July: unexpectedly crazy

In the weeks leading up to our wedding I kept telling people that we'd have lots more time in July to hang out. I'm here to tell you now that I accidentally lied. This was UNTRUE. We have hardly had any time. Once again, it's been crazy, but still mostly fun. Here is July, in a nutshell.

1) Mexico

We flew to Mexico right after dumping all of my belongings into Joel’s house, leaving a disastrous mess of boxes behind for poor Lewis to live amongst.  It was a week full of sun, delicious Mexican food (GUACAMOLE! Piles and piles of it eaten on the beach), hangouts with family and my friend/cousin Melissa and her man-friend, topped off by the wedding of my cousin Lindsay! It was a good time, although poor Joel had to hole up in our hotel room studying for his defense, which leads me to the next major item…

2) Dr. Husband!

We flew back to the airport in Calgary on Sunday night and drove the rest of the way home in a  rainstorm. Monday and Tuesday were full of thesis defense prep, and on Wednesday, he/we spent dawn-til-dusk defending and partying. Well, I didn’t do much defending, but I consulted on tie choice (see above), drank coffee (pictured above), waited around, and watched the presentation (which was excellent)…and then I went out to party afterwards. So proud.

3) Vancouver House Hunting

Now that we had the gigantic PhD defence out of the way, we drove out to Vancouver to look for our new home. We left on Monday morning, arriving late that night, and budgeted…ONE DAY to find the perfect home to rent. Ummmm, whose dumb idea was that? Turns out it was OURS! We pretty much did it though, and I patted us both on the back for the entire drive home for being so organized, prepared, and lucky in our house hunt. We found a great place, and although things looked a bit dicey for awhile, it’s ours now for the next year and that’s all that matters for now. The pics above show the tilework at the entrance to our building, and the rows upon rows of lavender growing out front. I think it was meant to be.

 4) Rosebud

We drove back from Vancouver right after we signed our new lease and felt confident that we would have no problem driving the whole way to Calgary. But then we realized we left Vancouver at close to 4:00 p.m.  Another brilliant idea. So we slept in Golden after a white-knuckle drive through the dark for several hours and woke up early the next day to rush to Rosebud, AB. We saw “Jake and the kid” with my parents, sister and aunt and uncle. Rosebud was just as sweet at my mom has always said.

4.5) Calgary Folk Festing  

We went from Rosebud directly to Calgary Folk Fest, which froze us out via miserable rain, and then eventually cleared up enough for us to enjoy. We met up with Kerry and Leanne at various points, and stayed with Melly.Tasting a maple bacon donut (pictured above, bottom right) at "Jelly" is an part of the weekend that should not be overlooked. Fun if you like donuts, which I do. As a donut-appreciator, I am always surprised how many people don't like them. I think at least 60% of people who say they don't like donuts are just telling themselves that so that they aren't tempted to eat them all the time for every meal. Donuts are delicious. 

5) Birthday and Garage Sale

 

When we got back from Calgary it was my birthday the next day, so Joel made a delicious dinner of pork tacos with homemade tortillas for me and my family. So fun. Then we got down to business and prepped for our upcoming garage sale. We cleared space in Scott and Heidi’s garage and loaded all of our crap over there to make sweet moolah. It was SO WEIRD the things that people bought. So if you are ever having a garage sale and wondering whether to include an item...DO IT. Someone will probably buy the thing you least expect them to. Also, it was fun to hang out at their house all weekend and we made a decent profit, which we used to buy ourselves a new couch! But more on that later, as it is sitting flat-packed in our basement right now.

6) Dave and Jamie's Wedding

And then, after all that, Dave and Jamie got married! Those are two fine people and they put on a great wedding. It could not have been more perfect for them. Beautiful day, thoughtful ceremony, and ridiculously awesome entrance into the wedding being carried by their friends on custom-made wooden platforms. Oh, those two. 

All in all, a good month.