Calgary, Canucks, Crazy

A late minute unplanned trip to Alberta would be the explanation for my recent blogging absence. But this also means there is much to blog about. Of which I will not do right now, because I need to go back to go back to Alberta tomorrow...

This past weekend was filled with dinner theatre, an Oilers game, making new friends, freezing to death, watching my first grey cup ever, football in the snow, movies, sushi, soap shopping, roadtrips, flights, and much much more. Stay tuned.

I got tickets for the Canucks game tomorrow.. In Calgary. So I will wake up tomorrow morning, put on my jersey, fly to Calgary and go cheer heartily for our Canucks as they play Calgary. I am in row 6, so if you are watching, perhaps you will see me on tv amongst a c of red whenever Vancouver scores. And it is my sincere hope that they score many times, else I might not live it down.

Go Canucks Go!

Baaaa, Buble, Butts

Do you ever have weekends that you wish you could just bottle up and keep for a while?

This last weekend was one of those. It probably tops the charts with top weekends because there was so much crammed into it and it was a lot of fun!


First off, here are a couple shots I quickly took with my new lens! I LOVE it! It's huge though! It's 150-500 mm and has an incredible zoom!


The weekend started on Thursday night when some friends and I went to see Cirque de Soleil, Kooza, which is in Vancouver right now. INCREDIBLE! The control over their bodies and things they can do with their bodies are absolutely mind-blowing! And the way the whole show is put together is always great! My favorite was when I got peed on by the dog. I was in the 2nd row, and the dog leaned over and peed and got me soaked (it was water obviously... I hope)


Then we went out to a tapas restaurant to continue the celebration of Adri's birthday. Food wasn't incredible, but the company was fantastic and we had a great time.


After dinner we went to 'Death by Chocolate' for dessert! All in all a fantastic evening!



Friday afternoon i picked Lindie up from the airport, we went for lunch, and then drove to the ferry terminal to pick up our friend Cynthia who is from Winnipeg.


That night, we went to a sheep roast that Dave and Adri helped host. They roasted the sheep South African style and it was FANTASTIC! So tasty!!


It was a great night too. There was a live band, great food, good company and some great sokkie (South African dancing). I am learning that I suck at being led on the dance floor. I want to take over. So a couple of my friends are determined to help me out with that, which i'm grateful for! It really is quite enjoyable! :)


Here's poor little sheep-y. Before he got eaten by us...


We were pretty excited about the sheep. It was a beautiful night as well, so it was good to be able to be outside!



Saturday, Lindie and I went for lunch and then swimming and helped the South African clan set up for camping in the backyard before heading into Vancouver.




What time is it? Fry time!! Lindie and I go to Red Robin's every time she visits. Mainly so we can eat the fries! So good!


And a swim is not complete without some underwater pictures of course! :)


Even if the underwater pictures are complimentary to how you look.. haha


That night, Lindie and I went to the Michael Buble concert, which was AMAZING!


A group called Naturally 7 opened for them and they were awesome. They all become the instruments they play. It was pretty awesome, especially the drummer, bass player and electric guitar. You definitely thought there were instruments being played. Pretty awesome!


And Michael Buble was awesome of course. His stage presence is fantastic, his songs wonderful and I also enjoyed his dialogue throughout-quite the comedian.


His band was full, and I especially loved the brass section! And the stage was angled, so he could slide down it every once in a while. He even did a few songs near the back on a separate stage so we were super close!


The lighting and video effects were pretty cool as well!



Then on Sunday, my mom, Lindie and I headed over to the island. First stop was Chemainus, where we enjoyed walking around, going for lunch and then we went to see Guys & Dolls at the Chemainus Theatre. It was fantastic! It is probably one of my favorite musicals, so it was great to see again! It's coming to Seattle this next season so I'm excited to go then too!


There were some fun things to take pictures of in Chemainus as we walked around.




After the musical, we drove to Victoria where we were going to spend the night. Our hotel valet suggested this fantastic Italian restaurant which definitely was incredible! Such good food! And live music too!


The group was a Yiddish group and it was fun to be accompanied by them!


I have some great sunset/dusk pictures I took, but they're taking forever to load.. so they will have to wait until some other time.


And so ends an absolutely wonderful weekend! And now the final countdown is here. 2 more sleeps until Australia!! Ahhh!! I can't believe it. Maybe I should pack.. or think about packing. Happy Tuesday!

