Forever Friendships

The other night I had dinner with one of my oldest, dearest friends in the entire world.

Ryan and I have been friends for...a decade. Whoa, that makes me feel REALLY old..I didn't realize that it has been TEN YEARS since I started highschool...man alive.

Anyways, so...we have been very very very close for years, and despite growing up, moving into different directions in our lives, to different cities, to different groups of friends...to whatever life brought us...we've still managed to maintain a wonderful friendship. There have been times in our lives where we've seen each other basically everyday for months and years on end...to not seeing each other for years...and everything inbetween. The other night just proved to me once again though..just how much I love and adore him to bits.

First off...he worked all day..and then still cooked me dinner. If nothing else, this is just an amazing glimpse into the person he is. We could have gone out somewhere, or done it another night when he wasn't working (in a kitchen no less) the entire day of, and the next day..but no..he went out of his way to cook me a delicious dinner..

Not only did he cook me dinner, but it was an absolutely FAAAABULOUS dinner...ooooh man! The most tender, juicy, flavourful porkchop that I have ever eaten, roasted potatoes, and green and yellow beans that were infused with garlic and butter...mmm. Heaven. Basically, heaven.

Yeah, he might try to tell you that he's this tough, this, 'I don't care' kinda guy..but if he actually does care about something..then he's quite possibly the worlds biggest sweetheart...

He's the kind of boy who has posters on the wall of bands from ages ago, who will always say what's on his mind and makes you pick out the next record from his vinyl collection, just to see what you'll choose. He thinks critically, watches baseball and loves his cat. He doesn't care about celeb gossip, reads the news on a regular basis and if he has a problem with someone..tells it to them like it is.

I love that we can talk for hours about everything and anything, we can joke around and tease each other..and then switch to have the most serious conversations about what's going on in the world and our place in it. It's nice to have that person who you're so comfortable with that it doesn't matter what comes out of your mouth..you know that they'll understand in some bizarre way.

He's honestly one of my favourite people in the entire world..and I'm so happy that he's moved back to town..and I've MOVED back to town...because it means that I get to spend bunches of time catching up with him..and just being around him is this breath of fresh air in my life that I feel like I've been desperately longing for :)

Horray for old friends that are like fine wines and keep getting better as they age :)

Fall-spiration

As time flies by, it seems that I can no longer deny the fact that fall is upon us..

There is a brisk chill to the air, the leaves are changing colour at a rapid speed and the days are getting increasingly shorter and shorter..

Although it saddens me that the days of summer are no longer here...that another season has come and gone..there are also a lot of things that I look forward to with the end of summer.

For instance...sweaters. I love being all cuddled up in blankets and sweaters, and fall is the perfect season to put on a big oversized sweater and wrap up in a big blanket with a book in hand.

Another 'fall' love of mine is apple cider. We had our first jug of it from the farmers market this weekend and we've been devouring it like crazy. There is just something so comfortable about the sweet, rich taste of fresh apple cider..I cannot get enough of it.

Because the air has a bit of bite in it, everyone seems to be craving warm comfort foods that the season and the harvest brings us...in the last little while we've started making dinners which warm the body and the soul..tonight I'm going to make chicken pot pie and an apple crisp for dessert..you can't get much more seasonal than that :P

The colours also have me swooning...the newly appearing yellows, oranges and reds mixed in with the still present but ever fading greens have me absolutely captivated every time I step outside. Everywhere I look it's a picture of perfection, and I can't help but smile when I see the beautiful palet that mother nature has made :)

Fall also means that my birthday and thanksgiving are almost upon us...both things which I enjoy because it means that we gather together as a family and eat delicious meals...This year will be ever more special because that particular weekend will be filled with the arrival of more family who are moving back home and three birthdays all in a row :)

Time seems to be passing me by faster than ever and life is moving at a rapid pace...and although it's sad to say goodbye to another summer, this one which seemed particularily short as I was absent for a good deal of it..the thought of all of the wonderful things that fall has to offer keeps a smile on my face :)

Back Together Again

Today I decided that..

I want to marry my chiropracter.

