Bits and Bobs, 29th June - 15th June 2010

The 28th May 2010 was our first year anniversary in Vancouver. On the 29th we headed out for dinner with some of our new friends and old friends to the Local Public Eatery. We had some nibbles, dinner and few drinks to celebrate. Turns out there was another reason to celebrate, our friends Andrea and Laurence are expecting a baby. It was a great evening out with friends to celebrate our time here so far.

June the 1st we went to see the Eagles at the Pacific Coliseum, this was my second time seeing them and Cam's first. We were a little far back at the venue and it was a bit hot, but they put on a great performance as usual which made up for this. Such an amazing band.

We had decided to move apartments and the rest of this week we had several appointments to look at our options. Turns out there were quite a few options out there, and lots of nice places. We had a few more places to look at next week then thought we would make up our mind after that.

Saturday 5th June we went round to Misa's house for dinner. Randall was leaving to go walk the Camino de Santiago, an old pilgrimage walk in Europe. This is about an 800 km walk and can take up to 3-5 weeks to walk, depending on your speed etc. A nice dinner out, even better when you don't have to cook anything.

On Sunday it was pouring down with rain, so we took our umbrellas and headed to Commercial drive for the Italian Day. This is another one of the street days where they block off the streets to cars, and different places set up different stalls. I must admit I have been to better ones, there weren't many stalls this time, perhaps this was due to the rain. We met up with Kim and stood in line to find a place to eat and have a drink, I think every other man and his dog thought this was a good idea in the rain. After lunch and bit of a chat we headed home for the day.

Saturday the 12th was a beautiful day in Vancouver, the sun was shining and it was warm out. We had chosen an apartment over the last week and today we headed around to sign the lease. It was a perfect place, we have a view of the mountains and the ocean in between some of the buildings. We are on the 16th floor and are on the west side of the building so can see to the west, north and south. Can't wait to move in on the 23rd of July.

After this we headed to Kits beach to meet Andrea, Laurence and some of their friends, for a picnic. We laxed out on the beach, ate strawberries, watermelon, cheese, crackers and cinnamon buns. Some went for a cold swim in the ocean while the rest of us hit the volleyball around. A nice relaxing afternoon. After this we headed around to Andrea and Laurence's for a beautiful Salmon dinner, out on their deck in the sun. Just beautiful!!

On Sunday we met up with Andrea and Laurence

again to go on a trip and picnic to Golden Ears Park. It was a slightly overcast day and a little chilly out in the forest. Once we got there we set up for our picnic, I think next time we need to organise who is going to bring what food. We had so much food to eat between the four of us, think we were going to have to take some home. After our feast we headed off for a walk, well more like a wild goose chase. Andrea decided to take us off the beaten trail, around the waterfront, through some streams and through the bush. After a while we decided against her judgement and headed back to find a proper trail.

Turned out to be quite fun actually. We jumped in the car and went to find the falls. This time we found the real trail, the weather had started clearing now as well and it was a beautiful day.The trail was absolutely beautiful and went right next to the water. After our walk, a few picture and several hours later we headed back to our picnic spot for round two of our feast. It was getting a bit late now and we had a bit of a drive back to Vancouver so we packed up and jumped in the car for our trip back. It was a really nice day away, great to be able to just jump in car and head away on a road trip.

Tuesday 15th June we headed to a pub called venue to watch and English band called Athlete. It was a great concert, I love watching bands in a smaller venue, makes it feels much more intimate. The band even stuck around afterwards for signatures and photos.

New Zealand Trip, 30th April - 19th May 2010

After leaving Vancouver on 28th April and missing a day I arrived in New Zealand on the 30th April at 5.30am in the morning. I must admit a 14 hour straight flight is so much better than having to deal with connections through the States.

I had decided to stay in Auckland that night with Tobi and Mel, and go out for dinner with a few people. Now I have decided that even after such a long flight where you don't really sleep, sleeping during the day is not a good idea. While Tobi and Mel were at work I feel asleep on the couch and just could not wake up, after 3 hours of fighting to wake up I finally dragged myself of the couch to get ready for dinner. I had a well earned coffee to try and keep me awake. We headed down the road to a dodgy looking Chinese restaurant for dinner. It had been recommended to us and was extremely busy, generally a good sign. There was a slight mix up with the booking and they thought we were supposed to come last night, after a little shuffling around and waiting we were seated. Luckily we weren't disappointed, the meals were huge, hot and really nice. We stayed there for a few hours chatting the night away. Ah how I miss those kind of nights with friends. Great fun!! After dinner half of the people had to head off, so Tobi, Mel, Claire, Matt and I headed back to Tobi and Mel's for some drinks. Didn't take long for the alcohol to have a sleepy effect on me and I was fading fast. Claire and Matt headed off and we called it a night. This was the start of a great couple of weeks.

