Thursday, May 31, 2012

After... and Before!

Good evening everyone!


I took this photo of Amanda and me together in the forest on the trail leading down to the dinosaur trackway in Tumbler Ridge.  It was a really nice hike, and we had wonderful weather for it.  Even better, after we passed a few people coming back along the trail, we had privacy for most of the walk down, and about ten minutes at the river itself.


So this photo displays the past, but it also displays the future.  I'll be heading to Grande Prairie tomorrow after work, and Amanda and I will be going camping!  We'll be going with Amanda's sister and her family, and some friends, and hopefully having lots of fun and taking lots of photos.  ...and those photos of the two of us will be posted here in the future!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Walkway



In Tumbler Ridge there's a small walkway between two of the apartment buildings.  When I'm not running late, I walk on it twice a day -- once on the way to work and once on the way home.


Amanda and I walk on it too.  On Sunday before going for our hike we wandered over to Shop Easy to pick up a few things.  It was a nice day, and we stopped for a photo along the walkway.


Great things about this photo:
  1. Amanda is looking very cute -- I don't have many photos of her with her hair in a ponytail, and I like how her hair looks that way
  2. For a change the shot is roughly level with the horizon  *thumbs up*
  3. In the distance you can see someone who I'm fairly certain is absolutely dazzled that THE Kissing Couple of Grande Prairie was taking a photo so close to her.  (or maybe she was just wondering why we were blocking the walkway -- that's possible too, I suppose)
And that's the tale of the walkway.  I walk on it, and Amanda and I shared a kiss there that was accompanied by a fantastic photo.

That should be more than enough for any paved pathway!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Thoughts on Life, Love, and Amanda

When Amanda and I first started dating, I fell for her incredibly quickly but things felt like they were moving fast.  We went on our first date only a week and a half after I first e-mailed her, she made her first trip out to Tumbler Ridge two weeks after that, and before we knew it, we were spending as much time together as humanly possible.

It wasn't that hard at first.  The idea of having a girlfriend was still really new to me and seeing her on the weekend seemed about right.  I could live my normal life, and then go see Amanda on Saturday and Sunday.


Those thoughts changed sometime in late August or September.  I was in Grande Prairie for the weekend with Amanda, and planned on leaving Sunday afternoon after we went out for supper.  After supper though, we dawdled.  Amanda had sort of floated the idea of me staying until Monday morning, but I thought that we really wouldn't get that much time together, and that I'd be in the way when she was getting ready for work in the morning.


By the time we got back to her place from supper, I had changed my mind.  I asked her if she minded if I stayed.


That marked the turning point.  From then on, my life has been measured in hours to go until I see Amanda again.  As I write this, the countdown is at around 70 hours until I'll pull into her building's parking lot, text her to let her know I've arrived, and see her smiling face walking down the stairs to open the outside door.


Lately I've been feeling more and more like I live my *real* life on weekends when I'm with Amanda.  I've been thinking lately, and my life isn't so different from the miners who live in Tumbler Ridge and go home to their families elsewhere on their days off.  Both of us feel like we really belong somewhere else.


...and I belong with Amanda!





Monday, May 28, 2012

Spring Evening

It was lots of fun having Amanda come out to Tumbler Ridge this weekend.  After spending Saturday off doing different things (I worked at the library all day while Amanda took a well-deserved day off hanging around my place), it was really nice to go for a wander together after supper.


The weather was really nice, and the sun didn't set until *right* when we returned home to my condo.  We paused at some point during our walk to take this photo.


I've lived in Tumbler Ridge for 3 1/2 years this time around, and 11 years when I was younger, but for the life of me I can't place exactly where this photo was taken.  ...It'd help if the photo was level and more of the scenary behind us was visible.


Oops.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Code Awesome at the Supermall

(with apologies to Eric Wilson for the blog post title)






This is the final photo Amanda and I took last weekend, and it's sort of disappointing.  Not the photo itself -- I like the photo!  Amanda and I took this photo in one of the parking lots for the West Edmonton Mall just before we spent 4-5 hours inside.  I really like Amanda's shirt, as the basic design (sleeves and collar a different colour from the main shirt) is the same as my favourite shirt.  What's more, it looks really good on her!


