So the most exciting thing that has happened lately, is that Damien shaved off his beard!!! :O I never thought I'd see what he looks like without one! He looks much younger, but good. Also, today is his birthday, so we're going to get together with one of his friends from Hutsville who lives here, for dinner.

In other news, I found a job. It is pretty much the most mindless job in the entire world, and makes me think that I really need to go back to university next fall for some intellectual stimulation. I am what you would call a "pick-packer" which means I basically take shirts and pants out of one box, and put them into another box (varying colours, sizes, styles) and then ship the box off to Walmart. VERY exciting. Let me tell you... My feet KILLED after my 8-5 day, and I don't know how I'm going to make it through another 3 weeks. I figure it's good for everyone to have at least one really bad job though, and I'm sure it will make me tougher, and hopefully inspire me to do better things one day. In the meantime, I will be a pick-packer, until I go to Ecuador, or until I crack, and ask the temp company that found me this job to re-locate me to some other mindless position. It makes me totally respect your days of McGreggor Sock factory, mom! And understand all those songs your wrote about it. I am going to listen to my music next week, because that's what the other girl that I was working with was doing, and she seemed to be having a pretty good time of it. So I think I'll be able to survive then. It's good for me though, to do something that's so easy it's hard.

Another challenge (it seems life's full of them these days) was to climb Grouse Mountain. Damien and I attempted it yesterday, and about three quarters of the way up, we both thought we were going to die of starvation, because we had initially set out to just wander around Stanley Park, but decided to do that instead, so we were without any food. Luckily, Damien did have a bit of water in his bottle, and we filled it up along the way at a fresh spring. And BOY were the nachos and beer rewarding at the top of the mountain!! We did it! But that was just the beginning...

After lunch, we headed down, with the intention of getting back to town to do something else on the lovely Saturday afternoon. Until we saw the line-up to take the gondola back down the mountain... It started at the front of the building, went through to the back, and up the hill outside. We waited in that line from about 4:45 until about 7, I think. It was crazy! We took turns standing (luckily we both had our books with us) and sitting, and met lots of interesting people (some from Australia) who were standing in front of us in the line, and some cute little babies and toddlers who were wandering around trying to amuse themselves. You would think it was a horrible day, but I actually enjoyed myself. The hike up was beautiful, and the ridiculous amount of time in line brought out lots of humour in everyone I talked to. It was unusual, they said, because the 2nd gondola was under repair, so there was only the one, and I guess everyone decided that it would be a good day to go up the mountain. Anyway, it was a real adventure, and it's nice to be able to look out our apartment window and see the top of it, and to know exactly what it looks like way up there now!

Well, I think I've used up my 30 min. time limit, and there is a huge line up here, waiting for computers, so I should run now. I'll report back sometime next week about my epic tales from the Global Logistics warehouse...

Until then, know that I miss you all TERRIBLY and it's nice to get the e-mails and short phone conversations with some. Take care!!!

Hanah.

Hello Vancouver

Hi all! I'm here! And it is interesting...

Let's start with our living accomadations. They are... sketchy... but don't worry. I don't feel like I'm in any danger. It's just kind of your typical student housing type building. We have a room on the 2nd floor of this apartment building right downtown Vancouver, but the good news is, although it's quite dirty, we have a mountain view out our window!! Hurray! There is a parting in the buildings right where part of (Grouse?) mountain is! I'm very happy about that, because you all know how much cities and I usually don't get along.

I'm feeling much better about the situation since I cleaned today. It was soooo dirty! There are maids, but I'm pretty sure they just make the bed for you when you move in, and that's about it. So I gave it a good scrub down after Damien left for work, and it's much more livable now. The only drawback still is the showers, but once I get a pair of flip-flops, I'm set!

Tomorrow my job hunt begins (again, this time in a new place.) I'll definately post again when I have one.

We live just a couple of blocks away from the library, which is where I am right now, using a free internet service. Our building will eventually be getting the computers in the lobby up and running, and then I can use it there, but in the meantime, it's nice to get out exploring anyway.

I have a goal for the month that we're living here. I will see something new every day! Today we went to a new section of Commercial Drive and went grocery shopping to stock up our tiny bar fridge (the room also comes with a microwave, and Damien has his little burner thing we can use to cook,) and our closet pantry shelf. So now we won't go hungry at least.

I had a beautiful flight down here from Terrace, just as the sun was rising, so all the clouds were tinted a beautiful pink colour, and the fog was still in the mountains, but they were high enough that I could still see the tops of them most of the way there.

