Oceans Apart

The past couple days have been really stressful for me...the cold/flu season has hit me hard, right in time for midterms, finals, papers and reports. I have to admit that it's been a bit depressing, so I thought I'd throw up a few pictures from home this summer as a reminder I CAN get through this.

This one is from a family picture we were doing before my sister left for Europe on an exchange (there were lots of posed shots but this one is my favourite).

These are all from a trip up north we took to a music festival. Chetwynd has some amazing chainsaw carvings that we always stop at whenever we go through.

Apparently Janelle wasn't having as much fun as me posing with the giant mosquito.

There's just something about looking back at summertime pictures that helps beat the winter blues...

 

Janelle is over in Belgium for another six months or so before I finally get to see her again :( On the bright side though, we're living together next year during school - a very happy thought!!!

I miss her to pieces but I know we'll be sick of each other again soon enough.

Taco-Style Chili

Although we have yet to get our first "real" snowfall in Prince George (and by real I'm talking more than six inches, doesn't melt within a couple days kinda snow), the weather has definitely gotten chillier and its time to batten down the hatches.

What better way to do that than by making chili?

I'm not a huge fan of going completely off of recipes, mostly because I forget my shopping list every time I hike down to the store, but this is basically what you'll need:

~Ground beef

~Chili powder

~Stewed tomatoes

~Mushrooms

~Corn

~Red and green bell peppers

~Celery

~Onions

~Garlic

~LOADS of different beans

I put my beef on to brown before I started chopping up all the veggies.

Once you have all your ingredients collected you can throw it into a big crockpot - or a normal pot, but personally I like my crockpot much more because I can just leave it plugged in and not worry about burning the house down.

Give it a good stir, and let it do it's thing!  Once it's cooked long enough (which really depends on what setting you turned your pot to), dish it out onto a bed of couscous/rice/quinoa/bread!

It turned out fabulously! What I found was a bit odd about it was how it didn't appear anything like the typical chili I was picturing.  Neither did my roommate, who came in an said "Did you make taco soup?!" (even though it's not nearly close to soupy texture), therefore we dubbed this meal "Taco-Style Chili".

And for all you university students out there like me who are pressed for time/money/etc, I've been eating this for days now...and I've thrown some in the freezer to heat up later during the semester - possibly during exam time?! 

Let me know how this turns out for you, and what other things could be added to make it even more spectacular???

The Lake

As much as I love living in city (mainly because most of my friends live here now), I adore being back at the lake. Especially during the autumn. Nothing beats Francois Lake in full colour.

Dad, Mom and I went up back behind our house to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and try our luck at some grouse hunting.  Three hours later, on our way home, I managed to snag one...minus all his tale feathers! Crazy guy!

I forgot how warm the grouse would be when I cleaned it up!

These wonderful people are all part of my beautiful family. I am so lucky to have them all in my life! 

Seriously though, the countdown is on to the end of the semester and Christmas break. Dad has promised to come pick me up after my final exam so I can be home as early as possible. I love where I live!