BBQ, Beautiful, BC

Weekend that begin and end with BBQs with fun in the middle are always the best! Dave, Adri and I were planning on going canoe camping this weekend, but when we had dinner on Thursday night, we decided to do a day long canoe trip and fill the rest of the weekend with fun filled activities!

Friday night, we had an impromptu dinner of turkey burgers and greek salad.
Adri's bun was a bit small but she made do.
My mouth was a bit too big, but that was fine too.
Then Dave, Adri, Cedric and I went to the movies. We went to go see SALT which was actually pretty good. After seeing the movie though, Adri had the idea that she was Evelyn Salt. So now life has gone to an entirely new level of craziness!

Saturday morning started bright and early at Deep Cove with the canoe. Oh how I love my canoe. It takes me to such wonderful places that give you a perspective that is unique to sitting in a boat in the middle of water and taking all the fantastic beauty of creation in all around you.
Strangely enough, I have never been to Deep Cove. I have been invited on many hikes there but never been able to make it. I will definitely be going back though! LOVED it! I love the ocean and the smell of it.
I love that when out in the water, you see life teeming all around. Jellyfish in the water, eagles flying overhead, seals popping up, whales banging into the canoe (okay, maybe not the last one, but wouldn't that be GREAT? okay.. or scary rather).
Dave made himself a comfy {for about five minutes} seat in the middle of the canoe and then proceeded to accidentally splash Adri and I both "by accident" while paddling.

Here was Dave trying out a new more comfortable paddling position.

The sun was wonderfully warm, the breeze gentle and cooling and the splashing waves refreshing, leaving streaks of salt all over once they were dried up.
At one point the waves were pretty big actually.. well, not really, but for a canoe they were big.. Adri got quite splashed in the front and as we were trying to paddle as hard as we could against the waves and wind, I could not stop laughing. Laughing is not so conducive to paddling mind you.
I got burned. I put on sunscreen, but missed some key places. Like my back. And my knees. Oh well.
I love all the rock and tree contrasts in the ocean. And how incredibly BLUE the sky was.
This was a BC Hydro powerhouse we went to check out. As we paddled close, we read the signs that said "Hazardous material is released here and suddenly and can be dangerous to boaters. Keep away." Too bad we had to be really close to read it. So then we paddled really fast to save ourselves from tipping from a sudden rush of hazardous water.

Yet another powerhouse. This time we stayed away.

The canoe trip was delightful! Five and a half hours or so! My arms were sore that evening! Below is a picture of Adri in the water. I'm sure you can speculate at what she is doing. Tee hee.

For dinner we went to Memphis Blues, a BBQ restaurant. The food wasn't absolutely that great and we laughed at that, because our other dinner option was so much better.. and Dave said last time he went it wasn't that great, but he thought it was what he had ordered. So we thanked him for taking us to a great restaurant.

Then we went to rent a movie. After giving them my name, she asked me why I hadn't returned "m" movie. I said I had never heard of that movie so I'm pretty sure I didn't rent it. Turns out there's someone who has stolen my identity who has been stealing movies from Blockbuster. Okay, or perhaps someone with my same name lives down the street from me. Strange. Probably the same person who gets all my emails when people get my email address wrong.

We ended up watching 'When in Rome' which was great. Then we started the Lion King and we all sang along for the first song excitedly and all fell instantly asleep. :)

It was so wonderful going to church again this morning! I haven't been in about a month because I have been gone and it was so wonderful to be there with people I love and to connect with people again. Over and over (and I'm sure I have said this far too many times) I realize how blessed I am and was happy to connect with some people I hadn't seen in a while! After lunch we headed to Costco for hot dogs since Dave and Adri had never had them. Figured it was good fuel for the rest of the day.

We stopped at one of my favorite wineries, Kermode winery, near Deroche. Then we went to Harrison for the day to walk around and hang out. Was great to walk in the water, people watch and have some really great and inspiring and encouraging conversations in such a beautiful spot! Going back to thankfulness at church, I am so thankful to have gone there and to have made great friends there, specifically these two, who are a constant blessing to me! Today Adri today me "I never thought we would actually become good friends when we met you." Haha.. Often when you meet people in passing, you don't think that maybe you could become good friends, but I'm glad we have!

Harrison is so beautiful with all the mountains in the background. And the water wasn't even that cold.


Then this evening we joined my mom, grandma and aunt and uncle and our friend Cheri at my mom's for a BBQ which was tasty as per usual!
All in all, a fantastic weekend! Very full and very tiring! I got a lot of sun and feel drained! But I am excited for what this week brings!
Have a good start of the week friends!