Romantic candle light dinner with army rations

When Nathan offered to make dinner the other night, I was so elated that it didn't matter to me what we were going to eat. Somewhere along his busy work day, Nathan had come across some army rations and was so excited that he immediately bust into the ration package to explore it's contents. He had come home with a few options of breakfast, lunch & dinner. They all tried very hard to appear much more extravagant then what the preserved packages inside actually were. This option below was a "Lunch Menu No. 2", Mmm already sounds delicious. Then it goes on to list that it's a "Beef Macaroni Chinese Style", whatever that is. It does sounds like the army came up with that idea, lets just mix whatever is leftover together.

The contents of the ration box below includes:
1 Package of SCRUMPTIOUS beef Macaroni Chinese Style, 1 Package of apple sauce, spoon, salt, pepper, wetnap, Chiclets (yes, the army wants you...to have fresh breath), one Worthers original (thank god, I mean what would you do after dinner if you didn't have a Worthers? Subsequently I passed on my mine because it was in Christmas wrapping), everything you need for tea and coffee, jam, peanut butter, a packet of bread, napkins, juice chrystals, one plastic bag cup used for hot and cold beverages, a chocolate bar (sorry, not shown in photo because someone ate it in the 10 seconds it took to open the package and set up this photo), and lets not forget 1 "How do you rate this meal" survey.

Here Nathan is hard at work with the meal preparation. Packages need to be boiled.

Nathan also made us drinks from the flavored crystal packets in the cups that come along with the rations. Even though we were home, within reasonable reach of real cups, it was important to experience everything. Yes, I drank out of this Ziploc bag below, and yes it was very challenging. Remember though, I'm not complaining, because Nathan prepared everything

I decided to go with spaghetti and meatballs, and can honestly say it wasn't bad. A little like zoodles. The brick of bread there was another story. It just didn't seem right to eat bread that was probably older then Ezri.
Nathan went with a chicken in a sauce and mashed potatoes. The potatoes where a powder to begin with and the instructions noted that you could add in the coffee mate packet to intensify the creaminess. So. Gross. Especially because he didn't mix it up really well and when I went to try a bite (try everything once I say), it was completely powdery.
Found directly under "bread", "Do Not Eat". Exactly. Sure, they mean don't eat the package, I guess in a crunch those army guys get really hungry. My theory is that if your hungry enough to think about eating the package, your probably too hungry to read.After consuming two meals, breakfast & dinner in ration form in one day, Nathan didn't feel so great. That was the end of the rations in our house.

This place is so beautiful

What you can't see are the HOARDS of mosquitoes! I didn't want to spray the baby with deet, so I sprayed the area she was sitting. I know, not really environmentally friendly to spray a bunch of beautiful flowers with bug spray. We could only shoot in one spot for a few seconds and then we had to move. Although there are numerous quantities of arctic mosquitoes, they are as slow as zombies. This gives you a chance to stand still for a few seconds before you are swarmed, then you can out walk them and be clear for a short time before they catch up again.




These purple flowers are called Dwarf Fireweed, as I learned on Clare's blog yesterday. Here is a closer look.

Almost 7 months

The summer sun was shinning brightly the other evening, warming up the kitchen while I was feeding Ezri her evening meal. I caught a few shots before the sweet potato ended up all over her face and up her nose.

Polar Bear Swim 2009

I have made this a yearly event, throwing my semi-naked body into the frigid grasp of the arctic ocean. For no good reason. I've done it 3 times now, missing out only last year because I was about 4 months pregnant and it wouldn't have been the best activity to partake in. You can read about 2007's dip here.