Anyway, the reason this photo is disappointing is the simple fact that it is the last we took.  We did not get any photos together inside the mall itself, which was a major mistake on my part.  We could've gotten some great photos all around the mall, surrounded by people, near some of the mall's unique attractions, etc.


...but we didn't.


So that's all I've got from our trip to Edmonton.  Amanda headed home a few hours ago, but we managed some good photos this weekend while she was here.  I'll start posting them tomorrow night!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Streak Broken

My failure to post an entry last night broke an unofficial streak that stretched back nearly two months.  True, it wasn't a perfect streak, as there were times I posted early the next morning (between midnight and 3am usually), but I've been averaging one blog post per day for a while.


My plans to write one last night went out the window when Amanda arrived in Tumbler Ridge.  I walked out to meet her while she was driving in, we had supper, and then went to sleep early.  I completely forgot about the blog.


The good news is that we're having fun, she had a good day while I worked, and we'll be taking more photos tomorrow!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Some Assembly Required


As part of our Sunday morning gallavanting in Edmonton, Amanda and I visited Ikea.  After having breakfast there (not-so-great coffee, great cinnamon buns and other similar baked things, as we missed the cutoff for serving breakfast), we spent a few hours exploring the store.  We saw a kitchen design we both really loved, picked up a few things for Amanda's apartment, and generally had a good time looking around.

Neither of us live close to an Ikea, and it's been four years or so since I last visited one, so it was lots of fun!



Anyway, while wandering through one of the example apartments (the spaces set up to show you how you can live comfortably in a small, fixed amount of square footage), we stopped for this photo:






Yup, my obsession with taking photos of Amanda and me in mirrors continues!  In an ideal world, the photo would've been taken slightly lower so that more of Amanda's face in the bottom of the photo was visible.


That said, the photo shows *both* of Amanda's good sides, and is incredible as a result!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

We Missed Out

During our tour around Edmonton on Saturday, Amanda and I visited three yarn stores that I'd located while doing some online research on Friday night after she fell asleep.  The second of them was "Ewe Asked For It".


Amanda drove and I navigated as we made our way down to the store.  When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw the bright pink sign on the right side of the photo.  The store was closing, and was having a big sale to clear out the remaining stock.  We waffled between being excited (cheap yarn, yay!) and disappointed (one fewer yarn store to visit during subsequent trips to Edmonton).


When we entered the store, we settled on disappointment.  There wasn't really that much left on the shelves, and the majority of it was yarn that really didn't appeal to Amanda or me.


That said, it's probably for the best.  Amanda had already bought some yarn at the first yarn store we stopped at, and we both bought a few skiens at the final yarn store we visited just before checking into our hotel.  Somehow I think we left Edmonton with enough yarn even without buying anything at this particular shop.


...even if Amanda disagrees.  ;-)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Reflections in the Dark



Amanda and I took this photo on Whyte Avenue on Saturday afternoon.

I think it turned out incredible.  Amanda's hair is shining and there's an amazing contrast between it and the black window behind us.  I believe we took this shortly after lunch at Julio's and before we went to Chapters where Amanda and I spent a long time looking at e-readers.


Wespent most of our day on Saturday wandering around Edmonton.  We visited a few used book stores, three different yarn stores (I bought some neat yarn that is various shades of blue and Amanda bought 4-5 skeins total), and went for supper at The Olive Garden, which was incredible.


Somehow we avoided spending ourselves into bankruptcy during the trip, and I'm very grateful for that!

Monday, May 21, 2012

On the Road


Amanda and I arrived in Edmonton on Saturday morning around 11 and began a really fun day and a half there.

We took this photo just outside of my car in a parking lot near Whyte Avenue.  The weather was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed just wandering around and browsing various stores.

