Father's Day Marathon

My dad has been training hard a good portion of this year to run the Manitoba (full) Marathon, and he did it on Father's Day! The whole family is very proud of him for doing this. So far, he has completed 3 half-marathon's, and now, a full marathon. (By the way, this passion for running has in no way been passed down to me!)

Jon and I slept over at my parents' so we could wake up bright and early with my mom and Janessa to cheer on my dad at a few spots on his run. About 16 miles into the run (it's a 26 mile run) my dad's knee started "acting up" and so that slowed him down. Still, he made it in 4 hours and 54 minutes! He told my mom to slap him if he ever thinks of doing another full...and he's already thought about it--no slaps yet.

Here's my dad with his Running Room running group...the man with the bunny ears is the group's "pace bunny."




This man was hilarious! (Guess which one?!) He had a huge speaker
set up and was blasting classic rock tunes as the runners went by.
He also sang along to them...songs such as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" were particularly entertaining.


The sign + the ladies. I love my mom's "shoot 'em up" banana pose.





Here's my dad crossing the finish line...there was no triumphant smile, mostly pain!








Janessa and Jon being the crazies they are... And me unleashing my crazy.

And these are the beautiful flowers as part of Jon and my grad gift from my parents! I love lilies--they are so beautiful, elegant, yet wild looking! LOVE them.

Our Hamilton Home

We have an apartment! It has taken a lot of searching--Jon can take pretty much all the credit for that. Our apartment is in a great area in Hamilton, on Pearl Street in the "antique district," where there are parks, antique shops, coffee shops, and other neat places to explore and enjoy. It is also relatively close to McMaster University. It seems just perfect for us! We have a relative in Hamilton who was kind enough to check out this apartment for us, and he was very impressed with the place...as are we! By the time we move in, it will be newly renovated, too.

One funny story about this place is that the application form said "no dogs, cats, or any pets" and so of course I investigated about whether or not guinea pigs are ok. When I had asked the receptionist of the agency, I guess she only heard the word "pig" and asked her boss if a pig would be ok...we all had a good laugh about that one. Turns out little Capo is allowed. Yay!

Our new place is a one bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor of the building with a balcony. It has a kitchen with nice counter space and a separate dinning room (attached to the living room). I haven't seen it in person (obviously) but I do know that it is larger than our current apartment so we're not too concerned about fitting in our desk (which was one of our concerns). Here are some pics of the place from the advertisement, to let you see what we've seen of it! It's quite the relief to not worry about finding a "Hamilton home" anymore.

The Party

Well, when you're in Education, you not only get to go to convocation, but also to a Grad dinner dance! On Saturday, Jon and I headed off to the Delta Hotel for this very occasion. We decided to go in style, and so we took out 2 bus tickets and hit the road! We were hands down the fanciest Winnipeg Transit riders that evening! For our trip home, however, we hashed out a whopping $7 and and took a taxi.

I wasn't (and still am not) feeling that great, as I have a cold. But despite this, I had a great time; being with Jon and my friends, eating, and dancing. Going through my last 2 years of school were made extra fun because of the girls see in this picture: (from the left) Laurie, Megan, Melissa, and Arlee! Last night was no exception (although Melissa wasn't there as she is in Europe--she was missed!). It was fun to meet each others' significant others and be dressed up together. We've seen each other in all forms: from sick days, happy days, grumpy days, crazy days, to gym clothes, interview clothes, cap and gown, to formal! It's been fun.

Well, here are some pics from the evening (the hair is thanks to my mom and dad!) The group picture has most of my classmates from the last 2 years.

Well, back to my kleenex box and night cold pills.

Two New Grads!

We're done! Jon with an Honours Bachelor of Arts and me with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education! So now you must all call me "Mrs. Hildebrand" because I'm a real teacher. Ok, not that I think you all believed me, but that was a joke.

Both Jon and my graduation ceremonies were yesterday (June 1st!) It was neat to graduate on the same day...but it also made for a long day, as my convocation was at 10 am and his was at 3 pm. We went to each others convocations, and by the end of the day, were quite tired! The day ended with a nice dinner at the Nayler household and Jon's parents joined us as well. It was really nice to have our families celebrate with us. We've both worked really hard! Here are some pictures from the big day--one of them is me with the pretty flowers Jon gave me! I'll be adding some pictures later as I had some taken with my teacher buddies but not with my camera...
ConGRADulations to us!