J & J and J & J Outing

Our good friends Jenni & Joel took us to a mystery destination yesterday...which ended up being the St. Jacobs Farmer's Market! The drive there included a thunderstorm and lots of rain, but once we arrived, the sky had cleared and the temperature was perfect! We browsed the market, bought fresh berries and some baking, and had a picnic by a stream. After that we checked out some galleries/shops in the town. Such a fun day! Thanks go out to our lovely same-initialed friends for a memorable, relaxing, summery afternoon.

The Market

We love animals

Picnic!

Nayler Time

Today we had our last set of Winnipeg (and Peterborough) visitors! My Dad, Ayii, and Grandpa came by for the afternoon. We sat and talked, and were treated out to lunch. Not many pictures were taken as we'll soon be seeing my dad and Ayii on a more regular basis (yay!) and Jon and I are visiting my grandpa one more time before we leave Ontario. "Not many" pictures does not "mean not any"...here's a photobooth shot of a few of us:

First family visit in Hamilton where I didn't cry after they left. Makes sense as we have only 20 days left here. CRAZY! My last day of work is this Friday...then we'll be cramming every last bit of Hamilton/GTA fun in as much as possible!

Plans

We now know when we are moving (and how we are moving) back to Winnipeg. After looking at different options (U-Haul, moving companies, train, etc.) we, or rather, our fathers, have come up with the most cost-effective way of return. Dad H and Daddy N are driving down together in Jon's parents' pick-up, and we'll be returning with a U-Haul trailer in tow! Road trip with the dads! They will arrive sometime on the 24th, and we'll be back in Manitoba on the 26th. This method is at least $1000 less than any other option--yay for saving!

So far, I've handed in my notice at work, and am doing what I can to get back in to the teaching world in Winnipeg. We're looking for apartments, and have some family & friends checking out some of the places we're interested in. Jon has finished the research part of his MRP, and is now organizing and planning before the actual writing part of the process begins.

As much as I am looking forward to life back in Winnipeg, I am not wanting to move!! I really love Hamilton, and feel so at home here. There is so much involved in moving back...and I am not as excited to move back as I thought I might be. In fact, if it wasn't for the whole Ontario non-teaching situation, I think I'd be really tempted to stay! That being said, there is a lot to look forward to in our return: FAMILY, re-connecting with friends, going back to Faithworks, teaching, and settling back into the city we so love...

So much more I could say about all the above, but I'll leave it at that.

Sister Shout Out!

Big congratulations to Janessa--she graduated on Friday with her B.A. in International Development Studies!! So proud of you. You are an amazing, beautiful, intelligent, caring individual who is doing great things, and will continue do great things in life. Love you!

Visitors & Visits

The month of May was a busy, yet exciting month for activity around here. Just after our Toronto weekend, my Mom flew to Kingston to visit her mom. I was able to drive down to Kingston to spend a day with her and my Poi Poi. SO good to see both of them! I've missed my Mom very much.
The past few days, we had the pleasure of hosting Randall & Kim at our place! It was great to spend time with them! We went to Webster Falls, showed them around the city, spent some time on the escarpment viewing the city at night (one of my favourite things of Hamilton!), hit up the Busker Festival, and ate delicious meals together. That marks our 2nd last set of visitors...Dad and Ayii are next in the first week of July! We certainly have not been lacking in the visitor department this year!!
Aside from the wonderful visits we've had, work is draining me and I am really looking forward to finishing up soon. I've been so exhausted lately, and need a break! We are starting to plan for our move back to Winnipeg, which feels strange but also exciting. Lots to fit in before we leave our 2nd favourite lived-in (Canadian) city!

Proud Wife

Check THIS out!! I am the proud wife of a published man. Jon wrote this article (Class, Community, and Urban Consciousness: The Winnipeg Street Railway, 1902-1910) last year at the end of his Honors Degree, and now it's in the Spring 2009 issue of the Manitoba History Journal. If there are any History Buffs out there, you can get a copy at McNally Robinson. It's a good read!

Toronto Weekend!

After a very, very long work week (I ended up covering for a co-worker and lost my day off...8 days in a row is no fun!) our Toronto weekend began. We've had this planned for a number of months now; a just-for-fun weekend built around the Animal Collective show. It was quite the packed weekend, and loads of fun! Here is a list of our activities:

- shopped
- ate out
- hung out at the hotel (swam/relaxed in the hot tub)
- visited the Royal Ontario Museum
- went to the Distillery District
- saw Animal Collective
- walked through/ate at Chinatown
- explored Kensington Market
- took the subway (my first time--not as scary as I thought!)
- walked a LOT

Needless to say, it was wonderful--can't wait for next time!
Here's a small sampling of pics from our weekend...

In front of the Westin

Our room!

Happy to be there!We had a corner suite, so we had a lake view & a city view

A walk in the parkMmmmilkshake
Animal Collective

Chinatown