Underwater, Uglify, Unaccustomed

Underwater cameras = FUN
Underwater pictures = Uglifying {well, not really, but it started with a 'u' so i figured it worked.. but they are not the most complimentary photos to be sure but i will embrace them nonetheless}


As alluded to above, my friend Emily and I had dinner and underwater camera fun the other night. I love underwater cameras but this night photoshoot opened up my world to so many more possibilities.
We wanted pictures from afar and decided why not use the self-timer. While I am not accustomed to using an underwater camera with a timer, we are now officially pros.
We had a lot of laughs, especially because in some of the pictures, our faces are SO distorted!
One of my other favorite things in life is water. I love to drink water, and to swim in it.
I think that is partly as a result of having grown up in the swimming pool during the summers. Every morning in the summer, we would wake up, eat breakfast, go swim, have a lunch break, go swim again, have dinner and then go to bed early to start the day again the next day.
Actually, I was talking to my cousin the other day and we were joking that my brothers and I used to have to go to bed super early.. And whenever their family was over, we'd go to bed while they played in the pool outside. And they would see my brother looking longingly out the window waving, wishing he was there. hahaha.. the thought of it made me laugh. Too bad those sleeping habits didn't stick.
I love eye shots and also crazy hair shots underwater.
If I could be any animal, I think I would choose to be a fish. Actually, maybe a dolphin. Yeah. Because they can attack sharks in the side of the head. Perfect. And they're super smart and everyone loves them. And I know all about how dolphins can get stuck in nets and stuff, so I wouldn't do that.
We decided that a night of swimming fun was not complete without a tea party. We didn't want to go inside wet, so we used our colorful cups for our underwater tea party. A great time was had by all.
Now I think I will go swimming, because this post made me want to do just that! :)

Des' wedding was fantastic! it was outside, with no tent, and it rained quite hard.. but we didn't let that dampen our spirits! And thank goodness for umbrellas! Everything was beautiful and had an essence of magic to it. As I walked down the aisle to "Somewhere over the rainbow" i laughed a bit at the irony of it and wondered where the sun was to create the rainbow.

I have no pictures because I didn't take any, but when I get some, I will post more about the big day! And for now I will recover from standing most of the day and dancing most of the night! Today is truly a day of rest for me! Enjoy your Sunday!

Busy, Buntzen, Bridal

Summer. Sigh. Generally summer is my least favorite season, but this year I have discovered a unique love for it. I love all seasons, but summer has probably been at the bottom of the list for me.

This summer however I would say would be my most favorite summer so far in my life. Not that summers have been horrible, but I think I just haven't been able to experience and love summer by being around and just living it. In the past years I have either been traveling {which was great, but in a different way} or working crazy hours.

So this summer I have been around. I have been able to enjoy BC in new and fresh ways. I have become acquainted with my canoe and have explored and discovered new and wonderful place, while building great friendships. So here is a little bit of how I have been enjoying my summer during this last week.

Yesterday, Desiree, some of her family and her bridesmaids all got our nails done. It was fun to hang out and be pampered as well. Always fun to get together as girls and just relax. And to have nice nails to show for it. Takes a while afterward to feel safe to do stuff with my hands so as to not ruin my manicure!

I loved that 5 of us could sit together at once while getting pedicures

In the morning before pedicures and manicures, I took Caleb and Emily to my new favorite lake. Caleb and his wife Emily are my cousins {actually 1st, 3rd and 4th cousin.. all in one}. They arrived Wednesday night and spent the night and Thursday morning we headed out to the lake.
Although I dont' see them too often, I love spending time with Caleb and Emily. When we were younger, Caleb and I were the cousins that were the same age so we definitely have some fun memories and connections from then and from visits over the years. Always lots of laughing.
The air was kind of hazy. I hear it's because of the forest fires of late. But it was muggy and therefore warm and perfect for a nice swim in the lake after we canoed to a nice secluded spot.
On Tuesday night, Kristen, Alisha, Adri and I headed to Vancouver for a picnic and to go to Theatre Under the Stars. I just discovered it last year and it's one of my new favorite things to do in Vancouver during the summer.
We saw singing in the rain and it was FANTASTIC! There was even rain on the stage while the song was being sung. Very cool. And very talented cast. Thoroughly enjoyed it all. I am learning more and more that as much as I love all the new musicals coming out, I love love love all the classics.
And our picnic dinner was absolutely fantastic as well! I love picnics as well. And they were mocking me for being the perfect mom with everything I brought and prepared for.
On Monday, Alisha and I joined some friends who were going to Buntzen Lake for the day. I had never heard of the lake, so I was excited to go discover and explore. We brought up 2 canoes and set up a nice little picnic spot.
I had never been to Buntzen Lake, but it's beautiful {minus the powerlines..}. It's a BC Hydro reservoir surrounded by trees and mountains. It was quite high but the water was incredibly warm! Warmest lake I've swam in yet this summer.
The beach was packed, so we went canoeing to explore the lake and found different swimming spots. We even found a nice suspension bridge you can jump off {as long as you ignore the danger, no jumping signs.}
We enjoyed lunch, some more swimming and some card playing as well. All in all a wonderful way to spend the holiday Monday!
And I definitely love this lake. Not many boats and stuff either (other than canoes and non-noise making boats). It's not too far either-I will definitely be visiting it often!
And super clear and clean for swimming. I think swimming in lakes would top as one of my most favorite things {if you ever play whoonu with me, that is good to keep in mind..}

