happy halloween!

Happy Halloween! I am not really in the Halloween spirit, but I am taking advantage of the chocolate, that's for sure... As promised, here are some photos of from last weekend on Vancouver Island. (As usual, slower delivery than promised, but this time I have a good excuse... I'll tell you about it at the bottom!)

Chesterman's Beach was across the street from our cabin.

Steve and Bo in their sweet sealsuits. The water was surprisingly warm, about the same as in Halifax, but because the weather was so sunny and calm, it took forever to get a chill.

Our fresh sticks. Mine is the humongous one. But I like it that way! My accomplishments were catching a small green wave (i.e. not the usual foam) and learning to go along the waves (i.e. not straight).

Rocks and boys at the south end of Chesterman's Beach.

Sunset at Chesterman's Beach, looking west to Frank Island (which is only a high tide island!).

Some biology on Frank Island (at low tide).

A lot more biology! (This makes me wish I'd taken that field class to Bamfield in my undergrad...)

Some ex-biology. Maybe now it's architecture?

The beautiful old trees between Port Alberni and Nanaimo.

~

It was SUCH a great trip! But, anyways, the reason for my lateness is that a Planner I job was posted at the city of Halifax when I returned from holidays (isn't that a treat?!). It closes this week, and in the interest of not procrastinating, I made sure to update the resume asap. Application was faxed AND dropped off today, so I am done. Fingers crossed, and hopefully I'll get an interview, and if it doesn't work out, maybe a permanent development tech will get it, and I can get shifted from 'temporary' to 'permanent' in the pool of municipal government! Bye!

home again!

Hello! I'm home again, back in Halifax. (I have to say, it didn't feel like 'home' after being in BC, until I got into the apartment. Luckily, all my stuff is still here, so I guess it is my home...)

Super quick update (because I am very tired, even though it is only 5 pm BC time!): Steve's new shoes are very cool, 100% approval rating from the polls (i.e. me). The jury's still out on my new shoes (which are leopard-print gumboots!) but I like them, they were cheap, and I'm sure they'll get a lot of use this fall / winter! Vancouver Island was awesome - Steve and Bo and I spent three days in Tofino, surfing and relaxing. We had amazing weather, sunny the whole time. I took lots of photos, which I will post after work tomorrow.

And finally, I had a layover in Calgary this morning, and James, Greg, Rob and Jenn were kind enough to come out for breakfast at the airport!!!! It was great to see them, and I feel so lucky to have such awesome friends. Thanks you guys!

here's looking at you, Bruce and Ian

Some props going out to my biggest fans, who have been feeling VERY neglected: Bruce and Ian, I am thinking of you RIGHT this minute. Thanks for checking the blog, even though there's nothing new to actually read! (Of course, the moms are probably the biggest fans, but they're a much more obvious choice than Bruce and Ian.)

Vancouver has been awesome so far - stayed up real late drinking wine with Planner Kathryn and Planner Paul on Friday night, then we hit West 4th for shopping on Saturday. It was a very tough mission, but somehow, through an extreme shopping crusade, fuelled by coffee and granola, guided by purity in my heart, I did manage to find some yoga pants in Vancouver. Or something like that!

Most of the rest of the weekend was spent eating Asian food. Great dim sum style lunch on Saturday with Kathryn, Paul, and Carla. Sushi for dinner on Saturday with Steve 'n' Tyler, Teresa, and Brad-man (Happy Birthday Brad!). Family-style Chinese for dinner on Sunday with Evan and Katrina and Bruce and Hannah. Mmm mm good!

Also hung out at Carla's on Sunday (in the rain rain rain), and this is what we played with Easton (who's in Grade 1): Slamwich, Candyland, Knights, Lego, Hide and Go Seek, Football, and we baked banana chocolate chip muffins.

Anyways, should sign off now... Hopefully, next time I update, I will be able to tell you about Steve's new shoes. (Time to retire the flip flops for winter!)

i feel so neglectful!

I'm sorry I've been so absent lately.... Things were a blur when my parents were here, then I spent a week recovering from all of the fun (and working late to bank some time), and now it's a week past then! How can time go so quickly sometimes?

Anyways, the Thanksgiving weekend was great. My parents had perfect weather, and spent some time sightseeing around Halifax during the week. We took off for Cape Breton on Saturday, saw some beautiful scenery, visited the whiskey distillery, checked out the Sydney tar ponds (not as gruesome as my dad expected, but still pretty bad for property values - a full house in Sydney will set you back $30,000 to $100,000!), went to the fortress at Louisbourg, drove along the lovely Mira River, ate lobsters, drank beer, and the all that jazz. It was a great trip, and next time I head to Cape Breton I can be a better tour guide. (Hint: Baddeck is central and very cute - it would be an ideal base...) We were back in Halifax by Monday at lunchtime, and spent their last day relaxing on the peninsula with some beautiful sunny weather. (I've got to say, the weather did its best for their visit - there probably hasn't been such a nice week since we got here!)

Devon's surfboard also arrived in Halifax with mom and dad, and I tested it out at Martinique this past weekend. Great success! It's so much easier to ride than Steve's board, which means I caught a lot more waves.

Other than that, we are in prep mode for the trip to BC, gathering sporting equipment and trying to fit everyone in!

And, on that note - I think I've done a somewhat decent job of updating this, and am going to eat some dinner. Bye!

(I can't upload any photos at the moment, but they're "aware of the problem", so I'll check back later...)

the best place on earth

Well, it's the Best Place on Earth according to the signs on the Trans Canada Highway, anyways. Yep, that's BC. And yep, we're coming out! Steve and I will be enjoying the wonders of the homeland for a week in October, arriving late on Friday the 19th and leaving early on Sunday the 28th.

Not sure what the itinerary will be yet. He's definitely heading out to Tofino, I may be invited to that, I may also head to Kamloops for a day (mainly just to see my sister's apartment and hear all of the songs she's learned to play on guitar). We'll keep those of you in Vancity in the loop.

Who could pass up some fun family times like these? (I couldn't find any photos OF BC quickly, but at least these were taken IN BC...)

And in other exciting news: my parents are coming in a day and a half!!!!

whee!