Out like a lion, in like a Lion

I have spent most of this morning scrolling through reflective and celebratory posts of 2019 and some post filled with hope for the new year.

I am coming off an epic year. 2019 in 1 word was a party. It’s was carthadic for my extroverted soul. It felt like a coming out of sorts.

 The past decade and a half my life had felt not totally my own but my resolution of 2019 was to let go of my need for praise, to let go of my need of perfectionism, to let go of self importance, to say no to things I didn’t want. But most importantly, do the things I want to do and not wait or put it off or have it feel less important. 

I end this year perfectly happy and content that I have put most of those to rest. 

Some highlights of my year was my trip to see my sister, camping with a wonderful group of friends, and watching the girls show at synergy but in between those events for me was a plethora of other momentous events like celebrating birthdays with friends, parties, dances, road trips, my sister’s birthday, Christmas, hockey games, basketball games, horse shows etc.

Last year we rang in New Years exactly how we lived 2019.

We booked the curling rink and just let the night play out.

My goals for 2020 

- literally and figuratively clean out my closets

- knit more

-walk more (we have a couple family hikes planned)

- skiing dec 2020

- 

The final final day

I had a bit of a conundrum... I did NOT want to come home but I wanted to see my kiddos {and dusty}...

I didn’t sleep well between my brain trying to figure out how to move there and Dusty’s plane crash stories before bed...

I was up and showered and packed fairly quickly and somehow I managed to pack everything a wee bit better than on the way out and I even had more treasurers to bring back!

I spent the morning visiting and doing a little reflection with Amy about my life and a decision that had been weighing on my mind for a while!

Soon it was time to head to the airport. I got to Nanaimo at 1233pm and boarding was at 1240 😳

My dad’s genetic early-ness was in full “I’m late” panic!

Sure shootin’ I got the pleasure of being the random security draw.... my perfectly pack bag- totally unpacked.

Flustered I got through security, thinking that people would already be on the plane but nope. I still stood around for a solid 30 minutes. I had 4 airports total with 2 connecting flights between Vancouver and Calgary so I was anxious to get going.

👆🏻the pretty little city of Nanaimo 

The last spot of the island- mainland bound...

The flight touched down 5 minutes early in Vancouver and I easily found my next gate. It was a FULL plane. Landed in Calgary at 520 and didn’t leave until 740 so I found a comfy spot to pout and wait... 👇🏻

Lethbridge wasn’t even on the board when I arrived 

It did eventually pop up after some snacks and a nap and a show and I was headed to my final destination.

Dusty actually showed up to get me and we went out to catch up. I love Tops Pizza! It’s the best quiet little place!



And look at that garlic toast 👆🏻👆🏻😍😍

As I walked in the door, just my Lucy was there to greet us. She loved the treasures and yummy pork rinds I brought back!

I just want to be back- back to the green and the water and the walks!

Day 7- oh my old hips

It was a late start to the morning but we managed to get rolling on our 1 day of work by 11. Amy’s room was this horrible butter yellow white and it was a little dingy so we freshened it up! It took as all stinkin day but we got it done and her new sheets and dresser arrived too!!! She sheets are so lovely and earthy and the dresser is swoony! Her desert oasis is going to be perfectly relaxing!! Can’t wait to see the rest of the decor go in!!

The Before...

My after (which I didn’t do the room justice!!)

Amy’s After!

Day 6- Is it possible to Live here

Daylight savings time is a really downer on vacation! We lost an hour this morning but with the loss of that hour it made some decisions easier, like not sitting in a car for four additional hours to go to Tofino. 

It was a perfectly lovely morning again with blue sky’s and perfect spring air. We hit up Neckpoint park and it had some perfect trails 

The trees are all starting to bloom making it feel even more like spring has finally arrived- I am already trying to mentally prepare myself for returning to Alberta. I have now just sort of given up and find myself looking at real estate here and maybe just never returning!

Below is Indian Beach and I seriously couldn’t get over how perfect the trails are!!

Below is neck point and the rocky beaches are filling with deep dark black flat stones and polished oyster shells and you can see the bottom of the water and would make awesome places to swim!




 

Just around the bend is sunset beach.  We found the perfect huge logs to sit on and just enjoy watching the ducks swim. You can’t see it from the picture but there is the most perfect small house just tucked away up on the hill in the trees in this little bay. 



 On our way back through the woods we found all this enchanting faerie houses ❤️



It was a perfectly magical walk on a perfect spring day. We left a very busy parking lot (after freeing Popples tail hair from the door 😳😂) and made our way back to Amy’s to drop the dogs off! 

After successfully unloading the dogs we headed out for lunch to a very popular English pub called Crow and Gate.

. 

It was dark and moody but cheery. The menu was 👌🏻

Amy ordered Quiche and I ordered bratwurst ....

