Friday 15 February 2013

Hearts, kisses, and what's to come!

So after having the most incredible Valentine's Day with Tom (dinner, a rose, a rose bush, and chocolate) I am so excited to be leaving for Mexico in a few hours. I am packed and ready to jet off and dearly hoping to sleep on the flights. I am finally relaxed, though that won't last long, and I am looking forward to this adventure. I am in a great place in my relationship, I have the most amazing friends, and I am looking forward to travelling and meeting a lot of new people in the next few weeks and months. While my schoolwork has been lacking recently, as well as my attendance to class (whoops!), I am well rested and over my cold so I cannot complain too much. This experience will be worth more than the portion of my grades I've let fall and I have promised myself I will buckle down and finish the semester with a bang when I am back (having said that, I also have promised myself I will see Tom more so we'll see which wins out ;-)). Adios mis amigos, ¡hasta luego! Wish me luck and I will write all about my adventure when I return. ¡Besos!

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Saskatoon

So finally I sit down to write about my experience this summer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan visiting family and attending my cousin's wedding. It was my first wedding and my first cousin to be married so overall it was a very exciting and busy time! My extended family was in a twist for half the week before the wedding because they were hosting the rehearsal dinner, a post-wedding celebration the following day and most of us were in the wedding whether it was music, bridesmaids, or as I was, the guest registry person.
The week before the wedding was so much fun. I had a great time with a few of my cousins and my sister before everyone arrived for the weekend celebrations. The wedding itself was beautiful and my cousins played the music for the ceremony which worked out very well. The bride was stunning and looked very happy to be walking down the aisle towards my cousin. After we spent the afternoon at my uncle's waiting for the reception which was a fun night filled with amusing anecdotes and sweet stories. Since this was the first time in over ten years when my dad's entire side of the family was together in one place at one time therefore there were plenty of pictures taken to document the momentous occasion and my uncles ensured we remember it by dancing the night away with my cousins and I.
Dancing...wow will that ever be something I won't forget. At one point every cousin and every aunt and uncle were up on the small dance floor groovin out to pop songs such as Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me and oddities that other attendees at the wedding had chosen (we all RSVPd with one song choice...my family's was Rasputin, a song we know from a video dance game). My uncle polka'd with me and my other uncle spun me around so fast I kept stepping on his feet. The best part of the night was when, after a few beers, my closest cousin and I hopped up to the dance floor (I hopped he may have been dragged) to dance to the classic Sweet Home Alabama. Boy did we dance! He learned how to dance similar to ballroom dancing in Norway on a year long trip to a folk school and he clearly remembered those steps because he was good. I've never gotten to dance like that and I had so much fun. Hopefully I can find a man for me who can dance like that someday!
Sunday, the day following the wedding, was full of hangover food, reminiscing, games and tears. We all spent the day at my uncle's lake house outside the city and we just spent hours talking, playing ping pong, boating, and eating together. It was another amazing afternoon and I was immensely saddened to leave that night to head back to Vancouver. I was leaving behind both my immediate family and the family I only see every few years. I love them all so much I was devastated to only get one week with them. I dearly hope I can spend a more extended period of time with them sometime in the next few years. We are all growing up so fast and I just can't seem to slow down time. We couldn't believe one of us was getting married and we joked constantly about the next 7 weddings that were surely bound to happen over the next 20 years. I don;t know who will be next but I hope we can all be there and enjoy it just as we did this one.

Here's a taste of the dancing we all did =)
My cousin, uncle, sister and myself

Dancing with my cousin (my uncle and sis on the right, my mother aunt and cousin in the back)

Monday 20 August 2012

White Rock, BC

Today I traveled down with one of my many housemates/old friend from back home an hour and a half into White Rock to meet my parents and Oma for lunch at an adorable bakery across from the pier. It was sunny, bright and beautiful and we bought the most scrumptious cinnamon buns to munch on along the water. There was a lovely photographer selling her photographs along the waterfront at very reasonable prices so I bought two prints for my room; one a black and white generic kind of photo and the other a beautiful picture of the pier and train tracks in a frame.
It was a great day and I sit here writing this feeling so content with the day and so excited to eat tonight. =)
Not much of a trip but a fun day all the same, worthy of a brief mention in cyberworld.

Thnx to "Dharma and Greg" the tv show for providing my background stimulation during this post.

"busted in the blinding lights of closing time"

Being able to dream and explore the world of infinite options is the greatest gift one can be given. I have so many people's influence to thank for that and I hope I never lose that ability. Tonight I skyped with one person who has created more waves of influence in my life than she'll ever know. She inspired me to start this blog (and I hope she starts hers as well) because she made me realize that everyone needs a place to record the incredibility of life when your best friend just isn't quite close enough to listen every day.

So there are two weeks to go until the start of my official third year in university in Vancouver and I couldn't be happier. After passing a beautiful summer with my family and friends while putting in more than my fair share at work and one more week of vacation in Saskatoon still to come, I am ready to hit the books again in my new home surrounded by my new 'family'. Cooking, baking, yoga, zumba, work, study, biking, volunteering and pubs hover in my line of vision for the near future as I prepare to have a successful, fulfilling third year apart from so many people that I love. All I can do is be happy with this moment and hope that the future brings more time and experiences with those I've left behind and who have left me here to miss them.

Speaking of the future, I don't know where I'll be in two years and that makes me incredibly happy and excited. What I want most is to be as happy and loved as I am now, so I've decided to document this chapter in my life to ensure that I remember what is most important to me. Here's to the uncertainty of the future and the wisdom of the past! 
Bellingham, WA


thnx to Leonard Cohen for providing the music for this blog  
- Suzanne 
- Closing Time