Occasional musings from a Left-coast Canadian ExPat in Oxford.
Look at that, another wedding anniversary! We’ve been so busy lately, it really crept up on us. Plans include a quiet dinner at home with a bottle of the good wine. One of the bigger challenges in the past months has been dealing with the wacky health (physical and mental) issues our damn dog’s been … Continue reading Two Years
Welcome, to all of you who have gathered today to share in this ceremony with Neil and Jennifer. The words which will be spoken here today are sacred, although these words are not what joins these two. Indeed, it is not I who is joining these two today at all, nor is it this ceremony.
We are not here to mark the start of a relationship; we are here to recognize a bond that already exists. Neil and Jennifer have joined themselves together, and we have gathered so that they might bear witness before us of the oneness that has grown up between them. Here, they will affirm this oneness and this dedication formally and publicly, as they have already affirmed it to each other. As they now exist as one in their own eyes; so may they exist in yours.
This union has already occurred in the giving and receiving of their love and in the myriad ways in which they have entwined their lives together.
My first kiss was with Ben Newcombe. We were 11. I'm pretty sure it was his first kiss too. We used to hang out on a bunch of sand dunes (or so we called them) near our respective houses. A bunch of sand had been dumped on a piece of swampy-ish land to compress the … Continue reading Sandy Claws
Hooray! Neil’s finally home! At least we don’t IM eachother from here. Continue reading Better Together
Now that I finally have time to write, most of the memories about our wedding are getting quite hazy. Thankfully the pictures were just finished, so I at least have a reference for what actually went on. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous or edgy at all on our wedding day. I’d … Continue reading The Wedding
We made it to our beautiful villa in Spain, and not a moment too soon. Morocco is a hard country to visit as a tourist. Totally worth it, but definitely more difficult than any trip I’ve taken before. I’ll get more into that in a post once we’re home. Anyhow, just as we finally thought … Continue reading Hola!
Well, we did it! I’m currently hanging out in bed at the Fairmont YVR, drinking coffee and slowly waking up before breakfast. Our flight leaves at 15:10. For the wedding, the weather turned around completely and we had beautiful sunshine as the perfect backdrop to a really lovely ceremony. And the reception was definitely the … Continue reading Hitched!
Happy Valentine’s day to all of you, from all of us at Chez Watercooler! And from us to you, some chocolate, getting dirty, courtesy of our friends at AdHack (if I’m not eating much chocolate these days – because there is NO room for me to get any bigger and still fit into my wedding … Continue reading All you need is Love
For whatever reason I’m feeling kinda frisky today. And what better way to get it all out (and go back to my regular cold and miserable self) than to purge it from my system with a Meg-inspired Love List: Remember that bonus I mentioned receiving (along with the aerodynamic socks) after coming back from Trade … Continue reading Feisty Friday Love List
One year and one week ago I had sworn off dating all together, and was looking forward to my upcoming trip to the Carribean, where I planned to get into all sorts of trouble in the name of being single and awesome. One year and six days ago one of my best friends told me … Continue reading A Year Ago
I can’t really call it a “New Year’s Resolution” since it started in late November, but Neil and I are on a bit of a health kick these days. Summer was great: we had salads nearly daily since fresh, organic produce, meats and cheeses abound in our neighbourhood, and took epic walks with the dog … Continue reading I’ve created a monster
Read Part the First here. So Neil and I became engaged in Korea. And decided to keep it a secret until we could do it “right,” meaning until we could buy the ring we wanted, and start saving for the wedding. We waited. And saved. And waited. And saved. And waited. And saved some more. … Continue reading Pop Goes the Question – Part the Second
I know nobody’s asked, but I did want to post how Neil proposed – both because it’s adorable and I’d like to have it recorded for blog posterity, and because when I start posting the inevitable adventures in wedding planning, some of the plans will have more context for anyone who’s following along at home. … Continue reading Pop goes the Question – Part the First
I suppose I forgot to tell you all that the firefighter replied to my response to his initial email. He was kind and cordial and wished me all the happiness in the world (and apologized for being such a dumbass).
His surprise contact led to a lot of thinking about the past couple years, and the adventures in dating.
It almost seems surreal.
I mean, really. Reading back through the archives, I’ve been through a lot.
What do you do when you end up with a date who talks during movies? You ditch him of course.
What do you do when you find someone who thinks you’re not so much a real person as the sum of your blog posts? Dump him via the blog of course. Sayonnara.
How many times I suffered through being stood up, or subjected to just plain bad manners?
Maybe you give up and run away for some quality time on the beach like I did.
But then what do you do when you stumble upon the person of your dreams?
What do you do when you find someone whose sentences you finish, and who finishes yours? Someone who feels like an old friend from the moment you’ve met? Someone who actually meets and exceeds your Ridiculously High Standards and adds to your life in ways you never imagined? And (don’t read this part Mom & Dad) who also rocks your effin’ socks off in the bedroom, in ways you didn’t even know they could be rocked?
What do you do when you fall in love in an instant and can honestly say each day is better than the last? When you’ve found your soul mate, your perfect partner, your true love?
Continue reading “The Trouble with Love”
Happy Birthday Baby. I promise I’ll remember to send you birthday cards in jail! Continue reading Psst