End of 2011 is Nigh

Hey Peeps,
Thought I'd do an end of the year round up.

This year was in fine form for Dave and I. We both had full-time work which was a big difference from 2010. We've settled in to our Chinatown pad and finally got a couch. No more camping chairs for these folk! "moving on up, moving on up"

The biggest news of the year was Dave popping the big question. And I said YES! We then went into planning madness, which got me overly stressed out, and decided to post-pone until the summer of 2013 to take the pressure off.

Fircom was a big part of my year. It's took the year to find my feet and now I'm pumped about being able to create big changes in the infrastructure and stream-line the administrative processes in 2012. It was stressful to get back into a career path, but my love of non-profits came back and with it my confidence.

Dave and I went on a few vacations this year which was huge for us. In April, we spent a week traveling to Oregon and Northern California to visit our friend Amanda. We saw sea lions and the dramatic Oregon coast. We played croquet and took long leisurely bike rides through the rolling farmlands that feed most of North America. We discovered a deep love of all things Portland - a hipsters paradise.

In the fall, I went to PEI for the United Church National Camping Conference. I spent a few days ahead of time discovering sleepy little Charlottetown - claim to fame, Birthplace of Confederation. Apparently, if you want to start a country all you need is kick-ass parties for two weeks and everyone's on board. I stayed in a hostel for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and friendliness.

Dave made a trip to his parent's new town, Sarnia, ON. It had been two years since he'd seen his family and he had a wonderful time exploring with his parents and visiting his niece and nephew and drawing together.

Personally, 2011 was the year that I decided to do something about a couple of issues I have been carrying with me. I am taking the time to sort out my feelings about these so that I can let them go. Getting married has really shone a light on areas that I need to work on. Dave and I had our first meeting with a financial planner. Planning a future isn't going to take care of itself and we are investing the time and money to figure out what are dreams are and how we want to achieve them.

I am excited for 2012. Each year holds surprises and I'm sure next year is no different.

Big kisses and hugs to all my loved ones!

Margo

Northern California

Dave and I had a magical time visiting our friend Amanda at her new digs in Northern California where she has moved to-to be with her husband Spencer. She lives in a small town called Cottonwood which is in the San Hernando valley. This valley grows most of the produce you probably purchase in the grocery store.

They have an acre and put it to good use with a massive croquet set-up in the backyard. I was also smitten with the horses who hung around on the other side of their fence. We went for a ride in Spencer's muscle car - so loud, so fun, so powerful! We tried American delicacies, like In and Out Burger - thumbs up! There were Boggle tournaments, bike rides down country lanes, and a lovely afternoon spent chillin' by the Sacramento River. I was very sad to leave Amanda, but we only had two days and then it was off to the Oregon Coast.

Road Trip - Part 1 Portland, OR

The first day of our road trip took us to Portland. We left Vancouver at midnight and drove through the night until 5am when we slept in the car in a rest area. Not as bad as I had thought it would be - just very very cold. We got a few hours zzzzzs and then rolled into Portland for 9am on Saturday morning. We spent all day wandering the city: Powell's Books (the best book store ever!!!! It's two stories and covers a whole city block), Ping for lunch (good Asian fusion in Chinatown), meandered through the cities core and waterfront, and then went to Washington Park to visit the Japanese garden (nice, but small). We checked into the Hilton at 5pm and decided to have a short nap before heading out. Then we woke up four hours later. We ran out to nourish ourselves and called it a night and the next morning headed to N. Mississippi street for coffee and reading in a hip cafe and some shopping. By noon Sunday we were on our way to Cottonwood, CA to see our friend Amanda.

1. View from Washington Park's Japanese Garden. That's Mt. Hood in the background.
2. This photo of Dave doesn't do anything to represent the wonderful, huge, packed Saturday market they have in Portland.
3.These two houses were near N. Mississippi street. Cute! I want to live there!
4. Powell's Book Store. Dave and I spent half the time there just looking for each other as our phones were off to avoid roaming charges.