The next morning Tobi dropped me off at the bus for my $2 trip back to Tauranga. We did take the long way back taking about 4 hours, but it was nice to just sit back, relax and take in the scenery. I arrived in the afternoon to be greeted by Mum, Dad, Vanessa and to meet my niece Hannah for the first time. We all jumped in the car and headed home for a nice roast dinner, ah nothing beats home made roast dinners!! The next day was mostly a relaxing day to catch up on a bit of R & R. We once again had a roast for dinner that night as well, this time we were joined by Blair as well. I think I'm starting to get used to the roast dinners again already.

Monday 3rd of May I met up with Trina, Jamie and Alexis at McD's for a catch up and lunch. Brings back such memories going to that McD's (the one on 11th ave), it's great to keep kids occupied in the playground. It was a nice lunch and catch up, unfortunately for me they were all heading away to Christchurch for the week coming up. Until next time.

Tuesday I met up with Jo for a famous walk around the mount and lunch. Unfortunately we couldn't walk around the mount as it was closed for repairs, bummer. We decided to walk along the beach front towards the town, we headed through town and stopped for lunch at a nice cafe. After this we headed back along pilot bay to end up at Copenhagen cones. No trip home is complete without a Copenhagen cone, well a few other things as well, but who's counting? After this I headed around to Vanessa's to spend some time with her and Hannah.

The next two days we spend mostly at Vanessa's house or out and about with Vanessa and Hannah. So nice to be able to spend so much time with them. For the first time ever I was on holiday and kept myself busy but was actually allowed to relax for a change, I was starting to feel very refreshed.

On the 7th May Jacki and I headed over to Ohope for the night. I was starting to have withdrawals from going there. We headed over about lunch time, checked out some of the shops and got some dinner and goodies for the night. It was a very nice, relaxing evening. We hung out, ate dinner and played card/dice games all night, ah the good old times!! The next morning we slept in the headed out to the town again for some more shopping for engagement party decorations. The leisurely made our way home to Tauranga. That evening I talked with Cam for his birthday and we had another roast for dinner, this time it was lamb my favourite!!

The 9th was Mother's day and Jordan's Birthday party. We had a bit of a sleep in well I should rephrase and say I had a sleep in. When I got up mum was making some stuff for Jordan's birthday party. I gave her my mother's day gift then we sat down for a coffee. We headed around to Blair and Dee's house at about 1pm I believe. There were lots of kids there and adults of course. The best part was fairy bread, to tell you the truth though I can't for the life of me remember why I liked fairy bread, perhaps it was all the colours etc because really it doesn't taste that good. The rest of the stuff was pretty good though. Turns out the birthday boy was finishing off his nap so we hung around talking while waiting for him to wake up. We all had lunch and then it was time for the presents. Children are so cute, so theolder kids are handing the presents to Jordan and he is a bit shy so just looks at them. So the kids start opening the presents for him. The adults tell the kids the presents are for Jordan so they go and grab Jordan and put him in front of the presents then precede to continue opening them themselves, very cute. A very nice 1st birthday party.

After the party we headed home to have a nap before getting ready to head out for dinner. Man kids are so tiring :) We were going to meet Blair, Dee, Dee's parents and some others at the boat house for dinner. Such a nice place to go, cheap decent sized dinners and cheap drinks, what more could you wish for. It was a nice evening to end a great day. Happy Mother's Day mum!!

Tuesday Cam arrived from Auckland via Vancouver. The family were picking him up however I went to meet him as well. Unfortunately we were a bit late, Vanessa would blame the baby but I would blame Vanessa haha. Anyway we still got to say hello before Vanessa and I headed off to do some errands while Cam and the family went back to their house to catch up. I hung out with Vanessa and Hannah for the day and then meet up with Cam for a couple of hours before heading home.

