So I have landed in Toronto and so far things are going quite well! My flight was on time, my luggage mostly survived (my carryon/knitting bag has a HUGE rip in the bottom...). Opani gave me a ride to Shona's from the airport which was greatly appreciated and which meant I got to see her this time around which was awesome and Shona and I had dinner at a nearby pub. When we are almost done eating I start looking at the picture on the wall next to the booth behind shona and it's a picture of South Porcupine! No word of a lie, it's a picture of a tent set up as a temporary bank headquarters after the fire of 1911. It was SO cool and I didn't have my phone to take a picture so I might need to go back tomorrow night.
Anyhow, that's the mishmash of events for today minus the obvious crying and farewells. On tomorrow's agenda -- lunch with Shona, a trip to Lettuce Knit, potentially buffalo ice cream (I have to find out where it is first) and dinner with Shona and Greg! It should be a pretty chill day.
Love you all and looking forward to seeing my Timmins folks soon (and I miss you already my Seattle-based friends and family!)
<3 Amanda
Monday 27 August 2012
Sunday 26 August 2012
The Ultimate Day of Ultimate-ness
So this is a pre-outing post because I don't know if I will have a good time to post again until after I am in Toronto.
Today Tiemus and I are going to tourist around and buy souvenirs and take pictures in goofy places and whatever else our little hearts desire. We are not going to worry about hitting up all the things we wanted to hit up but we are most definitely going to try to take a ride on The Seattle Great Wheel!
The last week has been a little sad. Friday night we hung out with Torin and Iman for the last time of my trip -- there were chicken wings and garlic fries and rejoicing but then I had to say goodbye. Then last night I went knitting with Tiemus' mom at her parents house and I saw them and Tiemus' aunt and had to say goodbye. Tiemus intends on coming to Canada for Christmas and so I had no definitive answer about when I would see them next which was difficult (they already knew he didn't plan to be in Seattle for the holidays -- I didn't just drop that bomb thoughtlessly).
Then afterwards Tiemus' mom and I went to the wine storage place where his dad works and had some champagne. Then we had the most delicious meal of my life at a little place near Tiemus' place of work called Cantinetta. It was gorgeous, the food was great, Tiemus' dad always comes equipped with wine, and by the end of the night I still wasn't ready to say goodbye to them but sadly I had to :(
And THAT is why today is all about the goofy fun stuff because I don't have to say goodbye to Tiemus until tomorrow and so I am choosing to ride The Denial Train for the rest of the day (at least until late tonight when I realize I need to pack -- I have started putting my things in piles so it won't be too bad at least).
Anyhow, that is that. I will see you soon, Canada. I just wish my part of Canada was closer to Tiemus' part of America.
Love you all
Amanda
Today Tiemus and I are going to tourist around and buy souvenirs and take pictures in goofy places and whatever else our little hearts desire. We are not going to worry about hitting up all the things we wanted to hit up but we are most definitely going to try to take a ride on The Seattle Great Wheel!
The last week has been a little sad. Friday night we hung out with Torin and Iman for the last time of my trip -- there were chicken wings and garlic fries and rejoicing but then I had to say goodbye. Then last night I went knitting with Tiemus' mom at her parents house and I saw them and Tiemus' aunt and had to say goodbye. Tiemus intends on coming to Canada for Christmas and so I had no definitive answer about when I would see them next which was difficult (they already knew he didn't plan to be in Seattle for the holidays -- I didn't just drop that bomb thoughtlessly).
Then afterwards Tiemus' mom and I went to the wine storage place where his dad works and had some champagne. Then we had the most delicious meal of my life at a little place near Tiemus' place of work called Cantinetta. It was gorgeous, the food was great, Tiemus' dad always comes equipped with wine, and by the end of the night I still wasn't ready to say goodbye to them but sadly I had to :(
And THAT is why today is all about the goofy fun stuff because I don't have to say goodbye to Tiemus until tomorrow and so I am choosing to ride The Denial Train for the rest of the day (at least until late tonight when I realize I need to pack -- I have started putting my things in piles so it won't be too bad at least).
