Our One Year Anniversary Teepee Adventure

Well, we just got back from our Anniversary weekend, so I thought I'd update you all on how it went...I took pics, but sadly our digi camera doesn't work so I had to take them old school, but I'll develop them tomorrow and post them on Facebook most likely...so anyway, here's the lowdown:

We both took the day off Friday, so Dan came home Thursday night, which made a big difference, that extra day was really good to have...anyway, we left the city at around one and got to the retreat at around 3...we drove along the South Shore to Liverpool, then cut inland to head to Maitland Bridge, which is where the retreat was (it's about 3 mins away from Keji Park, for those who know NS) Anyway, so we got there, and the place was really nice; small, only 7 cabins, 5 teepees, a restaurant, office, kitchen cabin, and a lodge with 4 rooms. Anyway, it was in the woods along the banks of a river that ran into a small lake. Our teepee was pretty cool, it was set apart from the other 4 teepees, which are the 'village'; ours was set kind of in a corner of a small field, on the edge of the woods and right on the lake. It was a pretty big teepee, probably 15-20 feet tall, and there was room enough in there for 3 beds, a double and 2 singles, and 2 small shleves, all on the outside edges of the inside. They are set up on platforms so you aren't on the ground, which is cool, and they were pretty waterproof, despite the pouring rain (more on that later.)

But the best part of the teepee for sure was the hottub. Basically it was a home made hottub...it was on our platform right on the edge of the lake. It was big enough for probably 4 people, and was made of wood. The way you heated it was by a wood stove that was set underwater in the tub (it was walled off by wooden slats so you couldn't touch it) Anyway, most of the stove was underwater, so as you burned wood, the water got hotter. The water was water from the Lake, and there was a valve to release the water and a pump to add more, and a pool skimmer to clean out any grass or bugs. Pretty rustic, but it worked out perfectly. So anyway, we get there, unpack, walk around, and decide to get this hottub going. We light it up, but it takes forever to heat up because it's quite a lot of water and of course, it was freezing cold when we got there. So we played some tennis, had supper in the kitchen cabin (all people staying in the teepees shared a communal kitchen cabin, which had a stove, fridge, pots, pans, everything you would need, it was great.) Then we kinda just lounged around, made a fire in the village (there was only one spot to make a fire, in the middle of the village, but luckily for us no one else was staying in the teepees that night so we had the place to ourselves.) So we go back to the teepee at around 10-10:30 (it was hard to keep track of time that weekend, since neither one of us had a watch and we had no clocks or cells and no access to our car, so we didn't know what time it was most of the time, which was actually nice), and the tub was STILL warming up. We didn't actually get in until about 11:30 I don't think, but it was sooo worth the wait. It was so nice to sit outside, in the hottub, with candles all around, right out on the Lake, and the weather was really nice too that night. We were in there for 2 hours or more I think. So yeah, that was Friday night.

I didn't sleep all that well (I don't sleep well in the woods) but we still woke up at around 9:00 or so to discover that it was misting and raining a little bit. We decided that we would head into a town for the day since it was supposed to pour all day and we didn't want to be outside or in the teepee when that happened, but luckily in the morning it wasn't bad at all. We started up the hottub again, had breaskfast, then came back for another dip, this time in the daylight and in the mist and rain, and it was actually really fun. We left once the rain started a bit harder ar around noon and headed into Bridgewater for the afternoon. We had lunch then went bowling, which was really fun too, considering we hadn't bowled in years. We headed back at around 4:30 or so, and by the time we got back to the retreat, the rain had stopped. Some of our stuff was wet, but luckily the bed wasn't and our clothes were all safe in our bags, so besides being a bit cold and damp, it was ok. We got the hottoub going again and then headed to the restaurant for dinner. It was nice, really small, just a few tables and home cooked by a few ladies who worked there, really home made kinda thing. So we had that, then came back to the teepee and hung out some more, then got back in the hottub (again, haha) But this time we kinda ruined a good thing...the water was wayyyy too hot, since we had kept the fire going for pretty much 2 days straight, the water was near boiling basically, and there was no way to cool it down. Also, it was really windy so it was harder to get out and cool down, so we didn't end up staying in it long, but we did manage to get another dip in.

We woke up this morning, had breaskfast again, contemplated getting in the hottub again, but it had actually cooled down quite a bit and was a bit cold, and it was hard to get the fire going again with all the wood being wet, so we just said forget it and left at around 11. All in all it was really nice, I'm glad we went.

Now, as for being married a whole year, I don't really have a whole lot to say about it. To me, and to Dan I think, it feels like we've been married much longer, so this was just a little reminder that we have a long, long way to go yet, haha. They say that the first year of marriage is supposed to be hard, and I guess for us it was hard, but not so much in our relationship, but more in our circumstances. It was hard for us with Dan working overnights for 8 months, then leaving to plant trees. It was hard scrambling to figure out everything for school, and deciding to live apart again, and me not knowing about my job (still not knowing.) All of that was hard, but being together wasn't. We fought, yeah, mostly about money, but I think that was just us getting used to actually sharing money and bank accounts and everything else, but we've got it pretty well sorted out now. I don't ever doubt that we got married too soon or that we're headed for trouble, I know we're doing well and will keep doing well as long we keep remembering to be kind to each other, respect each other, and support each other. I'm excited to see what this year will bring, but I'm not very worried about it...I know it'll be good :)

Well that was a huge ramble, but I wanted to keep a little record of our weekend so that when we are celebrating our 25th, we can look back and remember how we started out in a teepee.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Isn't it funny...

