Yes, I know it's been an insanely long time since I've blogged, but I'm hoping we can put that behind us and move on :)
Here's a snapshot of what's been happening around here since I last posted:
May:
-my sisters and I went to see Celtic Thunder in Vancouver! We were all SO excited for it. I first heard of them in December when the receptionist in my office told me about them and lent me the DVD of their first show. I love the music (and the cute Irish men :)) and it didn't take long for my sisters to get to love the music too. It was a lot of fun to have a sisters night. I realized as we were driving there that it was the first time the 4 of us had gone out for an evening together since we saw The Phantom of the Opera right before Tasha went to Australia and Yvonne was still pregnant with Kyra! It was long overdue and we had a great time together. We're going to their concert again when they come to Seattle in November - they day after my birthday! I asked for a couple days off work so I will hopefully have a 5 day weekend for my birthday. It should be a pretty great 25th bday!!
-Vanessa are definitely on track to see 1 musical a month for this year. So far we've seen 13, and it's only August!! In May I finally got to see Les Miserables for the first time! I've wanted to see it since I was at CBC. It was my roommate's favourite musical and I loved the music. It was being done in Vancouver and I was so excited to go. The entire cast was phenomenal! They absolutely blew us away! We loved it so much that we went back in July :)
-Also in May, Yvonne, Tasha, Kaeli, Vanessa and I drove down to Seattle to see Grease. It was a really fun day - including a rousing game of Catch Phrase on the drive down. That always makes for good times :) The show was also great, although I could have done without Taylor Hicks reprising his role as Teen Angel. He came back out and did a little concert after the show and we thought it was completely ridiculous so we left. Being some of the probably very few Canadians in the audience, we were less than thrilled with their former American Idol. We heard some people's comment as we left, and they didn't seem to appreciate the fact that we would walk out :)
June:
-my sisters and I went to see Celtic Thunder in Vancouver! We were all SO excited for it. I first heard of them in December when the receptionist in my office told me about them and lent me the DVD of their first show. I love the music (and the cute Irish men :)) and it didn't take long for my sisters to get to love the music too. It was a lot of fun to have a sisters night. I realized as we were driving there that it was the first time the 4 of us had gone out for an evening together since we saw The Phantom of the Opera right before Tasha went to Australia and Yvonne was still pregnant with Kyra! It was long overdue and we had a great time together. We're going to their concert again when they come to Seattle in November - they day after my birthday! I asked for a couple days off work so I will hopefully have a 5 day weekend for my birthday. It should be a pretty great 25th bday!!
-Vanessa are definitely on track to see 1 musical a month for this year. So far we've seen 13, and it's only August!! In May I finally got to see Les Miserables for the first time! I've wanted to see it since I was at CBC. It was my roommate's favourite musical and I loved the music. It was being done in Vancouver and I was so excited to go. The entire cast was phenomenal! They absolutely blew us away! We loved it so much that we went back in July :)-Also in May, Yvonne, Tasha, Kaeli, Vanessa and I drove down to Seattle to see Grease. It was a really fun day - including a rousing game of Catch Phrase on the drive down. That always makes for good times :) The show was also great, although I could have done without Taylor Hicks reprising his role as Teen Angel. He came back out and did a little concert after the show and we thought it was completely ridiculous so we left. Being some of the probably very few Canadians in the audience, we were less than thrilled with their former American Idol. We heard some people's comment as we left, and they didn't seem to appreciate the fact that we would walk out :)
June:
-Kaeli graduated! I can't believe my baby sister is already finished high school. Sure makes me feel old!
-Rent
I was unbelievably excited to see Rent in Seattle! Broadway Across America was touring, and Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp joined the cast in the roles they originated on Broadway in 1996 - Roger and Mark. I LOVE Adam Pascal as Roger, and Anthony Rapp is great as Mark, so seeing them live was awesome. That was also the day that we packed a whole lot of stuff into. We drove down to Seattle, went for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, did a bit of shopping at Macys, saw Rent, drove home, stopped by Vanessa's brother's house where I met her nephew for the first time, went to a meeting at church, went to a different church gathering, and then ended the day with a movie :)
-Rent
I was unbelievably excited to see Rent in Seattle! Broadway Across America was touring, and Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp joined the cast in the roles they originated on Broadway in 1996 - Roger and Mark. I LOVE Adam Pascal as Roger, and Anthony Rapp is great as Mark, so seeing them live was awesome. That was also the day that we packed a whole lot of stuff into. We drove down to Seattle, went for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, did a bit of shopping at Macys, saw Rent, drove home, stopped by Vanessa's brother's house where I met her nephew for the first time, went to a meeting at church, went to a different church gathering, and then ended the day with a movie :)
-We had a company Family Fun Day ! We all went to Castle Fun Park and then to a near-by park for a pizza lunch. Vanessa was our official photographer for the day and took a lot of pictures, many of which were blown up and now hang on the walls of our office. We were allowed to bring kids, and since I don't have any of my own I borrowed one of Yvonne's :) Kyra came along and had fun making friends with another little girl around her age.