Now no trip home is complete without a trip to the Hot Pools, this is a must. Cam picked me up from Mum and Dad's and we headed out for a swim, you never really appreciate somethings till you haven't had them in a while. What I'm trying to say is the swim was fantastic!! After the swim Cam dropped me back at home, I must say it felt like we were dating for the first time ever!! Was quite exciting but a heck of a lot easier I'm sure than the actual first time.

Thursday the 13th we headed over to Hamilton so that I could meet up with my work friends and Cam with his. We had organised to meet a places near each other for convenience. After waiting a while for my friends I was worried no one was going to turn up, it turns out a slightly later time suited everyone but I hadn't checked my email. Half an hour later and everyone was there, there were a lot more people than I was expecting which was nice. We had a great lunch and chat. Afterwards I went to find Cam but it turns out he wasn't at the restaurant, I met up with him, Ed and Simon at another pub for a few drinks. We departed from there and headed to the hospital so I could meet up with a few other friends that couldn't make it to lunch, it turned out to be perfect timing as it was shift change time so I got to see more people. Was great to see everyone again.

We headed over to Jacki's new pad to check it out, and to have a coffee before headed out for dinner with Kim, Quentin, Jacki, Cam and myself. I just love being able to meet up with people and it's like you haven't even been away from each other. The meal was amazing and the company was even better. Man I haven't laughed like that in such along time!! Such a great feeling, thanks guys for the great company and laughs!!

Friday we waited for the afternoon then the troops came in to help us decorate the hall, thanks to Cam's parents, my parent's, Vanessa, Jo, Jacki and Hannah, the hall looked fabulous. After all our work we decided dinner out was a good option. We decided to go to the club. It turned out to be a good group of about 12-14 of us. Once again such good cheap meals, along with cheap drinks and pool.

Saturday the 15th was our engagement party yay!! The day was a bit of a rainy day, but that didn't stop us. We spent most of the morning and afternoon taking food, drinks etc around to the hall in preparation. My Aunty came around and we all had a nice lunch together, before taking more stuff around to the hall. Once I had transported everything I had a little time to relax before getting ready for the night. We all mucked around and got ready before heading to the hall. Once it was dark, all the fairy lights were on and the hall was completely set up it looked very beautiful. People started arriving and we were very overwhelmed with the turn out. We are both so happy with how many people could turn up and celebrate this time with us. People who traveled from near and far, it was great to see everyone. I now see how at these times it is difficult to see and spend time with everyone, I can only imagine what it is like at the wedding, I guess we will find that one out. We had such an amazing night and are so grateful for all the special people we have in our lives.

Sunday a whole bunch of family and friends came around to my parents house for leftovers/BBQ lunch. It was great as this gave us an opportunity to catch up with all the people we hadn't really been able to see the night before, perfect. Definitely think this will be something we do after our wedding. Was good to be able to see everyone before we head back to Vancouver. This time was quickly starting to creep up on us. This evening we went around to Cam's house for dinner, once again, great company and a great meal.

Well our trip home was slowly coming to an end, I knew I wouldn't have much more time to spend with my family while back so on Monday I spent the day with Vanessa and Hannah. We meet up with Mum in Greerton for lunch at a really nice crepe place. The rest of the day was spent relaxing before going around to Mum and Dad's for another roast dinner. I know what your thinking, wow that's a lot of roast dinners, but really who ever gets sick of them? Especially home cooked ones. Plus it was the last one I was probably going to have for a while.

Tuesday morning I packed all my bags and waited around for Cam's and the family to come and pick me up to head to Auckland. We left before lunch time. I said goodbye to Mum and Dad at our house before heading on our trip. I think this was the easiest goodbye yet, as I knew I would be seeing them again in a months time. We all piled in the car and traveled up to Auckland. We arrived at Cam's Aunty and Uncles for lunch and to unpack our stuff. We hung around here for a little while before getting ready to head out for the evening. After picking Trudie up from work we arrived at the Garrison pub for dinner, then headed to Alley's graduation. What a fantastic achievement Alley, a diploma in Business!! Congratulations we are both proud of you!

Wednesday was leaving day, I guess it had to come at some point but always comes too fast.