Okay, well..not really. It might be a little bit awkward as his wife (my ex-uncles sister) might be a little peeved..but I do love him in a completely 'o.m.g. my back feels so much better I'm not even sure I have a back anymore' kind of way. I don't go very often..infact, according to my 'chart'..I've been six times in six years..buuuut...when I do go..my back loves me...just about as much as I love my chiropracter..

My back has been bothering me lately..as sometimes it does..I just find that as I go about doing things in my daily life..my back isn't always properly adjusted and thus I go about in a state ranging from slight discomfort to absolute pain....Lately, my muscles in my back and neck get tense and then irritated when I'm lifting things..and the last couple of days the pain has been getting almost too much to handle..and I have a pretty darn high pain tolerance :P When I walked into his office this afternoon he felt a couple of places in my back, whistled and was like..'wow..this is a mess.'

13 minutes later, I felt like I was walking on a cloud..or at least like I was a human that was put together in the correct form again.. :)

Now, I'm not entirely back to my regular self..but I'm feeling A LOT better..I've got some nice smelly old lady cream to try and sort out my muscles, and am probably going back to see my new favourite person EVER...soon...just to figure out the last few kinks that are still there..haha..I'm so witty.

So, although it seems that my chiro is taken..and happily so...I guess I'll just have to add that to my already oh so huge list of nit picky things I desire in a boy...adding being a liscened chiropracter doesn't limit me TOO much..does it?

On second though...maybe I'll just put it in the 'bonus' section ;)

Birthday Love

I've never been that big of a fan of birthdays...they come, you get older..and they pass. I'm sure when I was younger I enjoyed them quite a lot..but these days..it's just another indication of just HOW fast time is passing by..I can't believe that in less than three short weeks I turn 24, but that's an entirely different story. Anyways, I think that another reason why I tend to get freaked out about birthdays is because they are a little like a lot of events that happen in life..they have all of this pressure surrounding them, and when things don't go exactly as planned, peoples hopes get dashed and they end up upset...I like when things just sort of spontaneously happen, and have just enough effort put into them so that they work out well and are cohesive and everyone is happy..but not so much that if something goes slightly awry, everyone can survive without any sort of drama occuring. In the past, I've been involved in so many birthdays, and half of them always end up with some sort of something going wrong...a boy problem, a wrong present, people not showing up when they're supposed to....a balloon pops in someones eye..and they end up spending the night in the ER instead (ha - erm..totally NOT me..*shifty eyes*)...there are lots of things that seem to be able to go wrong...

But last week, I had the pleasure of being involved in a lovely birthday celebration..where everything was just..perfection.

My friend Steph had her 24th birthday and her fiance, Matt, organized a low key celebration with some friends in town.

We all made our way to a lovely little restaurant downtown which I'd never had the pleasure of dining at before...and the food was wonderful and the company was even better..

We chatted, laughed and shared a wonderful evening together :) It was an evening that made me happy beyond belief, because it was so low key, so relaxed and generally just all around enjoyable. It was the kind of evening I had been LONGING for since I had arrived at home, and it seem as though it was just the perfect mix of people that made the evening completely and totally remarkable and memorable..

It was so different from past birthdays in town. There were no elaborate cakes, decorations, huge gatherings...and oddly enough..there was also no drama, tears or upset feelings. We probably ate too much, laughed too much and went home with a smile that, had I wanted to try and take it off, would have been impossible to do..

I'm looking forward to more evenings like this, and enjoying that any sort of birthday celebrations I happen to have this year, will be as lovely as this one was.. :)

Simplicity

Well, I've been procrastinating again...

Blogging has not been at the fore-front of my mind...as I've been rather busy the last month (how has it been a month since I've been home?!) and I've been enjoying the last little bits of what is apparently summer before I settle in for winter at home..

To update, I'm working on adjusting to being home. It's definitely a process...where everything feels familiar..yet nothing feels the same at all. It's hard to explain unless of course you've been through this..but even if you have..everyone experiences and feels things differently...so as much as I have people who know what I'm going through..sometimes I feel like my head is spinning...and I think that I've come to the conclusion that that's okay..because my poor little brain has a lot of stuff to process. As much I've settled back into my 'old' life..things are constantly keeping me on my toes and my mind is constantly trying to figure out everything..

So, I've been spending my days working, spending time with lovely friends and trying to organize my life...or in true Erin fashion...AVOIDING organizing my life.

