THE trip...Vancouver, Disneyland, Pasadena

Mike and I recently had the most fun of our lives...we went to the happiest place on earth...Disneyland, of course! It was an amazing holiday, with many highlights, including a couple of busy days in Vancouver with my Dad and a few friends I had the chance to meet up with, 4 days in Disneyland, and 5 days in Pasadena, visiting Jenn, Matthew and Bronson.

Our first day, we left bright and early at 5:45am and drove the 1200km's to the west end of Vancouver, where we stayed with my Dad for three nights. On wednesday we went to the beach, and I met up with a few friends who were able to drive over and visit with us. Then, on thursday we went over to Nanaimo on the ferry to meet family for lunch at Moxie's. It was fun, but I was suffering from a very sore neck, so managed to get an emergency chiropractic visit and was fine from then on (thankfully so, otherwise I don't think I could have managed all the rides at Disneyland!).



Me, Pamela, and Ravinder.



The three of us HAD to stop at the cupcake store.


Me and my mommy.



Granny.


The real fun began on friday morning. We caught the earliest flight available to LAX, to maximize the amount of time we would have at Disneyland. Unfortunately, the shuttle system was confusing and slow, so by the time we got to our notel it was already nearly 1pm. I was slightly grumpy and tired, but the hotel cheared me up completely. It was truly amazing. We got great service and warm cookies upon arrival. Mike and I rushed to our room, jumped onto the bed (there were two, so we each collapsed onto our own) and ate our cookies while watching the olympics. Once we had relaxed and eaten lunch, we took the shuttle to Disneyland! Fortunately for us, 2:45pm is a great time to arrive at Disneyland, as most people are heading back to their rooms for a nap and a swim, so we basically had no waits at all on the rides! It was Mike's first time, so I let hime be the little kid and choose everywhere we went. We started out with the fabulous Pirates of The Caribbean, which I'd never been on before, followed by a train ride, and finished at 11pm having enjoyed 10 different rides, a yummy mexican dinner and the fireworks. Pretty good for the first day, and we were grateful to collapse into the comfy beds and sleep in the next morning.






The famous giant turkey leg...you gotta try all the crazy food at Disneyland (Churro, frozen chocolate covered bananas, frozen lemonade...etc)


On Saturday, needing the rest, we slept until 9am, ordered breakfast in, and took our time getting ready. Mike went to the gym and I enjoyed the pool and "Outlander" for an hour. We arrived at Disneyland at around noon and stayed until closing, going over to California adventure park for a few rides too. We were fortunate to be there at the same time as my sister, Felicia and her two kids, so we met up with them at 6 for dinner and some rides, before heading over to watch Fantasmic. The best part of the evening was when we rode Splash mountain continuously from about 11pm until midnight when the park closed. We took up all 6 seats in the boat and alternated spots each run. I don't think I've ever laughed so much...our faces in the photos they take are priceless.









Me, Mike an Jess...very wet after splash mountain.




How could you resist chili in a Mickey shaped bread bowl? And yes, we did eat all this food, while watching Billy and the Hills.



Sunday was hard to get up, but we really wanted to take advantage of our early morning admission day...you can get in up to one hour before the park opens. We made it there by 7:30 and by 8am when the gates opened we had already been on all the Fantasy land rides...usually they have huge waits. After breakfast, we made our way to Frontier land to ride all the boats that go around the Pirate's Lair island. We rode the Mark Twain steamboat and took the raft to the island, where we met Captain Jack Sparrow, who, taking a liking to me, asked Mike to move over so that we could get a picture together. We also saw the Indiana Jones show and ate at two amazing restaurants. For lunch, we ate at the Blue Bayoo, which is this New Orleans style restaurant situated on the Pirate's of the Carribean ride. From the ride, you can see these ghostly waiters serving people at dimly lit tables. You feel sort of like you are eating outside at night time with a dark sky and glowing lanterns all around.




They had a fairy tale arts booth, where I was dying to get my face painted the whole weekend. It was so much fun! It's the one place where adults can be fairy princesses too :)





And, of course, Captain Jack.




I tried to take a pic that would show how cool the Blue Bayoo was; this was as close as I could get, but doesn't really give you the same feel.


Once we had officially seen pretty much all the rides at Disneyland,(some several times) we headed over to California's Adventure park. This park is cool, but there are about 8 really popular attractions that EVERYONE wants to see, so we managed by doing about 2 or 3 rides each day. On Sunday, though, Mike took me on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and I just about died. If you know me well, you know that I'm claustrophobic and afraid of elevators, so you can imagine how well I enjoyed being in an elevator with 21 people while being dropped 13 floors up and down! Well, I survived anyways.

