The City of Fort St. John is located in Northeastern British Columbia in the Peace Country.  The scenery is quite picturesque here and the northern lights are stunning.  Take a look at Darcy Shawchek photos on his Facebook page. These photos will give you a glimpse of Northeastern British Columbia.  Our winters here can be extremely long and one does get cabin fever.  I have seen snow as early as September and been horrified with snow Canada Day long weekend. Mindfulness is talked about quite a bit these days and many companies are incorporating it into their wellness programs. In 2011, I was introduced to Zentangle® as a method of practicing mindfulness.  The tools I required were a tile, pencil and a fine tipped marker, most of which I picked up at the dollar store at the time.  It wasn’t until I went on the internet to search for Zentangle® patterns that I came across their website.  This is where I ordered a few more supplies which has kept me busy ever since. The thought of taking formal training in Zentangle® interested me but you know where I live. What is the possibility of that ever happening? LOL, well it did happen. Fort St. John is fortunate to have Deb Bowyer, CZT (Certified Zentangle® Teacher) of Deb’s Accidental Art or on Instagram. She took the training to become a CZT and I couldn’t be happier.

Traditionally, Black Friday is a day for consumers to spend mad amounts of money on discounted wares. More and more in recent years, there are videos and phone captures of in-store fights, parking lot brawls, and general retail unpleasantness. But one company decided that there had to be a better different way. Cards Against Humanity, everyone’s favourite “party game for horrible people,” has spent the past three Black Fridays requesting that their customers pay a price increase or donate their money to the game’s creators. Though this is a clearly unconventional request, their customers passionately and quickly respond, giving their funds freely. Let’s look at how a start-up has not only turned their consumers into passionate product advocates, but also into willing financial contributors who receive little, if not nothing, in return.