one) we got home late...

i am never happy about going to bed after 10pm but last night, it was around 10.30pm and suddenly, baby salmon was kicking up a storm, so I quickly got derek's attention and he was able to feel several kicks in a row!

It was a great moment for us :)

just wanted to share that

Baby Salmon is half way there!

me at 20 weeks pregnant oct 7 04
Go baby go! We are so blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy thus far and for Baby salmon to have reached the 20 weeks milestone today! woo hoo
i'm feeling good. i need to rest more. i'm too busy and have a hard time slowing down. but i'm looking forward to a good Saturday and long weekend of rest :)

Oct 7 04 Baby Shower with church friends

miles kicking among the gifts at the party

Joanna and Heather & Miles at Oct 7 party

cake for miles oct 7 04 baby shower

my baby is like the Polkaroo...i figured this out yesterday...baby salmon was kicking hard the other day...all day while i was alone at work. when i'm with derek, the baby sleeps, no kicking except for the odd little tap when i'm driving and have a seatbelt and bulky coat in the way.
i love when baby kicks, its really cool for me but i would like it if derek could feel it, he hasnt yet!
read more about the Polkaroo . There are many cool things about growing up in Ontario, one thing was TvO (TV Ontario) where they had quality childrens programming, like the Polka Dot Door.
peace.

Today we had our first ultrasound...I hear its the only one unless there are complications. The experience was pretty good...I drank one litre of water and felt "ok" just that i had to pee but nothing too overwhelming. The technician told me I had a very full bladder and she let me go and get rid of 2 cups! how nice. so really, it was a good experience from that perspective.
Anyway, Derek and I thought it was pretty cool. When the technician said "there's your baby's face." we were both thinking..."eww..." and later derek said, "Yah, our baby "Skeletor"."
The heart beat was super cool...seeing it actually beating (no audio, just visual) was very exciting for me.
Anyway, here are the pics so you can share in our joy.
This is a bit of a top shot of the baby with a good view of baby's arm and hand.

This shows baby salmon facing down. You can see a nice healthy looking spine and the left arm is up along side baby's head and you may be able to see the hand. the other arm is lying below baby's body. 

Top view of baby salmon, nicname Skeletor, left arm is crossing in front and you can see the hand pretty well. 

People have been asking to see my belly online...so here it is! 19 weeks, thats Sparky down by my legs. 

today's special

i'm 19 weeks pregnant today. the baby kicks alot which is super cool. i went swimming this morning which was really nice exercise and then I ended the day with a wonderful massage from Raili...she's very good at massage hmmm.

tonight, i'm hoping derek comes home soon (ha ha, its 6pm already) and maybe that we could go see baby Miles and andrew and heather of course ;) he just got home and wants to go see a movie...maybe, i'll have to see whats playing.

this weekend will be fairly busy with a wedding shower for my cousin Lish and a dinner for work at night on Saturday.

We went to Whistler on Sunday and had a really nice time visiting some friends...our friends Robb and Michelle are due 3 weeks before us!! So cool!

There's a real baby boom going on there, just like here with my friends and coworkers.

we went to Bible study last night...it was the first time in awhile and it was nice. the thing that sticks out the most in my mind is
James 1.25 "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

so look intently at the word, let it influence you, listen first then do.

math versus the alphabet

Ok, i shared this thought with someone the other day, and he said "you should blog that thought" so here I go:

i was thinking about how calculating numbers was very different from the alphabet (as in the order of letters within it)...

9 x 5 is 45 and i just know that because i memorized it when i was in grade 5...when i want to know a number, i just think of the equation and immediately the result pops into my memory...it takes ABSOLUTELY no effort.

the alphabet on the other hand...totally different story...

so when i'm trying to alphabetize something I have to THINK, does "s" come before "r" or after it. then i have to say to myself "r-s-t" ok, after. it takes awhile...

there are some memory tricks i've learned like: v & w = vw, like volkswagen, perfect, almost immediate.

q is always tricky...again, before "s" or after...then i have to do the hard labour of saying "q-r-s-t" ok, got it. before.

anyway, its quirky, its weird...and thats what rob said a blog is all about.

taa daa

Miles and Salmon Baby

Miles Grey is so cute. I love spending time with him and his mom and dad. It was really nice to have our parents around for 2 weeks, we did lots of visiting and took many pictures.

