Valentine's Week

John and I started dating in January of 2003. He completely surprised me a month into our relationship with "Valentine's Week." Well, he has resurrected that week and we're now celebrating! What a surprise I got today.

After finishing work, I went to our car and what do I find in the passenger seat but these...



I was so surprised! They were so beautiful and smelled so good. It was so exciting that I almost forgot to drive the car over to pick up all the class materials that were waiting for me! Deciding to listen to the radio, I turned it on but a CD came on instead. What played but "Love Me Do" by the Beatles. While I did errands afterwards, I kept thinking about what a great surprise it was.

I then drove home and carried the first load of groceries down to our basement suite, grabbing the camera on the way back out. When I came back in, I started unloading groceries and then all of a sudden my eyes got really big! What was waiting on the kitchen table for me but this...



Thank you John.

World Cup Bobsleighing

Whistler and all of Vancouver is getting ready for this time next year. They have to prepare for everything: managing all the vehicles that will drive up to Whistler, security checks, set-up for the press's cameras, the width of snow stairs leading to the top of the Whistler Sliding Center, and more. So, in order to help them prepare and get the kinks out of things, they are hosting many of the World Cup 2009 events.

We went to the World Cup Bobsleighing (the correct term for bobsledding up here in Canada) event this Saturday. After driving up to Whistler, we almost didn't get to go because all the tickets were sold out, but then we got connected with someone who'd bought some for friends that were no longer going to attend. Woo-hoo! Thank you sir!

After a LONG hike up to the top of the bobsleighing track, the fun began. It is incredible to see these big men take a heavy bobsleigh, push it on ice, and get in the sleigh, all in a matter of seconds. Take a look:



I won't bore you with the details of all that we learned and witnessed, but I will say that those men fly. Once they get up to full speed, when the sled goes by it just looks a light is suddenly moving on the ice and then it's gone. After they pass the finish line, the track goes UPHILL quite a ways in order to help them stop, and they still have to press that brake down so forcefully that ice goes flying. They go over 95 miles per hour!

Christmas!

So this is over a month late, but the holiday season should be celebrated all year long, right? We had a wonderful time being back in the Midwest.

It was fun to be living with Ethan and Anika again.

John had a wonderful time playing with his nieces!

The next great pianist in the family?

A very exciting part of our vacation was meeting our new little nephew, Jack Dalton. Actually, spending time with all of his family was great!

Check out those muscles!

While being in the Cities, we also got to see some friends. A good afternoon was spent with one amazing friend...

...and then the evening with another!

Couldn't be in Minnesota at Christmas time without seeing the Holidazzle with Greg and Emily, and then attending a wedding with them...

...seeing the four roommates together brought back NWC memories.
Congrats Micah and Kim!

Yes, we did drive through the night so we could spend the eve with one fam and the morning with the other. It was worth it.

We sibs headed out to the traditional sledding hill.

And despite Rob trying to hit us, the only thing that got damaged was the toboggan!





Thanks for a wonderful time everyone.

Skiing at Cypress Mountain

We went downhill skiing yesterday at Cypress. It was a beautiful day - the snow was good, the air was warm, and we were on the slopes! The view was also great. You can actually see downtown Vancouver from the top. It's incredible how close the mountains are to Vancouver and vice versa.

After a few runs, I realized the main reason why I like downhill skiing. I like watching John ski. He's good. When he skis, he looks so natural and graceful. He's able to stop at basically any point he wants. He can go off jumps and go down black diamonds. Like I said, he's good.

I, on the other hand, go down the hill with all my focus being on staying in control. Of course that doesn't always happen - which meant I fell five times yesterday. It's funny. I see someone fall ahead of me and all I can think is "How do I avoid that person?" John sees someone fall and he goes over, quickly stops right in front of her and helps her up by actually pulling her up with his pole!

On the slopes at Cypress Mountain:


We packed a lunch and actually ate it at the foot of the 2010 Olympics Freestyle Skiing hill! (If anyone is interested in attending this event, it is going to have an incredible viewing area, as the parking lot starts less than a meter away from where John is sitting.)


John could have probably skied until the mountain closed at 10 p.m., but I was exhausted by the end of the afternoon!

A Scavenger Hunt Date in Vancouver

Our home group gave us a wonderful Christmas present full of treats for study breaks. There was also a bunch of envelopes whose contents contained a scavenger hunt date! We went on the hunt this past Sunday.

It all started off at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Not only were we to enjoy the aquatic animals, but we were also to search for answers to questions among the animal signs. Did you know that the front flippers of sea lions are larger than their back flippers but it's the opposite for seals? Did you know that sea lions have ear flaps but seals do not? Did you know that a baby beluga whale was born at the Vancouver Aquarium this past summer and that her name is Tiqa? Neither of us had ever seen a beluga whale before. It was really incredible to see such a large white whale swimming in the dark water.

We then went on our first geocaching expedition! Well, we first we had to figure out how to use our friends' GPS, but once we got that under control, we realized we were already quite close to the spot. A little shifting, a little moving of short logs by a tree's trunk, and voila! There was the little ziploc bag with the little Altoids container inside that we had been looking for! It was quite exciting. (Okay, it wasn't quite that easy.)

The last stop for the day was Kam's Place. A staple restaurant in downtown Vancouver, it serves delicious Singaporean food. Wow, what a treat! Thank you for the great date!