What's New...Happy New Years!!!!

12/31/01: Happy New Years to one and all! Please be careful and be safe everyone!

We hope you all had a nice Christmas! John and I had a really nice long weekend and Christmas Day was special in our own way. We made our annual pretzels! John made some of the pumpkin custard, which he created as a diabetic friendly version to the traditional pumpkin pie for the first time on Thanksgiving, as our dessert. It's great. And he even made some egg nog this year. And of course there was the turkey breast, sugar-free homemade cranberry sauce, green beans with toasted almonds and small amount of stuffing for our main meal. All in all, some yummy food that would not cause any problems for my husband. He is such a great cook!

We missed our families of course but we did speak to them around the holidays and wished them all well!

Speaking of families, I have added one more photo to my pictures page. It's the newest one of our nephew, Joshua.

See y'all next year!!

What's New...preparing for Christmas!!!!

12/18/01: Well, we had a very nice trip back to Virginia. We were able to visit with John's Dad (thanks for everything Dad)! We also got to go to the wedding of our good friends, Dan and Becca (you guys looked beautiful at the wedding)! And to top it all off, we got to spend some quality time with several friends. All in all, a great trip.

We have been trying to get some Christmas preparations started finally! Since getting back last week, we have sent some Christmas cards, shopped a little, and put some lights up around the house. Now, we have a tree to decorate and some shopping to finish. Oh and of course, we still need to visit the annual Zilker Park Trail of Lights. We have not gotten a chance to go to see this year's display but we did see the big tree from a distance and it is a little different this year. I don't know how they do it!

Well, take care and be safe! I will be back soon! Oh and I have a new photo from my neice and nephew on my photo page! Drop by if you haven't seen them for a while, they are growing like weeds!

What's New...trip back to Virginia!!!!

12/5/01: Hello everyone. John and I leave tomorrow to go back to Fredericksburg, Virginia for a brief visit. We get to see some good friends tie the knot and visit several other friends and John's Dad. It will be great to see everyone again! It's been over 3 years since we left there to move to Austin.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Well, no, that doesn't mean snow in this climate. That means there are tons of lights going up and this coming Sunday, the Zilker Park Trail of Lights will be under way. This is something that you shouldn't miss if you are in the Austin area. John and I try to go every year.

Well, take care and be safe! I will be back soon!

What's New...Happy Thanksgiving here in the United States and 4 year Wedding Anniversary!!!!

11/19/01: Again, multiple occasion day. Thursday, November 22nd is Thanksgiving here in the United States so "Happy Turkey Day"! On the same day, John and I will be celebrating our 4th year together...wow, time sure flies when you are having fun. It has been the best 4 years. I get to spend every day with my best friend! :) I love you John!

John and I played some Dungeons and Dragons this past weekend. It was my first attempt and I know I have a lot to learn but it's not the evil game that a lot of people think. I am playing a rogue or thief and I didn't even steal anything :)

The weather has certainly cooled down this afternoon. It's colder now than when I left for work this morning. We have a cold front coming through and it's a windy one. Speaking of bad weather, we had an awful day last Thursday. There were about 6 tornados seen in different locations in Austin and surrounding areas. Part of that afternoon was spent in the lower level of our building hoping nothing would happen. There was no power in parts of the city off and on again. And RAIN!!! Well, let's just say that crossing the street with water up to your knees is scarier than walking through the same amount of snow! I thought I might get washed away. Luckily, things have calmed down.

In case you missed my last update, I actually put up a couple of new photos on my pictures page of our nephew, Joshua. He's a cutie :) Take care and be safe!

What's New...it's Remembrance Day, Veteran's Day and my brother Gary's birthday!!!!

11/11/01: Well, in Canada, today is Remembrance Day. Today in the United States, it's Veteran's Day. And
happy birthday to my oldest brother Gary. Happy Birthday Gary!

Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day were originally called Armistace Day. This day is dedicated to honoring the Canadians who fought in the various wars and the American veteran's and active military who have served their country.

We have been to our first live football game. We went to see University of Texas vs Kansas State yesterday. UT won, the final score was 59-0. Needless to say, sitting among the Longhorn fans was exciting.

I finally have a couple of new photos my pictures page. I have two new photos of our newphew, Joshua.

Well, that is it for now! Have fun, be safe and careful :) Take care!

What's New...server problems!!!!

10/29/01: Well, IO has been moving offices so there have been some server difficulties. If you have tried to look at John's or my sites over the past weekend, you may or may not have seen them. Same with email. If you have emailed and it bounced back to you, keep trying. It should soon be back to normal.

