So much has changed over the past year!

Wow! It's been so long since I last blogged! One year ago to the day, my husband and I 'officially' became a couple. We met the summer before (August 2014) at my cousin's place for a bonfire night and began talking, but not often at that point. Following a trip to Ottawa last February where we spent time together in person (rather than by skype or other electronic format), we began talking about the possibility of an 'us'. He is from Ontario and I'm from Manitoba, but we met in Calgary.

It seemed like once we knew we wanted to be a couple, we had a pretty good idea that things were moving towards marriage. A few more trips between Ontario and Alberta, with a quick trip to Manitoba in between, and we were planning our wedding.

We got married in October and had a lovely fall wedding in a halfway point between Ontario and Alberta. Hopefully I WILL post a few pictures of our wedding, but I can't post a long entry today.

God has truly blessed us and it feels like we are the missing puzzle pieces of the bigger picture God has for us. He fit for me and I fit for him. And looking at us together, you might never know! He is over 6 feet tall and I am about 4'6". All along the journey, we saw God working and He made it clear that we should be together.

I have exciting things on the go as well. The reason I can't post a long entry is that tonight, I had set aside time to prepare for the course I will be teaching in May. It is on community-based occupational therapy in the field of mental health. The course will focus on engaging clients that are at times more challenging to engage. I've taught most of this before, but I still have a lot of prep work to do and need to write out the assignments and marking rubric for the course. Additionally, I will be a panel member in an extended session at the CAOT conference in Banff in April. I have prep work for that too. On top of that, we are moving from a small condo to a 3 bedroom bungalow. This house will allow us to do some of the things we are passionate about. It will also eliminate the need to walk a long flight of stairs each day to get to and from the car. We are moving in about 2 weeks - and haven't started packing yet! That's because it was finalized while we were on holidays - of which we just returned this weekend!

In the meantime, my husband is looking for meaningful occupation(s) here in Calgary, whether that will end up doing more volunteering, getting part-time work or full-time work, or all of the above. We would love to get into fostering or even being supportive roommates for individuals who need extra support in their day to day living - or both, as the new house has a fully legal suite downstairs. This new house has the possibility for us to do just that!

We don't know where God will all lead us. But we know that God is in control and that He WILL provide and guide us.

Ottawa again ... and yes, it was awesome!

I went to Ottawa again in February. And, yes, it was awesome!

And the only pics I took were of the fantastic Indian food (with exception to this elephant)! I didn't even take pics of the wonderful person I shared the meal with and much of the weekend with! That took restraint! haha. Even when the waiter offered to take our picture, I didn't pass off my camera to get a picture. And maybe that was the best choice. I aim to live in the moment when I can and enjoy each moment, but maybe the camera gets in the way sometimes. I love taking pictures but conversation flowed, we laughed, we tasted, dare I say we indulged. There was no need to take pictures of us enjoying the time together. Although, don't get me wrong ... next time I want a picture together. :D But only if it seems like it's a good thing and not getting in the way of being in the moment. Maybe it can be adding to the moment in some situations.

The food ... the BUTTER CHICKEN!!! Let's face it, the food was all amazing, but this was the star! This is what stands out in my mind! I can picture the caramel-like colour (without looking at the picture). I can taste the buttery goodness. And can feel the texture of the tender chicken in my mouth. Better butter chicken than I've ever had!

Oh, and the garlic naan... mmm ...

The frozen hands and legs were well worth it for this food!

Ottawa was so worth it! It was a time of connecting, having fun, exploring possibilities, learning ...  and I look forward to more times like this!

Ottawa 2014 Trip - Traveling with my scooter

I haven`t traveled with my scooter in a while - not since 2008. Before that, the last time was in 2000-2001 when I went to Australia. This was an adventure for me. It worked out so well except for a glitch at the Ottawa airport. Their stairwell to bring things up from the cargo section of the plane to the gate was so narrow they weren`t able to bring my scooter to me at the gate so I had to sit on a wheelchair where I could literally feel the crossbars underneath me! It was uncomfortable but not painful. It was also annoying. But it was so well worth it to have my scooter with me in Ottawa!

I took my first Access Calgary (handi-transit) ride ever and it was to the airport. So much cheaper than paying for a cab ($3 versus $60) plus I was leaving during rush hour time and I knew that most of, if not all, the accessible cabs would be working for Access Calgary at the time. It brought me back to the days in junior high when I had to take the short school bus with a lift to and from school. I still feel uncomfortable sitting on the lift with a slight fear of rolling off the back when it`s up in the air or accidentally pushing the lever to go backwards instead of forwards when going into the bus.

It was easy to get an accessible cab, both in Ottawa and back in Calgary to return home. I have found I prefer the low ramps to the lifts! But whatever I get is what I get and I`m still happy with how smooth it worked!

Butter Chicken Poutine for dinner on my first night

I spent my evenings as well as Saturday afternoon exploring Ottawa on my scooter, camera in hand. I mostly stayed in the downtown-ish area, although I crossed over to Gatineau, QC on Saturday. For those who know me well, they would have accurately guessed I was out and about with my cameras. That was my primary reason for bringing the scooter actually! I had a few moments on Thursday night where I felt a little uncomfortable, not having a clue where I was! My map only had bigger streets on it so I didn`t know which way to go. I found my way, though. I also had a few moments where I thought maybe I should have done some research as to the safety of being out and about by myself in the dark.  But maybe that was part of the adventure!

Ottawa is such a beautiful city! At night, the lights reflect so beautifully on the water and so many buildings look amazing with the way they are lit up.  The architecture of many of the buildings in the areas I explored is also beautiful. The pictures in this entry are a smattering of the pictures I took. The sunset pics were taken on the flight back to Calgary. As a side note, I am frustrated with the layout set up of blogger - I gave up on trying to make the layout nice.

Alexandra Bridge over the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Gatineau (also called the Interprovincial Bridge)

I like how the flames look like a wolf

Locks for Love

Spider sculture outside the National Art Gallery

National Art Gallery

Alexandra Bridge (Interprovincial Bridge) between Ottawa, ON and Gatineau, QC

View from the Quebec side

Sunset pics over the Great Lakes