We didn't take as many photos as we had talked about, but we did manage some really good ones, and I'll be posting them over the course of the week.  So stay tuned!

The Return

We're home, we're safe, and we're extremely tired.

I'll be posting something worth reading sometime tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience, folks.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Edmonton Bound

By the time most of you read this post, Amanda and I will be on our way to Edmonton.  We've been thinking about it for a few weeks, and decided that it'd be a good way to spend our long weekend together!


So we'll be driving out early Saturday morning and leaving Edmonton late Sunday afternoon.  What's on the agenda?


1)  Shopping
  • There are a few neat yarn stores we'd like to check out among other things.
2)  Library
  • I've recently read about the Strathcona County Library in Sherwood Park, and I'd like to take a look around it!
3)  Photos
  • What would a trip out of Grande Prairie be without photos of the Kissing Couple on the road?  I've got a few photo ideas I'd love to try, but I don't know that we'll have the time or be in the right place to attempt them.  Needless to say, there *will* be photos of us finding time to kiss in Edmonton.
Anyway folks, Amanda and I had better get on the road pretty quick!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Quiet Contentment

Right now I'm borrowing Amanda's Macbook while she sleeps beside me.  She's curled up against her pillow, breathing softly, and the cares of the world are nowhere to be seen on her face.

Regardless of my happiness in seeing her, I'm also glad for another reason. Glad to be seeing her hair spread across a pillow, glad to feel the bed move slightly when she rolls onto her side, and glad to be hearing each breath because it means one thing:

I'm not alone tonight.

So I'm going to carry on looking up places for us to visit in Edmonton and marking them on a map while Amanda visits dreamland beside me.  It's times like this that I realize that I was merely okay before I met her, not truly happy.  When I look back over the past few years before I met Amanda, they seem very quiet and empty.

Well, my life is currently full, as is my heart.  I've got a small smile on my face as I type these words and glance over at Amanda, still slumbering peacefully.

And there it is.  That elusive feeling that doesn't come along *nearly* often enough:

Quiet contentment.

Thanks for reading, folks.  I should have another post up tomorrow morning just before we leave for Edmonton.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Pizza and Mad Men

Amanda and I were talking about a week ago, and somehow the topic got onto Mad Men.  We're both fans of the show, and I've been watching it with Amanda when I'm in Grande Prairie with her.  I asked her about an episode she'd watched that I hadn't had a chance to yet, and she said that it was okay.  I modified a classic joke and asked "But Mad Men is like pizza, right?  Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good!"

Amanda agreed, and somehow we got to talking about which pizza toppings fit which Mad Men character.  We came up with the following list, and hopefully you'll find it as funny and revealing as we did!

Don - Pepperoni
    meaty and delicious

Peggy - banana peppers

    works well with pepperoni, but not to everyone's taste

Pete - cardboard box
    necessary, but annoying

Cooper - corn/mayonnaise
    Japanese (stereotypically) like them on pizza, but lots of people would find them odd

Lane - crust, upper crust at that

Joan - tomato sauce
    Red and saucy

Roger - lettuce
    not necessary except for a few special circumstances, and makes a mess of things easily

Caroline - mushrooms
    under-appreciated and quietly gets the job done

Harry - little plastic table that holds box top up

    only good for takeout, no good at home

Betty - pineapple
    blonde, juicy, not good with pepperoni

Megan - bacon
    good with pepperoni but can be a little much
    she's Canadian

Henry - chicken
    better with pineapple than pepperoni, but not by much
    more popular by itself than with pineapple

Sally/Bobby - ham
    stuck with pineapple by tradition, but are better with pepperoni

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Higher Education

Yup, the building in the background of this photo is Grande Prairie Regional College.  Attentive readers might realize that we took this photo in the parking lot for Save-On.


Ultimately, I visited Save-On three times on Sunday.  I went the first time on Sunday morning.  My plan was to wake up before Amanda (which I normally do), sneak out to Save-On, and buy her flowers and some blueberries so I could make blueberry pancakes for breakfast as a surprise.


