Here’s to New Beginnings

They say when one door closes, another one opens. And all I can say is I’m so happy to be closing this door! I probably won’t lock it, because I may go back someday. But it sure feels nice to graduate!

I did it!

It seems like just yesterday I was graduating from Sackville High, but then again, at the same time it seems so long ago. So much has happened since then. My best friend is a police officer, my sister is a genetic counselor, my brother is a doctor and I didn’t even know Scott then. I’ve done two co-ops away from home in Ontario and Alberta, and now I’ve moved across the country to British Columbia.

Margaret Atwood said it best

I think we all remember thinking “what we wanted to be when we grew up” and what we’d look like when we were older, who we’d become. I remember wanting to be a photographer, an actress, a writer, working in the health field, a dental hygienist, a dentist. If you had told me I’d be taking a Bachelor of Public Relations I would have said, what’s public relations? I guess this moment I’m becoming “what I want to be when I grow up”, but I think we all know I’ll never fully “grow up”. I’ll always be a kid at heart.

My trip home has been so much fun so far, but is going by much too fast. I arrived on Thursday morning, 40 minutes before my sister flew in from St. John’s. So the first thing I did when I got home (after hugging Mama and Pops) was eat breakfast in the airport. So exciting, I know! That’s why it’s written here. When we got home Mom showed us all the changes to the house now that they’re sans-kids. My old bedroom upstairs now has a double bed AND my old bedroom downstairs has a queen! Now Ash and I will be fighting for the queen bed when we visit at the same time. It’s still weird to consider myself visiting at my parents house. I still feel like I live here.

After I had a nap (let’s face it, no one gets a good night sleep on the red eye), we had brunch! Then that evening we celebrated my birthday and my sister’s half birthday, with my Granny and brother. Mom made cake and chicken dinner, it was perfection. Mom’s cooking is the best. I think I’ll miss that most when I go home.

We did a lot of visiting with family and friends. Mom and Dad had a great get together at our house Saturday afternoon/evening/night. It was fun! I was so exhausted that night, getting up this morning was really hard to do.

Sarah, Suz, me and Cory with our mini grad hats!

But I got up, and went to my grad. We were just about to get on the highway when my sister realized I forgot my gown and hood at home. So we turned around and got that. I think it was pretty important to have. I’d have looked funny without it.

It was so great to see everyone from school! Weird that we won’t be seeing each other almost everyday, in class, working on projects and homework outside of class. No one tripped during the ceremony, one of my classmates may have fallen asleep, but no one was there who wasn’t supposed to be graduating. So I think it went pretty smooth!

My friend Alison took pictures after the ceremony for me (easier than having my mom do it, and then needing someone else to take family pictures etc.), plus Ali takes the best pictures! 🙂 I can’t wait to add some to this post.

My family and I went to the Hamachi House and I became a master Japanese Teppan-Yaki chef! (I flipped an egg shell into a chef’s hat, aka I’m awesome.) It was really fun! I love watching them cook right in front of you. All of the food was delicious and our chef was funny. Plus after dinner I got a great wif of the ocean breeze on the waterfront. I’m going to miss that back in the Okanagan.

Ash and I

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all the amazing people in my life who made my graduating possible. I have such a wonderful and supportive family and such great friends. Especially my Mom, Dad, sister and brother. They’ve all helped me in their own special way to realize my potential and help me believe I can do anything. This girl couldn’t ask for better friends and family. (Well except, maybe, someone could win the lottery once in a while and help a girl out with a couple mill in the bank or something. Haha, just kidding. Kinda…)

Now that I’m finished school and have a half-time position doing Recruitment and Special Events at the Okanagan College, Penticton Campus it’s time for me to start my big girl life. I’ve decided big things are in store for me. I think I’ll begin by going to sleep. It’s been a long day.

Announcing the Arrival of Louis Smith George

It’s official my life is complete. I finally have a kitten of my very own. Welcome home Louis!!