That evening, we took a nap in our hotel before heading over to the dinner reservations I had made at Downtown Disney's Catal restaurant. It is the only fine dining restaurant in Disneyland, and we had a beautiful seat on the balcony reserved for us. Just as our dinner was served the fireworks began...how romantic.

Our final day of Disneyland was spent with Jenn, Matthew and Bronson. I will save it for another post as this one is getting long and tomorrow is the first day of school...

I'm 25!

So, I know I've been home for almost a week now, and still haven't posted about my trip, but it's been pretty busy. We returned monday night at around 8:30 pm and I slept all day tuesday, then spent the rest of the week at school getting ready to teach! But, today is my birthday, so I'm taking a break to have a little games night and blizzard cake...yum. Also, went out for lunch with some friends which was nice, and it's beautiful out right now. It was crappy all day, but as soon as I saw the sun, I headed outside for a few minutes of peace in the garden. There won't be many days to enjoy the sun now! I think I will spend tomorrow outside and cleaning up my office so that I'm totally ready for school come tuesday. I also have to finish a book club book by thursday, yikes!

Well, off to get ready for my party! Pictures of Disneyland will be posted by tomorrow, I swear.

I'm off!

Just a quick post as it is 11 pm and I have to get up in 5 hours to head to Vancouver, and then off to Disneyland and Pasadena to visit friends on Friday. I'm so excited and promise to post lots once I return!

If you're in Vancouver feel free to come and visit me at my Dad's! Just send me a message.

I promise to say hi to Mickey, although I don't know if he will remember me...I haven't seen him since 1989 :)


I don't have time to post about the Dawson Creek fall fair and Rodeo, which was awesome, but here's a pic of my hubby in the fall fair parade!

A little bit of poetry

Ode to Tea drinkers

Sometimes I wonder if you can tell
a person by the tea they drink;

the pomegranate green tea would say,
with its big flavour,
this town is too small
close your eyes
and see the city.

Orange pekoe is for those
who drink tea from bulk boxes,
almost an afterthought,
while Earl Grey says traditional
the striped bowtie of tea,
the old standby, with a hint of desire
to dress up. It wishes
secretly to become a London Fog,
sipped in cafés, earn a spot of its own
on the menu.

Deep Rooibos sucks in the drinker,
fooled by a name inflated and round,
it won’t release you until every syllable
of its flavour is drawn in like pipe smoke,
resonating on the tongue like the beat
of a drum held warm in the hand.

Meanwhile, even-tempered Chamomile whispers
to its drinker, the romance novel reader
on the couch, or the man on the front porch watching
the dandelions march over the yard.

Sometimes I wonder if you can tell a person
by their tea, unseam the bags that hold
their weight, cup life
in a metal spoon.

Time with hubby

Today is the last of Mike's four days off, and fittingly, it is rainy and Novemberish. Actually, it's more septemberish for up here, but November-like in say Victoria. Here's what we did on our four days together.


On tuesday we had a relaxing day and Mike cooked me this lovely meal before settling down to watch a couple of movies.

On wednesday, Mike invited A watch and C watch over for a bbq. (It's not that we don't like B and D watch, but they were the ones working). Plus, we wanted to have a small gathering of our closer friends from the detachment, which ended up being 12 of us in the end, but it was the perfect amount of wives and husbands so that I got to sit at my patio set outside and chat with the ladies while we ate yummy food. Afterwards, we played pictionary in our living room, and the boys unfortunately won, although only because they couldn't hear me shout out the answer :)

Then, yesterday we decided to enjoy the last forecasted day of sunshine for the week and headed to Tumbler Ridge. It was the first time I'd driven all the way there, (it's about 115km away) so I was excited to see the town, as I'd heard it looked more like what I was used to. And, it was true. Full of mountains and hills and trees, it was very small but beautiful, and felt more like home. While there, we went on a short hike to Quality Falls, took lots of pictures and ate lunch at the base of the waterfall. I was a little worried about Grizzly bears, but thankfully we didn't surprise any!







Now, it's his last day off and we are just puttering around the house while it drizzles rain outside. And, tomorrow it's back to working for him and being bored for me!

Garden Party

I've been planning a garden party my whole life. I just never before had a garden. But, last week, to celebrate my five year wedding anniversary and one year of living in Dawson Creek, Mike and I had about 40 people in our backyard for a party. It was a lot of work, but a huge success. We had perfect Dawson Creek weather, as it was sunny without a single cloud and no wind, which meant that my shady backyard stayed warm until about 9:30 when it started to get dark out. We had little lanterns, tables with white tablecloths and candles, and little spots to eat set up throughout the garden. I got many compliments on the flowers and shrubs that I worked so hard on and it really paid off!

