Harrison Hot Springs, BC

On Sunday we decided that we'd go on another day trip out of the city. It was a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing so we had no idea where to go ... so we just headed out to Harrison Hot Springs for the day. It's a nice drive (we took the scenic route) and it was a beautiful day for it.

We got there mid-afternoon, had some lunch, poked around the beach a little, got some ice cream ... then headed back home.

Another nice day. I like long weekends.

On the way to Cultus Lake

We used to go camping at a place when I was little, and I always remembered this road ...

So Dan and I went and found it yesterday - took a pic.

Rambo: First Blood

Today we took our car in for regular servicing and so, while it was in the shop, we were given a courtesy car. We knew we'd have it for the entire day, so we thought we might as well make the most of it and go on a mini-roadtrip for the day.

We didn't really know where we were headed, so we just got onto the TransCanada Highway and drove ...

We ended up in Hope, BC. Hope's big "claim to fame" is that Rambo: First Blood was filmed there in 1981. There is a sign in the movie that reads, "Hope, USA" - we did a little search for it, but couldn't come across it (the real one reads "Hope, BC" - obviously not "USA").

The only thing we came by that made reference to First Blood was a coffee shop called "First Mud" ...

Until we found this fun little photo-op outside of the Hope tourist info office!

En route to Cultus Lake

Part of our adventure took us to Cultus Lake .... this was taken at a quick pit stop along the way (taking a pic of the Giesbrecht Road sign!)

(I know, it's a pretty bad shot of me, with my eyes mostly closed and all...)

Dan near Cultus Lake

Snapped a quick pic of Dan before the adventure continued ... :)

More photos soon ...

Not a whole lot to report. My arm is feeling a bit better though, so I thought I should probably do a quick update.

I'm hoping to get some pics on here soon from our Euro-trip. It was recently brought to my attention that I never posted any from the rest of the trip in May (only wedding pics in Siena) ... so I'll get around to putting a few up soon from other places we visited (Florence, Pienza, San Gimignano, Paris, Arles, Avignon, Nimes, Carcassone, Amsterdam, etc ...). Better late than never, right?!

Lucky Lorraine - she's currently in southern France ... oh how I wish I was her right now! :) I'm sure she's having a great time (how could you not?!) - after all, it's pretty great in the south. I can guarantee that I'll visit there many more times in the future.

We're almost at the long weekend .... it's BC Day on Monday, so it's a stat holiday. We don't have much planned as of now - we're just going to take it as it comes. We might go on a day trip on Saturday - we're taking our car in for a tune up so we'll have a courtesy car for the day .... might as well put it to good use.

Repetitive strain injury - sucks

Haven't updated for awhile again. Sorry about that. It's just that the RSI in my right arm is acting up again.

Obviously this is a sign that I've been spending a bit too much time on the computer lately.

Blah.

Big job

I've had a few days off of work ... it was really great. A much needed break (I know, I was in Europe for almost a month only two months ago ... but still ...)

Dan and I have been working on a big project for the past few weeks. We decided that before we can fully start on our new ventures, we had to get our apartment fully organized. So we've been going through every closet and every box in our place - and doing an awful lot of purging and organizing. Yep, it's been a HUGE job - it's been quite exhausting, actually. But we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel - yay!

The dining room is finally coming together - I suppose I should refer to it as the dining room/home office now! My new work area will be set up soon.

All in all, the big organization task is almost done. I'm confident that we'll be completely done by the end of the weekend. Well, we still want to paint our bedroom - but I think we'll hold off on that until the fall (plus, that's not an organization job, it's just a design job). We're going to get new bedroom furniture next week - and I had hoped to paint before that went in, but oh well.

How nice it would be ...

This place is a little smaller than I'd like - but I'd take it anyways ... even though there are a few things I don't love about it:

• don't like the fireplace
• the appliances would have to be replaced with new ones
• it appears to be facing West 16th Avenue
• don't really like the kitchen (cupboards)

But oh the second bedroom would be SOOOO great! It would be quite ideal for a home-based business, I'd say! I think I'd live there if I had the chance. :)

Unfortunately now isn't the time for us to be buying a place ... got other things to do first. Plus, who knows if we even want to stay here ... I personally would rather live overseas (at least for a few years). :)

Baht!

Well, I'm now 99% decided on a name for the company ... which means that I can really get started on making this happen now (as I can apply for a business licence, get set up with wholesalers, etc.). I'm going to keep the name hush-hush until I get it registered ... :)

I know it will take time, though. I don't want to rush this ... so I'm just going to take my time and plug away at it. Be sure to think things through before making them happen.