Name: Louis Smith George

Birthday: August 19, 2012

Weight: 1.3 pounds (currently)

Proud Parents: Jill & Scott

Louis napping with Daddy on his first day home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where to start? I love everything about this little guy. From the way he smells to his cuddles and play time! He’s our little turkey, which is fitting, since we got him on Thanksgiving Monday. We picked him up and brought him home. I don’t think it’s his favorite memory. He hated being “trapped” in the carrier. I sat in the back with him to keep him company and eventually took him out of the carrier and wrapped him in the towel. Then he fell asleep on my shoulder.

Chowing down. When he first arrived he didn’t eat out of a bowl. He’s upgraded to one now though!

It’s Thursday today and he’s settling in. He started eating really well Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning. And is going to the litter box on his own! Whenever he goes I fell like a proud Mama!

Each time I’ve left him for a long short period of time (feels like forever, the longest is probably 2 hours so far). I feel so bad. I know he’s a cat and they’re very adaptable and are okay on their own, but I just feel SO bad. He’s only a little kitten, he might get lonely. He’s used to having brothers to play with, or now, me or Scott. I’ve been trying to let him play on his own and entertain himself instead of me playing with him ALL the time. Just so he knows how to play on his own. I bought some toys, one of his favorites is a ball on a string on a wand. We play that a lot, and it tires him out! He also really likes his tinfoil ball (thanks for the idea Melissa!). But back to my point I’ve gone out a few times without him, and all but once he’s been sleeping when I’m gone. And when I get back – he’s still sleeping! I was gone the whole time feeling so bad and it turns out he was having sweet dreams!

Little sniffer curled up right there all on his own!

Today I’m going to Kelowna for a meeting with CNIB. I’m volunteering for an evening they’re putting on. Scott is doing his show from Kelowna today, so he won’t be home until 7. I have to leave around 4:30 to get to the meeting on time. I’m going to feel SO bad leaving him all alone. I’m hoping to try my sleeping trick again. He’ll wake up before Scott gets home though, so he’ll have some alone time to get used to it.

Yesterday Louis and I had our first visit to the vet! We were going to go to Dr. Proudfoot recommended by Natalie (Scott’s uncle’s girlfriend) but when I called I found out their office is closed until October 15. I went to the Lindsey Veterinary Hospital where we met Dr. Nixon. Louis had his temperature taken, was weighed (1.3 pounds!), got his first vaccination and a de-worming pill, as well as a check up. I was very proud of him. He did really well! On the way there he was nervous in the carrier, but I sang to him, which (surprisingly) calmed him down. Usually my singing doesn’t help anyone. He did a lot better on the way home and didn’t start meowing until the car

Louie and Mama at the Vet

stopped at home. I was talking to the Vet and Louis was on the examination table, then he came over to me and I cuddled him. Eventually he climbed up on my shoulder and cuddled up there. Dr. Nixon thought it was really cute! He got a picture with my phone – but Louie had already gotten up at that point. He still looks adorable though. I love that little face!

We haven’t figured out his favorite things to do yet. He’s sleeping a lot. I think the trip to the vet and/or the vaccination tired him out yesterday. When we got home he slept for three hours. Then slept again for an hour or two on the bed with Scott after supper. He’s been having fun with a kitty-sized box the past couple of days. I’m not sure which type of toy is his favorite. He has a few mini tennis balls (which he’s not really interested in), a couple stuffed “mice” with bells on their tails, a big ball with a bell in it, his ball/sting/wand, a tinfoil ball, a couple toilet paper rolls, some plastic shower rings, a cardboard box, a random cat toy I got at the pet store and a little fake mouse from the vet. Out of all those his favorite thing is probably the ball/string/wand or the tinfoil ball. Any suggestions for some good toys that he might love?

Louie hanging out in his favorite place!

We know his favorite spots in the house. If you’re wondering where he is, most likely he’s behind Scott’s guitar on its stand. He LOVES going behind there, why? Beats me. He also likes being in the hallway by the front door and peaking his little face around the corner into the kitchen. He also spent a lot of time in the hallway by our bedroom and bathroom, so we put his litter box there. It’s a big litter box so I have a small box wrapped in a towel at it as a step. He loves to play with the towel.

