Tim and Olive's Blog

The Golden Rule is found in all of the world’s major religions and ethical traditions, and is generally agreed upon as a good rule to live by. Unfortunately, the Golden Rule often fails to help others and can sometimes cause more damage than benefit. Read More

Have you ever wondered what you would look like as another ethnicity? Or if you were a Manga cartoon? I’ve never wondered this… until I came across a fun Face Transformer App. This app allowed me to upload my photo, and transform me into a Caucasian, West-Asian, Afro-Caribbean, Apeman, Manga Cartoon Character, and more!
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I have a friend. I haven’t seen her for a while now. She tends to come and go as she pleases. Every so often, she will drop in, stay a while and leave when she thinks she’s kept me company for long enough. Whenever she’s around, my days need to be re-organized. Hers is a quiet sort of demanding.
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When a friend tells me that he or she is dating, I usually ask them to explain what exactly they mean by the word “dating.” When they give me a blank stare, I prompt them by asking: Is it casual dating? Serious dating? Courtship? Are you seeing each other? Friends with benefits? Hooking up? What’s the goal? Where is this relationship headed? “Dating” can mean so many different things.
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Our next book is set to be released in exactly 1 month! To celebrate this, we are releasing an excerpt from our book so you can get a taste of what it will be about. Plus, we would like your input on our book title.
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One night in the first year of our marriage, my wife and I were both lying in our bed, ready to sleep. I was all curled up in the fetal position, just about to drift into dreamland when Olive said, “I think the hall light is on. We should turn it off.”

Now one of the hard lessons I’ve learned about my marriage is that whenever my wife matches the word “we” with something that needs to be done, then “we” doesn’t actually mean “we,” it means “you.”
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Last week we make an open invitation on our blog for our readers to join our book launch team. Many people applied and we were able to form a great team. We’re excited to officially introduce you to our Book Launch Team!
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I find it difficult to be kind to myself. I am my own harshest critic, taskmaster and mean-faced bully. I have been for many years already. I would probably continue to be, except that I have encountered grace and found it to be a much more enjoyable way of living. So I’m learning how to be kinder to myself; to be hospitable to my own soul and to extend generosity to the person I most closely live with.
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It’s our tradition to have pasta on Valentine’s Day. No, it’s not because we think Italian food is particularly romantic (although it is delicious). Nor are we trying to imitate that scene in “Lady and the Tramp.” It’s a tradition we’ve adopted because of what happened our very first Valentine’s Day as a dating couple.
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[This is an excerpt from our book Fight With Me: How We Learned to be Married, which you can purchase on Amazon or get free on our blog]

The summer before our daughter was born, Olive and I had a chance to work on a painting together. It was the first time we had done this. We had visited Whiffen Spit near Victoria, BC and were delighted with its breathtaking view. Inspired by what we saw, we bought a large, 3 feet by 4 feet canvas and set to work.
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