sarah's blog

Last weekend we got the invite to go hang out on Bowen Island with John’s sister, Adrianne and our brother-in-law Gordie and their two boys. They were housesitting so we took the ferry over from Horseshoe Bay to keep them company overnight.

It was a perfect couple days weather wise and our kids loved the island experience. Soren especially really thrives in the outdoors and we all kept commenting on how content he seemed to be. Whether they were playing by themselves on the floor, going to the beach with John or into town with me they really made the two days so relaxing for us.

All the kids were down by about 7pm and the four of us ate on the patio. It definitely hit us that we hadn’t been able to do something like this since before we all had kids. We used to have meals like this together all the time and we miss it. This led the conversation down the path of communal living which did seem really tempting since Gord made his usual killer supper  and breakfast and presumably this would occur all the time.

If we can’t share a house maybe at least we could be close enough for the baby monitors to reach?

The only hitch was the overnight part which involved about an hour of crying and struggling to go back to sleep on the part of Soren and a middle of the night cry/bottle for the littlest cousin, Quinn. At one point around 4:30am all four adults were up and crossing paths in the kitchen as we worked on keeping/getting all the kids to sleep.

We were understandably a bit tired the next morning but we still visited the outdoor market, ate fish and chips by the water and the guys got in a quick dip in the water before it was time to head home.

It felt like a really mini vacation. If money were no object let me tell you we would have a place on Bowen tomorrow. Sigh.

I was going to write three. But it seems life has picked up where it left off before I took an Olympic timeout, and has even sped up a bit maybe.

I’m not saying I have a super busy life, I don’t, it’s just that things are moving along and new stuff is happening and I can’t be two weeks behind on blog posting or I’ll never catch up.

All that being said, let’s do one last post about my Olympic experience and move on. If I posted about more I’d just end up rehashing everything you already read elsewhere and blabbing on about identity and national pride and the like.

However, for a really beautiful description of an Olympic experience, by a self-described non-sports fan (my friend Claire) this is a must-read. Reading her short post made me live it all over again. Go there just to see the picture if nothing else.

As for what else I have left to say about the Olympics, it’s really about the extracurriculars. (more…)

Last year's baking with my sisters-in-law

Week 7 is all about organizing your family calendar. This isn’t really a big deal for us at this stage – no kids programs to attend or family to host. We know when we’re flying to Alberta to spend the holidays with John’s family and we know when we’re coming back. Once at home our schedule is sort of determine by the majority!

But how we spend our time – where we spend it and with whom is still something to put thought into. Simplemom says.

“list three to five words that describe your ideal holiday season for this year.  Be careful to appropriately define the word ideal.  I don’t mean ‘magazine picture-perfect.’  I mean, what’s best for everyone in your family, in your current situation.”

My words are: family-oriented, minimal materialism, focused on Jesus, restful, warm.

I also enjoyed simplemom‘s suggestion to make a list of things you’d like to do as a family over the holidays that are not calendar items. Just fun stuff you’d like to incorporate.

My list includes:

• Watch a Christmas movie, preferably the new Disney’s A Christmas Carol
• Call my mom, dad, sister, brother and grandparents to wish them a Merry Christmas
• Do a big ask for my charity:water Christmas campaign
• Christmas baking with my sisters-in-law
• Make a Christmas craft
• Play a game or do a puzzle with family
• Have a good picture taken of John and I to commemorate Christmas 2009
• Read the Christmas story like my dad always did on Christmas morning

What are the words you want to describe your ideal Christmas? What’s on your list of activities for the holidays?

I am sitting in the Seattle airport with time to kill and actual internet access. Forgive akward sentences and spelling mistakes, I’m blogging on an iPod.

I really thought on our 2 months of travels I would blog and journal more. Then reality set in and for 6 weeks I had occasional internet access and only really enough shared computer time to check email and pop on skype even though the time difference meant no one was ever online.

After 6 weeks in North Africa we headed to Paris for our first ever European vacation. We were determine to see as much as we could so we came home and crashed into bed each night with little more than a facebook update.

I wish I had journaled the trip but I am glad at the same time that I spent that time experiencing it. I do plan to blog all the pictures.

The craziness doesn’t stop as my parents are due to arrive at our place in a few days. we can’t wait to see them and catch up on what is turning out to be our fullest summer.

We’re almost home, one more 45 min flight and a car ride. it was an amazing trip but it will feel so good to be home.

I hate when I don’t blog for awhile and I start to get behind so that I think “I should really blog about this” so many times that it keeps me from wanting to blog at all. It’s too much pressure, trying to remember everything I wanted to mention and just the thought of all that writing keeps me procrastinating. Ya, procrastinating from my hobby.

Let’s see, I’ll just hit the highlight: the Concert.

John gave me tickets to see Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge in Washington and we went last Sunday night. I have been a long-time die hard fan but had never been able to see them live. Needless to say I was crazy excited.