We’re going to start a youtube channel called The Louis Chronicles and hopefully Lou will become a youtube famous kitty. I’ve been taking some video and will do some edits and post the links on Facebook and Twitter, so keep your eyes out!

My little man needs some Mommy love, so I’m off!

Cranberry Sauce for your Thanksgiving Dinner

First off – I can’t believe I forgot mine and Scott’s most closely related TV parallel in my last post. Claire and Phil Dunphy are the future Scott and I. There are so many things that Claire and Phil do/say on Modern Family that is just like Scott and I. For example: Scott always says he’s going to be a “cool dad” and Claire referred to Phil as “the kid she’s married to”, sound like Scott? I think so!  As for me as Claire, here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia: “Claire is a very competitive person and is portrayed with a personality that causes her to freak out easily, and get angry. She is very strict about a clean house.” Ask Scott if that sounds like me at all. We both love Modern Family, as everyone should, it’s such a good show!! If you aren’t hooked start watching it! Catch up, we’re only beginning the third season now!

Here’s one of my favorite moments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow I thought I’d share my mom’s awesome cranberry sauce recipe. Last Thanksgiving I was living in Alberta with my best friend. We made a turkey for me, her boyfriend and her cousin. So I made cranberry sauce to go with it – turns out only I liked it. I had made way too much! This recipe not only has cranberries, but a pear and an apple too!

Ingredients 

• 1 bag of cranberries
• 1 pear (peeled and grated)
• 1 apple (peeled and grated)
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water

Cranberries, apple, pear, sugar and water. Easy peasy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions

Bring to a boil and then simmer. If mixture become to thick add more water. Put in a dish and refrigerate. Best served with turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes and veggies. Warning: if you eat all of that together you may fall into a deep sleep immediately after.

All the ingredients in a pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s super easy to make and makes a cooked turkey dinner complete. I’m very excited for Thanksgiving. This year Scott and I are spending it with his uncle’s family. Scott’s three cousins, plus their girlfriends, a dog and a baby are all coming from Calgary! I met everyone today and we headed to a Penticton Vees game (the Junior A team), they won 7-2! This is the second game we’ve been to, the last one was good. Penticton won 4-3, and Scott and I were on the kiss cam. I was gracious as usual and had a mouth full of popcorn. Apparently it was a contest, we didn’t win.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Coming soon Halloween themed post! Until then, I leave you with this:

The one on the left got the expression all wrong.

We Need the Stuff

Scott and I finally got our new dresser set up. It only took a week. We kept putting it off, “we’ll do it tomorrow night”… I put one drawer together one afternoon last week then Scott finished it up on Sunday. It’s so nice to have my clothes in drawers in my room, rather than having them laying in piles on the living room floor. Sometimes I catch myself going into the living room looking for clothes. I can however still find shoes lined up as well as Scott’s socks.

Our “living room”

We have nothing in our living room (other than items that don’t belong, see above). And at this point I’m not overly worried about it. We have the essentials (a bed, a table, a can opener) and I’m beginning to run out of money. Luckily I start my part-time job with Newcap this Friday! There are a couple things I might have considered essentials before but have been living without, such as a hairdryer. If I can go another month without one I’ll just bring it back with me when I go home for graduation. I can’t wait to get all the living room stuff so I can focus on decorating! This place is so drab without things on the wall and colour. Plus I have a lot of DIY Pins that I want to start doing (and sharing).

The lady that lives upstairs and listens to CBC quite loudly has been getting her payback. We started watching Mike & Molly. And let me tell you, I’ve had some full belly laughs with that show! Its great! Does anyone else watch it? We’re on the first season, we watched the Christmas episode last night.

