After last semester was over, I went to Seattle with some of the girls from my cohort. We got a ridiculously expensive hotel room for a ridiculously low price and spent our time shopping, eating, and sitting in the hot tub. Hellooooooo bliss. It's strange to think that I just spent last year with all of them but it took an outing three hours away from school to really just hang out. It made me realize how monastic last year was for me.
Luckily for me, the monasticism and sterility of my life are pretty much over. T came into town right before I left for Seattle/Alabama, and he's here until we move back to SLC in August. Before I get into that, a few things about Alabama: I got to be there for ten days! I saw pretty much everyone I needed to see, and most importantly, I got to be there for one out of two of Laynie's first birthday parties (she's just like her mama--gonna celebrate until the month is over). She is so big now--so precious and loved. As she sat demolishing her very own birthday cupcake, it was hard to believe that she came into our lives just last year. What joy and love she has brought with her.
I also got to go up to Birmingham/Montevallo to see my friend Rosie graduate and to visit with the Hunke's. Dave's back has been giving him a lot of trouble, but otherwise they are doing well. I really enjoyed getting to see everyone. We spent a good amount of time with T on the webcam so he could see them. Things like that make me realize how dispersed and removed we are from our families, but it's always good to see them--whether virtually or in person. We want to be in people's lives...however far away we are.
Since I've been back, we've spent a lot of time seeing Vancouver. It feels good to not be as weighed down as I was this past year (I'm only taking one class and teaching four), so we've been taking advantage of the place and my extra time (I've been having trouble figuring out what to DO with myself) and seeing the sights around town. Last weekend we took the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver island. Yesterday we went to an art gallery, china town, and a classical chinese garden. Then we ate Turkish food and then went to an Italian market...soooo basically Vancouver is a pretty multi-cultural place. It's strange to think that so many people are crammed into such a beautiful place--makes for a lot of good food, though.
We're going to forge ahead with seeing lots of Vancouver this summer until we move homebase back to SLC. We have plans to backpack in Banff (I really want to see Lake Louise http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/18/87/cf/lake-louise.jpg) and take various other camping trips. Oh, and eat lots of good food--it's a really good thing T has taught me to be an adventurous eater...although, I wouldn't dare touch some of the things we saw in Chinatown...like dried geckos (notevenkidding!).
Right now T is watching a movie and Madison is twitching her feet as she dreams on the floor beside me. I feel lucky and blessed.
Love to you all,
s