We headed to the Auckland museum for the morning/early afternoon before having a picnic on the grass. It was a beautiful day for a picnic and was reasonable warm. What a nice way to finish off our trip. We headed to the airport to check in, as usual we were super early so hung out for a drink before heading through customs. Goodbyes at the airport never seem to get easier. We will be back before you know it.

Once again another great trip. So nice to head back to your own country for a holiday you don't have to worry about being a tourist and not knowing your way around. Think I'll be coming back here.

March 2010

Not much happened this month so I'm able to to write about it in one post.

We decided to head over to Victoria on Vancouver Island for the weekend of the 6th and 7th of March. As we had been over here before we were able to just relax and take it easy. We didn't have to be tourists, well not completely anyway. We didn't do much throughout the day, it was a beautiful day however still a little cool being Winter. We managed to see the flame for the Para-Olympics and hung around listening for a while. After this we headed around the waterfront for a stroll. Its such a beautiful walk around there and the scenery is stunning. We went to get the best fish n chips, however they were closed today. We'll have to go next time.

That evening we went on a ghost walk around Victoria, this was well worth it, not only did we get a ghost tour but it also tells you a little about the history of Victoria. We got to walk around the streets, go into dark alley ways and even into an old building which has a history of being haunted. Was a little scary but I don't think we got to experience any ghostly spirits. Would definitely like to do other walks in different cities if I can. What we didn't know until we did the walk was that the pub we had been sitting in that evening was one of the places that was believed to be haunted. Therefore we had to head back afterwards to have a few more drinks and a better look around inside at some of the things he had pointed out. A very nice old pub, and even better with live music.

The next day we were quite tired and decided to just have a coffee and then head back towards Vancouver.

March 11th, I headed out for dinner with some of the girls from work, for a Birthday dinner for one of them. We went to a restaurant called Goldfish and then out for some drinks and dancing at a bar called bar none. Not really somewhere I would have normally gone, and not the door price I would have normally paid but it was fun anyway. Had a little more to drink than expected but I didn't have to work the next day so who cares.

On March 14th 2010 in New Zealand something very exciting happened. I became and Aunty to beautiful Hannah Sophie Boud. I was talking to Mum and Dad on skype when Vanessa rung them to say she was heading to the hospital. That morning at around 4am I got a phone call from Vanessa to say Hannah had arrived very fast at 11.59pm March 14th. Its all very exciting!! Can't wait to meet her.

March 17th I went to lunch with a couple of girls from work. It was such a nice day we went for a walk around the waterfront then headed to a nice place for a coffee. I must say this was the best Cappuccino I have ever had while in Canada, I don't normally get them here as they are so bad, but this one was exceptional. I must go back.

This evening we had a Para-Olympic Ice Sledge Hockey game to go to. I left the girls and jumped on the bus to go and meet Cam. This was fun to watch basically they have what appears similar to a wheelchair that sits on one blade. They hold onto sticks which have a head to hit the ball with and a claw on the other end to pull them along the ice. Very skillful I must say, and they definitely hit into each other hard as well. It was a good game, Sweden pulled out a win against Korea. After this we decided we had to have one drink in the pub for St Paddies day so stopped by the Irish pub for one.

The last weekend in March we ended up doing a couple of things, nothing too energetic but fun none the less. Friday 26th I was off work and went for a walk along the waterfront again and headed out for lunch with Lynne and Lauren. This evening I meet Cam for some drinks and dinner at Cardero's, one of the restaurants we like here in Vancouver. It's right on the waterfront and you can get nice views from here. This particular day we had a few bald eagles circling around the water with crows chasing them. Saturday 27th was a relaxing day, we stayed home and watched a movie with some pizza, nice thing to do when its cold and raining outside.

Sunday 28th we headed to a small vegetarian place to meet up with some friends, not really my choice of food but it turned out to be not too bad. I was meeting up with an English friend Andrea that I was chatting to in February at our nursing exam. She was celebrating being in Vancouver for 1 year. The place we went to was very hippy like, we were served our drinks in jam jars, very unique we thought. We ordered some food for lunch/afternoon tea as it was 3pm at this stage and hung out there for a while drinking as the food and drinks were super cheap. We ended up leaving at about 6 or 7pm, I can't quite remember, well we tried to leave anyway except we all kept talking to each other, so decided to head to Cactus club for dinner as well. It was a great afternoon and evening, we met lot of nice people.