Whenever we watch TV shows and movies Scott and I like to make parallels to our real life. In Friends we consider ourselves closest to Chandler and Monica. For example, when Monica and Chandler are on their honeymoon and the other couple keeps getting upgraded (first class on the airplane, honeymoon suite at the hotel). When Monica confronts them about it the other couple says, we don’t need any of that, as long as we have each other. And Monica and Chandler go, “yeah, we need the stuff”. One of mine and Scott’s favorite quotes. Cause we need the stuff too. In Date Night Steve Carrell wears those nose strips (I made Scott wear those for a while) and Tina Fey has a retainer (me too!). So obviously, he and I are Mike and Molly. As we’ve been watching episodes we’re like, ahhh we do that! That’s us! Then came the episode “Mike Snores” he brought out his sleep apnea machine and we looked at each other and said AH IT IS US! And yeah, yeah, we know everyone can make those comparisons, but really, does your boyfriend have a sleep apnea machine? Didn’t think so.

Our “Be Healthy” plan is going okay. Scott aka the Cheeseburger Assassin (what??) informed me today it takes several weeks to be fully integrated into being healthy. I’m supposed to be the strong one – but I have weaknesses too, sometimes I need chocolate or chips or both and I just want to lay in bed all evening watching cat videos. I kinda wish I had a job doing manual labour then I wouldn’t have to worry about exercise, I’d get it at work. However, then I try to open a lid or pick up a slightly heavy box and remember I’m such a weakling (not to mention way too high maintenance), there’s no way I could do manual labour all day. So basically, what I’m saying is I need Abby. She’s the only person to successfully integrate me into a healthy lifestyle immediately and help me stick to it.

We’ve been going for walks along the Penticton waterfront. And have plans to check out the many hiking trails in the Okanagan. There’s actually a lot I want to do, its just trying to find the time to do it all. We’re super busy this weekend. I work Friday night and Saturday, and Scott works a remote Saturday too. Plus on Sunday I have a coaching clinic all day in Kelowna. (I’m going to assistant coach basketball! So excited!) Hopefully, not this weekend, but the next we’ll be able to go for a hike and have a picnic at one of the provincial parks along the lakefront.

Even though we don’t know a whole lot of people yet we’re quite busy and content. There’s still so much to see and do!

Since I mentioned cat videos I’ve got an itching for them, so I will share a personal favorite and bid you good day. Please pay close attention to :33 it makes me laugh out loud EVERY time:

The Job Hunt Becomes a Full-Time Job Itself

 

Now that I’m not crazy-busy with school like I used to be I’m beginning to find time to do things that I’ve had on my To Do list for a while, like writing a blog for example. I find myself being able to choose what I’d like to do instead of feeling guilty because I really should be finishing an assignment or working on a project.

Last March my friend Sarah and I watched a great IABC webinar called Creating & Maintaining your Personal Brand by Heather Huhman. The webinar was awesome and had all these great tips about personal branding, networking etc. I couldn’t wait to get started on improving my online presence and making myself stand out from the crowd. Sarah and I both took lots of notes and were really excited with what we learned from the webinar. And as you can probably guess, I didn’t do anything.

It was March, so I was working really hard to finish up my last ever PR courses and all the final projects for those classes. Then summer came along and I was busy doing my last ever university courses! As soon as I was finished those I packed and moved to BC. Now, here I am beginning my job search and I haven’t done any of these great ideas I got from this webinar 6 months ago.

Well now that I’m on the job hunt I’ve decided its time to start putting all these great tips into place and making myself a better job candidate. Today, when Scott came home for lunch at 12 and I was still in my PJ’s in bed on the computer I realized, my job hunt has become a full-time job itself (one that I don’t have to look presentable for, but a full-time job no less). I had been awake since 8:30 a.m. but completely lost track of time while writing cover letters, re-formatting my resume, setting up networking meetings and searching for more job opportunities online. And if I’m going to be truthful, its 2:30 p.m. I’m still laying in bed on the computer and I’m still in my pajamas. I swear I’ve gotten a lot done though!

I’m moving on to social media and creating the best and most useful web presence I can for potential employers. One of the tips from the webinar I watched back in March was to Google yourself and see what comes up (then make sure its work appropriate). A generic name like Jill Smith doesn’t yield any personal results, but when you add my school name to it a surprising amount came up. – And Mom, that’s a good thing! – I want employers to be able to find me on social media to get a feel for who I am and what I’m interested in. From there they may be able to find additional pieces of information about me that will show what a great fit I am for their company.

