I am realizing a lot about myself in this whole marriage business. . I can't escape typical wife stereotypes. I am that person who nags about beard stubble in the sink, smelly garbage in the kitchen, and heaps of dirty clothes (mine included) lying on the floor.

Love continues to play its part however, and we are only getting better at it. A year is coming up fast, and I can say it has been absolutely fabulous.

Example: I come home from work to a meal of stuffed zucchini, freshly made guacamole dip, and a bouquet of beautiful flowers of my favorite colours. What a guy.

A word on our apartment. It changes weekly, if not daily, due to my recently discovered OCD (self diagnosed) and a love for thrift stores and garage sales. Cut outs from Mexican coffee table books are framed with love and hang happily in our bathroom, recovered bricks proudly hold a slab of barnboard and our slick Samsung tele, a world map souvi from Montreal educates our living room wall, and plants that refuse to flower but maintain a waxy green shine give our house that special feeling of HOME. Having James in the house to laugh, fight, cuddle and cry with also has that pleasant effect.

It has been a great year so far.

In the school department, I can say with calm uncertain happiness that I am no longer a student, and job searching has been easy. The OACS website/ google have made it so, and I thank them for that. Finding a job has proven difficult, and I'm not yet sure who to thank for that.

Maple Leaf has had my spot reserved for it's 12th consecutive summer, and I'm not ashamed of that, though it does answer some questions about my ability to find another job. A concept as foreign as our migrant workers, who by the way, have in their own special way helped employ me through their keen desire to learn a second language with me as their instructor. Class update: "TH" is proving difficult, and we need to review the definition of "punctual".

Marineland is a blast. The whales get you wet and the sky screamer does funny things to your stomach. Everyone loves that place. You feed bears corn pops and experience death camps at the animal level in the form of "deer petting zoos". Some questions I brought away from my marineland experience.

1) How can a sea lion balance a ball on its nose while riding down a slide?

2) Why does Levi insist on riding every ride when he cries on every ride?

3) How can a complete summer pass cost only an extra $5.00?

4) How did my 2 year old nephew get lost?

Our vegetable garden is on steroids. We have cranked out an astronomical amount of f zucchini dishes, with no end in sight. I enjoy that zucchini gets my creative juices flowing, when the thought of an art class didn't, but our fridge space is limited, and so we are becoming a charity couple. If we like you, you may find a zucchini on your pillow.

A lot of our friends our now in the hood. Trine, Ryan, Tim, Brad, Jordan, Danielle, Brian, Alli, Steve, Jen, Rob... to name a few. It's like we never left Redeemer campus, and at times it gets me excited, and at others --reclusive. Weird combo. I'm just learning this about myself now, interstingly enough. And I've decided I'm OK with it. I think it comes with having our own place. In dorms you can't get territorial, because they are built for everyone's communal use. It's just different now.

Community is pretty huge for us, and we are loving the doses of it that we are getting here. There is always something on the go.. church, bible study, disco dingoes, bbq's, hikes, fam, etc. However, we may have OD'd a bit on the C word this summer, which is why B.C was so refreshing.

The trip out west put the wind back in our sails, so to speak, giving us the time James' and I needed to spend time together and reconnect with the Harskamp clan. Alberta was just plain fun.

After my brother's (very amazing ) wedding, we packed our bags and headed West, stopping in Alberta for a few days to go to another wedding, dance the lights out, climb the hoodoos, explore the coolies, and say my goodbyes to my pal Robbo. Mom and Dad Harskamp scooped us up out of the prairies and took us through the Rockies to Mermaid Motel and hot springs, then to the ferry, then to Shuswap cabin, then "home". A true treat.

I don't think it's a stretch to say we were treated like prodigal children that had returned to feed off the fat of the land. Three bbq's, a gift to the condo, and multiple hangouts, and James and I were feeling truly inspired to flee from Paradise lost and reclaim Eden. That's to say James could see us moving to Vancouver and saying goodbye to Stelco. I am still holding out for a better Eden--N.Z-- which cannot, unfortunately be attainable this January.

Wow, this is dragging on.

It's a wrap.

This is the newest post of old posts.. just saying it how it is, and letting you into a sliver of myself that only comes out in letters.