Guelph, Grown-up, Growing

Greetings from me, being back home! My apologies for the delay in posting lately. Has been a crazy first week back home and I didn't have my pre-scheduled posts to count on!

Being home has been really good, especially for more than three days. This week has been busy with out of town family that was here for a memorial they hosted at my mom's. So it was mixed with sadness and joy at seeing family and celebrating life together yet grieving loss together as well.

Many pictures to post and stories to tell but I figured I would start with some from months ago. In January to be exact. Found them on my camera which had been dead.


During my cross-Canada trip back in January, I was blessed to be able to visit one of my dear friend's, Becky, her husband and their son. Becky and I met when I was in grade nine. We went on a missions trip to Mexico together. It was quite the adventure and we're both slightly crazy, so we clicked right away. It was a wonderful few days with them and fun to see how much their son has grown since the last time I saw them!

Becky's hubby was in an engineering competition at the university of Guelph, so Becky and I went beforehand to try making some stuff. Jordan's team ended up winning. Probably because of our help.


Anyway, it was a lot of fun to have good conversations, hang out, play in the snow and just be. It's so neat to see friends get older and become grown-ups. I say this knowing that I too am "growing" up at the same time. But it's neat to see friends you knew as single people be married with kids and to see that progression.


Because we look like grown-ups all the time, especially when we take photos of ourselves.


One day while Becky was at work and Jordan at school, I went for a walk and locked myself out of their house. Luckily they have a garage with a code. Then again, when I opened their garage, I realized that getting to the inside of the house would be no easy task. So I laughed and then proceeded to climb over their garage belongings. :)


And playing in the snow is always fun. Something I definitely miss, living in BC.




And thus concludes my coverage of a trip taken back in January. :)

Hope you are all enjoying this Monday. Enjoy the rest of the week and stay tuned for some more updates!

Lettuce, Latest, L'Hiver

Today I arrived back in Canada to SNOW!!! Truth be told, it wasn't snowing in the States, but as soon as I crossed the border, it was snowing. Guess that goes along with the fact that it's probably ten million times more cold here in the winter with our igloos and all.

I love snow. But now when I've just finished a week in intense heat. And then I remember that although I LOVE winter in BC, this is my last winter in BC for some time, so I need to appreciate the fact that it is a little (actually a lot) milder than what I will be experiencing next winter!

Anyway, had a delightful time away. Hope you enjoyed the blog posts while I was gone. Did some scheduled posting to make it seem like I'm an avid blogger.. hope it worked.

Just a shout out to say hi and perhaps soon and very soon I shall have some exciting photos of the latest posted!!

Have you ever eaten at the Cheesecake Factory? They don't just have cheesecake as the title might suggest, but they have the most expansive and varied menu ever. Anyway, their lettuce wraps are AMAZING. Probably my favourite thing on the menu. Every time I have them, I always say the classic "man, i should make these sometime". So to avoid having to cook, I turned to my mom and said "Mom, you should make these sometime for a family dinner."

And WHAM, tonight it happened, a mere few days after the suggestion occurred. And they were awesome. Lettuce wraps and a night with my family (not to mention my absolutely adorable niece and nephew) makes for a delightful evening indeed.

Waterloo, Walk, Worthwhile

After being in Quebec, I flew to Toronto where my friend Andrea picked me up from the airport. Andrea is a friend of a friend of a friend all of which I am now friends with. LOVE how connections and community happen!


I met Andrea when she and another friend stayed at my house. We like to have sushi everywhere we go, so we decided it was only fitting to have sushi together! Traffic was even slightly enjoyable because it was nice to be in the car with good driving tunes and good conversation.


We went to an all you can eat sushi place and decided to be adventuresome and order the 'golden bag'. Scary when you have absolutely no idea what this could entail. Yet it pays to be adventurous because we got a tasty golden bag placed in front of us that we quite enjoyed! Mystery solved. Maybe next time we shall be even more daring!


Then I was off to visit my favorite Ontario relatives! Another reason why it's exciting to be moving to Quebec, because I'm stoked that I will be closer to them! They are a lot of fun and always a great time with lots of laughs together.


On the Saturday we drove down to Toronto to visit my cousin and his wife in their apartment. Walked to the market, bought some veggies and fresh fish and came back to make a tasty dinner of tilapia with parmesan, mayo and caramelized onions on top. Tasty!


I'm thankful to have such wonderful immediate and extended family. They are a blessing and I love that we all get along and genuinely enjoy spending time together. Plus these cousins are related to me in three ways. We are first cousins, third cousins and fourth cousins. Haha. And not to worry, it is all through marriage and not some odd incest or something. Hehe..









While we were eating it was getting pretty snowy outside, which was fantastic. And I was just happy I didn't have to drive in it. But there is something wonderful about sitting around a table with people you love and care about and just enjoying food together that you've had a good time making together. It draws people together in a really neat way I think. I just need to learn to follow a recipe.


Their rooftop had the most fantastic view of downtown Toronto from all around. Even though I had to walk through mounds of snow to look, it was worth it.


I had a wonderful weekend in Waterloo and had fun hanging out with my cousin Adrielle as well. We discovered credit card monopoly- so fun!! The Sunday night, my flight got cancelled, so the next morning I had to wake up in the wee hours to drive to Hamilton for a new flight! But thankfully I made it home, even though I only stayed for 24 hours before heading off to Florida! More on that to come!

