The times, they are a-changin'

I apologize for letting the posting fall off but things around here have been insanely busy. There are many new, exciting and scary things going on right now and most of them are occurring simultaneously.

#1. I resigned from my position at CILS. As much as A. and I love Vancouver and as loathe as we are to leave our friends, we had been thinking for quite a while about leaving the city and moving closer to family. A.'s family is in Kingston and we investigated the job market around Toronto but weren't able to get any interest so we turned to Calgary. 5 years ago when I left I swore that I would never return but 5 years is a long time and people tend to change. Needless to say, I'm not the same person now that I was at 23 and being so isolated from family was starting to take it's toll.

I sent out a few resumes, had a few interviews and ultimately accepted a library technician position at the National Energy Board. I start in my new job on April 21st so A. and I, along with the help of my mom and step-dad, are packing up and driving over the mountains on the 17th.

#2. Leaving Vancouver also means that we are in the midst of selling our condo. At various points in the past two years we had discussed selling and getting a bigger place but always decided that we liked our current home too much. However, with the move and seeing as we didn't want to be landlords, we didn't have much choice but to sell. I must say that signing my name to that contract was harder than I ever thought it would be. I bought that place on my own at the age of 23 and it was the first place that A. and I lived together. A lot of memories are wrapped up in 527 sq. ft. and it will be hard to leave it behind.

#3. I am also finishing up the International Relations course that I have been taking at Langara and am dealing with all the stress that course work brings. Writing my term paper was an exercise in itself and I still have a final exam to study for.

#4. As you saw in the previous post, A. and I got engaged on March 26. We were driving back to Vancouver from Calgary and because we had left Revelstoke so early in the morning we hit the Fraser Valley at about 1:30pm. It was a gorgeous day and we had been driving for so long that we wanted to stop somewhere and go for a walk to stretch our legs. I saw the sign for Harrison Hot Springs and suggested it because I had never been but always wanted to. I told A. that we would head in that direction and if it was too far we would turn around and come back. (Turns out he had been looking for a nice place to stop all day.) We parked near the lake and took a short walk on the path to see the source of the hot springs. On the way back I had stopped to take some pictures of a lovely moss covered stream and when I turned around A. was on one knee in the mud with the ring box open. I had thought that I was prepared and ready for the proposal but I was still completely blown away. I nodded yes, we both started crying and the rest is history.

And that brings us to the planning for the wedding...