Mostly work and a few drinks and dinners!! 19th Oct - 31st Oct

Well not too much to report for the rest of October. A few birthdays, dinner, drinks and our family having an engagement party for us.

Happy Birthday to all of those who celebrated in October. 10th Oct - Happy Birthday Emily. 16 Oct - Happy Birthday Trina. 20th Oct - Happy Birthday Tobi. 23rd Oct - Happy Birthday Anna. 24th Oct - Happy Birthday Mum. Although we weren't there to celebrate with all of you, we were thinking of you all.

October 23rd was Anna's birthday, a new friend we have meet here in Canada. Anna is from Ireland. We headed out for dinner and then on to our local (Doolins) for a few drinks. Dinner was very nice, we went to a little Thai place in Yaletown. The night got a little messy for some with a few too many drinks and the icing of a muffin all over someones dress as they sat down in it. So a nice dinner, a few drinks and a birthday cake later we headed to Doolins. Unfortunately there was a cover charge and with me having to work at 7am the next morning, I headed home.

Once home we went on skype to chat to our families who were having an engagement party on our behalf, thanks guys. It appears they were celebrating quite well, it is good to know however that even before we are married our families get on quite well. We'll be home in May to celebrate as well with our engagement party (further details to come).

The 30th October Emily, Anna, Cam and myself headed out to a sushi restaurant in Kits. According to them the sushi was beautiful, however my taste buds don't quite understand this. The place however was very bubbly, fun and I did enjoy the atmosphere. After this we were looking for somewhere to have a few drinks however the place we had found wasn't quite the right kind of place so we headed back to our local Doolins. Cam and I headed off about midnight as once again I had to work at 7am, Emily and Anna continued the night away drinking.

A grand surprise!! 17th Oct - 18th Oct

So we had this weekend off. I was trying to plan something the weekend before for this weekend but was having difficulty trying to find a hotel or somewhere to stay. I decided to give up and have a look the following night, however Cam told me that night not to worry that he had sorted the weekend and it was a surprise weekend away. This was very exciting, I love surprises but don't like them at the same time. I mean its nice to be surprised but then you constantly want to know what is going to happen, where you are going to go and what you are going to do there.

Anyway we had to get up super early (I think about 4.45am) on the Saturday morning to catch whatever form of transport we were getting, I had it in my head that we were going on a bus as we were going to the bus station, turns out we were getting a train. I had found out by this time that we were going to Seattle, which on its own was very exciting. Anyway we were lucky that we managed to make the train on time. First of all we saw a car accident, well actually we didn't see one, but we certainly heard it and nearly missed the bus. Then the bus that we got on was supposed to drop us off at a stop were we could get the next bus but apparently that bus wasn't coming this morning. So we decided to get a taxi instead, don't quite know why we didn't do this in the first place, hindsight huh great concept.

So we arrived at the bus depot right on time, after all the formalities of customs etc, we boarded our train in business class. It was exciting first time on a train in ages and first time from one country to another and we were in business class. Turns out economy may have been better haha, it appeared Cam and I had the only seats in the entire business class that were ok, everyone else seemed to be disappointed with everything and anything, ah snobs. We thought it was fine, more room, money off the cafe foods and only a little bit more expensive. We were to find out on the way back the best part of being in business class but I'll share that later.

We didn't get to see too much on our journey to begin with as it was dark and rainy. Throughout the journey the weather started to clear up and we could actually see a bit of the coastline, its quite a nice view. We arrived in Seattle just before lunch time and caught a taxi to our hotel, The Sheraton. It was very fancy and we were on the 32nd floor (I think) with a beautiful view to the space needle and some of the city, we were facing North westish. We even had special access to the club lounge and continental breakfast.

We decided to dump our bags down and go for lunch and a walk through the city. We headed down to the famous fish market, didn't really know what to expect actually, but mostly there are all sorts of stalls selling all sorts of things and then some fish stands.

We sat at a diner there over looking the water and had some lunch. After this we weren't too sure what to do so we headed back to the hotel to go for a swim in the pool on the 35th floor with awesome views. When then only really had enough time to get ready to go out for a few drinks and dinner. I didn't know where we were heading for dinner so just followed Cam. We went to this really nice french restaurant over looking the water, I don't know what it was but I think something to do with women's intuition, and I started to get suspicious about certain things, not sure what or why but I was. We finished up with our meal and headed out for a walk.