Well, I did wake up before Amanda, but I accidentally woke her up while I was getting dressed.  It was before 8, so I encouraged her to go back to sleep so I could salvage my surprise for her.


When I returned, she was awake, and I didn't get to surprise her after all.  She still liked the flowers though!


We went to Save-On later in the day on our way back from gassing up my car, but we didn't have Amanda's shopping list.


Finally, we went there at the very end of our other running around on Sunday to pick up Amanda's groceries and a few other things.

So of my three trips there on Sunday, I took this photo on the final.  Amanda and I were both there together, our trip was successful, and she was looking very cute.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Curly Fries

I have a weakness.  It's not kryptonite, though that would make sense too.  Nope, this weakness is a food weakness.


It's curly fries.  So when Amanda and I were getting hungry on Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Arby's for a late lunch.


When we got there, nobody was at the restaurant, and our fries were fresh, hot, and amazing.  It still boggles my mind how good french fries are when cut in a spiral, fried with extra spices, and dunked in a small puddle of horsey sauce.


(Hint:  it's good)

Anyway, Amanda and I took this photo together outside of Arby's just after we finished eating.  The wind was whipping Amanda's hair around and she looked really cute.  So I wanted a kiss and a photo, and I got both!

Monday, May 14, 2012

A Bit of a redneck...

Good evening, everyone!

Our weekend together in Grande Prairie was short, but Amanda and I still had a lot of fun.  I drove out Saturday night after work, stayed all day Sunday, then drove home this morning.


We took this photo yesterday afternoon.  You can see that I've got a bit of a sunburn on the way on the back and side of my neck.  We went to Amanda's parent's house so Amanda could wish her mom a happy Mother's Day.  So Amanda gave her mom a card and present (from Amanda and her sister), and we went out to the deck to talk for a while.  Amanda had her hoodie on, and her hair covered her neck so she was fine, but I was sitting in the same spot with my neck exposed for nearly two hours.

It was a good visit with Amanda's parents, and by the end of it I learned one thing. 


...I really should've put sunscreen on before we headed out.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day

I'd like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  All your hard work, often under-appreciated and under-rewarded, makes the world what it is.  Thanks to all the moms who drive their kids to hockey practice, watch their children in plays, work hard at day jobs and then come home to help with homework, and most importantly, bring their children to storytime at the library!

The year in particular though, I'd also like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the future moms out there, Amanda in particular.  We love you, we believe in you, and we know you'll do your best!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Dramatic Hello...?

I drove out to see Amanda in Grande Prairie tonight, but she wasn't at her place when I got here.  I texted her and she said she'd just gotten out of the movie she'd gone to with her sister, brother-in-law, and friends.

(by the way, Amanda's review of The Avengers goes as follows:  "Explosion, explosion, special effect, explosion, OH NOES!")

Anyway, I sat halfway out of my car and waited for her.  A few minutes later, I saw a truck pull up with her brother-in-law driving it.  They waved, and Amanda hopped out of the back seat and walked over with a big smile on her face that matched mine.

I debated running over in slow motion and us kissing each other in the most dramatic way possible to see what sort of response we got from our audience, but then they drove off and we didn't have a chance to see.  ...So I ditched the slow motion, dramatic part of our hello kiss.  It was still great anyway.  :-)

Friday, May 11, 2012

A White-Hoodied Lass

This is the final photo Amanda and I took together last weekend, shortly before me made it back to my place from our walk.  The weather was incredibly nice, and on the way back to my place we decided to walk over to Shop Easy to pick up some weiners and hot dog buns for lunch.


I barbecued, Amanda sliced our improvised buns (Shop Easy was out of official hot dog buns), and we ate out on my balcony, thoroughly enjoying the weather, the view, our hotdogs, and *definitely* each other's company.  After lunch, we cleaned up and played some Plants vs Zombies each other and traded wins while playing as zombies.