And delightful scenery as well!

have I mentioned that I absolutely love my canoe? One of the best purchases I have made I'd say.
After the day of canoeing, I enjoyed hanging out with Chrystal in the evening. We went for dinner at Red Robin's and then went to go see Charlie St. Cloud which was good and quite thought provoking. Forgot to take pics though.
On Sunday, after church, I flew to Calgary to go visit Jenn and Lindie. We went to Jubilations Dinner Theatre and enjoyed Law and Order: Canada Files. We had been once before and once again, the food, entertainment and company was wonderful! I wouldn't be seeing them for a while, so wanted to go quickly visit and that Sunday night was the perfect time for it!
Saturday I spent paper writing and writing a final. And you saw my procrastination list from that.
Friday, I enjoyed playing some yahtzee on the patio with Megan and Cedric. We discovered that playing outside with wind can be dangerous in keeping track of our score sheets.
Fruit is something else I have loved this summer. Being that in the past I wasn't around to enjoy seasonal fruits, this year I am making up for it {and my stomach can definitely tell-haha}. My favorites have been blueberries, cherries, strawberries and blackberries and watermelon!

Lots of other fun things have been intermixed between all of this during the last week and although I feel like I haven't had a spare moment, I have been loving it!

Amidst the insanity, I took half a day to thoroughly clean my house. It felt so good and now feels so great. It's finally all clean! And mostly organized! Somehow when everything is in it's place and not messy and cluttered, my brain feels better. So that's been nice.
I even have a pantry now, which I created myself and will showcase in the future.
My scanning is almost done, but this blog post beat it. Tomorrow is Desiree and Joe's wedding! I can't believe the day is almost here! Please help pray for no rain, as it's outside! So today and tomorrow are full of preparations and celebrations!

Some things I'm looking forward to this week: family from Ontario visiting, Bard on the Beach, roadtrip to Portland, Spanish Banks, BBQ's and the WEDDING of course! :)

Enjoy the weekend!

Limo, Ladies, Laughs

Last weekend was spent in Whistler celebrating Desiree's upcoming wedding! Crazy that the wedding date is just around the corner!

Desiree got a nice outfit to wear. haha

Our first stop was Domaine de Chaberton, a winery in Langley. We got a tour of the winery and a tasting and it was great. It's always interesting to see how different wineries function. And to try their wine as well. I really enjoyed one of the whites we tried.
{Listening intently on the tour}
The wine vats.

Joelle told me if you drink out of the glass sideways, you can taste it better. I asked her to model it for me.

We drove up to Whistler in a limo which was pretty fun. I've never been in a limo before so it was fun to drive a few hours there and a few hours back in it!






Once we arrived in Whistler, we hung out at our hotel for a while. Then we went to Bearfoot Bistro for dinner.



The restaurant was really cool. Lots of cool features. We even went into the basement cellar where you can sabre off a champagne bottle with a sword.

They also had a cold vodka room where all the bottles are directly in solid chunks of ice. Apparently it's minus 24 degrees in there. All evening we would see people going in with their parkas.

The downstairs cellar



After dinner, everyone went out on the town. I didn't stay out too late as it's not really my scene, but it was fun hanging out with everyone. And the few of us that went back to the hotel earlier had a great evening and a good chat, followed by a wonderful breakfast in the morning before catching our limo back.
All in all a fun weekend, and great to celebrate with Desiree. And the drive there and back is always so incredibly beautiful! Only 2 more weeks until her wedding! I am now off to my dress fitting, so hopefully it fits! :)