Damien's birthday is on Sunday, so we'll be doing something with his friends (he has about 3 in Vancouver) then, hopefully involving some delicious curry dinner by his friend Ramin!

I guess that's all there is to say! E-mail me if you want my mailing address sent to you for any reason (I love postcards!! wink wink)

Hope all's well in the rest of Canada (or the world, depending on where you're reading this from!)

Hanah.

Goodbye Terrace

So on Friday I went to work with Steve. He had to drive out to Smithers (about 200 km away from here along the Skeena River) to fix hot tubs at about 4 different homes. So I went along for the drive! It was a BEAUTIFUL drive!! On the way there, the fog hadn't risen up over the mountains yet, so we drove through without seeing much (or maybe that was because I slept most of the way- I'm not used to getting up that early!!) We listened to good music all the way there and back, and I started taking pictures once the fog had lifted and we could start to see mountains again.

This is a picture of the famous Seven Sisters. They are beautiful and there are a couple of glaciers (which you can't see from this picture) on the left couple of mountains. They were a beautiful turquoise colour!

The drive was filled with gorgeous colours (the changing trees are unlike anything I've seen before! The colour of yellow was soooo flourescent it looked like someone had taken spray paint and painted select trees, or clumps of trees. In reality, I believe it was the birch trees which had turned bright yellow, and they contrasted greatly with the rich greens of the evergreens. There were also lovely huge trees, and I can only describe them as "Emily Carr trees." (This is a very bad picture of them, but we were driving and I took it quickly through the window) I think they are old old cedars, and their branches are frail, yet luscious. If you have ever seen Emily Carr's paintings of the Queen Charlotte Islands, you will know exactly what I mean.

On the way home I finally saw my first bear since we got here! I've been dying to see one, and we saw a tiny little baby bear eating garbage by the side of the road. This picture is me trying to capture that. Unfortunately, you can't see it at all. Just trust me on this one. He was CUTE!


Well, other than that, I've decided to head to Vancouver tomorrow to meet up with Damien again. He has a good paying, full time job washing dishes at a really nice restaurant. I'll hopefully find something that pays well too, and we'll be on the road again in no time!

Poor Doran got a really bad burn yesterday (just as my burn finally healed from the tea spill at the beginning of our journey) from melting gummy bears in the microwave with his friend. It's always fun until someone gets hurt. Anyway, he acted quickly with cold water, and kept his hand in it all evening. Before bed, Steve bandaged it up, and here's what it looks like:

Hopefully it will heal faster than mine! I'm sure the cold water helped though, as I wasn't really able to do much to mine since I was on a bus. So he's been getting special treatment (at Gabe's dismay) and you can start sending sympathy cards and gifts to him anytime now. haha...

I have had a really really enjoyable time here in Terrace, and I was so lucky to feel so welcomed by Steve and Marlene, Gabe and Doran. I will really miss it here! I know Damien already does! It was a very good way to start my adventure, and I can't wait to come back to this beautiful town!

Alright, that's all for now! Take care everyone, and I'll try and post from time to time in Vancouver, but it will be less frequent now. Keep in touch via e-mail!
Hanah.

chasing pugs, eating turkey & scones, hitching rides

This morning I got my fair share of exercise, chasing the pugs around the house... They have learned how to jump over the barricade that was built to keep them on the porch, and today they decided they wanted to mark their territory on a different part of the lawn... So, luckily I noticed their little piggy tails swishing behind the house, under the trampoline. I jumped out the window (the nearest exit-it's big, don't worry) and chased them around, scooped them up, and put them into their pen for a little time out. Haha.. my adventure for the morning.

Well, it's on the road again (at least for one of us.) Damien has gone ahead of me to Vancouver to try and scout out a job and hopefully pin down a place to live with one of his friends from Huntsville. So he left yesterday afternoon with James, Sasha and Connor, and stayed last night at their house. He was going to head out early this morning to the highway and stick out his thumb, and see where he ends up. It's about another 15 hour drive from there, I think! I really hope he makes it to Vancouver with ONE ride today! But if he doesn't he's well prepared with a tent and a warm sleeping bag. He's hitchiked across Canada a couple of times before, so I try not to worry... too much...

I'm going to stick around here for another little while, and once he's got things set up, I'll go join him, and hopefully get a job working at a factory making big bucks and getting lots of hours! It's going to be mindless work, for sure, but at least it will mean that we can get going sooner! And in the meantime, it will be an adventure!!

