Some recent photos....ok so there all of PEI....nothing has really happened since Christmas!! :)

The cabin where we stayed in Stratford. 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 living.....12 people.

Fellow classmates, Lana, Aileen, and Cam wanting to check their email prior to our home departing flight.

Nice yellow house with a complimenting yellow birch overlooking the ocean.

Little winter friend.

My boards are the top three....these were my eidetics. We had a small gallery showing when we were there, about 30 people came out throughout the day.

The cliffs below where we stayed. A few of us went for a nice walk the last day we were there.

Sand dunes on the north shore.

General area of my site.

This is Anna and Jana and Ross. He is the dry red type!

Confederation Bridge.

Of course Anne's house in Cavindish.

Oh glorious....although this tourist community is only active in the summer....we saw the street and buildings of Avonlea only from a distance cuz the road wasn't ploughed! sniff, sniff....

Pretty church in Anglo-Rustico.

Lighthouse along the north shore in the National Park.

Anne store and chocolates in Charlottetown.

Another church. In Charlottetown.

Charlottetown transit.

Charlottetown street.

My final planter layout. My dad is famous too!! I printed my drawings for this project and I'm very happy with how they turned out....anyhoo, keep well everyone!!! And those of you in school....keep your plough up, cuz if you are actually ploughing the rest of the semester will go very slowly.....look for the sunny side of the egg!!!

Ok. Again it's been a very long time....just going to up in. Life's been good. Semester's been good. Marriage has been great. Dan's work is going good. ok. That's about all. We got our first snowfall today....not sure how much will stay....I'm working on a competition that we have to do for my construction class and we all have to design a planter. The winner gets $3000 and the planter gets designed by Barkman Concrete for the next several decades. Anyhoo, some of my family members get to become famous by being in my planter perspectives. Take a look...

Jenn's latest

Well, as many of you have heard from us, Jenn spent a good portion of the last couple weeks building a model of a garden for her Landscape History course. She chose to do her case study on Monet's Water Garden at Giverny (the garden in which he did all of his famous water lily paintings.)

I helped where I could, tying wire into branches, making bamboo, helping to pouring candle wax, and generally just getting in the way. Jenn's finished product turned out great! We took some pictures of it, which I just threw into a layout in Photoshop. Have a look and enjoy!

Jenn has a moment....

HI! Wow. Our second post in TWO days! Something must be in the wind! What's even more amazing is that this is Jennifer speaking and for me to be doing this right now must mean that I am either:

a) procrastinating

b) "studying"

c) really have nothing pressing to do

d) all of the above

Well, I am happy to inform you all that the correct answer at this very moment is C!!! Yup. Just on Monday I came off from my 10 days of "reading" break, and have had several assignments due since then. Today I had a history exam (yes to all of you who are either mortified or shocked and falling off your rocker, Jenn is actaully taking a MANDATORY history class. BUT unlike her harsh words towards the subject, in regards to landscape architecture, she is quite enjoying the subject matter. Alas, with only 15ish hours of sleep in the past 3 days I think tonight my body and mind will be consumed in cosmic slumber.

Now, I'd like to share with all of you some of the projects I've been working on. Some of this is still from last term, but I see that you've only had a glimpse of my first studio project (which I didn't do so hot on.....) and I believe I've come a long way since those awful nights of Casa Bianca.

Take a look.....

Top: last semester. Communications class. Watercolor is from sketchcamp in Sept. The rest are guerrilla drawings (very fast and little time). Bottom: First studio project this term. Bottom picture is someone's representation of a chadir (in Islamic gardens) and my form created ripples.

Second project of studio last term. The Annex. Photos taken around campus. Bottom: Charcoal drawings.

Also the Annex. Top: Sketch models to show repitition, tension, harmony. Bottom: My final model made mostly out of modelling clay.

Last studio project last term. BIGBOX. We were to design the landscape for an actual developer (that we presented to) that was putting in a Manitoba Liquor Store and other commerical units. I tried to work mainly with oil pastel but after a while (ie. after the bottom right rendering took 5 hours) gave in and included chalk pastel as well.

Site grading last term.

Well I hope you enjoyed this small journey into my education. I'll say good-bye for now, and hopefully I'll be able to talk again soon.

Update Time!

