Summer Vacay 2011

Saturday, July 9th, 8pm. I ask / tell my manager, I think I'm going to start my vacation now. And he replies, of course, have fun!
I am staying at Hotel Vancouver (one of the 3 Fairmonts downtown Vancouver) and I can't wait to run a hot bath, read, order in room dining and relax until Chris arrives the following day. Its been a long few weeks of work, with stress from daily operations, to never ending projects and coping with a long distanced relationship where we haven't seen each other for the past 2.5 months, aside from Skype, which is hit and miss with internet connections and time zones/ ever changing schedules. I nearly fall asleep in the hot bath, then climb into the fluffy white bathrobe, look over the menu and order a roma pizza and glass of Riesling from in room dining. About 10 minutes later, I receive a phone call from front desk stating that I need to come downstairs because my credit card didn't work. Strange I thought...I've made sure there was plenty of room on it, but I throw on some jeans and a tank and head down. As I step out of the elevator, I see this handsome guy staring at me, it takes me several seconds to process what I'm seeing, and when I finally figure it out I walk towards him, tears in my eyes and call him an asshole. There was Chris! He came a day early and totally surprised me -- he had planned it the whole time! I wrapped my arms around him, I can't actually look at him because I don't think its real yet, we manage to get up to the room and all I can do is laugh / cry happily / and smile and blurt out a few exasperated words of joy. I love this man like loco.
A few minutes later room service arrives so we have a drink and a bite to eat and catch up. We decided to talk a walk to calm the nerves and it was a beautiful night!

The next day we woke up early to a gorgeous day in Van and walk around the city, to Stanley Park, Granville Street to see some interesting street performers and people watch. Its so good to be together again finally. The next day we have a bit of travel ahead, we took the ferry over to Vancouver island to stay at the Fairmont Empress, we splurged and got a Fairmont Gold room and it was hilarious because we were easily the youngest couple staying on that floor and when you walk into the private lounge everyone stares and wonders how we got here. The hotel is so old and beautiful with heaps of history, the hallways are long and maze like and to get to a destination takes a bit of determination because there is no easy way. The furniture is a work of art and easily from a century or two ago. We take a walk down to Fishermans wharf, enjoy the famous fish and chips from Barbs and then head over to my Family's place on Willis Point to visit and see new baby Jasper. We wish we could stay longer but have to get to bed early (we play scrabble and backgammon over tea...we're so old, hah) and wake up early to drive to Tofino.

The drive there was beautiful! Winding mountain roads, old growth rainforests, goats on a roof in Coombs. Lots of markets, little gems of villages, interesting people. We arrive in Tofino and it's sunny! Everyone said it would rain, so we made sure to buy some proper raingear, however we set up camp, rainproofed everything and head down to the hot white sand beach to soak up the sun and explore the tide pools!

The highlight of the trip was definitely Hot Springs Cove, we had wanted to do a kayaking trip but unfortunately the weather was rainy after the first day there and I was fighting a cold coming on so we decided not to. But a trip to hot springs cove was too tempting not to, so we booked a water taxi over where we saw sea birds, bald eagles, seals, sea otters and of course Gray Whales! There were so many! Everywhere you looked you saw puffs of "whale breath" break the surface, it was amazing to see them breach and then dive deep with their tails in the air. Once we arrived at the cove we had about a 30 minute boardwalk hike through an old growth rainforest, you could purchase a plank of wood and get it custom engraved, it was really neat to see peoples stories and memories as you walked along. We finally arrived at the cove and there were heaps of people there, turns out a 1.5 hour boat trip isn't an issue for many! It starts with a waterfall and its as hot as I like my showers! Takes a bit to get used to, then it pools into 4 different area's, one slightly cooler than the last, with the last pool mixing with the cold waters of the ocean when there is a big wave. After a while you get really hot sitting in them so you go down to the ocean waters and wait for a big wave to cool you off. It would be unimaginable to do this if you haven't sat in hot waters for 20 minutes beforehand because the water here is freezing! But so refreshing and we feel amazing afterwards!

The boat ride back was calm and welcoming and a lot of us dozed off, we saw sea caves and handfuls of sea otters just floating on their backs looking at us curiously. Our last night in Tofino, we got calzones from the local pizza shop and it was so delish by our big crackling fire back at the campsite!

Our next set of holidays are in October and we're not sure what we'll do yet, but we both love adventure so its sure to be a good one.

