The view from where we were having dinner the other evening. Pretty cool as the fog rolled in. Two minutes later, it was gone.

“Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood.” - Canadian Blood Services

Yesterday morning, I excitedly walked into the blood donation clinic, spoke with the friendly receptionist, watched with curiosity as my blood was tested for iron levels, and after filling out some paperwork and going over a questionnaire with a nurse, I finally leaned back in a chair and relaxed as the staff made their preparations. Yesterday, I officially became a blood donor.

Donating blood is honestly something that I’ve wanted to do for a while and I feel so proud that I finally did it! My sister, Joy, was also a first time donor a couple of weeks ago and we both pledge to continue to give.

Do you have it in you to give? I bet you do!

Canadian Blood Services - Victoria Clinic
3449 Saanich Rd.
Victoria, B.C.
Call 1-800-236-6283 to book an appointment

They come. They give unselfishly. They celebrate the evening away.

I am so honoured to be a part of this wonderful cause and it gives me great pleasure to share with you images from this years’ fantastic Sunshine Gala.

Sunshine Gala 2008

I’ve always been a dreamer.

I remember at the age of seven dreaming of becoming a doctor. I had a little toy medical kit that I played with endlessly and I loved wearing the plastic stethoscope around my neck. My baby sister, Joy, was always my patient :)

I remember at the age of twelve dreaming of becoming a model. I proclaimed this fact to my god-sister and she just laughed at me because I pronounced ‘model’ like ‘yodel’.

I remember at the age of thirteen dreaming of becoming a photographer. I poured over countless fashion *and* bridal magazines. I wanted to take apart my mom’s Polaroid camera just out of sheer curiosity about it’s inner workings.

I remember at the age of fourteen dreaming of becoming a volleyball superstar. I watched the University of Winnipeg’s Women’s Varsity volleyball team play a match (while I attended the university for a week!). The women were smart, athletic and looked cool in their uniforms and I wanted to be just like them.

I remember at the age of fifteen dreaming of becoming a jazz musician. I played piano in my schools’ jazz band and practiced and practiced and practiced like my life depended on it.

I remember at the age of sixteen dreaming of becoming a musical actress on Broadway. I bought the Miss Saigon soundtrack on a Monday, fell in love with it, played it over and over again, and learned all the words to all the songs by Friday.

I remember at the age of seventeen that I still dreamed of becoming a doctor.

I remember at the age of twenty that I still dreamed of becoming a musical actress on Broadway.

I remember at the age of twenty three dreaming of becoming an Ebola researcher.

I remember at the age of twenty seven dreaming of becoming a scientific forensic investigator.

Today…I’m still a dreamer. Little did I know that I would be here today doing one of the things I love and feel passionate about. I’m a photographer, but still very much a scientist at heart, a jazz music lover, an avid fan of Broadway musicals, and a pretty decent volleyball player after all these years. That aspiration of becoming a model was a very minute blip on my radar, but I do like to indulge in ANTM every now and then if that counts :)

I’ve had quite the year…inspiring, exciting, tiring, heart-breaking, frustrating, full of doubt, full of hope, full of joy, full of love. But looking forward, I simply aspire to keep dreaming, to keep doing all those things that I love, to keep being true to myself, and to continue sharing a part of me with you.

To dream is to live.

~ cjs

My husband and I have this on-going inside joke about RAM…

“Awww man…you got more RAM than me!” ::spoken in a geeky, slightly high-pitched whiny voice::

Yup.

Anyway, I had a pretty uneventful day…although I did have a great meeting with a nice couple in the morning (hi Lina & Steve!). Much of the day was spent cleaning, walking/playing with/feeding the dogs, surfing the net, *and* installing RAM! Oh, did I mention that my day was uneventful??

Here’s a little photo booth proof.

It was kinda nice to tidy up in my office as well since I was starting to feel like a pig in a sty. For real. Dog hair rolling around in clumps, dust layered on my speakers, empty boxes strewn about, paper spilling off my desk/printer/shelves, miscellaneous cables and wires snaking around under my desk…so irritating!!

After tidying up, I had every intention of doing a dance class drop-in, but nah, I decided not to go. I think my body needs rest after the ridiculous amount of exercise I’ve been getting these days.

So yeah…nothing too exciting going on around here. Oooh, although I did find out on Friday that my sister-in-law is having a baby girl!! Congratulations, Kimberley :)

Alright…I gotta have some dinner.

peace.
cj

Here is one of the lovely souvenirs my husband managed to pick up during our vacation in Chicago this past summer…

My family and I are having an Election Party tomorrow and if we could legally do so, we would all *totally* Barack the Vote!

To my American photographer (and non-photographer) peeps…I hope ya’ll have cast your vote!!

A couple of shots of this cutie pie from a recent portrait session…

The fact is…I already spend so much time on my computer that I can’t be bothered by social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, etc. I’m sure they’re fun and have their place, but I honestly find them too impersonal and just a huge distraction from life in general.

So why Twitter then?

Well, I actually signed up for Twitter well over a year ago, but I just decided to start using it. I realized that it’s fun, but also that it doesn’t take up obscene amounts of my time to update and check up on. It’s a distraction…but only a very small one :)

So…if you curiously want to follow along and get updated on…

- what I’m doing at the moment
- where I’m going
- where I am
- what’s for dinner
- the number of times I get my hurt on at the gym
- what silly things my husband says or does
- why my dogs are annoying sometimes
- why my dogs are the best office companions ever
- what makes me laugh
- what ticks me off
- nothing of real particular importance

…then check out www.twitter.com/cjscott.

Cameron and I decided to go for a hike last weekend and it was fun! The hike up Mt. Finlayson was pretty quick, and while I could barely catch my breath (still haven’t completely gotten over my bronchitis…and the climb gets steep quickly), I still had a great time. Here’s a shot from the top…

(Of course, we were nowhere near the elevations that my sister experienced recently by scaling Mount St. Helen’s just last month!! YAY Joy!!)

My favourite part of the hike was when we ascended up from the forested area and began scaling the rocky areas. Oh, and I quite enjoyed running most of the way back down…although my knees just got over it a couple of days ago.

Another amazing sight was of the numerous bald eagles soaring through the air totally eying up the salmon swimming upstream. So incredibly beautiful and breath-taking.

It was a small adventure, but an adventure just the same! Even more awesome is the fact that I got to experience it with my husband. Honey…I totally look forward to more adventures with you :)