JULIE's BLOG

THE BOOK OF NEGROES

2010-01-15T19:59:00.005-05:00

...so, I just finished an amazing book, the BOOK OF NEGROES. Aminata Diallo was stolen away from her village as a child and sold into slavery. She manages to stay strong over the next 30 years even after many unimaginable things happen to her. This is one book that everyone should take the time to read.

WHITE WATER RAFTING

2008-09-23T15:17:00.001-04:00

For our Breakaway Day this year we were able to go White Water Rafting on the Grand River. It wasn't so much white water rafting but, paddling on a raft.

We had breakfast at Cora's

Before the guy sent us on our way he was telling us which way to go to avoid low points. It was very lengthy and no one remembered anything that he told us. He also told us that we could sit on the side of the raft and it wouldn't tip over, we didn't know if we should trust him.

Everyone looks confidant, but are we?...

Right near the start Josh went to take off his jacket as he was hot and the map that we were going to use to follow fell into the water! So, hopefully we will remember some of the directions that he told us!

We did find it much easier to take a shoe off and roll up our pants and sit on the edge of the raft. He was right we couldn't tip the raft.

Group Pic
We got hung up on some rocks. I stayed in the boat and let everyone else push. So, maybe we didn't remember ever direction that he told us. Right of this island, left of the canoe wrapped around the pillar of the highway....

We had to make sure that we got a picture with Josh in it since he was the only brave one to bring a camera with him. Thanks Josh, now I can scrapbook these memories :0)

The trusty Manager taking a break. Good thing I didn't try to push him in he would never have seen it coming!

So, with our map lost at the very beginning we told each other that we would follow the Blue Heron that we saw down the Grand. Of course we didn't follow the same one but, all along the Grand we would keep seeing different Blue Herons!

THE MOST AMAZING DOUBLE RAINBOW

2008-08-09T21:00:00.003-04:00

Tonight we were over at my parents house helping my Dad with his computer. I noticed that it looked really neat outside, very yellow after the rain. As I looked closer I could see that there was a rainbow. When we went outside to leave I noticed that there was a double rainbow. As we walked out farther there was one full rainbow that was so clear and then a partial rainbow beside it. It was so amazing to see, we wished that we had our camera. When we got home and go the camera there were only parts of the rainbow left. If you were outside at 8:00 last night you will know what I am talking about. As Corey says we will be lucky if we ever see a rainbow like that again. A nice reminder of God's promise to us.

Unfortunately you can barely still see the rainbows in these pictures

The sky looked so cool

The rainbow looked a lot like this one

RATTLESNAKE POINT CAMPING

2008-08-07T22:01:00.002-04:00

Corey and I went camping with Beate and Matt again this year.

Corey setting up the tent

Cute Harvey with burs on him

Julie enjoying the fire

When we went to make our fire, the pit was full of ash. As we dug it out there were thousands of ants. The next day it looked like they were trying to build a new home

A handsome husband

Family photo

The Niagara escarpment is so beautiful

Harvey showing Matt and Beate around the park

Harvey taking a nap after all of his hiking

Corey teaching Matt how to play Backgammon

Early morning hike while the Turton's sleep in

I liked how the sun shinning through the trees looked

Matt making us pancakes for breakfast. I tried to make it look like an Aunt Jemima add!

Us at Crawford Lake

Cool cedar tree, it's all twisted

Our annual picture by our huge fire

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

2008-07-30T21:26:00.001-04:00

I got to go with work to a Toronto Blue Jay's game.

Danielle and her husband Kevin, they love to watch baseball games

So, the Blue Jays lost 3-2

Before we left Toronto we stopped at Tim Horton's. These cops were also stopping for a drink. I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. The one cop waved me over and started talking with me. He told me that he could tell that we were not from the area. He said I was way to enthusiastic!

The cops posed for me to take more pictures. They also gave me cards with the information about the horses.

SWIM TIME 2008

2008-07-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

When my parents were away on holiday Corey and I went to use their pool.

