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!

Subbing etc.

Before I write anything else, I have to announce that Janessa, my little traveling sister, will be arriving home tomorrow night! SO excited for that.

Well, last week marked my first subbing experiences...and I quite enjoyed them! I was unsure as to how things would go, but now that I've had my first experience, I feel much more confident and excited about subbing.

My first day subbing was with 2 inner-city Nursery/Kindergarten classes (morning & afternoon) and they were so fun! They were the cutest little kids and it was great to have them for the day.

The next 2 days were spent subbing for my dad at the Colony, which is a class with grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. It was nice subbing for him because he gave me a wonderfully detailed plan for both days, and the kids were fun. It's really interesting going to different schools and interacting with different sets of students!

Tomorrow will bring new adventures--grade 8! We''ll see how that goes! Hopefully they don't think I'm a new student! ;)

Here's a picture of some pictures that kids have drawn for me...

On a different note, Jon and I have been continuing our apartment search and are interested in one in particular. They said "no pets" but when I asked about a guinea pig (yes, we are planning on taking the pig) the landlord said it would be no problem, and actually thought it was cute we wanted to bring him along! That just made the apartment that much more awesome--I hope we get it!

I couldn't resist putting up some Capo pictures--wouldn't you take him along? He is just the cutest little animal there ever was. (As Jon rolls his eyeballs deep into his head...)

Long Weekend Festivities

What a wonderful weekend!

It started off with a celebration party for my parents' 30th wedding anniversary Friday night (their anniversary was on the 13th). It was a nice group of my parents' close friends, and it was fun! Jon and I had prepared some music to play for my parents (and the group), which they all enjoyed. Playing for people in my parent's living room is not the norm, but when I thought about it, it didn't seem unusual anymore seeing that people enjoy music, and living rooms are comfortable places to enjoy things!
So, 30 years! I am very excited for/proud of my parents. Jon and I are approaching 3 years...they are 10 times ahead of us here! They are such a lovely married couple who are a great example to us. I really appreciate their love and the way they show it to one another. To another 30 years!

Saturday was spent around the house, and in the evening we went over to our friends Josh and Laurie's with a bunch of others. It was a good time visiting, but the highlight for me was to hold Norah! She is so tiny, cute, and cuddly. I had the best time holding her, and it was also really fun to see Kristy being the great mom she is, interacting with her daughter and loving her like crazy.

Sunday Jon and I went to the Forks. I had seen that there was an "Asian Heritage" event there in the newspaper, and apparently May is the Month to celebrate Asian Heritage..so we went to check out the festivities. We walked around the river, tossed the Frisbee around, watched some dances, went up to the tower, and had lunch there. It was fun! I love the Forks and need to go there more often! In all its awesomeness, it is sometimes forgotten. Here is a picture of the cute cute cute little girls who did a dance celebrating the Olympics.

We then went shopping for Jon's birthday present (I gave him money for an amp and he hadn't yet been able to get one) and he got a beautiful Vox amp. Needless to say, I have one happy husband right now! After that, we went to my parent's for supper. Jon and I played some "21" on Ayii's new hoop, and I got nailed in the hip by Jon's knee when I forgot the rules and tried to steal his ball. Ha! We then watched the Country Music Awards with my mom and dad. Sounds funny, and it is, and it was also awesome.

And today is a relaxing day with Jon.

Back from BC

Well, I am somewhat recovered from the BC trip! It was a rush to get out there, but the trip itself was excellent. After finishing off my practicum on April 30th, then "Capstone" on the 1st of May, I had almost one day to get ready for the trip. Jon and I borrowed my parents' car and drove around the city getting errands done, and then went to Altona for the night.

The next morning, we left around 5:30 am and began our adventures out West! The main reason for our trip was to attend our friends Trev and Laceydawn's wedding. Jon was in the wedding party, and we wanted to spend as much time as possible with Jon's high school buddies (Trev, Nick, and Mike). Here are the bare bones of the trip:

- drove from Altona on May 2nd
- stopped in Calgary for 2 nights with family
- drove to Summerland
- stayed with Lorne, Nada, and their girls
- visited with Trev and Laceydawn
- visited with Nick and Mike
-"hike" on Giant's Head Mountain
-bike riding with Jon around Lake Okanagan
- wine tasting with the in-laws at Dirty Laundry
- wine tasting/tour with Nick and Mike
- wedding at the Lake Okanagan Resort
-all nighter drive-home
-home!

Glad to be home! Now to start some new adventures here..subbing and looking for a home in Hamilton!