Fircom Office, Mumma's 65, Chicken Finger Perfection

Okay people this is where the magic happens - the Fircom. I get to sit by the big windows and look out over the alley behind the church. There is a Montessori daycare below us and on Friday's they practice the recorder - cute. On most days, someone cries and they all stampeded into the gym around noon at which point I close the door.

I've got a couple of plants I'm trying not to kill and every morning I refill the water jug on my desk. It's nice to use a real jug and glass all day. CBC Radio 3 has started popping up for chunks of time during my day - not totally sold yet, but I like 50% of the music.

The Mumma turns 65 in three days. We had a sumptuous feast at the Tamarind Hill Malaysian Resturant in Uptown New West. Super delicious. I'm sure we will go back again. We had Tuxedo cake at Mom's before hand and gave her-her present which she liked.

This picture is askew because I was so hurried to go back to eating that I knew I had to jump up and snap a picture before I tore that chicken to shreds. Dave's new best friend, cajun rub. The yam fries and lemon mayo with a crisp juicy salad was perfect. Kudos to the chef.

Comings and Goings

Sadly, Dave and I's friends are down by 100%. We lost Amanda!!
That's not totally true, we do have other friends, but Amanda was our 3rd musketeer. She got her visa and moved to California to be with her hubby. (big sigh). We had a lovely time having a good-bye dinner with Amanda, her hubby Spencer, and Amanda's sister Hannah at Lana and Corey's house in Poco.

Jo and I looking very much like sisters - my hair is tucked behind my neck. Jo and Dave were up to visit last weekend and Allison, Dave, Gus and Jo and Dave and I went to Nuba for delicious, healthy gluten-free Lebanese food. Sadly, I had to jam on them after because I had an art lesson, and they continued on to the seawall to check out the Olympic village development.

Dave used his parent's x-mas present, a gift card to Canadian Tire, to get us a toaster oven. We lugged it home in the snow today and promptly set it up and made toast to christen it. Then we made pita pizzas for dinner. It's next to our other new addition - the green lamp!! Now we don't need to turn on the overhead fluorescent light. Woot, woot! The kitchen is coming together.

This is the original cover photo from the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Fabulous read! It's got me excited to run again. I had pretty much given up on running because of knee pain and, honestly, I've never understood the appeal of running a marathon until I read this book. I can't wait for the spring. I'm going to try shoeless running. I'm pumped.

Cottages!

I've spent the past week reading books on Cottages. So far my favourite is Havens and Hideaways: Cozy Cabins and Rustic Retreats by Jo Denbury. I pretty much want to live in all of the buildings. It's been a real inspiration for how I want the Cottage decoration to go.

It has also been a wake up call to the fact that I am not going to have The Cottage at Fircom "finished" by May 1st. It's going to be an ongoing task of upgrading features over the next three years, but the ground work is solid.

I am bookless at the moment. I tried to start reading a non-fiction book called The Last Child in the Woods. It's been putting me to sleep real fast. I need a new piece of fiction. Any recommendations?

Things are going well. Dave's working and training. I'm working and drawing. My weekly drawing class is turning into a wonderful get-away from it all moment. I feel tucked away in the second floor of Melissa's house among the easels and charcoal. I put a new drawing up on the fridge every week and it's inspiring to start learning something totally new to me - developing an artist's eye.

Today I saw Inside Job. It's a documentary about the most recent financial meltdown in the US. It was very insightful/disgusting/ludicrous. I thought I understood what had happened with the sub-prime market, but this really laid out the fallacies and policies that created the recession. I recommend giving it a watch if you get the chance. I find myself wondering how I ever believed that you can change the system from within. Politics feels very useless these days.

We had Amanda over for dinner Saturday night and Sunday afternoon I had coffee with Summer at the Art Gallery Cafe. Lovely!!

Everyone have a great week!

Found my phone!

It was tucked in a couch at Moe's Furniture. We were looking for couches for the Camp.