My pregnancy is going well, I can eat pretty normally now but still have to make sure to not wait too long. My belly is "popping" and I'm definitely more obviously pregnant now at 18 and 4/7ths pregnant ;0)

Derek, Richard and Guy put laminate flooring in the livingroom and baby room which looks awesome! Its sooo much cleaner, we just need to get some area rugs now to fill in the room a bit.

I'm in nesting mode, big time, and poor Derek is being good at taking all my home improvement requests. He is going to build a pen for Sparky outside so that he can stay out when we are out (and not get into the kitchen...one day, he emptied an entire, 20lb bag of flour all over the kitchen floor...not so cool).

Mom and Richard bought us a baby bassinet and we bought a jolly jumper and a "bouncer" (a little chair with lots of doo-dads to keep the baby occupied).

heather has had 2 baby showers now (in a row, last weekend) and got lots of sleepers and fun toys for Miles. andrew and heather have been TIRED but some days are good and they get the rest they need. It definitely has woken me up to the reality of parenting...and scared me of course. I just shared with someone today, how i've always been the kind of person who wants to move onto the next stage of life (ie. on my honeymoon to mexico, wanting to get home and set up house). But i'm learning...with pregnancy i definitely dont want it to be over yet, its still so unbelievable, and i want to take the next four months to sleep before entering the sleep depravation time :D

Miles Grey Mellenger born Monday, September 6, 2004 at 8.47am. He weighed 8lbs 7oz.

The Salmon Family August 7 2004
Amanda with Westley, Derek with Fraser & Sparky

The Salmon family is GROWING! No, its not another furry animal, but rather a BABY!

Our child has an estimated arrival date of February, 24, 2005.

We are very excited to share this news and I feel privileged and blessed to be pregnant!


Some questions people ask:

How've you been feeling?
Generally, I think i've had it really good. The last few weeks, sickness and sleepiness have really settled in. Before that I simply had very strong food aversion but was relatively energetic.

What about Weight Watchers? You just lost all this weight! (that part isnt really a question..ha ha)
The whole process of losing weight was a growing and learning process for me. It is totally about balance and taking those good choices into the future. I feel that with God's help, I have overcome many hurdles that troubled me for years like body image and food control. I feel very confident that I can go into parenthood with a good perspective on that and can hopefully teach my children the same. btw, I havent actually gained any weight yet...but everyone says "oh, it'll come! ha ha ha" so although i'm having a hard enough time eating...cuz i have no fav foods, just tolerable or absolutely untolerable ones, and those can flip on a dime...anyway, i trust it will all work out! :D

How is Derek?
Excited, but it doesnt feel quite real yet. He plans to attend my next Dr.'s appointment so that should help as he hears the little swoosh swoosh of the heartbeat (my Dr. was very cool and offered to try listening for it when i was only 9 weeks and 5 days! we totally heard it right away, it was soo cool!).

How are the future Grandparents doing?
They are all so excited and regularly check in to see how we are doing. Its so sweet to hear their excitement for this. What a cool thing to be bringing joy their way too!

Feel free to post comments on the bottom of the blog. Thanks for reading ;) take care

serious neglect

Well...i have seriously neglected my oh-so-fun blog. so i thought i'd take the time now to write a little. Things are going good. We've done lots of cool trips lately. We went to Sechelt last weekend and walked up to these rolling waves, Skookumchuck Narrows. It was really cool and as soon as I can get my pics up on my image station, i will do a screen shot so you can see them. other than that we've just been working and doing the usual things. our house mate mark has left for another 2 months away..to take care of bees and honey and such. I'm excited to have seen my first ripe blackberry this morning. I hope to start my harvest of blackberries so that I can make lots of jam. the jam was soo good last year but i totally ran out.
i think its
1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of blackberries
and you boil them for a long time.

my friend terri from work gave me the recipe last year and i loved it.

my long lost friend amber msn'd me out of the blue and will hopefully keep her "promise" to hook up this sunday coming...i haven't seen her for a long time.

anyhoo, we are not planning anymore trips this season except for going up to Penticton to climb and to help my dad move to the Island, Comox i think...

ciao

my attempt at creating an online album...only took...um...2.5 hours to upload 31 pictures! yikes...i think if i had resized the images and had quicker dial-up it wouldve been a significant time saver. anyhoo, here is my first attempt.