Guess What!

So following my previous post, when the most exciting news I could come up with was our new salt and pepper mills, I'm happy to be able to share that Eliot and I got engaged this weekend! He popped the big question on Saturday and of course, it never even crossed my mind to say "no." I am the happiest girl in the world right now. We haven't planned anything yet, and probably won't until I get back from China. But I'm excited to share the great news!

Here's Eliot's reaction after I said yes.


~Look how excited he is to be getting married!~


~After I tell him how much a wedding normally costs.~


~Reconsidering~


~"It's okay sweetheart, we don't have to spend that much."~

The Need to Blog

Hey blogging world. I'm getting really good at ignoring this area, and I feel bad about that. I don't know why. It's my blog, it should be here for me for whenever I need it. But I like to keep it updated, so someday I can look back and remember what was going on during this time in my life. Maybe that's just it...nothing is really going on. Well, things are always going on, but not like a few months ago when I was living in South Africa and every day was a completely new discovery, and I had plenty of reasons to come here and share what it was.

Life is good and I'm feeling really content with things right now. School is stressful, but I'm feeling like I have a good grasp of it. I have 3 weeks left of this quarter which means I'm just that much closer to my goals and dreams (right?). I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with this art in terms of a career. Although those thoughts are occupying less of my time these days than actually just focusing on the here and now.

One thing I realized a few weeks ago is that since I've started school, my photographing has taken a serious dive. So right now I'm working on taking my camera everywhere with me and bringing it out as much as possible.

So what's new?.......

Salt and pepper mills!


Haha, so I know this isn't very exciting, but I am quite pleased with this recent purchase. We've been looking and pricing these out since we moved here in January. But we've been on quite a budget and just haven't felt the need to get them...until now. We found these long, tall and handsome grinders and are really happy with them. They're bamboo with a ceramic mechanism (so as not to corrode) and I can't wait to try them out. Silly? Maybe. But again, it's my blog and I can put whatever I want on here.

Eliot and I are headed away for this long weekend to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US. Looking forward to relaxing, putting my feet up and spending time with my favorite person. Also, reading. I'm not doing enough of it these days, and I have a few books stacking up. One being True Blood Omnibus (vampires), another The War of Art (self help-ish book to help me remind myself I'm succeeding just by doing what I love) and another Travels (purely just for fun, Eliot got it for me for Valentine's Day back in February). I think I'll just take all 3 and choose which to work on depending on my mood.

Have a lovely weekend! xxx

Valentine's Day

I know, February is almost over, but I had to share these. On Valentine's Day Eliot surprised me with tickets to go see Flogging Molly, a celtic punk band that I love. I had heard on the radio that they were playing but I didn't know that Frank Turner was one of their opening bands, another great artist that Eliot introduced me to. So here's the photos from an amazing show that the images just don't do justice to.


The opening band The Architects

Frank Turner








Flogging Molly


The guy in red had the greatest faces in every picture I got of him.

Finally! The Holidays!

Whew! So my lack of updating is due to our move to Sunny FL! Well....actually we arrived in FL in the midst of a cold snap, and it's actually been colder here than Seattle (not even joking like 29 degrees).

So I've been seriously busy trying to organize furniture for a house so we can stop looking like we're just squatting here with our mattress on the floor. More on Florida later, all I'll say is that we're here, we love the house we're renting and there's lots to share but that's for another post on a different night, including some news on going back to school.

How bout those holidays? 5 countries in 3 weeks!

We started our trip from South Africa to England to visit Eliot's family and friends. It was so nice to go from hot SA to wintry England during the holiday season. Suddenly it felt like Christmas. We didn't spend Christmas in England, but Eliot's mum had a holiday party, inviting all Eliot's friends. And the evening before we left made a proper English Christmas dinner complete with Christmas pudding. Eliot has always spoken about these dinners and I was very grateful to be able to share it with him and his folks.


~A walk in England~






~This fountain was so cool~



~Catching up with our friend Mike from Argo~




~Christmas Pudding (after it's been lit on fire)~




Also while in England, Jenny (Eliot's mum) took me on a side trip to Paris! It sounds extravagant, but really it was only a 2 hour train ride on the EuroStar from London. Although freezing temperatures, we saw a lot of Paris in a day.


~The Louvre~


~Notre Dame~


~Inside Notre Dame~


~I can't quite remember what this is called...~


~Jenny and I~

From England we headed south again and went to Florida for 2 days to try and sort out a place to live when we came back in 2 weeks, and also to grab our snowboarding gear to head back north to Bellingham!


~Sunset from the deck- gorgeous shot of the San Juan Islands~
(Eliot's photo)


~Going for a walk at Whatcom Falls~




We spent Christmas there with my parents. My dad cooked a lekker prime rib roast on Christmas Eve. It was really nice to spend Christmas at home and catch up with friends and family. Also, my niece is at a great age now (almost 3), and it was so much fun to see her eyes light up on Christmas morning.


~Sunny Christmas Eve at the park~








~Playing with my old toys in the basement Christmas Eve- Obviously not very exciting~


~My sister Char on Christmas morning~
(Eliot's photo)


~An old Disney movie that is apparently more exciting than her gifts~


~Dad enjoying sunny Christmas day on the deck~
(Eliot's photo)


~My brother Alan~
(Eliot's photo)

The day after Christmas we said goodbye to my parents as they headed off to Maui, and Eliot and I headed up north to BC to go snowboarding. Eliot's best friend and his family were visiting Kelowna for the holidays, so it was the perfect opportunity to hook up with them and get some turns in at Big White.


~Eliot~


~Eliot and Nick mid day pub run~


~Nick~


~End of day pub run~
(Eliot's photo)

So those were our holidays in a fairly small nutshell. But we really had such a great trip. It always makes me wish all our loved ones were closer by, but at the same time, we're so lucky to have great family and friends all over the world.

Happy 2010!