I spent most of the time running around being hostess, as usual, and then being surprised when people started to leave and I had barely sat down yet, but hey, that's what exhorters do at parties. Especially ones they organize themselves!

I had so many people tell me what a great time they had though, and it was nice to celebrate our anniversary with our new friends. We got some lovely cards and the coolest thing was that every time I was going to introduce two people to each other, I would see them already talking! The joys of a small town--everyone is connected somehow.

But, now it's two weeks of relaxation and no set plans until our trip to California. I've been writing a lot, and am planning on sending out two packets of poems today. I'm also trying to convince Mike to take me on a hike to Tumbler Ridge. There are apparently about 35 different hiking trails, most of them ending in a waterfall. I really want to do this one to Kinuseo Falls, which is actually taller than Niagara, just not as wide.

Well, it's time to stop procrastinating and type up those poems. Fingers crossed for me!

Here are some garden party pics:



Delicious food brought by my friends...




The backyard...








Friends, and their children!




The lights come on at the end of the night.

Five Years

Five years ago, on this Saturday of 2003, Mike and I got married. It was a semi-cloudy day, but still warm, with a little bit of rain. I was 19 and he was 20 and we had about 170 friends and family members packed into a very warm but lovely little church with a center aisle.

I remember getting ready with the girls and my mom and sisters in the morning, having them lace up my dress and telling me I looked beautiful.



I remember walking down the aisle after my bridesmaids, to the instrumental Celtic song I'd picked out when I was about 15, and which I'd had planned out and timed for years. I looked straight at Mike, but knew he would make me cry just looking at him, so I turned my gaze to all the family at the front pews, who were also making me cry.

I remember standing in the lovely green park having photos taken in front of the water and on the bridge, watching our wedding party laughing and taking silly shots.



I remember how wonderful it felt to stand in the middle of the reception hall, seeing my reflection in the sliding balcony door, the white twinkling lights, candle glow and that remarkable feeling when you walk across the room with your lovely white dress trailing behind.

I remember my first dance with Mike, and how half way through he pulled a disposable camera out of his pocket and took our traditional Mike and Sabring shot, of which we have dozens already, some perfectly angled, some accidentally looking up our noses...



And I remember all the past anniversaries, including fireworks at the Butchart Gardens, a concert, a night at a B&B, dinners in downtown Victoria, picnics at Beacon Hill Park, and even our quick lunch today at Mr. Mike's before Mike went to work.



It's been the best five years and I can't wait for the next five!

Pictures from home

In the past 10 months, I have been a complete airmiles freak, which recently paid off in a free flight to Vancouver. From there I walked on the ferry and had my mom pick me up for a week at home.


It was lovely--the weather was hot and sunny and I managed to visit all my family and squeeze in two trips to the best lake in the world, Sproat Lake, which was warm enough to swim in the crystal clear water and suntan on the beach! I was also able to visit with my good friend Melissa and Jenn at Rath Trevor beach, and on my last day made it to the Coombs market for a delicious lunch and then to nanaimo for some (okay, a LOT) of shopping. Let's just say that I made up for living in Dawson Creek for a year.


My nieces

I wish I had had my camera in Coombs, so that I could have shown a picture of the most delicious dessert ever. My mom and I each had a hazelnut ganache covered chocolate brownie. It was heaven. The consistency of cheesecake and it wasn't too rich and only about three bites big. Just perfect.

I also got my Nonna's recipe for spaghetti sauce which is very exciting. I will post it soon.

But, as trips tend to do, Saturday came quickly and I flew home after visiting my Dad in Van for a few hours. We went out to lunch and hit up the bookwarehouse before he and his girlfriend drove me to the airport. Isn't it crazy that I can fly home in only an hour and 25 minutes? If only it weren't so expensive I'd go all the time!

Well, here are some of the highlights, although I forgot to take a pic of me and my Mom...:(

Me and my little sis at Sproat Lake


Melissa and Jenn's little guys

First camping trip

I have a few posts that have been milling around in my head for some time now, but I haven't had the chance to post them. Well, I guess I better just start with one. On the Canada Day weekend Mike and I went on our first Northern camping trip, with our friends Chris and Chantal. Chris is another RCMP member, and Chantal teaches french like me. So, we had plenty in common and a carload of board games just in case.

We trecked out on the friday afternoon, literally about one hour after the last official school day ended for me. It was a rush to pack everything and be ready but so nice to go and relax on a lake for my first weekend of summer freedom. I'd said goodbye to all the kids, and toted all of my end of the year gifts home (the perks of being a grade one teacher :) and we set off toward Tumbler Ridge, which is about an hour and a half south of Dawson and is in a more mountain-like setting. We stopped just short of the town and pulled into Stony lake, thankfully claiming the last campsite.