Ok, so an update is well past due. I was told by someone (let's call her Rachel for the sake of anonimity- is that how you spell anonimity?) that she faithfully checks this blog every day. I was astounded. I don't check anyone's blog daily. Especially not this one. SOOOOO....

Getting on with the real update. Life. The good stuff. Winnipeg is definitely feeling more like home for Jenn and I; little by little we're getting more used to it.

As far as Jenn's schooling goes, it has definitely been a lot easier overall than the first semester was, although there have still been some crunch times. (Although 'easier' means that she gets to come to bed at 1:30 instead of 3:00...) We have been talking about this on and off, as to what it is that makes it 'easier'; Jenn thinks part of it is that she (and we) have a better idea of what is expected of her at school. She also says that part of it may be just due to the fact that as a group they are just not pushing themselves quite as hard, which is probably a good thing.

A big contributor into making our life here easier/better/more enjoyable is that we have settled comfortably into our roles with each other here in Winnipeg, and know more what we expect of each other. For example (and I think we've mentioned this to some people) back home in BC, one of my household responsibilities was filling up the toilet paper holder, and Jenn cleaned the bathroom. Now, Jenn fills up the toilet paper, and she cleans the bathroom. So you see, we have made such progress here! :) (In exchange I get to make most of the meals, do the dishes etc. so don't feel too sorry for her.)

Ok that's how we're doing. As far as what we've been doing take a look at the pictures below- I'll just say the highlight of the past couple months was an opportunity to get away during Jenn's reading break. We went to the Whiteshell area (about 1 1/2 hours northeast of here) and rented a cabin for a couple of days. It was so nice- nothing to worry about but keeping the fire going, watching a bit of TV, attempting to cross-country ski in the frigid weather, reading lots... you get the idea.















Back at christmas - our gift to Jenn's mom & her sisters was a girls night... they had a masseus come in and pamper them, and Jenn made a really really good meal... or so I hear- I wasn't invited :(















Christmas Eve - we were at Jenn's grandparents enjoying the family. Starting left to right

Jenn, Katrina (Jenn's sister), Rachel (Jenn's cousin- Rachel and her husband who are from Edmonton surprised everyone when they showed up on Christmas Eve...), and Ben (Jenn's cousin too, pondering some massively huge theological question even whilst trying to smile for the camera.)





















New Years Eve: Mom and Dad (Janzen) had a New Years fondue- twas much fun. My parents, Jenn's sister and friend, us and Brian & Jalene and their son Ethan were all there. This is Dad practicing being a grandpa.... for the not too far off future (not that i'm saying anything :)


Ok - I have more pictures to post, but that's it for today; I'll hopefully get them on in short order.

A Literary Passage and it's Significance

This is Jenn and it's my first time posting on our blog! How fun is this!

“My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy.” – Mary Shelley from Frankenstein

“For his part, every beauty of art or nature made him thankful as well as happy, and that the pleasure to be had in listening to fine music, as in looking at the stars in the sky, or at a beautiful landscape or picture, was a benefit for which we might thank Heaven as sincerely as for any other worldly blessing.” – William Makepeace Thackeray from Vanity Fair.

Both of these quotes really express the impact that the landscape has had on me. Granted, much of what I envision when I hear the word ‘landscape’ involves a babbling brook, trees gently swaying in the breeze, and a frog crooking in the background. However, as I have begun to learn more about the field of landscape architecture, I realize that I can apply my feelings towards an ‘undisturbed, wild, natural, landscape’ to the built landscape as well. I strongly agree with Le Corbusier’s desire to want to bring the nature back into the lives of people. Today my husband and I were driving down Route 90, when I noticed that there were several houses that had no trees, bushes, or any vegetation besides grass. I was very appalled because the houses were at least from the 1970’s and nothing has been done in the past 35 years. In the summer there would be no shade, and in the winter nothing to protect you from the wind. Alas, it was a very unfortunate site. The landscape whether built or ‘natural’ is definitely a blessing to have and to enjoy. Who has not found tranquility and peace when walking though a park or forest? Landscapes make time move very slowly because nature does not care about the speed in which our culture tends to operate. Landscapes help you clear your mind, help you focus, and create a refreshing start to whatever lies ahead. Even through landscapes are complicated designs they ‘feel’ less complicated than our lives. Therefore, when I am within a landscape everything becomes more ‘simple’ and refined. Landscapes have purity, an innocence that seems to be outside our grasp as humans.