I think we could've sat there very happily until the sun went down many, many hours later, but sadly we couldn't.  Amanda had to work the next morning, so we had to call it a weekend far too early -- around 3 in the afternoon.

We said goodbye at her car in the parking lot and began the wait to see each other again -- a wait that I'm *very* happy to say has shrunk to less than 24 hours by this point!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Flames of Passion, or something similar

Before she had to leave on Sunday, Amanda and I went for a reasonably lengthy walk around Tumbler Ridge.  After dropping off the movie we had rented the night before, we walked by the fire station and I stopped her so we could take a photo together in front of the station.


It's kind of neat in a way.  I spent eleven years of my life in Tumbler Ridge as a child, and I'm sure I had my photo taken at or near the fire station at one time or another.  Here I am nearly twenty years after we left taking a photo there again, but this time with my girlfriend.

...That said, it almost makes me wish I'd done something super-dramatic when my family left Tumbler Ridge and made a promise with my best friends that we'd agree to meet in twenty years at 8pm on the steps of Town Hall.  I'd only be just over two years away from it at this point.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Disappointment

Well folks, we missed an opportunity for a legendary crossover.  My brother and his girlfriend had hoped to come up to Tumbler Ridge over the long weekend to go camping and see Amanda and me.


Unfortunately, Amanda and I had already been making plans to drive to Edmonton on the Victoria Day weekend.  My brother and I talked last night briefly, Amanda and I talked after that, and then my brother called me again tonight.  We talked for a while, and the end result is that Amanda and I will be going to Edmonton, and my brother and his girlfriend will be going another direction for their vacation.


It's really disappointing, as I only get to see my brother a few times a year.  However, it's not very easy for Amanda and I to go to Edmonton on a normal weekend and we have been talking about this particular weekend for a little while.  When I talked with my brother, he also commented that perhaps it was for the best, as the weather up here is still fairly cold (it snowed today).


So how was this a missed opportunity?  Well, a while back my brother's girlfriend posted a photo of the two of them pouting side by side on Facebook and wrote a caption that said "The Pouting Couple of Kamloops."  Amanda and I *loved* it, and thought it was hilarious.


So we've missed out on the chance to get a single photo containing the Kissing Couple of Grande Prairie and the Pouting Couple of Kamloops together.


*sigh*

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Creek Overlook



At TR Point on Saturday, Amanda and I walked right out to the point (actually, about ten feet back just in case the point was undercut by erosion) to take a photo together.  Behind us is the valley Flatbed Creek flows through.  Of course, we're blocking off any view of the creek.  But that's okay!  I'd rather look at Amanda than the creek.

Then on our way back along the trail, I took another photo of the two of us -- sort of.


I thought our shadows looked kind of interesting, so I took a photo of them too.  That said, it looks like I'm holding a drink to my mouth, Amanda and I are both holding a baton like we're in a relay race, and that I'm roughly the shape of a gourd.


...I still think it's kind of a neat photo though!

Monday, May 7, 2012

River Overlook

On the trail to TR Point, there's a place just off the trail that overlooks a nearby river.  When Amanda and I hiked out to TR Point, we walked over to that side trail to take a look and to take a photo.

I was hoping that I'd manage to get the river in the backdrop of the photo, but as we were far above the river, I knew it was unlikely.  Still, we tried, and I like how the backdrop for the photo looks regardless.

...You just don't know that there's a river behind us.  :-)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

In the Wilderness (Sort of...)



Amanda went home a few hours ago, but we certainly made the most of our weekend together.  We took a handful of new photos, did a lot of walking, and had trouble cooking breakfast this morning (between us we overcooked everything but the coffee).


Yesterday afternoon, we packed a lunch and went for a hike on the trail to TR Point.  Along the way we stopped to get a photo with the forest around us in the background.  I like this photo, but I need to learn to hold my phone level when I'm taking pictures.  It looks like we're either standing on a brief slope (we're not) or that the wind is blowing all the trees in a very strange way (though breezy, it wasn't).