So Thanksgiving weekend was a HUGE success! I don't think I mentioned that I made scones for breakfast (my specialty) and we ate them with whipping cream and jam! (gotta do it right!) The dinner was absolutely DELICIOUS! And people seemed to like the pie, although I thought something was wrong with the texture... Anyway, after our huge feast and some good wine, we jammed again on the porch, and this time even Doran joined us! (The other kids kept playing their video game, but they seemed quite happy doing so!)

So after wayyyy too much turkey and lots of good music, we finally dragged ourselves to bed in the wee hours of the morning. The next day was just hanging out, packing, another yummy breakfast by Steve, and goodbyes.

Today everyone here is at work or school, so I've got a day to fill (sleeping helped take up a lot of it, I must admit...) I think I'm going to get those dishes all done up from the weekend, and go for a nice long bike ride in the beautiful fall air! Have a good one!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

mmmm.. Thanksgiving.. my favourite holiday, I've decided, because it consists of eating yummy food, and being thankful for it. That is basically the reason I am on this earth. So I've been bustling away in the kitchen along with many others, preparing our big Thanksgiving feast! I'm almost done the pumpkin pie. In fact I should go check it! ...
Almost done. I'm having trouble getting it to thicken, but it's looking better.

Steve and Marlene's friend James is here with his 2 kids, Sasha and Connor, from Vanderhoof. Last night the adults (it's weird to be considered one of the adults now,) sat out on the porch jamming, while the kids played video games in Doran's room with his HUGE monitor/tv screen. We had such a fun time! There are some good musicians in the bunch, so it was a very enjoyable evening.

Today we're cooking up a storm, and hopefully will get out for a hike. I would love to climb a mountain, but I think things will be too busy to get away too far. It's a beautiful crisp fall day here, and the sun is shining!

Yesterday Damien and I went on a bike ride/pushed our bikes up a HUGE hill, and when we got to the top, we coasted down soooo quickly! Although I complained almost the entire way up, I'm glad I stuck it out because the view as we raced down the road of a mountain was gorgeous!

Tonight's menu consits of turkey (of course!) gravy, mashed potatoes, a sweet potato/carrot dish, and pumpkin pie (assuming I get it set properly!)

Still having a wonderful time, but looking towards our next step of the journey- heading to Vancouver within the next few days.

Hope everyone is feasting and being thankful of the dear famers who worked so hard to provide the food for us to eat!

Love you all!
Hanah.

quote from a book I just finished reading

"All it meant was that we had decided to do something adventurous and then we had done it. If it didn't work out the way we had hoped it to, fine. Who cares how it all ends? We had taken the steps toward something. Anything" - Summer of my Amazing Luck by Miriam Toews

Mountains are good for the soul

So sorry about the lack of posts, but honestly, not much has happened lately! I'll catch up on the details... Damien cut his own hair. (he didn't think this was important enough to post on the blog, but I think haircuts are exciting!) It looks pretty good, surprisingly! I'll post a picture of it when I have taken one.

But more importantly, Damien has a job cooking at Denny's! He's been going every day from 9-about 1, and he now has a couple of days off. We wanted to go camping somewhere beautiful, but really, you don't have to go far to find beauty! So, tonight we will be camping in the back yard, and maybe tomorrow if we can get things organized in time, we might venture a little further.

I'm still waiting to hear from Save on Foods (a grocery store here in Terrace) but they sound like they're going to hire me once they've found a place they can plunk me in the store. So I'm just playing the waiting (and reading and watching tv) game until they call me. I had to turn down a waitressing job at a small Chinese restuarant because my concience got the better of me, and I didn't want to make them train me just in time for me to leave them and go to Ecuador. SO instead, I'll do that to a larger grocery store! haha...

This evening we went for a hike on Ferry Island and this time we saw all kinds of pictures (mostly faces) carved into the trees because a local artists has gone through the rainforest woods and done his art in the trees. It was a beautiful evening, and Damien found what he thinks is the most beautiful place he's ever been. It was gorgeous, and I was wishing that I was a better visual artists, because I would have loved to have painted it. Maybe I'll give it a shot sometime, because I think that scene will stay with me forever. I didn't get an actual photograph of it unfortunately, but it was very special. Trust me!

anyway, dinner smells sooooooo yummy!!! Damien and I have made some dinners (I made a deep-fried-tofu stir-fry which people seemed to enjoy and Damien made delicious eggs with veggies in them) but tonight Steve is making steak and potatoes!!! So I can't concentrate anymore on this thing. I will write more when it happens! Peace.