Hard work now, benefits later

So as I continue my journey with a career driven path of life, doors are continuously opening; recently I got a promotion and today, just got accepted to a Leadership program, where I train on site for 18 months, being rotated throughout the hotel in different departments, until they re-locate me, and this can be down the street, california, saudi arabia, singapore....the list goes on. Basically wherever they need me, what 'fits' and of course where I want to go.
This week I am headed home for the first time, since I've left in May. I feel relaxed and I am able to enjoy this break, a month ago, I wouldn't have been ok with leaving work and going home, but now that I have made some progress and things are set in stone I can leave satisfied! And right about now I'm in a work-induced-coma which isn't a good place to be in physically /mentally, and I thought that I would need a tropical beach somewhere to bring me back to life; but what I realize is that all I need is family, friends and loved ones to light that spark that I have lost and all will be ok again. I am so excited to hear about married life and baby life with my dearest of friends, completely different paths than the one I am on but something I envy and want no detail spared on what its like! I am so proud of all my friends and what they have accomplished and I know I am going to be a bag of tears when I see them. I am also super excited to see my mom and dad, so much has changed since the last time I've seen them and Dad always writes and says "I can't wait to see my little girl all grown up" and that always tugs at my heart strings. He also wrote today "The kids are dying to know if you are staying over one night so we can make crepe's in the morning" and I replied "are the kids asking or are you?" haha so I know he's super excited that I'm coming home. I wish I could stay longer, but sometimes short and sweet visits are the best and you just have to cherish every moment. A big addition to solo-Ashley, is Chris. I've put this subject off for a bit because words cannot describe how incredible he is. Maybe this will sum things up... "you had me at bee hive" (inside joke) but basically we are meant to be, and its nice knowing "ah, so this is what its like". So he is meeting me in Toronto, flying 11,000kms, across the atlantic, 4 flights, 20 hours, from Queensland, Australia, kind of a big deal, but it isn't! It just is. So I'm super stoked for everyone to meet him, and even more excited to explore Toronto / Niagara / Vancouver together! yeay!

I am sort of weary of going home, I'm not too sure how I will react, will it be emotional? happy? sad to leave? A big reason I'm going home is to see my Gramma, she has had a rough last couple years, and has had a few close calls with serious illness. I am so proud of her and how strong she is and maintaining a positive mind at tough times as these, I can't wait to see her and I know she'll want to hear all about my adventures in the last year.

That's the deets on what is going on in my adventure!

xx A.

Dash

A few months ago Ryan brought home a 3 month old black lab we named Dash. Growing up as a kid, we only had a cat, so we didn't really know what to expect.

The first few weeks were both very difficult as well as amazing to have a little puppy to play with! The first bit of potty training took a bit; for those of you who have owned puppies will know that if you are able, try to take them out every hour or two and reward them when you see pee come out with a "good boy" and a pat on the head. It took a few weeks but he finally learned!

The next lesson; no biting!
This one was more difficult, I can't imagine what teething feels like (because its been about 26 years since I have teethed and have no recollection of it) and although I feel bad for the pup, my few possesions are important to me.
We found the trick is to have a bunch of different toys available in all shapes / sizes / textures and noises. And his attention span to each toy lasted nearly as long as the toy itself (if we got 10 mins out of some of them, consider it an accomplishment).
The next problem; leaving him at home while we were both at work. Not only do you feel horrible doing it -- you are equally terrified of what you may find (or what you may not find in existence any longer) once you get home.
This is when we were still living in our TINY basement apartment in Abbotsford, so we put baby gates up, and kept him in the kitchen, sometimes for 8 hours a day.
The first time, we learned that you can't leave the garbage out, even for 20 minutes, if we aren't in the room. The second time, we learned that all cupboards must be secured; only a few screwdrivers met their demise, along with some of my recipe books.
After this, I thought we had it figured out, until you're in a rush one morning and forget to put the garbage away (me) and Ryan came home to torn garbage everywhere, our newly bought large pack of toilet tissue, among other things. I can tell you Ryan was not happy with me and his revenge was to text me "At emergency with Dash; vet has to pump his stomache because he ate the garbage you left out and he was whining and moaning when I got home". I nearly was sick when I read that text, then he said "i'm joking, don't do it again though." Total asshole, that brother of mine.

So then you have a new routine set in place; check baby gates, check counters, check cupboards, check doors, check garbages (now you need an extra 15 minutes just to get out of the door in the mornings). Once I feel the place is in order, I leave and finally think I'm safe.
That night I get home, and instead of opening the door, I smartly peered through the window to see glass smashed EVERYWHERE and a brown liquid with dumbo staring at me wagging his stupid tail. Turns out he jumped up on the counter and tried to eat the coffee pot. So i'm in heels, panicking, and of course he is totally oblivious to the extremely thin and dangerous glass everywhere, and he's jumping up on and around me (while peeing) so I boot him outside and deal with the disaster zone.

After that, we don't have anymore issue's, but you have to be careful what you leave laying around (socks, gloves, pillows, etc).
Now we are living in Langley and we have crate trained him. I felt awful about this at first, but now its his "safe zone". He sleeps in it at night and day and he also has this super cute habit of putting himself in there if he gets yelled at, or when we return from the dog park and he's covered in mud, he has learned that he HATES baths so instead of taking a bath, he will go to his pen and dry off. Clever lad!

Every day he's growing and learning and its so adorable! He has recently learned what my different outfits mean. If I put on my jacket, its "Dash Time" and he gets super excited and jumps around because he knows we are going to the dog park. If I slip on my heels, he can be laying anywhere in the room and he knows i'm going to work so he just walks on into his pen and lays down. He's only 8 months and already so smart!

I am so happy Ryan brought him into the family, I honestly couldn't imagine my life without him. He takes away sadness, stress and anger (even when you're angry with him....you just can't stay angry, one look at his sorry face and he's forgiven instantly), and if I have had a long rough day at work all it takes is for him to greet me with his "night toy" when I walk in the door at 3am. He reserves his blue donut chew toy for his greetings, weird habit, but cute nonetheless!