I think even if you’re not in an industry that is social media savvy it’s important to do a check like this. I would bet the majority of employers do a Google search on their interview short-list before calling them to let them know they’ve got the interview. If you have an open profile on Facebook and are tagged in a picture that was only meant for your friends to see, well you bet that will be the photo your potential employer will find. My advice would be to get rid of pictures you don’t think would be appropriate for your grandmother to see, then you should be safe. Otherwise lock down your Facebook profile. Make information you’d like a potential employer to see publicly available, such as work experience. If you want your employer to get to know you a bit better include other social media links in your “About Me” section and make that public, or share your favorite quotes. This gives your employer insight to you, and who you are. It gives more than just a resume.

And if you happen to be my potential employer and have Googled me I just want to let you know:

Becoming Jilly-Homemaker

I’m starting to feel like I’ve become a house wife – no not the rich bitchy kind you see on the Real Housewives series on TV – the kind who takes care of the house, cooks nice meals for her man and does nothing else. Don’t get me wrong – I like organizing, decorating and even sometimes cleaning! But I got a little sick of being cooped up in the house all day only to have human interaction for a short period at lunch and then in the evening after six.

Before I could start driving the car we had to make sure that I was insured. Insurance works weird out here – don’t ask me how, cause I don’t understand. Scott called and made sure I was covered to drive Little Blue, until then I was actually stuck in the apartment all day. I know, I could walk places but 1) everything is far from our place and 2) I didn’t have a key to the building or the apartment yet. Until I got the go-ahead to drive the car I wasn’t going to get Scott to leave me his keys so I could walk outside the apartment building only to turn back inside again.

Until Thursday I stayed at the apartment making lunch and supper for us, cleaning the apartment and trying to organize our stuff (that part was hard because we’re missing some organizing essentials).

Monday went good. I had lots of unpacking to do and organizing I wanted to get done. I hung all my clothes up and tidied up the apartment. For lunch I made a sandwich for Scott and Mr Noodles (I know Mom, not very healthy, but sooo yummy) for me. We also had fruit! And for supper I made tacos (see my last post about our table situation).

What Scott dubbed – “Jill creation tonight- Chicken and Broccoli Penne with Caeser Salad, garlic bread and a glass of Pinot Blanc White Wine from Hester Creek in Oliver! “

Tuesday was another good day. I started my job search and did a little more cleaning up. I started making a list of things we needed to pick up. For lunch we had sandwiches. And for supper I made chicken penne, with caesar salad and garlic toast.

Wednesday started out as a pretty good day. I stayed in bed a little later. Worked on some more job searching. Watched an episode of The West Wing. Lunch was easy-peasy, we had leftovers!

When Scott left after lunch I did the dishes and got fed up about not having any dish towels to dry them. I do let them drip dry – even prefer to do that – but I couldn’t fit all the dishes into the drying rack and just wanted to get them all done. So that was getting on my nerves. I was starting to get really sick of looking at the mess onlour living room floor too – our clothing, most of which needs a dresser. No dresser yet – so the clothes were still on the floor.

I was looking forward to supper. I had planned to make Sheppard’s pie! Yum. When it came time for me to start making supper my Mom called. I had the potatoes and carrots boiling and was just frying up onion when I was on the phone with Mom. While we were talking once my phone went weird and I couldn’t head Mom at all then the second time my phone dropped the call. I was beginning to get in a bad mood. I let Mom go cause my phone was annoying me and I had a lot on the go in the kitchen making too much noise.

Once the potatoes were done boiling I went to strain them and realized we didn’t have a strainer. At this point I was in a bad mood so I was really annoyed that I had to strain the pot using the top. It’s a really wide pot so its awkward and the steam was really hot. Then I went to mash the potatoes – we didn’t have a masher. I was thinking great this will only take me 240405 hours to mash with a fork. Then I hit the last straw – I was going to add beef broth to the meat as the recipe calls for and I realized we didn’t have a can opener. I texted Scott and said OMG we don’t have a can opener, or a masher. How am I supposed to finish making supper? When we were on the phone I realized we also didn’t have a pan to bake the Sheppard’s Pie in. Since Scott took the car back to work with him I wasn’t able to run out and pick this stuff up. Needless to say Scott could feel my frustration and was trying to make light of it by joking – that just made me more annoyed. Then my phone died on me. I had to do a full re-start.