We wandered down towards the markets over looking the water. Cam started taking photos of the 2 of us and now I was really starting to get suspicious. It had been raining quite a lot that day so he got down on one knee in the puddles and popped the question. As most of you will probably know by now I said yes. So now we have joined the majority of our friends and are now engaged. It was a wonderful, romantic surprise. Also the beginning of a night of drinking and dancing to celebrate.

                          View from where he popped the question.

We decided to head out to a few pubs/nightclubs to have a few or several drinks to celebrate and ended up staying out for some time dancing and drinking. It was a great evening/night out in Seattle and I'm sure one I will always remember.

Then next day we didn't have any particular plans other than to go up the space needle. We couldn't come to Seattle and not go up this. After having a long sleep in, we went for continental breakfast which was awesome, lots of bagels, toast, fruit, yogurt, slices and pastries. A real continental American breakfast, shame about the crappy coffee. Anyway after this we stored our luggage and headed to the monorail, which transports you straight to space needle. The views from the top were amazing, we didn't have the best weather but better than the day before and there were actually some blue sky moments. I like the way you don't have to take photos through glass up the top of this tower, means you can get some nice photos.

Where the space needle is, was the site of the 1962 Worlds' fair, there is still rides and stalls underneath the needle. None of these were open when we were there. We found this cool fountain though which provided entertainment for a while. The water squirted out of it but you didn't know where, when and how far it would come out. The children found it very amusing and ended up getting soaked. I shouldn't lie I guess, we found it quite amusing also.

We had a few more hours to kill in Seattle before heading back to Vancouver. We decided to head to EMP (Experience Music Project) and Science Fiction Museum. Both very cool museums to visit especially when it comes to music and Seattle. Its basically all about music and pays particular attention to some Seattle born greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam and Nevana. It also has areas where you can play some music, listen to music, listen to people involved in music and some music artifacts. A place I would recommend for those who enjoy music and science fiction (or even if you don't like science fiction).

Now it was about time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and head to the bus station. We decided to stop for dinner on the way back, after taking one last trip on monorail. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much on the train ride back as it was dark as well. We decided to try and get some sleep as I had to work in the morning. Now being in business class works the best once you arrive back in Vancouver, as they keep all of the economy class inside the train while business class can head out and through customs. Which meant we were pretty much at the front of the queue, awesome.

Randoms Days and Events - 25th Sept - 12th Oct

As we have said in other blogs we have had less time over here to be tourists, therefore this post is over a longer period of time and I'll only mention the things we have been up to. We have however found a few friends over here and have been enjoying living in a big city with so many things to see and do. Or so many nice places to go out to for dinner and drinking. It is very convenient living in the center of town and being able to just decide to go out for dinner, walking out your front door and being just minutes away from everything.

Any who, for some reason everything happened to come up at once, the evening after coming back from Vegas we happened to have tickets to Pearl Jam (Sept 25th 09). When I arrived in Vancouver there were so many concerts happening and we didn't have enough money to buy any. I said to Cam if Pearl Jam come, I don't care how much money we have we are going. So of course when the news came that they were coming we snapped up some tickets. Once again the band put on an awesome performance, however not quite as good as the last time. I guess we had real high expectations, it also didn't help that they sung Last Kiss (the worst Pearl Jam song in history). Don't get me wrong still thoroughly enjoyed it, they played for just over an hour and then came back on and did an encore that was the same length. So we got a full 2 and a bit hours worth which is better than most bands now days, and they did do Yellow Ledbetter which was awesome.

As my nursing exam was coming up on the 7th October the next week for me consisted mainly of study and for Cam work. We did manage to get out to one of our local pubs again for a few drinks and to watch a hockey game. Do you think its a bad sign when the waitress at the pub knows what you normally order to drink?? This pub is Doolin's Irish pub, what more could you wish for than a pub that plays sport on the TV's (including Rugby), has live music (which also plays kiwi music at times), and sells alcohol? I think this is why its become our local.

As we finally have two incomes we thought it was a good time to do some shopping. Cam desperately needed work shirts, and I well needed what ever I could find. Its awesome shopping here, I manage to find something I can fit and looks good every time. Cam ended up with about 3 things and I ended up with 2, ha see girls don't always get more things.