At any rate, the lighting was good, Amanda and I are well-centered horizontally, and our hair (though mine is definitely getting long again) looks amazing in the sunlight.  ...Besides, Amanda looks cute!



Saturday, May 5, 2012

Butterfly Wannabe


Amanda and I went for a hike to TR Point this afternoon.  We took many photos of us, but while we were stopped for lunch at the point, we saw a butterfly.


It flew over and landed on the ground near us.  We watched it for a while, and then it flew away -- just to return a few seconds later.  It repeated this process a few times until we finally understood.  The butterfly wasn't toying with us or losing its way or anything else.  The butterfly *knew* about our blog and wanted its fifteen minutes of fame.


So I obliged it.  I pulled out my phone, took a photo of it, commented that it'd be featured on our blog, and then the butterfly flew away.


Yes, it's a silly idea, but what else am I to assume?  That the butterfly had nothing better to do with its day than flap away from us just to return a few seconds later?

Friday, May 4, 2012

More Progress

Amanda should be reaching Tumbler Ridge in around 45 minutes, so I've got time for a quick blog post before I run my recycling out.

I've made some progress on my scarf.




In the last 2-3 weeks I've been working on my scarf a little more regularly, and it's getting closer and closer to being done.  At this point, I've basically finished three repetitions of the brown-white-red bands, with two more planned.  The problem?


It's kind of hard to see on this photo (my tablecloth is the world's greatest backdrop for a knitting photo), but the ball of yarn attached to the scarf is all I have left of the red yarn I'm using.  I *think* I have enough for another band of red, but that'll probably be it.


So what will I do?


Well, the next time I'm in Grande Prairie, I'll drag Amanda with me to Michaels to see if there's any chance they have another skein of the same yarn with the same dye lot as the red yarn I'm already using.  If they do, things will be simple, and I'll keep knitting away.


If not, I'll have to get more creative.  I could just make a shorter scarf, but when I started working on this scarf I planned it to be fairly lengthy (more than long enough to wrap around my neck twice with lots to hang down in the front and back).  I could get creative with the length of the tassels on the end, but that would probably lead to many hours spent untangling them.


Finally, I assume I could probably undo the row I cast on with and extend the scarf from both ends with either a different colour or with more of the brown yarn.


The decision-making point is still a little while away, but I should start thinking about it now.


Anyway, I'm off to take out my recycling before Amanda arrives.  Hopefully we'll be taking some great photos tomorrow and you'll be spared any more excessively wordy blog posts.


Thanks folks!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Taking a Breather...

Hi everyone!


After last night's wordfest on the blog, I'm taking a breather tonight.  It was fun writing that much, and I certainly hope you enjoyed the ride, but I'm not going to repeat it tonight.


Instead, I'll remind you that Amanda is coming out to Tumbler Ridge for the weekend, and leave you with the hope of more pictures of the two of us coming soon.


Night!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A Thousand Words

I don't have a picture tonight, folks.  You'll have to settle for a thousand words instead!

Amanda is coming out to Tumbler Ridge this weekend.  I've been in Grande Prairie three of the last four weekends due to timing (Amanda's birthday, the Elton John concert, etc.) and illness.  I've been trying to think of something fun to do together, but have come up a little dry so far.

I've thought about taking Amanda to the Tumbler Ridge pool on one of her trips out to see me, but it's closed for re-grouting and maintenance right now.  I've also thought about seeing if Amanda wants to walk the five mile loop with me, but it'll really depend on how the weather is.  That's the problem with a walk that's an hour and a half long -- unless there's *no* chance of the weather changing, it's not a great idea to attempt it.  The other side of it is that the hour and a half figure applies to my long legs.  Amanda's not short by any stretch, but I do shorten my stride a little when we're walking together.  So it may end up being a slightly longer walk time-wise which means that it'll require even stabler weather.