Anyhow, that is that. I will see you soon, Canada. I just wish my part of Canada was closer to Tiemus' part of America.
Love you all
Amanda
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Summer is ending sooooo quickly!
Hello everyone!
So lately Tiemus and I have been doing a lot of celebrating! After my birthday came his birth week which included several teeny tiny nerd gifts (a D20 lollipop, Link's shield filled with mints, a Gengar keychain, a travel cup with the molecular structure of caffeine on it) as well as an apple pie, breakfast in bed, and a surprise birthday dinner with all his friends and family. Mom has already warned me not to set the bar too high or the years to come might be difficult, but I figure its fun to do these things and I have a whole lot of time on my hands right now so now is the time to be doing dorky and semi-romantic things!
Beyond that I have had a pretty great week. I have been knitting away on my afghan! I went to the knitting store on the 5th and picked up all of my yarn (which will be fun to pack but I will figure it out). I have 10 different colours for the afghan -- a deep but bright purple, yellow, orange, clown-nose-red, sky blue, royal blue, kelly green, lime green, pink, and white or as Tiemus' mom and I say CRAYON COLOURS. I don't know what I am going to use to put it all together but I am considering using black or trying to find a different bright colour for the edge and such. During last week I managed to knit 2 and 1/3 squares already (which is especially cool because I am doing cables which aren't difficult so much as they are more time consuming).
Birth week ran Monday to Saturday and I've already given you the brief overview. Saturday was our two year anniversary and so I tricked Tiemus into believing I was taking him out for a special anniversary meal. I even blindfolded him and lead him into the restaurant (and into a tree and into a chair) but when he opened his eyes -- there was his parents and Mike and Fran and Torin and Iman! It was pretty nifty.
Oh and on Saturday during the day I went to Bainbridge which is an island that you can take a ferry to from downtown Seattle. We walked around this cute little town and went to this gorgeous knitting shop and I picked out a secondary project. I am now ALSO making these really gorgeous fingerless gloves (in a kind of choral pink).
Also, the boys have recently rediscovered Rock Band so there's been a lot of plastic instrument playing as of late.
On Sunday Tiemus and I went to the zoo!! We saw everything and it was awesome. There will be facebook pictures of my summer adventures in the next couple of weeks but I am holding off until I am just about ready to leave.
Anyhow, that's the news!
Miss you and love you,
Amanda
So lately Tiemus and I have been doing a lot of celebrating! After my birthday came his birth week which included several teeny tiny nerd gifts (a D20 lollipop, Link's shield filled with mints, a Gengar keychain, a travel cup with the molecular structure of caffeine on it) as well as an apple pie, breakfast in bed, and a surprise birthday dinner with all his friends and family. Mom has already warned me not to set the bar too high or the years to come might be difficult, but I figure its fun to do these things and I have a whole lot of time on my hands right now so now is the time to be doing dorky and semi-romantic things!
Beyond that I have had a pretty great week. I have been knitting away on my afghan! I went to the knitting store on the 5th and picked up all of my yarn (which will be fun to pack but I will figure it out). I have 10 different colours for the afghan -- a deep but bright purple, yellow, orange, clown-nose-red, sky blue, royal blue, kelly green, lime green, pink, and white or as Tiemus' mom and I say CRAYON COLOURS. I don't know what I am going to use to put it all together but I am considering using black or trying to find a different bright colour for the edge and such. During last week I managed to knit 2 and 1/3 squares already (which is especially cool because I am doing cables which aren't difficult so much as they are more time consuming).
Birth week ran Monday to Saturday and I've already given you the brief overview. Saturday was our two year anniversary and so I tricked Tiemus into believing I was taking him out for a special anniversary meal. I even blindfolded him and lead him into the restaurant (and into a tree and into a chair) but when he opened his eyes -- there was his parents and Mike and Fran and Torin and Iman! It was pretty nifty.