Harvey came for the first part before I realized we forgot the hot dogs for our supper. Corey took Harvey and went home to get them.

Corey and I eating our messy chili dogs!

Relaxing by the pool before our swim

Give me a minute, the water's a tad cold

DOUGHTY FAMILY REUNION

2008-07-27T19:57:00.001-04:00

Corey and I went to our first Doughty family reunion.

The whole Doughty clan

Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue

Cousin Cindy

Corey helped to B.B.Q.

Cousin Carrie and Tracy

GRANDMA BICKLE'S 80TH BIRTHDAY

2008-07-19T06:39:00.005-04:00

We enjoyed another beautiful day as we celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday.

Here she is holding her newest Great Grandchild Sophie Bickle

Jillian, pregnant with twins!

The whole Bickle clan

Anna, Ethan and Uncle Brad enjoy a swim

THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AND MORE...

2008-05-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

Corey invited Jeff to go out to the movies to see "Iron Man" with us. We were about 20 minutes into the movie. It had been raining when we went in but, why did the power go out? One of the workers came and told us that the power was out in the whole block and if they couldn't get it going again they would do something for us. When the next person came in and told us to hang tight for 10-15 minutes until they figured out if they would be able to start the movie again, or we would get free movie passes. Corey yelled out that we wanted free concession. When they came back they started handing out free passes with only a coupon for $3 off of concession. When we left it was a nightmare trying to get anywhere with the traffic lights out.

We decided that before we would go over to Jeff's we would go to the Tim Horton's by his house for a quick snack since it was going to be awhile before we were going out for dinner. When we pulled up there was a tow truck pulling this old guy out of trouble, he was half way down an embankment. He didn't realize that when the parking spots ended there was a drop off.

We went out to a restaurant in Guelph called, The Fat Duck. The food was good but the service was a little slow. We arrive to the restaurant around 6:45 and we didn't leave until 8:45.

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE

2008-04-22T20:47:00.005-04:00

Corey and I went to Niagara-on-the-Lake to celebrate Corey's 30th birthday. I know, his birthday was in March, but I wanted to take him to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We had a picnic lunch down by the water and looked around the park.

We walked around the town and looked in some of the shops. We purchased some jams.

We had tickets to see a Shaw play. We saw "An Inspector Calls." It was pretty good. We'll have to see if we will become theater buffs now.

We checked into our hotel and walked back into town for supper, to avoid paying for more parking. We ended up eating at the Shaw Cafe & Bar

On Sunday we had our continental breakfast which was the best I had. They had a waffle iron and you made them fresh for yourself. We went to go see the Trisha Romance collection except they were closed.

We went to Fort George to pass some time before we went to The Peller Estates for our wine seminar "The Art of Wine and Food"

SURPRISE!?!

2008-03-22T19:28:00.000-04:00

I planned a surprise birthday party for Corey's 30th. Well, at least it was meant to be a surprise. Someone let the worms out of the can. The only thing that remained a surprise was when it was actually going to happen during the weekend and where. Corey was surprised when we showed up to my parents place to "fix their computer" and there were a bunch of people crammed into the small computer room waiting to help celebrate his birthday.

I will have to see about getting additional pictures that my Dad took, when the surprise was happening!

SNOW STORM 2008

2008-03-11T20:54:00.004-04:00

I think that we got just a little bit of snow.

JULIE DOUGHTY

2008-03-11T20:52:00.005-04:00

I think this one looks more like me :)

Karen's Birthday

2008-02-27T20:01:00.008-05:00

Today I went to London to spend time with Karen and celebrate her birthday. When I talked to Karen on Sunday she said that Nathan was upset that Mommy wasn't getting a birthday cake. I decided to bake one for her.

I spent the day with Karen and her children.

Lunch was an adventure as Karen made us quesadillas.

After lunch we had the birthday cake. Karen cut us really big pieces that no one could finish. The cake was really good, if I do say so myself.

We went to the mall and then it was time for me to go as Karen needed to go see her dental surgeon. She was having some discharge and some pain and wanted to get it looked at. It was a really nice day.