October 7th was my nursing exam, unfortunately I had to be there at 7.15 am which meant I had to get up at 5.10am to get the train and bus out to the venue. I had to leave real early as the public transport system doesn't run as often at that time of the morning. The exam runs for 7 hours which is crazy, its so hard to concentrate for that amount of time normally let alone after getting up at 5 in the morning. You do get an hour break in between but its still tough. I must say its the most stupid exam I have ever had to do, we all thought it was stupid, I mean really these sort of questions decide whether or not I am good enough to be a nurse. Hard to say how it went really, I guess I'll see in about another 3-4 weeks time.

The end of the exam called for a good night out drinking. Of course we headed out to our local again (Doolins) for dinner and drinks. What do you get when you have several Brits, 2 kiwis, an Aussie and an Irish girl in an Irish pub??? Chaos!! We started drinking about 4 and by midnight most of us were ready to head home, I know we must be getting older, but to be fair we had been up for a long time and had a long exam that we sat. Had an awesome night out with new friends, pub food and drinking.

The weekend from the 9th till the 12th was a long weekend, the 12th was Thanksgiving, we were very excited to be having our first ever real thanksgiving. The Friday night (9th) Cam, Emily and I headed out for dinner at Sip a restaurant in Vancouver. Places were pretty full being late on a Friday evening so we took what seats we could, which happened to be sitting at the bar in front of the chefs while they were cooking. It was like Hell's Kitchen however the head chef wasn't horrible. Its quite interesting watching to see how they manage to get all meals cooked and out on time together. I had ribs of course which were beautiful, the head chef actually stood there and asked us how our meals were going, we said they were beautiful and the chef that cooked them was actually there to over hear and say thank you. It was fun.

Saturday was Emily's birthday, we headed out for lunch with her to a diner just down the road, we had heard good reviews and they even had the worlds best $5 shakes which we just had to get. The food was great but unfortunately the waitress was the worse person I have ever been served by, she was just down right bitchy, so after telling Emily that she couldn't have a side of half salad and half chips she then we on to tell me that my meal was huge and that I could share my chips with Emily. I think we'll prob go back and try it again, she may have been just having a bad day. After this we went to another one of our favourite places for drinks, this one is called Milestones, its a chain over here. We had a few drinks out then headed home.

Sunday was a great day, but very expensive. Several snow shops were having thanksgiving sales so we decided to take up the opportunity to go out and buy snowboards and boots for the season coming up. We got a bargain, managed to get 2 snowboards and bindings, and some boots for me, for the cheap price of $1000, we had a look for retail prices in New Zealand and we got ours for about 1/3 of the price of what we could get them for over there. It was all very exciting, we couldn't wait to get home to try them out. First we had to cart them on the busy bus home, ah fun times. This evening we were supposed to head out for a night out at a nightclub however plans changed so Cam and I decided to head out for a few drinks, a few drinks turned into several drinks and several pubs, well actually only 3. There are so many places to go here, we decided to walk down Granville street, the main night life street in Vancouver and stop in at a few places we hadn't been to. We managed to find several nice places. At about midnight we decided to head down to the waterfront for a walk, its so beautiful along the waterfront looking out at North Vancouver and all the lights. then we decided to call it a night.

Monday 12th was thanksgiving, our first actual thanksgiving and we were both off so decided to head out for dinner that night. During the day we were going to go to the Capilano Suspension bridge however got down to the seabus and it was going in 25 minutes so decided to head to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens instead. We had been told that it was really nice going in Autumn as all the trees are different colours and leaves are falling. It was beautiful out there and much better for the price compared to the last botanical gardens we went to.

In the evening Cam, Emily and I had booked to go to Four Seasons Hotel for a three course thanksgiving dinner. It was very flash and a great excuse to get dressed up and buy an expensive bottle of wine. It was funny we had just been talking about how most places don't seem to give you wine like they are supposed to with the whole showing us the bottle, letting us taste it etc, but they did here and we even had a fancy stand thing with ice. It was very exciting. Oh and when we got there they lady that showed us to our table even took our coats. The dinner was absolutely beautiful and we ate far too much, well worth it though. It was a nice evening out but unfortunately we forgot to take photos, woops, I guess we were caught up with good conversation and food. We'll have to remember next time. We did however remember to toast to what we were thankful for.