Once I got my phone going again I told Scott I was putting it in the fridge and we were going out for supper. Scott still thinks this is the funniest thing in the world and blames my upset on the lack of a can opener. I don’t think its that funny but thought some of you might get a kick out of the story too.

I know that when you’re moving, and just starting out you slowly get things and slowly put together your apartment. But when you don’t have small kitchen essentials such as a can opener or a strainer it can get really annoying. I fully blame this on the fact that Penticton doesn’t have a Dollarama. I was holding out on the Dollarama for some of these kitchen essentials (and still am, we’re going there this weekend).

Scott got a hold of the insurance and I was given the go ahead with the car! Now I have it in the afternoon to do any running around I need to do. Yesterday I finished the Sheppard’s Pie and we had it for supper. It was quite delicious!

I’m looking forward to having all the “stuff” and not having to run out to the store all the time to get little things. Once I do have all the stuff I plan on filling this blog with some great DIYs and recipes! So keep checking back, until then here are thee cute cat photos:

If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.

I shall call him Mini Me.

Invisible Bow. Ready, aim, fire!

A bed, a glorious bed!

Days are longer in BC, well they are for me anyway. I love the time difference. I’m waking up at 8 a.m. and it feels like I slept in until noon! Then I make Scott get up with me and we get on the go, when noon actually does roll around we’ve gotten stuff done! Its just great. I’m hoping I can keep this up.

The view we have of the mountains when driving down our street.

When Scott moved from Ontario he sold most of his stuff. With him he brought clothes, his guitar, hockey gear, golf clubs, photos of he and I – you know all the essentials. So when he moved into his apartment he was without a bed, a table, coat hangers, a dresser – little things like that. And he decided to wait for me to get that stuff. I’m not complaining though because I love picking out that kind of stuff! I’m excited to hunt for it all!

After sleeping on an air mattress/foamy for a month Scott and I decided to get a bed first thing! So early Saturday morning I woke up, and early Saturday morning we got on the go. We ended up getting a really comfy bed from Sears, and a great deal! Once we made that purchase Scott was satisfied. I however wanted to get some other essentials so we hit up a couple of my favorite stores – the dollar store and Wal-mart. Note: there is no Dollarama in Penticton, so I haven’t been there yet.

We didn’t get groceries until Saturday and were invited to a BBQ on Sunday at the Fennessy’s. Scott boarded there for a couple weeks when he first arrived in Kelowna. I had already met Casey, but was looking forward to meeting her Mom, Lori, who has been so good to Scott! We had a really nice BBQ and ended up getting stuck in Kelowna for the night!

There is basically only one way to get from Penticton to Kelowna – Highway 97. You have to go through Summerland, Peachland and West Kelowna to get to Kelowna. When we were on our way Lori texted us saying there was a forest fire in Peachland and the traffic might be heavy. We could see the smoke in the distance, but traffic was fine when we drove through.

When we had been texting Lori the fire had only been a couple hectares, once we began eating supper it had grown to over 100 hectares (eventually totaling to 200 hectares)! Peachland had been evacuated and Highway 97 was closed to all traffic (as the rude nice lady at the police office told us). So we were staying the night in Kelowna! Luckily we had a wonderful hostess (who even made us snacks: watermelon and cookies!). We got up early the next morning and we able to drive home.

Our Easy Bake Oven was yellow, but I couldn’t find a picture of what I remembered it looked like. This was the closest to it.