Drifts, Drive, Delights

Snowdrifts are becoming a new favorite thing of mine. I don't know why, but I feel like I am rediscovering my love of winter all over again. The whimsical feeling of snow falling across the streetlamps, piles of snow on houses and vehicles, snow dancing and drifting across the roads and sidewalks, and that biting chill you feel as you step outside, not to mention the nose hairs freezing in cold temperatures.


I love it. Snow has this effect of making me want to dance around and twirl with my arms wide open, taking it all in. Being still in the silence that is created by the barrier of snow over everything. It's wonderful.


The other night it was kind of stormy and wind-blowy (new word) and we went for a drive around the city of Regina. It was delightful (as long as I don't have to drive).


I have heard reports of snow back home, which I was sad to miss, but it's also fun to be in a place where snow is the norm and it just keeps building up as winter continues.


Another thing I am thankful for is friendships. Pre-existing and new. I love my friends and am so grateful I can keep in touch with me via letters, internet and visiting in person. How blessed am I with so many wonderful people in my life! And even further, I am blessed by meeting the friends of my wonderful friends (who are all amazing, as a reflection of those they are friends with).


So today I am thankful for snow. And for meeting new people. And not just shaking their hands and trying to remember their names. But people you can instantly click with, joke around with and laugh with. People you can engage in interesting conversations and learn more about their lives and where they have been.


So these are a few of my favorite things, and I am grateful for these things and more.


And grateful especially for the fact that the snow sparkles like diamonds at every turn. Stunning!


Hope you find delight in some of your favorite things today! I shall continue my Canada friend visiting trek and hope you are loving and enjoying the little delights that each day brings!

Saskatchewan, Snow, Sizzling

Greetings from Saskatchewan!

Saskatchewan is cold. And because Regina has weird rules about where you can park and not being able to have cords across the sidewalks, Bethany was unable to plug in her car last night. And when it's -30 degrees outside overnight, car batteries get killed viciously.


This morning we were all set to go on our trek to Moose Jaw, but the dead car battery stopped us. And when we were unable to jump the car ourselves with a friend's help, we had to resort to ordering delivery pizza, and cozying ourselves in for an indoor day. Remember when you used to have indoor days at school and you just got to stay inside doing fun inside things? That's today and I love it.


Bethany is pretty awesome. We were roommates during my second year at Bible School and I love her dearly. She's been out a few times to visit me and I keep saying I will make it out to Saskatchewan to visit and haven't, so this time I finally did! And I love the wintery snowiness of it! Although I do wish I owned a winter jacket. And I was reminded this morning that jeans are the worst possible article of clothing to wear when it is cold outside. Thankfully the house is nice and toasty with a nice fire going.


I then proceeded to take some pictures from the porch.. because it was slightly warmer than it had been outside.

The one above is one of my favourites.

When Bethany and I were roommates, we used to always wonder why we never fought but most of the other rooms seemed to have big fights. We wondered if it was true that you need to have a good fight to go deeper in a friendship, so we figured, we didn't want to risk it, so we would have staged, pretend fights, that would result in yelling about non-existent problems and throwing clothes at each other. I feel like we've been closer ever since then.


Above is Bethany phoning for help to jumpstart the car. Below is us out for dinner for Japanese which was excellent. I was doubtful at first, but it was super tasty!


And Regina has random art everywhere, including some murals, of which my favourite is pictured below. I also enjoy that there is falling snow in the forefront as well.




There are still a few Christmas decorations up, including some mistletoe, so Bethany and I decided we should probably pose by it...


I love the snowy streets here! Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere with real winter, but I do love it on the West Coast because we have the perfect blend of rainy days and beautiful sunny ones. But it's nice to visit friends who live in real winterland! (except when cars don't start in the morning.. but that just makes for fun indoor days!)


Here's the car jumping in action. Actually this was the failed attempt. A few hours later CAA helped us with getting it started. And then Bethany proceeded to drive around for an hour just to make sure it wouldn't poop out again.

Carmen and Bethany

Classic Saskatchewan license plate. Go Roughriders!

Now onto Ontario, sadly skipping Manitoba. I have loved Saskatchewan and look forward to returning in the summer!

Sheep, South, Snow

While I loved my entire trip, the South Island of New Zealand holds a special place in my heart. The North Island was awesome with so many beautiful things to see and do, but the South captured my heart with its incredible beauty and miles of unpopulated land. Here are some photos for you to enjoy:


This picture would have been awesome had I not scared the cows by getting out of the vehicle...



Rush hour in NZ. Ran across this a few times. The best was when they all had horns-that was fun to drive through.


The water everywhere is SO blue! Partly because of the glaciers.



A lot of time it was quite cloudy and stormy but it gave a different feel to the mountains that was amazing.


This is in Queenstown





I forgot my parachute that day so had to be extra careful.



This is the first bungee bridge in NZ! And what's cool is that my mom, brother and his friend jumped off this bridge when they were in NZ.



This is a river we drove through. :) Thankfully the vehicle had a snorkel.


Some cobwebs in historic Arrowtown


Fresh snow. Boy it was warm there. Good thing I had so many summer clothes along.





Skipper's Canyon. Where the road on the side of the cliff is sometimes as wide as your vehicle.







Part of The Remarkables. You may recognize them from Lord of the Rings. And they are indeed rightly named.




Drive to Glenorchy










Petrified Forest - very cool! Home of the yellow-eyed penguins as well.







Franz Josef Glacier




I think the stairs are the coolest glacier formation yet.



I got kind of wet.


Beaches everywhere = incredible


Weka!



Pancake Rocks!!

And that's all for now. I have a bunch from my other camera but it's a bit hard to sort through.. but next post will be some photos from the North Island! Stay tuned!