Oh and on Saturday during the day I went to Bainbridge which is an island that you can take a ferry to from downtown Seattle. We walked around this cute little town and went to this gorgeous knitting shop and I picked out a secondary project. I am now ALSO making these really gorgeous fingerless gloves (in a kind of choral pink).
Also, the boys have recently rediscovered Rock Band so there's been a lot of plastic instrument playing as of late.
On Sunday Tiemus and I went to the zoo!! We saw everything and it was awesome. There will be facebook pictures of my summer adventures in the next couple of weeks but I am holding off until I am just about ready to leave.
Anyhow, that's the news!
Miss you and love you,
Amanda
Tuesday 7 August 2012
It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To!
So! Since I've seen you all last, it turn's out I've aged. Last night, staying up until midnight was a serious strain. Last week was especially painful and I felt very slightly hungover (post-karaoke) for the greater part of the day. AAAAND Last month I found this really obvious, really wiry looking grey hair.
So 25 years old. What can I say? It was strange celebrating with all of these new characters and none of the usual suspects but all-in-all it was a pleasure having Tiemus around for my birthday. Additionally, some friendly faces from the Jake's (my bar back home) made my birthday extra special. You should definitely check it out! I may have had some tears of shock and excitement the next morning when I found this on my facebook wall. Also, I got a gift basket delivered directly from Sam and of course had the lovely pleasure of speaking with both of my parents and my lovely little sista.
That night we went to the beach and came home and barbecued and then we ate boston cream filled strawberry shortcake. I mean -- wow!
Anyhow, that's the birthday edition of news. Also, I will be back in Canada in 20 days and home in 22 days!
Both dreading and looking forward to that one,
Love you
So 25 years old. What can I say? It was strange celebrating with all of these new characters and none of the usual suspects but all-in-all it was a pleasure having Tiemus around for my birthday. Additionally, some friendly faces from the Jake's (my bar back home) made my birthday extra special. You should definitely check it out! I may have had some tears of shock and excitement the next morning when I found this on my facebook wall. Also, I got a gift basket delivered directly from Sam and of course had the lovely pleasure of speaking with both of my parents and my lovely little sista.
That night we went to the beach and came home and barbecued and then we ate boston cream filled strawberry shortcake. I mean -- wow!
Anyhow, that's the birthday edition of news. Also, I will be back in Canada in 20 days and home in 22 days!
Both dreading and looking forward to that one,
Love you
Thursday 2 August 2012
Knitting Addiction
So I will start with a knitting recap. On Saturday, as I may have mentioned, I finished my second project and since the next one will invariably be more expensive and I am unbelievably bad at making decisions I have held off on finding a new project leaving me knitting-less for the week. I have some leftover sock yarn and I've been on ravelry.com (it's basically facebook for knitters) trying to figure out what to do with my leftovers and I have some great ideas. The only thing is, I don't have the right needle sizes for any of these ideas. Thus, I have spent my knitting time doing knitting research and teaching myself the long tail cast-on from youtube and how to knit into a circle (work in a round or some business like this). I have been playing with this cowl pattern but the thing would be more like a neck warmer because my needles are two sizes too small but it keeps me busy.
On Wednesday night I went to the Seattle Knitters' Guild's monthly meeting and there was a speaker who was just the funkiest person and who has recently gone to Iceland for her work in various knitting circles and it was a lot of fun. She recently got a job working for Skacel and she brought free yarn so yay! There is a pattern for these neat little ankle socks that I could use mine for but socks sound difficult so I might try to hold onto the yarn for the time being and readdress the possibility of the cute socks when I've gotten a little more comfortable. Oh and my next project -- an afghan! I have finally talked myself into knitting squares for an afghan (all different patterns) so that I can get used to doing new and different and exciting things. I can't wait! And, if you mess up a square, the worst thing that could happen is starting a square over again rather than starting a whole bunch more.
Beyond that, I have been organizing things for Tiemus' birth week! There will be all kinds of tiny gifts and such. I love doing things like that. And as for my birthday, this may be the first year in a while where I haven't worn a tiara for my birthday (which is tomorrow if I miraculously forgot to remind you before). Twenty five years is a lot of years. It's something I've decided to not think about. Besides, I found a 12 dollar bottle of "Canadian Whiskey" (1.75 mL) that promises it was made under the supervision of the Canadian government -- in California. It's surprisingly decent considering I bought it because of how cheap and ridiculous the bottle looked.