We drove the 4 1/2 hours down to George, Washington (seriously) and by the time we had traveled through forests, hills, cliffs and cornfields we were wondering if we’d fallen down the rabbit hole. As we came up to the parking lot we still couldn’t see anything resembling a “gorge” but we did know we were in the right place by the thousands of campers filling the campsite, the sound of Dave from open car windows and the wafting scent of mary jane. I know that stuff’s not legal in BC but you wouldn’t know it that night!

We parked and followed the herd through the gauntlet of ticket checks, pat-downs and “you can have alcohol” bracelets, then up over the hill where the gorge itself comes into view for the first time. It was amazing. The stage was massive but the cliffs of the gorge and the lake that filled it came up behind the stage and dwarfed it. The sun was setting and the scene was beautiful. We found a nice patch of grass on the steep natural amphitheatre and spread out our sleeping bag. Over the next hour as we waited for the opening act the grass filled up. By the time Dave actually stepped onto the stage the sun had set and we were blown away by the amount of people.

Dave played for 3 hours, including a slide show between the set and the encore in tribute to the saxophone player who had passed away 2 weeks earlier. It was cold outside but I hardly remember. I was totally sucked in to what was happening on the stage and on the huge screens behind and above it. I had been looking forward to this concert for longer than we had the tickets yet somehow it exceeded my expectations. Even John, who’s not a big fan, said he has never heard a band whose members were each so individually talented.

It’s a long story but after the concert we gave a random university student a ride to the Seattle airport (he wasn’t exactly a planner, let’s just say that) and crashed into our beds around 5am. So worth it.

John said next year I can by tickets for the whole weekend and camp out at The Gorge. Friday, Saturday and Sunday night concerts. Wow.

I don’t have any good pictures because we couldn’t take our camera but we did make sure we got the proof on the cellphone.

We’re back from Staff Conference 2008 in Whistler. We got home last night after an 8 hour drive that should have been 3. Don’t know if you heard but there was a landslide on the Sea to Sky Highway so the road down from Whistler to Vancouver was shut down until at least Monday.

Once the panic subsided we realized the only other way down was a twisty, turny road through Pemberton (too bad the festival was over and Jay-Z and Coldplay were long gone) that takes more than twice as long.

In fact, the road was so rediculous that poor little Boo threw up her blueberry breakfast all over herself halfway down the mountain. We had to pull over while Angie redressed Boo and John and Kim cleaned out her car seat. I couldn’t blame her though, I felt sick most of the trip myself.

Besides the adventure of getting home we had a great time. It was alot more laid back than last year- I think the 40th anniversary celebration and the unveiling of the organization’s new name was more than most of us could handle. This year the only thing that got people’s knickers in a twist was the speaker, Erwin McManus. Despite the anxiety hanging in the air that, as Kirsten pointed out, could have been cut with a knife, I think it’s awesome when speakers come and challenge us. I personally loved listening to Erwin and both John and I have put a visit to Mosaic in LA on our list of things to do before we die.

A few of our friends from out East crashed at our place between Campus Staff Days and Staff Conference. It was fun to tour around Vancouver; it had been awhile since we had been down to Granville Island or the 218 Flavours ice cream place.

Of course now I’m sad that I got to know Emily, Brad, Joe and Kolten better and then had to say goodbye for another year.

It’s late and I should be heading to bed so I’ll just end this here. Another Staff Conference over and the best news of all: they decided we’re don’t have to join with the American Staff Conference next year after all! Whistler 2009 baby!

I said I would have pictures when we got back from our weekend in Whistler so here they are. We had a great time, learned so much and would definitely do it again. Check out the marriage conferences for yourself, we recommend them for everyone couple.

The other day John told me he doesn’t think he can do this commute from Surrey to UBC if we keep our commitment to our jobs for the 5 years. I had told him when we moved in to tell me if the 1 1/2 hours each way got to be too much but I was secretly hoping he would find all kinds of magical things to distract and entertain him on the bus-train-bus trip and that would be that. High hopes, eh.

So we’re already talking about possible options. We’d love to move across the river to Burnaby, New West or Coquitlam – something right on the Skytrain line so John’s commute could be cut in half. I have to say I have mixed feelings about the moving thing being back on the table. On one hand, I was looking forward to being settled and putting down some roots. I bought some plants and was mulling over new paint colors for the bedroom. But on the other hand, I knew this was never permanent and we were both disappointed when we couldn’t find a suitable place closer to the city the first time around.

It kind of makes me wonder why we had to go through this detour in the first place, you know? I guess we’ll have to see how things pan out, maybe we’ll see a purpose in all this moving around. I just don’t want to think about boxing everything back up after our belongs spent 2 months in storage while we were “homeless”.

So here’s the scoop Lower Mainland friends and family: keep your eyes and ears open for good deals on apartments and basement suits on the Skytrain line closer to downtown Van. We need to use our connections to score us a more urban lifestyle.

Will we ever settle down…