Bought a new computer on the weekend ... so now Dan can use our year-old computer for his music and I will use the new one for graphics. Tonight I'm off to Ikea to buy a new desk ... then get the new system all set up and ready to go. Also on my "to buy" list is a colour laser printer, but I can hold off on that for a little bit.

One of the things that freaks me out is designing a webpage ... websites are so very, very important ... I have to make sure that mine has the right look and feel. Ugh. I hate designing websites.

Got an email from Ben this morning - he mentioned the weather in Italy ... and now that's set off my thoughts - they're all on Italy now! I gotta go back as soon as possible. My guess is that we'll go back next Spring (I know, that's too long from now!!).

P.S: Hey Bart - you might appreciate this ... Angie & Wayne have some Italy-pics up as their screensaver - every few seconds a new one pops up on the screen. And apparently there is one that you're in (taken at the wedding dinner) - and whenever it pops up, Sophie smiles, points and says,"Baht!". :)

Siena ... two months ago already ...

I don't think I ever actually posted a pic of Siena (were we got married). And I really should have by now, as it's such a great place!

So, in honour of our 2 month anniversary (yep, it's already been 2 months since we were right on that Campo), here is a pic of the main part of the town (Piazza del Campo). It's actually a bigger town that I thought it would be (looks quite small in photos like this).

Sigh ... I'm ready to go back.

Where we got married!

Let's see just a few more...

Online journals are so much more fun/interesting with pictures ... so let's see some more! Here are a few more from our reception a few weeks ago - I still have to get some others from Darren (who took some really good pics that night) - I'll post some of his when I get them. But for now ... here you go!

Entrance table with guest book, a photo of Dan & I and some tulips ...

Rachel & Neil (and baby!)

Darren, Sheri, Emma, Crissy & Dan

Dad & Ang

Me with two of my oldest friends - Tasha and Kendra!

Bob & Treena

Difficult task

I could use some suggestions, if anyone has any for me ... I need to work out a name for my soon-to-be design company. I'm having problems settling on a name that is appropriate.

Let me give you a few details and then if you have ANY suggestions at all, please let me know!

I have all sorts of long term plans/goals for a business, but I know it's smart to start off small. If I try to take on too much too fast, I'm likely to fail. So I've decided to start with a specific type of design - I'm going to design/produce destination-wedding invitations, print materials, favours, etc. But before I can really get started, I need a name for a business ... I can't apply for licences or anything until I have one ... so I need to get one figured out and decided on a.s.a.p!

For those of you who aren't sure of what a destination wedding is - basically, it's when a couple travels somewhere to get married ... for example, Dan and I just got married in Italy (although we live in Canada) - it was a destination wedding. Our friends got married in Hawaii - that's another example.

So let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions! I'd love to hear what you come up with. :)

The plan

I know, I've been slacking a bit with the updates lately ... I haven't really been myself lately. I haven't been in the best of moods ... I've been a bit down. Well, I don't know if "down" is the proper word for it - maybe just a little stressed/a little on edge.

Normal for me now is to be positive and overall, a happy person. But lately I haven't been as happy and optimistic as usual. The reason being ...

For quite some time now I've been working on a plan - the plan was to get through all the wedding stuff, and then once it was over, start improving my life overall. Well, I've been working on improvements for quite some time now (losing 12kg/26lbs was a pretty good one...) - but the plan was to get started on a proper career path after the wedding. I plan on starting a design company.

Now that the wedding is over, I know it's time to kick the business plan into high gear. And I guess I'm just a bit freaked out by the reality of it all. I know I can do it - I don't have any doubts about that - but there will be a lot of chances that I'll have to take and a lot of uncertainty that I'll have to deal with. So I know my moods lately have been due to the fear of the unknown.

But I know that it has to happen - I just can't work for someone else for much longer. My job isn't really that bad - but it just isn't for me. I work with a bunch of scientists all day ... not the best place for an artistically-inclined person to be! I mean, the people are nice and all - but really, I know that I really just don't belong there. I've really only befriended three people at work - and two of them have now left - so I don't even have much to look forward to (socially) anymore. :(

I figure that you only live once, so you should really do all that you can to make it as good as you can. I don't want to work for someone else, doing a lame job, for the rest of my life. I want a job where I have the flexibility to lead a life that is ideal for me. And I believe that the only way to get a job like that is to make it myself. So that's what I plan on doing. Dan is planning something similar as well, cuz' he thinks like me - he just wants more from life.

I've been emailing with Ben (he was our wedding planner) off and on over the past while. And after having conversed with him a bit more, I'm even more inspired to get my own thing going. He too is a visual artist (painter) so I guess we're sort of on the same page.

So anyways ... I won't bore you with the details of my plan now, as you'll likely hear a lot more about them later. :)