July:
-I went to Theatre Under The Stars for the first time! They do 2 musicals every summer, and we went to Thoroughly Modern Millie. I'd heard of a few different companies doing it this year but didn't know what the show was about, so it was great to finally see it
-At the beginning of July Vanessa and I took a weekend trip to Issaquah which is just outside Seattle. We went to see Show Boat, which is a musical that Vanessa saw many years ago and had really wanted to see again. I loved it, even though something Vanessa had said earlier in the day made me giggle through an entire song :)
-We saw Les Mis again, but I think I already mentioned that :)
-...and I saw Rent again! A company in Vancouver is putting on the first Canadian production of the show and one of Vanessa's friends is in it so a bunch of us went. Vanessa was actually on vacation when we went, so I'll be going again with her on Saturday. It was excellent for a small theatre company! I was quite impressed!
-At the end of July Vanessa and I took another weekend trip to Vancouver Island. I'd never been there before, and now I definitely want to go back! It was a lot of fun. We spent a day in Victoria, went to Miniature World, had a picnic on the lawn of the Empress Hotel, went to a couple wineries and saw Oklahoma! There is a theatre festival in Chemainus every year so that's what we went for. I really loved the cast of Oklahoma! It's a great musical.
-In probably the biggest news of my summer, I moved out this month! Vanessa has a townhouse in Langley and her roommates had moved out so she asked me to move in! It was a lot of work to pack up my 24 years worth of stuff to get it all moved, but it was good to go through and purge stuff :) It's been great to be out on my own - completely on my own for a couple weeks. Vanessa's been on holidays for a few weeks so I've been living by myself. Coming from a family of 7 people, being alone for 2 weeks has felt very strange, but it's also been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the fun and crazy times we'll have now that Vanessa's home :)
Upcoming fun:
-In 12 days I get to see Wicked again! It's my 3rd favourite musical and it's coming to Seattle, so I'm making yet another trip down. This time Tasha's coming along which she is so excited about. Vanessa's friend Bethany is also coming to visit from Saskatchewan and is coming too. Should be good times!
-At the beginning of July Vanessa and I took a weekend trip to Issaquah which is just outside Seattle. We went to see Show Boat, which is a musical that Vanessa saw many years ago and had really wanted to see again. I loved it, even though something Vanessa had said earlier in the day made me giggle through an entire song :)
-We saw Les Mis again, but I think I already mentioned that :)
-...and I saw Rent again! A company in Vancouver is putting on the first Canadian production of the show and one of Vanessa's friends is in it so a bunch of us went. Vanessa was actually on vacation when we went, so I'll be going again with her on Saturday. It was excellent for a small theatre company! I was quite impressed!
-At the end of July Vanessa and I took another weekend trip to Vancouver Island. I'd never been there before, and now I definitely want to go back! It was a lot of fun. We spent a day in Victoria, went to Miniature World, had a picnic on the lawn of the Empress Hotel, went to a couple wineries and saw Oklahoma! There is a theatre festival in Chemainus every year so that's what we went for. I really loved the cast of Oklahoma! It's a great musical.
-In probably the biggest news of my summer, I moved out this month! Vanessa has a townhouse in Langley and her roommates had moved out so she asked me to move in! It was a lot of work to pack up my 24 years worth of stuff to get it all moved, but it was good to go through and purge stuff :) It's been great to be out on my own - completely on my own for a couple weeks. Vanessa's been on holidays for a few weeks so I've been living by myself. Coming from a family of 7 people, being alone for 2 weeks has felt very strange, but it's also been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the fun and crazy times we'll have now that Vanessa's home :)
Upcoming fun:
-In 12 days I get to see Wicked again! It's my 3rd favourite musical and it's coming to Seattle, so I'm making yet another trip down. This time Tasha's coming along which she is so excited about. Vanessa's friend Bethany is also coming to visit from Saskatchewan and is coming too. Should be good times!
Stay tuned for Extreme Makeover: Hot Tub Edition!
Holding the case while she watches. (See the gum container? She insists on holding it the whole time :) I've always loved playing Nintendo, and maybe some day she'll actually be able to play with me!
It looks like she's absolutely mesmerized by it, and she is for a little bit, but she only ever lasts about 5 minutes before saying "all done" and jumping off the couch to find the next fun activity :)
My favourite part was sitting on the beach and listening to the waves. Lindie and I went for a walk one evening along the beach. We decided to walk as far as we could before the beach ended. That's when we discovered this beach, which had the comfiest chairs we'd seen at the resort. It took us 2 hours to walk all the way down to this beach and then go back through the resort. I still can't believe how massive the resort is!
I could have stood and watched the sharks for hours. I don't know what it is, but I love them!