It's crazy to think that not that long ago I was bopping around Europe, I was country hopping on weekends, watching the sun set over lake Zurich and enjoying the benefits of a completely different lifestyle..

Now I'm back home, and it's a polar opposite. The house is never spotless, we never eat veal for dinner..people pronounce w's correctly...and I think I smile more.

I wondered how I would do, going from the big metropolis of Zurich, with it's fabulous transportation system, a host of friends nearby, a big city's attractions and lots of interesting things to do and places to go..

I mean, I live..here. In BUCKHORN. Where I'm not even sure what the big things to do are...I mean...sometimes we order in Chinese from the one takeout restuarant that exists here..and that's pretty exciting.

But, it's home.

It has my family, who I forgot just HOW much I love chatting with about everything and anything...It has wonderful old friends who I swear just keep getting better and better...It has a job that I love more than anything...It has my puppy, who loves me for me unconditionally...It has beautiful sunsets, girls nights, car rides, euchre, radio in english and so so so so so so much more.

So tonight, I could be in Zurich..where I'm sure something fun and exciting is happening..

But instead, it's 9pm..and my family has gone to bed because they've all worked ridiculously hard all day...we had dinner together, and chats together...I've talked to wonderful friends on the phone..I've tried to clean my room some more and instead, danced around my room to songs on the radio. So for now...I'm now enjoying my evening, eating green olives from the jar while watching wheel of fortune...

And for the moment...despite the whirlwind of fun that my last year was..and how simple and quaint this moment might seem...I am completely and totally content. Maybe it takes being away to see this...and maybe it will get old..but for the moment at least...life can't get much better than this.

Days End

There are some things about home that I never even realized I missed.

While driving home the other night, my entire view for the entire drive home was filled with the views of an absolutely stunning sunset.

I didn't realize that in Switzerland, the sunsets were never really like this. They just don't measure up...they're short, quick and simple. So, I pulled over my car and enjoyed the beautiful views...I went all over europe looking for beautiful things...and turns out that the place I come from is filled with beauty every time I turn around. I still don't go anywhere without my camera :)

How could I not be happy enjoying this view?



<3

Home Again, Home Again...Jigitty Jig.

After two weeks of bopping around Eastern Europe I made my way back to Zurich and spent my last night in Europe pulling an all nighter. I'm not REALLY sure how smart that was..my theory was that I'd get to spend some time with a friend who I love dearly and won't get to see very often once I was back home..and the other was that maybe I'd sleep on the plane and be able to switch over my sleep schedule with relative ease.

So, I spent the evening talking, playing cards and laughing...moving in slow motion to get the final loose ends put together so that I could get on a flight home.

After an extended plane ride (horray for them FIXING the mechanical errors AS we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off..:S) I finally touched down at Pearson International Airport in Toronto..

To find my two best friends (and my faaaaaavourite little boy) waiting to pick me up from the airport with glittery welcome home signs and big hugs all around :) I got my ear chatted off by a four year old who I think had been secretly bottling up EVERYTHING he could think of to talk to me about for an entire year and saving it until he finally saw me again.

It's the weirdest feeling to go home after a year away..I really don't think that words can explain it..when I left my Dad said that "everything will feel familiar, but just be different enough to not be familiar at all" and, like always, he's SO right.

Now I'm running around trying to get caught up on sleep, trying to balance all of the friends and family that I want to see, and trying to jump back into doing some work too.

I've met up with my grandfather and had lunch with him, spent a good deal of time talking on the phone with people I hope to see soon, have made tentative dates to meet up with old friends that I haven't seen in years and have hung out with my best friends every day since I've been home. I've slept on Jenna's couch after sitting around being our normal goofy selves...and I've sat in my Dad's office chatting like we use to in the good old days and laid on the bed in my parents room telling my mom a little bit of everything. I met up with an old friend who I hadn't seen in years and years...and sat in Tim Hortons having a marathon catch up coffee date with Rhiannon.

It's been a good 4 days home...and I'm excited for all of the things to come...but for now...I'd better jump in the shower and get my butt into gear because there are things to be done and work is calling my name.

For now, I leave you with a cute photo we took on Monday...



My two best friends, me, and my favourite "little" boy.
(Jenna, Me, Nicholas & Rhiannon)