April's Past

Today is the last day of April and I'm still wondering where the time went. My little boy is a few days shy of being 7 months old, Brett's 30th birthday is 3 weeks away, my own big 3-0 b-day is a month and a bit away too, and somewhere in the middle of our birthdays is our anniversary. The next few months are going to be hectic and I'm going to need to brace myself for that. Sadly, I'm still sick and it's taking me forever to get back to feeling 100 percent. Luckily though, the little one is all better. It's amazing what breastmilk can do!!! I can't say and praise enough about the amazing benefits of breastfeeding!!

Anyways, yesterday I was feeling quite overly nostalgic. It started in the morning when I was topping up my coffee cup (yes, I'm still obsessing over the Guatemala Casi Cielo) when the feeling of deja vu swept over me. The smell of the coffee, the way the light was hitting the counters in the kitchen, and the music playing in the background, brought on so many emotions and memories to mind. Then later on in the day when the wee one was napping and I was able to go online, I was admiring the photos on Design*Sponge when another surge of memories flooded my brain. And it really didn't help when I was looking for the Canucks booties for the little one to wear (Brett hid them in an attempt to make the Flames win their quarter-final series...yeah, that didn't work!) I came across a stack of old photos that brought on the nostalgia trip even more. Then while watching the first season of Entourage with Brett when the little one was put to bed for the night, more feelings of nostalgia hit me. Even when I woke up this morning I had deja vu. Has this ever happen to you?? Or am I the only one that gets waves of fond memories like this?

So this morning, again over my beloved cup of java, I was thinking about what I was doing this time last year. And the year before that, and the year before that...

Last year I was 3 months pregnant and hiking Mount Doug with Brett. During that time I was also thinking about the future and what to do with myself - career-wise, money-wise, and life-wise. It's amazing what goes through your mind when you find out you're pregnant. I remember thinking how I can no longer be selfish and had to stop dicking around and get my life on track.

The year before that I was just working, working, working. It was the first year out of university and I remember how weird it felt that I didn't have to go to school. It was also the first time I realized that my friends and I were growing up. Case in point: my friend Tori being the first of us all to have a baby!

The year before that was the last year of school. I remember my class and I spending the last few month editing, drafting, crying, sweating, bleeding, and sewing our year-end graduating collections. A lot of all-nighters happened and I remember feeling so sad that our program was coming to an end. I was going to miss being with my 21 "sisters" on a daily basis. I wasn't going to miss school per se, I was just going to miss the socializing and having 21 other fashion girls around me at all times. I just wish I could see them all again, together, every day.

The fashion girls and I had thrown a fundraiser at Tonic in hopes of raising the funds needed to pay for our year-end fashion show. I don't remember much of that night, other than the fact that I had sooo much fun!

The year before that I was living it up in Helsinki, Finland. This time that year I was vacationing in the artic circle. Lapland, to be exact. My "Pasila Family" and I spent the week going snowboarding, having reindeer sled rides, driving dog sleds through the forest, partying til the wee hours of the morning (since it only got slightly dark for 2 hours at night then), and having saunas before jumping into a freezing cold lake.The train ride to Lapland...basically it was a giant booze cruise as my friends and I passed the time drinking, laughing, and playing games. It was definitely one of the best "methods of travel" moments...right up there with the "party boat" I took to Stockholm, Sweden.

The first time I saw a real reindeer in person was when we driving to our condo. Later on when we got to the place where we were going on a reindeer-pulled sleigh ride, there was a ton of them milling around. I was so sad that they all had either lost their horns or only had one left due to rough-housing with the other reindeer (in reindeer games??) or simply cause they were shedding them.

Feeding the reindeer that pulled my sled. I was fortunate enough to have a reindeer that didn't have gas...unlike a friend of mine who should have been enjoying a romantic time riding with her crush instead of suffering the entire hour long ride by inhaling the toxic fumes that came from her reindeer's butt.

Also in April, the first of many trips to one of my most favorite cities in the world: London, England. It was everything I expected it to be, and much, much, MUCH more!!! I dream of the day when I get to go back. Brett's never been to Europe and I would love to show him my most favorite places and sights!

Wow, I feel so much better now that I've gotten this all out! I think this reminiscing is a message to myself that I need to get out and do something fun. The past few months have been pretty routine and blah, and it's been making me feel pretty routine and blah in return. Maybe I can convince Brett to drive up island and go to Tofino or something?

**This didn't happen in April, but it's one of my favorite photos. It was taken around midnight, it's slightly blurry, and I don't know how it happened - considering this was taken with a digital camera, but it came out kinda double exposed! I think the photo's flaws make it cool and artsy. It's a bunch of us walking back to the ferry terminal after visiting our friend Drifa, who was living on Suomenlinna Island, a navel fortress just off the coast of Helsinki.