The weather was perfect--sunny the entire time, and although we were very mosquito infested, we had a great time playing bocci ball, the Farming Game, and laying by the lake reading while our husbands explored the woods on a quad.



Chris and Chantal



Saying goodbye to the campsite on our last day

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day as a grade one teacher. It's been a lot of fun this year, but boy am I glad it's over! I'm already in summer mode and I can't wait to have nothing to do! Okay, maybe I won't have nothing to do because I always seem to make myself very busy, but I'm really looking forward to starting my summer reading and writing. I just discovered a nice little cafe that would be really great to write in,so I think I will start going there every morning to work on writing. I seem to get more done out of the house. I've hardly done any this year, which is ridiculous, as I was tocing so I should have had tons of time. Somehow, though, I haven't had a single day with nothing planned in months.

I've now gotten to know so many people in Dawson Creek (which isn't hard when you live in a tiny town and are a teacher) so that when I go out I always run into people I know. I remember being jealous last summer of all the people who knew each other and who I didn't know. I would walk past someone my age in the grocery aisle and think "will you be my friend?". It sounds dumb now, because everyone told me I would meet tons of new people, and I have, but I didn't know how to go about it when I wasn't in school. University makes friend-making quite easy. You sit together for at least a couple of hours a day, so you're always in touch.

I just recently am becoming friends with my neighbours now too. There's a lady across the street who goes to my church and she's invited me to come over sometime, and also to join her thursday night ladies group who meet at Mr. Mike's every week. I was excited to be invited because I'd heard about them in our church, and they are apparently all exhorters, like me.

We did this study in our small group called the 7 Redemptive gifts, and it talks about 7 types of personality. It's actually very interesting, and as I was sitting there trying to figure out what gifting I had, my whole group was like, uh, Sabrina, you're obviously an exhorter. Exhorters are the ones who are really into making friends, community, always being busy with activities, meeting new people, and who absolutely hate to be alone for too long. Yep, sounds like me. It's funny that I never realized it until now, but the study sure helped Mike and I to understand each other, as he is a Mercy. Mercies and Exhorters are opposites in some ways, as exhorters hate to be alone and mercies love and need their alone time. We both had a moment where we were like, "ooooh, I get it!". No wonder Mike loves to sit and play his games by himself and I'm always like "Please, entertain me, I'm bored!".

Anyways, if you're interested, go take the quiz and see if you can figure out what you are, and you're husband too, it's very helpful to marriages and friendships. If you think you know which you are, let me know, as I've been guessing my friend's giftings ever since.

Go to this site and read the DNA questions. It's very enlightening.

So, more on my last day. We had a pirate scavengar hunt, which was so much fun. I hid little treasure boxes around the class with prizes in them, and everyone had one with their name on it. Of coures, they made me hide them over and over again until the end of the day. We also made pirate ships and picture frames for our class photo. Three kids in the class brought me presents, one little girl made me a crown to wear all day, and another girl brought me red roses. They are such sweethearts. I felt so bad at the end of the day though, as one little girl left the school crying because I wouldn't be their teacher anymore. Later on, at soccer, I ran into the Dad of another little girl, and he told me "M was so lifeless when she got home today". He asked her what was wrong and she said it was the last day with "Mme L'Heureux". Broke my heart. I'll miss that next year when I'm teaching grade twelve. They're not so into giving you hugs and presents.

Well, I'm off to wake my hubby so we can go do something fun today!!

Gardening

I never got called in to work today, so I decided to spend it outside gardening while my husband slept away the day. (He's on nights) I realize that I've never posted pics of my yard and outside of my house as it was always covered in snow.

But, I had a successful day gardening, and Mike and I spent a ton of money on the weekend on the necessary yard equipment. We bought a weed wacker and lawnmower (our grass looks like a jungle) and pots and flowers and seeds to plant. I also found a set of amazing adirondack chairs, which I've been wanting forever, to put on our front deck, which faces south and has a view of the whole city and Bear mountain. Funny that I'm actually starting to think of it as a mountain. The chairs were made by a retired man who makes them as a hobby over the winter. He sells them at the farmer's market, which is my favourite place to shop on saturdays. They have beautiful things and I can't wait for later this summer and fall to buy their vegetables. I also bought some hand made spearmint and mulberry hemp soap that smell delicious.

Here is a peek at my yard so far. It still needs lots of work, especially the dandelions and the grass--but I've left that for Mike on his day off tomorrow!

Here is my faery garden:


My deck and front yard, with the pots I planted today:





My back yard and side of my house:



Oh, and one last thing. Not only did I get the job at the high school for next year, but they've decided to give me a continuing contract! This means that I'm guaranteed a job for every year I'm here--usually it takes two years before they will give you one, so it's great news for next year as I don't have to worry about having a job!