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! We are going to have a visitor for Halloween, a friend from back in Virginia. So we will be busy showing Amy around Austin.

Well, that is it for now! Have fun, be safe and careful :) Take care!

What's New...still not believing what happened!!!!

9/19/01: I am sure that I will maybe never believe how cruel people can be. I am speaking of what happened last Tuesday when two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, a third hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the fourth hit the ground near Pittsburg all within a short period of time. Wow! It is hard to comprehend. And it is scary because it is not over yet. What's next? We don't know for certain? What is certain is the violence against some people just because they look like as if they may be from the Middle-East. What else is certain is that there will probably be some sort of war. Scary!

John and I did have something to help occupy us a little this past weekend. On Friday, we made our trip to the San Antonio office of the INS for quite possibly the last time for a while. I am now a permanent resident, no conditions or waiting on anything except the actual card. I am relieved to finally have that portion over with. I may someday become a citizen but at this point, I am just happy to be settled.

While near San Antonio, we went to some caverns. That was neat. I had never seen anything like it except in pictures. The different types of columns, stalagmites and all the other deposits were so amazing. We took some photos but it was dark so I hope they come out! If so, I will share. Speaking of photos, I will scan some new ones and will put them up real soon, I promise!

Take care everyone and I hope to be back soon!

What's New...Unbelievable Tragedy in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania!!!!

9/12/01: I certainly cannot find words to describe how it felt to hear the news of the disasters yesterday except maybe to say we felt numb. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone involved.

What's New...Behind the Scenes updates!!!!

9/4/01: We hope you had a nice weekend everyone. We did. Although Austin has had a lot of rain lately, it was still a really nice long weekend. The rain stopped Friday and started up again Monday evening. John and I got lucky on our way home Monday evening. We got a little damp but missed the heavy stuff by a few minutes.

Behind the scenes, I have been doing some checking on links and updating if necessary. If you notice any broken links, please let me know. I want to make sure everything is working but I don't always have time to check them all.

I have some photos being developed currently so if I can get to scan them, I should have some new photos soon! But take a look in case you missed my last update because there are photos of our new nephew Joshua.

Well, take care and I will be back soon, I promise!

What's New...Happy Labour Day weekend!!!!

9/1/01: John and I wish you all a Happy Labour Day weekend. Whatever your plans, be very careful.

We both really enjoyed our trip to Dallas. They have the hugest Half Price Books. I believe it's the biggest bookstore that I have ever seen anywhere, ever. Wow! Things at work were crazy busy since I got back so I am sorry if I haven't updated in a couple of weeks.

We have some new photos of little Joshua. Check them out.

Well, talk to you all later. I will work on a longer update as soon as time permits:) Take care!

What's New...We are going to Dallas!!!!

8/14/01: John and I are taking a trip to Dallas. I am going to do some training for work. My classes allow for a full day off so John is coming too and we will be able to explore a new city together. We have not been to Dallas before. We drove around it on our way to Austin the first time but without a car, never quite got back up that way.

In other news, the immigration department has accepted my application to remove the condition on my "green card". Since my permanent residency was first granted less than two years into our marriage, there was one final step to make me a permanent resident, permanently. I just need to go to San Antonio to get my card. I am happy to be at the end of that journey and someday I will travel the path to citizenship.

We received some pictures of our new nephew, Joshua Ryan. Amazingly, there is one with his eyes opened. Apparently, he sleeps all the time. My Mom has never heard him cry. They are so lucky to be blessed with such a good baby.

Well, talk to you all later. I promise, update to pictures soon:) Take care!

What's New...We have a new nephew!!!!

7/17/01: Joshua Ryan was born to my brother Jeff and his wife Sharon on Saturday, July 14th. He weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz. He came a little early but luckily, all is well. And Joshua made my Mom and Dad extremely happy as he was born on their 43rd wedding anniversary!

John and I had a nice weekend and boy was it hard to surpise him with anything for his birthday! I did have a couple of ideas that didn't work out due to time difficulties. However, we did get to go bat watching on Capital Cruises Saturday night. Due to two large groups, we were alone on our little boat, except for the driver of course. It was a nice evening, warm but with a little breeze. And boy, were there tons of bats to be seen. We were under the bridge looking up at the sky. And then on Sunday, his birthday, we went to a movie and out to eat. All in all, a nice weekend together.

I know my pictures page has not been updated in a while, but one of John's birthday gifts was a digital camera. So, hopefully, I will have some new pics soon that won't have to wait to be developed. So check back soon!