We could do another 80s movie weekend, but as it's spring, it'd be nice to do something outdoors instead.  Kite flying on the high school field is a definite possibility.  I've got a kite my parents gave me a few years ago, the last time I flew it was on Halloween afternoon in 2010, and we've been talking about flying kites together for a little while.  ...Actually, last weekend in Grande Prairie would've been perfect for it.

On Friday I went for a long walk around Grande Prairie while Amanda was at work (her place --> downtown --> big box area --> Amanda's apartment), and I was either pushed along by or battling the wind the entire time.  I had put sunscreen on because the sun seemed strong, and my arms and neck ended up covered in dust and sand due to everything being blown by the wind.

Actually, it reminded me of my three years working at a mill.  The last year I worked there, I had a job outside at the stripstacker.  There was a dust-collection cyclone (or something similar) outside near there that wasn't working incredibly well at times.  So I'd cover up in sunscreen to protect myself from being burnt while working in the sun all day, then the cyclone would have a problem and start spraying sawdust everywhere, absolutely coating my arms and neck.

I will say this though -- I never needed air freshners to make my bedroom smell like pine trees or sandalwood.  The residue in my clothes and hair managed that quite well.

Anyway, my other option would be to take Amanda for a hike somewhere.  here may be two problems with that.  First, the trails might still be excessively wet and muddy depending on how well sheltered they are from the sun.  Second, on Amanda's first trip out to Tumbler Ridge we went for a hike to Flatbed Falls.  We were trying to enjoy the view and were kissing (sadly, this was long before we started this blog) when we were interrupted by another hiker who wanted to talk and visit.  So we disengaged ourselves from him politely, and decided to turn around and head back.

We stopped partway back along the trail to continue kissing when the same person came by.  It was kind of discouraging.  We'd left the Falls themselves so we could just enjoy each other's company just to end up having the same person catch up to us again.

The same problem didn't happen with the Bald Spot.  Though I thought I heard people climbing up the trail while Amanda and I climbed down, we didn't run into anyone, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  We even had a mini picnic up top!  We didn't have wine, but I did bring fruit, some sandwiches, and orange juice in a thermos.  It was really neat sitting up there overlooking the town and talking for a while before we began the trek back down the hill.  I'm *very* glad we decided to drive my car to the beginning of the trail though.  Normally I walk straight up from my apartment and it adds about twenty minutes to the front *and* end of the climb.

I'm not sure either of us would've survived that.  As it was, our legs were kind of rubbery by the end.  I was thoroughly impressed with Amanda though.  It took me three attempts to make it all the way up to the Bald Spot after I moved back to Tumbler Ridge, and she managed on her first attempt.  Have I mentioned lately how awesome she is??

Anyway, I'm sure Amanda and I will figure out something fun to do together this weekend, whether it's playing Plants vs. Zombies against each other for hours, eating breakfast at the TR Inn, knitting on my balcony like we did at her place last weekend, or working on secret plans of world domination.  I promise that if we achieve the latter, our first decisions as world overlords will very much follow the ideals expressed in my blog post of a few weeks back about how the world *should* work.

Naps at work for tired employees and paid, encouraged, sick days for those who don't abuse the privlege will be first on our docket.  Next will be making some elaborate crowns for us to wear.  If we're going to rule the planet, I'm sure we'll want some bling.

And with that folks, I think I'll be signing off for the evening.  I hope you enjoyed reading a lengthier post than normal, even though it lacked any wonderful photos of Amanda and me kissing each other.  With any luck, we'll take more this weekend and I'll be posting them sometime next week.


...There we go.  That's a thousand words.

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Spring has Sprung!

Amanda and I spent a few hours at a greenhouse/garden centre on the edge of Grande Prairie on Sunday looking for some plants for her balcony.  We picked out some flowers, spices, and a tomato plant, and enjoyed every minute wandering around the greenhouses.


We stopped by a display of hanging baskets and decided to take a photo.  It's a little more awkward taking photos while we're wearing sunglasses, but I think this photo turned out pretty good!  Amanda's hair looks sort of coppery, and I really like the patch of blue sky and clouds seen through the roof of the greenhouse.