Today I did laundry! It was the most exciting laundry day yet. I put the clothes in the washer, went downstairs over an hour later, and found that the washer was off and full of water. Turns out that the outlet was tripped and I have to press the reset button but I initially felt pretty freaked. Thanks to Dad for troubleshooting the laundry machine from 3000 mi away!
I also got my major birthday gift from Tiemus early! He got me these adorable Converse shoes that are Lorax themed (by Dr. Seuss). Tomorrow, when he's off work, we're going swimming in a lake or ocean of some kind. I'm pretty excited :D
Anyhow, that's the news for today. If you want to hear a rant about the Ontario government stomping on union rights, bring it up and I will go on and on and on. Because seriously, threatening a union with legislation a month before their contract is up! What's up with that?
Love you and miss you all
Amanda
On Wednesday night I went to the Seattle Knitters' Guild's monthly meeting and there was a speaker who was just the funkiest person and who has recently gone to Iceland for her work in various knitting circles and it was a lot of fun. She recently got a job working for Skacel and she brought free yarn so yay! There is a pattern for these neat little ankle socks that I could use mine for but socks sound difficult so I might try to hold onto the yarn for the time being and readdress the possibility of the cute socks when I've gotten a little more comfortable. Oh and my next project -- an afghan! I have finally talked myself into knitting squares for an afghan (all different patterns) so that I can get used to doing new and different and exciting things. I can't wait! And, if you mess up a square, the worst thing that could happen is starting a square over again rather than starting a whole bunch more.
Beyond that, I have been organizing things for Tiemus' birth week! There will be all kinds of tiny gifts and such. I love doing things like that. And as for my birthday, this may be the first year in a while where I haven't worn a tiara for my birthday (which is tomorrow if I miraculously forgot to remind you before). Twenty five years is a lot of years. It's something I've decided to not think about. Besides, I found a 12 dollar bottle of "Canadian Whiskey" (1.75 mL) that promises it was made under the supervision of the Canadian government -- in California. It's surprisingly decent considering I bought it because of how cheap and ridiculous the bottle looked.
Today I did laundry! It was the most exciting laundry day yet. I put the clothes in the washer, went downstairs over an hour later, and found that the washer was off and full of water. Turns out that the outlet was tripped and I have to press the reset button but I initially felt pretty freaked. Thanks to Dad for troubleshooting the laundry machine from 3000 mi away!
I also got my major birthday gift from Tiemus early! He got me these adorable Converse shoes that are Lorax themed (by Dr. Seuss). Tomorrow, when he's off work, we're going swimming in a lake or ocean of some kind. I'm pretty excited :D
Anyhow, that's the news for today. If you want to hear a rant about the Ontario government stomping on union rights, bring it up and I will go on and on and on. Because seriously, threatening a union with legislation a month before their contract is up! What's up with that?
Love you and miss you all
Amanda
Saturday 28 July 2012
Long Time No See
Hey!
So here is the week in overview... On Tuesday we did groceries and went to see The Dark Knight Rises (I started a post about this film and how reflective it is of today's society and then gave up when I realized I am not actually still in school and don't need to do these things). It was great, by the way.
On Wednesday I made Mom's stuffed shells (cheesy and spinachy) and it turned out quite well if not a little hard. I tried to use the hold-warm function on the oven because Tiemus had some unexpected bus complications but the cheese on the top overcooked. Otherwise it was a huge success.
On Thursday I went to the 8th annual Stitch and Pitch to see the Mariners play (baseball) against the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners won, which seemed to surprise and impress quite a few people :D Additionally, there were all these knitting booths from shops around the city that were set up and selling things and the baseball game was filled with singing and dancing and lemonade and hot dogs!
Last night we went bowling and I did very, very badly and then we went to a diner for some delicious midnight food.