Well, I hope all is well with everyone. I will be back soon! Take care!

What's New...John's Birthday is July 15th, and it's a big one!!!!

7/12/01: Happy Birthday to my sweetie, John! John's birthday is this coming Sunday! I won't say how old he is because I am older. But it's a big one! I hope you have a great birthday John! Maybe, I just may be able to surprise you with something nice this year! I certainly want to try!

I especially want John to have a good birthday and a good weekend since last weekend was not a good one for him. We spent more time with doctors trying to figure out why he was in so much pain. However, they never did find out exactly what was wrong, only that it wasn't too serious. So that's something, I guess. And fortunately, he is feeling much better by now.

Other than that, we have been spending lots of time walking and trying to keep cool. It's hot, once again, in Austin. Okay, so it's always pretty warm here but now we are hitting 100 farenheit most days so I mean HOT!!!! We have also been trying to beat the heat by watching movies, as most theatres are freezing, with all that air conditioning. Just last night, we saw an oldie but goodie at the Paramount called "White Heat", starring James Cagney. I really enjoyed it and John was taking notes for one of his upcoming crime drama books.

Well, that's it for now. Be good and be careful. I will be back soon!

What's New...HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

7/1/01:

Happy 134th Birthday Canada! I won't be there for the Canada Day celebrations again this year. I will celebrate July 4th instead, once again, here in Austin!

Not too long ago, John and I found a great restaurant in Austin called Roy Henry's Famous Waffles and Chicken. We found out this weekend that they are closing as of today, July 1st. We were very disappointed since they had great food (their page shows their menu)! We will miss them very much!

We also went to see the rock opera, "Tommy", on Friday. I had never seen The Who's film before and it was different but fun. We saw it at the Paramount Theater. If you are anywhere near Austin, check out the Paramount's summer schedule. They have a lot of oldies but goodies.

I hope all my Canadian friends and family have a wonderful Canada Day. I also want to wish all my new family and friends (especially Beth because she told me to mention her here) in the USA a Happy Independence Day.

Take care and I will be back soon!

What's New...Raiders is 20 years old?!?!

6/18/01: Can it be true? "Raiders of the Lost Ark", starring Harrison Ford, is 20 years old? John and I got to see it on the big screen yesterday at the Paramount Theater here in Austin. It is one of John's favorites so it made it even more special to see it with him.

We saw another movie this past weekend. It was Atlantis. I liked it okay, especially the characters. But it wasn't great. One of the best parts was hearing Claudia Christian (AKA Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5) playing a villain. When she was giving commands, I could close my eyes and think we were watching B-5 again. Speaking of B-5, John and I are almost at the end of the 4th season now. John stopped watching after the 4th season when I came to live with him. Soon, we can watch 5th season which was a long time coming for him. Thanks to Tim for the tapes :)

I have found some new Newfoundland links! I have had so many questions from people who planned to visit my home province or just knew someone from there that I thought it was time to get some good links. In doing so, I finally redid my Fogo Island Page. So check them out and let me know if I missed anything!

Take care and I will be back soon!

What's New...background checks!

6/6/01:

I have been doing some background checks on my page...checking links, adding new links and that sort of thing. I have had a lot of people visit my page who plan to visit Newfoundland. Hence, I have been trying to add some new links that I think will be very helpful to visitors and Newfies alike. If you find a broken link, please let me know!

I still have not updated my photo page. I need to get some new photos scanned and I haven't sat down very long at our home computer lately. It's just been too darn nice (but hot) so John and I have been walking a lot! And the few times I do sit at the computer, I have been bitten by the SimCity bug! Those God games are so addictive!

I will be back soon so keep checking back and take care!

What's New...Spring is in the air...here!

5/23/01: Spring is in the air in Austin. There are outdoor concerts, bookstore tent sales and street festivals every weekend. People are walking a lot and most students are gone home. The temperatures are usually pretty warm these days. However, a cold front that sent the evening temperatures down into the 50's this week helps us realize it's not quite summer yet.

AND...at least it didn't snow here this past weekend!! Believe it or not...it was snowing last weekend at home while I was speaking to my Mom. But of course, it was May 24th weekend which celebrates Victoria Day! The funny thing is that this is the weekend that officially opens the summer (and I use that word loosely) camping season in Newfoundland. Doesn't it always snow or rain and stay very very cold on that weekend? I have to tell you, I miss all my family and friends back in Newfoundland but I do NOT miss that kind of weather.

