27 Hours Until Liftoff!

And only 14 or so more until we start travelling. We've been packing like mad tonight, getting everything ready so tomorrow isn't crazy. Derek is quite unimpressed with all of the travel regulations...it's really fun to watch him get grumpy every so often as he has to comply with nitpicky rules.

We take the ferry to Vancouver after school, and then spend time with a wonderful friend who is kind enough to drive us to the aiport at 3 am! And then we're off to Taiwan for the summer. I can't wait!

Everything's Coming Up Ari

I have had the best week:

My house is still pretty from my birthday party on Friday. I have flowers everywhere, and lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and it looks beautiful. We had the house full of people I like, which made it even better.

We found a fantastic restaurant on Saturday. Derek and I went out to Smoken Bones for my birthday dinner, and it's our new favourite restaurant here in town. Everything we had was delicious, and in sizes large enough that we enjoyed it again for lunch on Sunday. My favourite was the pulled pork. Mmmmm.

Tuesday was Awesome Mail Day and the last day of school. Derek got a package from his Dad, I got two birthday gifts, and we got a wedding gift (I love it when things are spaced out like that - it makes special occasions last longer)!

Our visas for Taiwan finally came through just under the wire on Wednesday, and we found a wii with several games on usedvictoria.com for an amazing price. Derek has wanted one since before we got married, so we decided to go for it as an early anniversary present. He's been floating for the past 2 days, shouting "wiiiii" every so often.

My camera was ready for pick-up today, and it's all ready for documenting the summer of Sunshine and Trouble in Taiwan.

And to top it all off, I bought a really pretty shirt yesterday. Life is beautiful.

Mennonite Guilt

Christopher has been bugging me about what he calls my "Mennonite Guilt". He teases me that if I don't feel like my meal is perfect, or if I have one thing out of place, or if I give fewer than three choices for dessert*, my MG kicks in and I rush around trying to fix it. Apparently I overdid it this time, though - we had friends over for dinner on Sunday and I accidentally tried to feed 15 people instead of 6. I had an ice cream pail's worth of pasta left over! I still don't quite know what I did to the recipe to end up with so much food, but I had pasta for lunch and dinner today, and the pattern will continue until we've used it all up! It doesn't help that Derek had a school camping trip this week and won't be contributing until tomorrow evening. I guess I'll just have to chalk this one up to experience and be careful with my kitchen enthusiasm next time!

*He tends to exaggerate on occasion. :)

Up, up, and away!

We got plane tickets to Taiwan today! I'm so excited I think I'll explode. I've been afraid to think of our trip as something that's actually going to be happen, because it's not real until you have tickets. But we're set! We're leaving for Taiwan on the last weekend of June, and we'll be staying a whole month! I can hardly wait. I'm going to go float around for the rest of the evening.

It's been a good week.

For the first time in a while, I felt like myself this week. I had energy to get things done, tackled tasks around home, and enjoyed trying out a few new things. On Monday, Maryanne came over and we played in the kitchen:

Dark chocolate mousse in milk chocolate cups, with raspberry garnish.

On Wednesday, Derek and I explored some of the areas near our house, and had fun checking out some of the local stores. And today, I got a new Hello Kitty mp3 player! Very exciting.



Also, I took up crocheting today and started a scarf.

The Granville Island experience

apparently includes being pooped on by the local wildlife. Yup, I got a little present from a passing pigeon as part of my visit. But other than that unpleasant occurence, our trip to Vancouver this weekend was delightful. We enjoyed a great visit with friends of ours who just moved back to the province, and had fun picnicking at a local park (with a wee baby boy), going to St. John's Shaugnessy, eating at THE BEST Korean BBQ/Sushi place ever, and visiting Granville Island. It was a nice getaway and a good break before the long stretch to the end of school. I heart Vancouver, even if I don't so much like its flying rats.

Maybe I'm a closet Trekkie?

Derek and I went to see the new Star Trek movie with some friends on Friday, and we loved it! It was so much fun. I watched all of the old Star Trek movies with my cousins when I was younger, so I caught most of the lines and jokes, and I really enjoyed the characters. Scottie was my favourite. We're planning to go again on Tuesday (huzzah for the cheap theatre near our place!). Yay!

In other news, I've hit another burst of creativity and energy this weekend. I've gone through the house like a whirlwind, cleaning and organizing and getting things done. My productivity is even starting to spill over into my internet time (hence current blog posting), and it's felt so good to remedy past procrastinating and start getting back in touch with people. I'm feeling more and more peaceful as my pile gets smaller and smaller. I should do this more often.

happily ever after

I never expected to be this happy when I got married. I didn't expect to be unhappy, but I guess I kind of thought more about the work of a relationship, and commitment, and serious subjects like that. I'm suspicious of the "happily ever after". So I've been a little - not surprised, exactly, but maybe pleasantly reminded - that marriage is sweet and wonderful and full of thousands of beautiful little moments that all come together to equal unbelievable happiness. I know there will be seasons that are more serious, but for now, I'm so happy I can hardly believe this is real. My cup overflows.