The food did NOT disappoint nor did the ambience. The bratwurst was the best I have ever eaten and perfectly cooked. It came with dilly creamed potato salad, leafy lettuce with a home dressing 😍, bread, old cheddar, and of course 2 sausages and house made hot mustard! So good! 👍🏻👍🏻

The outside is as charming as the inside.  

We passed a place called the slice on the way too and it apparently has the best peanut butter cheesecake on the planet so of course we had to stop! But who could say no to a delicious slice of pizza too.

 But that cheesecake was the real winner! You can always tell it’s a winner when your body and brain say to stop but your mouth is drooling in between bites faster than your hand can get another bite there! Definitely worth the stop.

The next wee adventure before nap time was a quick stop in the old downtown! We stopped at a magic store and wool shop and a book store! Each as delightful as the next but I think I found a couple good books for Lucy for her birthday and a yard pattern for Amy’s baby!

I am excited for the dam and dinner tonight!

Part 2

The dam

The squirrels are sooooo black!!

) Day 5~ finding inner peace

Amy was up and feeling pretty good (minus the cold) but we hit the streets bright and early of downtown and I should of taken more pictures of downtown! Our first stop was a brand new bakery in town... Red’s. They had a good selection and recommended their cheese biscuit or custard tart. I almost went for the custard tart but behold my wandering eyes beheld the most delicious looking meatballs. And they were!!! I got 2 lovely spicy pork meatballs ❤️. Not a usual bakery purchase but they were outta this world good! Amy, however, opted for the recommended cheese biscuit, even though she didn’t have a pleasant experience yesterday with a different biscuit.

We took ourselves across the street to a well established bakery to pick up Nanaimo’s “best” Nanaimo bar and my wandering eyes struck again and we left with an additional pecan bar and a couple Macrons for Amy. And a short stroll later found us at the other end of the harbour that we didn’t get to yesterday! I felt as excited as all the little boys we past that had their faces glued to the big boats!  I have to say, the harbour in March is a real treat. The weather has been fabulously warm (especially compared to the weather we’ve had an Alberta)! The harbour walking paths were empty except for the occasional elderly couple walking their dog or families with kids enjoying the warm weather and the ocean breeze. It was so laid back and relaxing.

We found our spot next to the water so we could watch the boats and planes come in and out to enjoy our treats from the bakery. Amy gave it to huge thumbs up to red’s cheese biscuit she said it was sweet and peppery and moist with a good crust! great biscuit!

I had bites from all my treats and they were amazing. The pecan bar was incredibly good and sometimes they can be was over the top sweet and while it was very sweet it was not overly sweet for a pecan bar! And the Nanaimo bar 😳 the custard in it is the real winner- light and creamy all at the same time!

 

The view from our picnic bench also included the walking dock. On the dock this morning there were a couple of groups crabbing. After eating her treats we took a gander down the dock and couldn’t believe the size of the crabs that they were pulling in! They were enormous!

After our stroll back we took a little drive into the north part of Nanaimo and went to this great little park called Piper Lagoon Park. The houses along this park are dreamy. 

In the background amidst the clouds are the mountains ⛰ ❤️




At the end of Pipers Lagoon is this tiny island filled with fishing shacks. 

 And there were soooooo many tiny swirly shells and birds and the trails were perfectly imperfect. And all the tiny row boats just made my heart so perfectly happy to know a place like this exists in the world. Plus apparently this is the 👌🏻 clam digging place!! You can’t eat them because of a bad algae bloom last year but clams love it in this little lagoon. We went a low tide and there were soooo many clam holes. 

After our walk we headed back into the downtown where we went to Pirates. As you can tell it was over the top fun, filled full of interesting things to look at! The batter was good and Delish and the coleslaw was on point. Plus the put vindicates in a spare bottle -ingenious!! 

Now we are back at home resting up for part 2 of day 5!

Part 2

After a tiny rest and to catch up on some basketball we were off again. We took a drive down Nanaimo’s river road and found all sorts of treasures. Farms with lambs and lots of little artisan shops. And at the end of the road we found this cool little bridge 

We go outta the car and attempted a walk until 2 massive dogs unfriendly met us 😂

We headed back to the Dam/dog park and let the dogs out for a little jaunt. We came back to Amy’s and found a movie to watch (Book Club) and ordered takeout- small luxuries that you don’t get when you live outta town. We ordered Thai food and it was incredible. Like so good. I also finished up my most delicious Nanaimo bar and then headed to bed!

Day 3 Moms break from Alberta’s Winter

I was up early again. Still on Alberta kid time. It gave me time to enjoy the quiet still morning. And the smell. Amy’s house always smells like Earth. In  my room it smells of enchanted forests. Kyle got up and made delicious breakfast- eggs scrambled with veggies and slides pan fried potatoes. Morsels is deliciousness. 