Enough about the weather...I have had several requests based on my Newfie Sayings page lately. If anyone out there has any good ones that I don't have, please feel free to email. I will credit you or your page if you would like. I am once again going through, making some background changes to my pages. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

Well, take care and I will be back soon!

What's New...Computer problems finally over!

5/14/01:

I know I promised more updates now that I have a new job. But circumstances beyond my control, namely a faulty hard drive, kept me from doing an update. John got the worst of it as our computer died right before a major deadline for him. He has very patiently been rebuilding our computer. But it's not easy as some of the files we were able to get from the old computer were corrupt. But, it seems like we are almost back to normal on that front!

I have also been sick for about a week now, so sitting up to a computer has not been very much fun at the end of a day. Finally, I am starting to feel like a human again but only sometimes :) John has been very good to me!

This past week has also brought some sad news for both John and I. Anyone who knows me, or reads my page will realize what a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan I am. Last Wednesday, the Leafs lost the 7th and deciding game in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The defending Stanley Cup Champions, the New Jersey Devils, won the game to advance. It was a sad day for me as it was one of the few Leaf games I have been able to see since moving away (and I have to thank the Dallas Stars for being eliminated in order to see the Leafs in a public place in Texas).

John's sad news was in the form of the death of Douglas Adams. John was a very big fan of the author of one of John's favorites, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Mr. Adams has influenced John's work greatly. He will be missed.

Well, that's a huge update for me. Keep checking back, they will not be as few and far between from now on, I promise!

What's New...new job, less stress!

4/10/01: Well, I started my new job. I like it and it is so less stressful than the last gig. I can enjoy life again. John and I spent last weekend together exploring Austin, watching movies, and just enjoying one another's company. It's been a while since I could do that without worrying about work.

I have been doing some behind the scenes checking of links and such, now that I actually have a few minutes once in a while. Please, if you ever find a broken link, do not hesitate to write and tell me.

That's about it for now. Write and tell me how you have been. I hope to hear from you soon. Take care!

What's New...Did you find your pot of gold?!?!

3/18/01: So, did you find your pot of gold on St. Paddy's Day? John and I spent a wonderful day of enjoying one another's company as well as wandering Austin.We didn't go in search of green beer or anything especially in keeping with St. Patrick's Day. But our pot of gold was spending an entire day together. We finally got around to seeing "Cast Away", starring Tom Hanks. We really enjoyed it. John was able to show me one of the new places he stumbled across while working. It's a neat coffee house called the "503 Coffeebar". We wandered Central Market and enjoyed the food in the Cafe. And then home to watch some "Babylon 5"! So I fell asleep during the show but all in all, a wonderful day.

Okay, so it's been over a month since my last update (slapping hand)! But looking for a job is a full-time job. Since I already had a full-time job, let's just say I was way busy. I have accepted a job offer. I will be leaving my old job at the end of the week and starting the new one on the 27th. More about that later.

Anyhow, I am still here and hope to be better with the updates. Look for new pictures...And take care!

What's New...have a happy Valentine's day!!

2/11/01: Well, it's soon going to be Valentine's day. I hope you have a happy one. John and I do not have anything special planned. However, whenever we are together, it's special.

John and I have been spending a lot of time lately watching tapes of the Babylon 5 show. I had not seen them before, and John is enjoying seeing my reaction and answering questions (although I think he really likes leaving me with more questions, which the show does too)! I have really enjoyed the entire first season and now we are into season 2. Thanks to our friend Tim for sending along all the episodes.

How's the weather where you are? Back home in Newfoundland, they have had record snowfalls this winter. Last winter, they didn't have much snow until we visited in March. So far this year, they have had more snow than in any recorded history. My family and friends have had it with shoveling, but what can you do? Here in Austin, it has started to warm up again for the most part. It has been in the 70's some days and it feels real spring-like. Strange, really, now that I think about it. Back in Newfoundland, in the 70's was a good summer day. Ah, it's strange how perception changes based on where you are.

Well, take care of yourself. Be good and be careful. Talk to you soon!

What's New...Busy Busy Times!!

1/22/01: So, how has your 2001 been so far? John and I have been so busy all the time. You really should check out his Cumberland Games page. On the first of January, he published his first E-book, Points in Space 1, and it's doing well. There is a sample of what's in the book, check it out. John has kept busy with some upcoming projects and answering questions about the new game.

We finally got a new computer. This will be a great help for some of John's upcoming projects. And since we still have the old one, we have an extra for those times when we both have work to do. This new one is so much faster than the old one.

Sorry the updates have been slow in coming but I promise to try harder next time. There are some new pictures so have a look.

Take care and I hope to see you soon!