Captivated by the forest at Helliwell on Hornby Island

Last year was full of journeys, both in terms of travel and emotions, and of firsts. Recovering from a rocky end to 2010, I found emotional balance as my body took its time to heal. I also began a new romantic relationship in the spring that has helped me better understand myself and discover what a loving partnership really ought to feel like (answer: fantastic). That discovery induced some much-needed catharsis and put my past into perspective. I travelled overseas for the first time in almost a decade — and boarded the plane unaccompanied for the first time ever — and made two trips within BC with my sweetheart.

I've been blogging every day for a month now — more posts than in all of 2009 and four times more than 2010 — and while I can definitely say I've lost sleep and neglected flossing once or twice, the 50-odd hours I've spent on this have been worthwhile and for a worthy cause. Improving our quality of life by ensuring a healthy environment and living sustainably within the limits of nature is very important to me, so raising money for the David Suzuki Foundation through this fair-trade-cocoa-powered pledge goes beyond just the fact that I love the organization I work for. I love what we do, and we do it for our fellow Canadians.

I'd like to thank all those who've so far sponsored my daily blog habit with your donations to the Foundation (in no particular order): Gaby, Tim, Eli, Siobhan, Solona, Jason, and my parents. Thank you!

I'd also like to thank Madeleine and Suzanne for your kind words and praise, and for sending your fans this way. Thanks to Ben for bringing me to the World Community Film Fest and posting good articles online. (You too, Faisal.) Thanks also to the words of encouragement from too many people to name. It keeps me focused.

I'm sounding like an Oscars acceptance speech, so I'll stop and let you enjoy some photos from this weekend. Crocuses on Friday, snow on Sunday. Just when you thought spring was around the corner...

This daily green blog challenge is in celebration of David Suzuki's 75th birthday, supporting the David Suzuki Foundation. Please help me out by sponsoring me online now.
Note: I am writing solely on my own behalf, and do not claim to represent the David Suzuki Foundation or its views here.

Snow on logged forest next to the Coquihalla in December

I've been meaning for some days to write a year-end blog post for 2010, but I've been too busy doing a New Year-inspired purge of things like old phone bills, unread newspapers, and other mainly paper-based ephemera. When I considered with a week left of holidays what things I'd been meaning to do at home for ages, I drew up a pretty long list. Of course, writing a blog post was on it, but when I settle into a rare purging and organising mindset, this nostalgic pack rat has to finish the job with swift, devoted action. So here it is, a bit late.

The David Suzuki Foundation is making green sexy this Valentine's Day with a series of Valetine e-cards. The one above is my personal favourite, but there are two others to choose from. They're a little cheeky and should make your significant other, if not your mother, laugh. Save some paper this year and spread a little cheer and love to people who may not normally get a Valentine card from you. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had been meaning to clean my sneakers for awhile. Finally getting around to it today, I went to look for some shoe cleaning products in the laundry room cupboard. There were none. A thought then crossed my mind: why do I have to use a specially-formulated chemical product to clean my footwear? Why not, y'know, laundry detergent or something?

A-ha.

Why not... baking soda? It is, after all, white clothing's best friend and the filthiest part of my sneakers was the bottom white strip. So I grabbed the box of baking soda (I really ought to work for Arm & Hammer or something) and a damp rag (an old washcloth). Meantime it was just my luck that the rubbery suede brush tool had hardened beyond recognition, so that in itself was useless.

- 200 posts!
- One month to my birthday (guess how old I am?)
- Almost one year since graduation
- One year since I changed my diet to eliminate food sensitivities... not a single cashew since
- Moving on to second, new design job
- Almost two years since moving out
- Nearly another day...

Not what you expected to see with that headline, is it? These are the most naturally-gorgeous eggs I've ever seen. I brought them over to the family party for decorating yesterday, and I don't think I even got the chance to show them off. We ran out of time for decorating but admired the eggs that were already there from over a decade of tradition.

White eggs never offer such a variety of tones, speckles or spots. It makes buying brown ones that much more gratifying. I've only ever decorated white eggs, although in later years I ended up with ones stamped with "BORN 3" in either pink or blue. Not exactly the blank canvas I had in mind. ;)

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!