As of right now, the Castanet.net is reporting that the fire is 85% contained. However, 258 residents remain on Evacuation Order and 1,292 people are on Evacuation Alert. I’m not trying to be rude or say that a forest fire is in any way funny, but as I was reading through the news articles I came across a list of hazards and one is called Easy Bake Ovens. To anyone who is within 10 years of my  age or parents of kids my age an Easy Bake Oven is not “burning root structures that leave the surrounding ground unstable and extremely hot”. When I first glanced at the list I was like, how many people actually have easy bake ovens, and how does a forest fire make them a hazard?

Scott enjoying tacos on the guitable (guitar-table).

After getting the bed Scott said our next most important order of business was purchasing a table. I couldn’t agree more. When we lived together in Ontario for 4 months while I did my co-op we didn’t get a table until 2 to 3 months in. We were eating off the coffee table. That wasn’t so bad, but here we don’t have that. What do you eat off of you might ask? A guitar case. Scott’s been using his guitar case as his make-shift table while living here for the past month. So Monday night I decided to make tacos for supper, and we ate them off the guitar case. It was actually kind of fitting. And it looked cute. But after that my back was none too pleased. Right after supper we went and purchased a table! It was great timing. So yesterday’s lunch and supper were impeccable at our shiny new table!

We’ve also purchased end tables for our bedroom. And I’m looking forward to getting a dresser so I can get all my clothes off the living room floor. I can’t wait to start decorating too! But I’m going to try and focus on getting the essentials before we decorate.

Welcome Home

I’ll start at the beginning to catch you all up.

Almost 23 years ago on the 17th of October at the Grace Maternity Hospital in Halifax, NS…

Mama holding me on the day I was born (that smile is probably just gas).

Just kidding. I’m not starting from that beginning. My boyfriend, Scott and I have been doing the long distance thing for too long. In a long story short – we met, fell in love, his job in Halifax was going no where fast so I urged him not to stay just for me, he moved to Ontario, I visited and he came home for visits, I did a co-op there, he got a new job and I (finally) finished my degree!

A few days ago I flew from Halifax, NS to Kelowna, BC – my new home! Throughout my degree I lived at home to save money, other than two 4 month jaunts to Ontario and Alberta to do co-ops that is. So this was my first time actually moving out of my parents house.

I sorted everything into piles in our basement: “stuff I’m taking now”, “stuff I’m taking later”, “stuff I’m saving”

It amazes me how much one can accumulate in 23 years. I own a lot of stuff that my dad calls crap and I call treasures. So I went through all my crap treasures, got rid of some and boxed up most of it.

That photo doesn’t even show half of it. Many, many, many boxes later my room was packed away and I had a suitcase, a carry-on and two hockey bags ready to take to Kelowna with me.

Does anyone want to guess the last activity I did with my parents? Ashley, I bet you can guess. Dishes! Mom made me a breakfast of toutans, bacon, sausage and beans. Dad and I did the dishes and then we left for the airport!

Elmer picking me up at the Kelowna airport

Fast forward 10 hours and I arrived in Kelowna!

Scott wasn’t able to pick me up because he was working so my new friend Casey picked me up! Actually, technically, her elephant pillow Elmer got me at the airport.

Casey and I got my three giant bags and made our way out to the car! We had a little trouble, and when I say we I mean me.

We had the bags on two carts, Casey was smart and moved her hockey bag so the ends weren’t hanging over. I however thought I could be lazy and keep mine the same way all while squeezing between two cars. Yep, that didn’t work.

Realizing I can’t fit and the owners of one of the cars I’m squeezing by have arrived at their car.

Even though it was 11 p.m. my time, Scott and I went out for supper with Casey and her boyfriend, Troy, at a Mexican bar called Fernando’s. I had slept on the plane so I wasn’t tired yet. It was delicious, I had chicken enchiladas. I totally recommend this bar to anyone visiting Kelowna, its cute and the food is yummy!  After stuffing myself full with Mexican cuisine and a strawberry daiquiri the time difference got the best of me and my eyelids began getting heavy.

I didn’t make it through the drive home. I slept a lot of the way and then fell asleep right away when we got home.

One moment I think I’ll clearly remember from my first day in the Okanagan years from now is the sound of Fernando’s and the four of us clinking glasses in a cheers and Troy saying, “Welcome home.”