We are trying to plan on some karaoke either tonight or next weekend.
At this time I would like to give a big Happy Birthday shout out to Sam!!!
You should also know that I am busily applying for jobs all over the grid (the Ontario grid, thus far) and I will let you know if anything at all exciting happens.
With Love,
Amanda
So here is the week in overview... On Tuesday we did groceries and went to see The Dark Knight Rises (I started a post about this film and how reflective it is of today's society and then gave up when I realized I am not actually still in school and don't need to do these things). It was great, by the way.
On Wednesday I made Mom's stuffed shells (cheesy and spinachy) and it turned out quite well if not a little hard. I tried to use the hold-warm function on the oven because Tiemus had some unexpected bus complications but the cheese on the top overcooked. Otherwise it was a huge success.
On Thursday I went to the 8th annual Stitch and Pitch to see the Mariners play (baseball) against the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners won, which seemed to surprise and impress quite a few people :D Additionally, there were all these knitting booths from shops around the city that were set up and selling things and the baseball game was filled with singing and dancing and lemonade and hot dogs!
Last night we went bowling and I did very, very badly and then we went to a diner for some delicious midnight food.
We are trying to plan on some karaoke either tonight or next weekend.
At this time I would like to give a big Happy Birthday shout out to Sam!!!
You should also know that I am busily applying for jobs all over the grid (the Ontario grid, thus far) and I will let you know if anything at all exciting happens.
With Love,
Amanda
Sunday 22 July 2012
Hey there, Canada!
Hey!
So today was knitting day! I love knitting day, it always makes me happy. Today, not only did I go knitting with Tiemus' mom, but I also went with his aunt and grandmother who are always a pleasure to hang out with! My scarf (the second one, now) got significantly longer and I am hoping to have it done by next Saturday because I think I would like to knit a shawl! This past week I have seen so many people's projects and it just makes me want to work harder to get to that level. His aunt had an especially beautiful scarf made of like a lace sorta deal. It was gorgeous. In six or seven years, I hope to be able to make something like that!
This evening we just hung out and ate delicious Thai food! Then there was youtube surfing and beer. Sometimes it's nice to just relax :D Anyhow, just letting you know how things are! Last night we hung out at a skateboard establishment for the art walk (a bunch of businesses in the area display art) and we watched dudes learn new tricks and cashed in on the free beer and just hung out. We also had garlic fries and other food at a nearby wings establishment and chilled in both a beautiful park an a beautiful bookstore for some time. Also, preceding all of this, I managed the bus system all on my own!
Now here's the scariest bit of news. Tiemus' parents have invited us to skydive with them for our birthdays! I am actually considering this which by the way, I consider nuts, but I think it could also be a nifty experience!
Anyhow, that's the news for today!
Love you all and miss you!
Amanda
So today was knitting day! I love knitting day, it always makes me happy. Today, not only did I go knitting with Tiemus' mom, but I also went with his aunt and grandmother who are always a pleasure to hang out with! My scarf (the second one, now) got significantly longer and I am hoping to have it done by next Saturday because I think I would like to knit a shawl! This past week I have seen so many people's projects and it just makes me want to work harder to get to that level. His aunt had an especially beautiful scarf made of like a lace sorta deal. It was gorgeous. In six or seven years, I hope to be able to make something like that!
This evening we just hung out and ate delicious Thai food! Then there was youtube surfing and beer. Sometimes it's nice to just relax :D Anyhow, just letting you know how things are! Last night we hung out at a skateboard establishment for the art walk (a bunch of businesses in the area display art) and we watched dudes learn new tricks and cashed in on the free beer and just hung out. We also had garlic fries and other food at a nearby wings establishment and chilled in both a beautiful park an a beautiful bookstore for some time. Also, preceding all of this, I managed the bus system all on my own!
Now here's the scariest bit of news. Tiemus' parents have invited us to skydive with them for our birthdays! I am actually considering this which by the way, I consider nuts, but I think it could also be a nifty experience!
Anyhow, that's the news for today!
Love you all and miss you!
Amanda
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