WHAT DO YOU DRIVE?

2008-01-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

On Saturday Corey and I were driving to go have dinner with my friend Karen and her husband Ryan. We were waiting to turn off our street when a Hummer drove past. Corey said "Point and laugh at the Hummer." We turned off of our street and started following the Hummer. What makes someone go out and buy a Hummer. The real purpose for a Hummer is an army vehicle.

So, what would possess someone to own a Hummer in Kitchener-Waterloo. The person who was driving it was a Real Estate Agent. Her purpose I would think would be a status symbol. Would you want to use an agent who throws their success in your face? Anyways...we were still behind her when we came to a red light at Fischer-Hallman and Ottawa. Corey and I were discussing what type of vehicle we would like to get next. We would really like to get a small vehicle next except we need a lot of space for when we go camping. So, the light changes and the Hummer starts moving, only problem is that the car in front of her didn't start moving and we heard the distinct sound of two cars hitting each other. She probably couldn't see the car in front of her. We drove around the accident and there was no damage done to the hummer and the poor car that got hit had their trunk popped open. I guess the one good thing about driving a Hummer is that if you hit someone else you won't have to fix your vehicle but your insurance may go up.

THEY MEET AGAIN

2007-12-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

Brad came over to pick something up and brought Lotus with him. Lotus and Harvey were quite interested in each other.

Lotus has grown up to be one big strong girl, and she hasn't finished growing yet!

THE PINERY

2007-09-16T19:26:00.000-04:00

This weekend we went camping with Beate and Matt Turton. Also in the park at the same time was Deb, Howard and Lisa Fiander. We had a great experience camping with each other for the first time. Hopefully there will be more trips in the future.

Corey and I waiting for the Turton's to wake up for breakfast!

Howard, Deb and Lisa Fiander joining us for breakfast

Beate and Matt, what a nice looking couple

Our weekend ending up being cold, rainy and windy, but we still managed to have a really good time.

The four of us keeping warm by the fire

Howard and Deb making all of us breakfast

We took a hike down to the beach

ALBERTA

2007-08-06T11:34:00.001-04:00

Corey and I had a great time visiting the Province of Alberta. Here are just a few pictures of our time there. For a more in depth look go to our pictures area of Corey's website.

JEFF'S NEW APARTMENT VISIT

2007-08-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

Last night Corey and I went to visit Jeff and Vanessa. We saw Jeff's new place and had a B.B.Q. and hung out for the evening.

WHAT A WEEKEND

2007-07-08T19:32:00.000-04:00

Our weekend was really good. We took Anna, my niece and Ethan, my nephew to the Children's Museum. Then came back to our house for some more activity. When it was time to go home I got them all buckled up in their van then it wouldn't start! We ended walking them home. We ended up being stranded in our own house as the van was blocking our car in the garage. When Craig came to look at his van he didn't know what was wrong either. He called Brad and he told Craig to boost the van. Thankfully it worked. Today we went to Cobourg to my Grandmas birthday. We all seemed to have a good time and the weather cooperated with us. People enjoyed the pool, trampoline, b.b.q. and each other's company.

JULIE SIMPSON?

2007-07-04T21:39:00.001-04:00

GREEN OR BLACK THUMB? TIS THE QUESTION

2007-07-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

On Monday I created a new garden with the help of Corey. It was really hard to dig the hole as the ground was really dry and rocky. Corey and I think the garden looks good.

BIBLE STUDY

2007-06-26T20:55:00.000-04:00

We have been attending a Young Marrieds Bible Study since September. Two of the couples have had babies. Here is me with Hannah this past Friday.

SWIMMING

2007-06-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

Corey and I went to my parents for a quick swim and BBQ. The water was REALLY COLD it was only 75 degrees! Corey was much more brave than me. I only went in up to my waist.

BOAT CRUISE

2007-06-18T19:32:00.001-04:00

Several people went to the Grand River Dinner Cruise today from work. We all had a great time. We enjoyed the roast beef dinner and the beautiful weather.