As I was getting dressed I spotted this little guy out my window. {and can I also point out all the lovely flowers emerging everywhere }

We headed out to pick up a few things to paint her bedrooms and she wanted to show my the ultimate Heath food grocery store and it was AMAZING! I wish I had taken a pic. 

We also had to make a quick pit stop at Costco {like for real I love Costco- I could do a Canada tour of Costco } I needed to pick up Heluva Dip - which apparently Nanaimoians eat for less dip than Lethbridgeians.... because they had none! Not even a spot for it 😳

So after striking out there we went to the Nanaimo Confections and bakery- picked up a delicious gluten free double chocolate cookie that was AMAZING and a long John filled with cream and some cheddar/onions buns and a gluten free loaf. We headed home and took a wee nap. 

After a brief stop we were on and up again- thought I would bust out the boots again and try again! So I duct taped my ankles and hoped that my luck and tape would hold and headed to Amy’s favourite spot on earth.

The above are picture from their DOG park!! It was amazing. So many mossy water viewed trails! It was splendid! {aside from Kyles wipe out and my blisters}

We came back and Kyle cooked us dinner-

Bacon cheddar burgers on the best gluten free bread served with jalapeño mayo and beet/carrot/potato/sweet potatoe fries. So good!

We played some quirkle and listened to Lucy and Ellie practice their speeches and called it a night!

(Temporary Backup) Hello Spring

Winter at home has been brutally cold and the snow just wants to stay. No a chinook in sight. Amy has been wanting us to come out and so we all planned on coming but between winter and animals, our plans got changed from all to me going. 

I jumped on a plane at Lethbridge (which was SO convienant !!) (and cheaper than leaving from Calgary). The flight to Calgary was uneventful and I was so glad Dusty convinced me to download a few shows on my phone!! Landed in Calagary for a wee layover. The waiting room was pretty sweet. Comfy chairs, good wifi, lots of room. After that I jumped on another plane to Nanaimo! And my best luck- no one sat beside me!!

Check out that view heading over the Rockies 👆🏻

And flying over the channel 😍

I love the ocean. Some people over open spaces and dancing wheat fields or hay or forests or mountains.... I will take the ocean!

I landed in good time. Walked through the longest outdoor walkway- and marveled at the warmth! Turned the corner into the building and bam 💥 there she was! It was so good to see her (and to not be busy bearding bodies that I could actually just enjoy that moment).

We took off for her house and it’s adorable and perfect. My room and is huge and comfy. We dropped my stuff and went out grocery shopping. Ate a Costco hotdog for lunch and then headed to go out for a walk.... and I got blisters. Dang boots and flat lander feet! But look at how amazing the walk was (not wonder why I just kept pushing  past the point of no return)

We headed home where Amy tried to torture me by taking off my boots - they finally came off 😬

We chilled out for a bit and then went hunting for quirkle and dinner. We went to the Firehouse and I had garlic butter prawns on Cesar salad and it was Delish!!! I could barely keep my eyes open when we got home and I passed out at 8pm!!

I was up at 5am and spent a lovely morning puttering around my room. I only changed 4 times before we left for Victoria. I really needed to take more pictures. The drive was beautiful, filled with rock walks and moss and running water. 

We got into Victoria and it was stunning with all the old buildings. We parked right by a harbour and took off walking! First few blocks were China town- and it was vibrant and colourful 

And the alleys were all decorated and most had these tiny stores in them! We headed for lunch but not before passing the most amazing smelling Italian bakery and so many colourful buildings. 

We finally found our lunch destination- Ferris’ Oyster Bar


I ordered 3 baked oysters and a bowl of Cioppino (filled to the brim with clams, oysters, prawns, salmon, and other delicious bits. Super good. Amy had the show set which she said was amazing and Kyle got something I can’t pernounce. 

All good!

We took off for more sights and found ourselves down by the water. The cherry trees and dafdosills are all out in full force! We walked by the Empress Hotel and meandered back up the street. We passed a few tiny 7-11’s and a McDonald’s that had full time security on it! A huge homeless population. We also stopped into the oldest church in Canada. It was a prespraterian church and the guy was a lovely chatty old Scottish fellow and he talked out ears off but the build fb was amazing. I love the smell of old churches. We escaped and headed back for the car, passing that tiny Italian bakery...... only this time we had to go in!

It was this little place called La Tana and it was amazing. They had sweet and savoury delights and the baker spoke Italian. Amy ordered a ton of things- a birocci (orange pastry filled with Nutella- it looked like an icing powder bun), and small cookies, and big flat cookies and then I got the most delicious super chewy almond flour cookie and it was amazing. We happily returned to the car and took a scenic drive around a park and the ocean route and checked out all the amazing houses!

We got home and I made Hawaiian haystacks and then had a little downtime. I came out and Amy and Kyle were ordering burritos and we watched some Father Brown and Called it a night!