I'm sure it seems not a big deal to you people down south in your comfy warm climate, but first of all it wasn't the warmest day up here and secondly as Meaghan puts it on her blog, "reminder the ice just melted about 2 weeks ago". There is still snow in various areas as well. It's cold and the water is even colder then you can imagine, unless of course you've gone in before, in which case you totally understand me. So yeah, it's brain freeze cold. It is the arctic ocean.The trick here is to "dip", not actually swim. Run in, run out. This time I wore shoes instead of crocs so I didn't have to turn right back around and search for them floating away. This time I used my brain. Get in, get out, don't dally around.
In case you were wondering how cold it was, here is a close up from the photo above. I think our faces say it all, (*insert swear word here*)!It was a good time, I'd do it again. I can't explain why, as the part of my brain that's supposed to make sense of things isn't making the decisions when I'm running into the arctic ocean.

Don't forget to check out Morena's post about our adventure, as well as Meaghan's.

Sleep walk.

I awoke early this morning to the sound of Ezri crying. I had forgotten to turn on the monitor and was jolted awake by the idea that I was hearing her cry from her room, rather then the monitor beside my bed. I jumped straight out of bed and then realized this was not an emergency. Ezri had put herself almost back to sleep immediately, but I was still wide awake. After a visit to the washroom, a BEAMING sun filled visit to the washroom, I took a small peak out the window and saw this:
Some of the stillest water I've seen up here. So I decided at 5am to grab my camera and walk down to the beach. I told Nathan I was going for a walk and he looked at me like I was nuts, rolled over and went back to sleep. I know someone who didn't think it was such a crazy idea. Tallinn was having a blast sniffing every rock and blade of grass from my house to the beach.It was the most calming feeling, there wasn't a sound or even a small breeze. Everyone was asleep tucked in their beds, even the ravens and dogs. It wasn't until a bunch of birds that sounded like ducks and seagulls combined started SCREECHING, breaking the silence that I remembered 3 summers ago around this time of year and hour in the morning there was a bear chilling out on the beach behind our house.

So Tallinn and I booked it back to the house and I went back to bed.

Shots

Today Ezri went in for her 6 Month shots. I documented the day with the NEW camera Nathan got me for my birthday. New camera you ask? Why do you need another camera? Well, let me explain. Firstly, let me point out that I do have 2 hands, so why not two? Second of all I wanted one of those little point & shoot cameras so I could take movies of Ezri, avoiding possible future incidents of holding my lap top over the bathtub trying to capture bath time. For most people this is the staple camera, for me it's a fun camera. My meat and potatoes camera weighs like 20lbs, so shooting with this 2 gram of a thing is like a party in my hands. Sure the image quality isn't what I'm used to, but I've had a BLAST taking photos today. (for those of you wondering, Kennie, Julie & Aleks it's a Canon powershot sd960)

So like I was saying we went to get Ezri's shots. Fun? Not so much.

To cheer us both up we took a little walk and shop in the Northern store. Ezri was incognito. Incognito from the sun. See what I'm saying about taking fun shots with a camera that doesn't need bulging biceps just to hold. I was able to take this shot with one hand. ONE!Here is also something I can not do with my SLR (easily), it's just too damn heavy. Take a shot of myself from above without risk of camera falling and crushing baby.

After shopping, we started to get a little cranky.Mommy to the rescue with a cookie. Smell that baby crack.Oh yeah, that makes it feel all better.


P.S Announcing another Nunavummiut Blogger. Morena at Babies & Bulldogs. Her little boy Oliver is Ezri's Boyfriend. And her Bulldog Tank is Tallinn's boyfriend. This is yet another CD blog. WE ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD. Eat dust Arctic Bay! :)

The blogger formerly known as Jen of Nunavut

As you already know, I'm moving down south and therefore will soon no longer be "Jen of Nunavut", but Jen of MASSIVE city in southern Canada. I will want to continue writing and showcasing my photography. I figure I'm going to (try to) start a business when I get back south and I might as well start up a full fledged website that will allow me to blog and dabble in a photography business. So the question is "what in H.E. double hockey stick do I call it"?

I WANT your opinion. You can either vote on the side or leave me a comment. OR both, any suggestions are welcome.