Isn't it funny, that when you are married (and a woman), and you throw up, or are queasy/nauseous for any reason at all, people automatically assume you could be or are pregnant?? I don't know if I'm the only one, but anytime I feel sick people always make the joke 'maybe you're pregnant'...last night my mom called to see how I was, and then she asked if I was pregnant! After I said no, she continued on about how this is how I would feel, and this is how she felt, lala, and asked me if I was sure...No Mama, I'm not, I would know...I think, haha.

Although I must admit, I think all women do it to each other once you reach a certain age, married or not, my friend Heather was nauseous a few times over the summer and I made jokes about her being pregnant, and she wasn't even seeing anyone seriously! She did get paranoid though, haha....everyone does.

Anyway, just a little remark I've made, now that I'm married...nearly a year married!!

It begins again...

Well, Dan is gone. He left for Springhill a few hours ago, and I'm pretty bummed about it, because this is officially the beginning of a long, LONG year. I know that he'll be home on the weekends and holidays, but it's not the same, we shouldn't be doing this anymore, after having done it so much already (I've calculated, and about half of our relationship, or over 2 years, has been spent long distance like this...that's too much!) I know we'll be fine and that it's the right decision for me to stay here, not just for me personally but for both of us; it takes off a lot of financial strain this way, but still, I wish it could have been different. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes, I know Dan is going to do awesome in school, I just really hope he likes it. As for me, I still don't know what's going to happen after October 19th, but I'll worry about that when it comes I guess. At the very worst, I'll move to Springhill with Dan after Christmas, but hopefully it won't come to that. It's the government, they have to find me something :)

Anyway, just my little bummed out rant, I've been sick for the last 2 days so it might not make a whole lot of sense, I'm pretty achy and I think a fever is coming on, hopefully I'll be better by tomorrow, I have too much work to do to call in sick, stuff that can't wait until Wednesday (I never though I'd have one of those jobs, but I do!) I felt like such a yuppie the other day, I had to bring some proofing work with me to lunch because I had a deadline! Craziness. Anyway, enough blabbing, I'm going to go lie down before I throw up again.

Happy Birthday Tom!!

Sorry this is so late, but Happy Birthday to the oldest Flynn boy, Tom, who turned a big 3-0 yesterday! You old man you ;)

(I tried to convince Dan to write "30 Reasons Why Tom is Great", but he said he couldn't come up with 30 reasons...some brother eh? haha)

Happy Birthday, hope you had a good one!

Dan & Geneviève

Can you hear me Major Tom?...And I'm floating in a tin can...

Well I've been meaning to write a little something for days now, since there have been some developments since the last time I wrote, but I always seem to get distracted by something else, my generation's attention span is quite short, and the older I get the shorter I find it, I really need to work on my concentration and focus...anyway, enough about that, moving on to something else :)

So let's see, I guess I will start with work, since that is what my life seems to be about now, I guess I'm offically a grown up. Anyway, the news at work is that I've been extended until at least October 19th, which is awesome news, I'm glad that I can stay here (and make my awesome salary) a little while longer. I still enjoy it and hope to stay as long as possible, and maybe even get some sort of Permanent position eventually.

The other big development is that one of the other Admins here, the one who was hired on in March to do my position 'officially', has been sick and is now out until September 4th at the earliest, so that means that I have been put in charge of all her work...and there is ALOT! Basically, I'm now in charge of making sure that all of our Health Education resources get printed, proofed, designed, translated, sent out to the Districts, and Invoiced...plus whatever else needs to be done. This is quite a task, since there are probably 40-45 projects on the go at the moment, all in different stages of development, and I have to keep track of all of them...it's tough, but I've been able to handle it so far...I was kind of annoyed at first since the Admin who had this job decided to not include me in most of the processes, so I came into this only knowing bits and pieces, and I haven't received any offical training in the computer program (again, they left me out of it), so I've had to learn quite a bit pretty quickly, but I think I'm doing quite well, maybe even better than her! (She was quite disorganized, at least compared to how I work.) Anyway, so that's that, my own projects (Filing, Website, Archives) have been put on hold for now, but I think that because of this, they shouldn't have a hard time extending me past October, to make up for the time that I've been missing (it's going to be 6-8 weeks at least before I can complately concentrate on my own stuff.) So that's my government life, not super exciting, but I'm happy :) Ooooh, I also got paid today for the first time with my new pay, and it's soooo awesome! I hate getting paid every 2 weeks, but that's ok, I guess it's better for taxes and stuff...money money, for a little while at least, it'll be gone before I know it :S

So, because of all this stuff with work, it means that I am now no longer going with Dan to Springhill, which sucks big time as far and us goes, but in the long run it's much better for us financially, and it'll take a lot of stress off, since we will be living on one salary basically all year, so it's good that it's a big salary at least...Dan has been off work for about 3 weeks now, maybe 4, and he's been getting quite a bit of stuff done for school. He has been applying for EI and for the Skills and Training Program, he had an appointment today, I hope it all works out, it would help us out big time if the government could pay for part of the school year...it wouldn't have to be much, we've already paid the 1st half of his tuition, and we are getting another 1000$ from Irving, but still, if they could help pay for his rent, we could maybe even start saving a bit this year while he is in school, which would be awesome, since, you know, we haven't saved anything in our lives yet :S

Dan is also going to Sprinhill today to look for an apartment, he is just going to rent out a room for the year, hopefully furnished, something that is cheap, which is good, I guess we will save some money that way now. He will have the car during the year, since I can get anywhere I want by bus, and plus my roomate has her own car, so I don't need it as much as he will, and he will come back on weekends to visit, so it'll be like it was this summer, which isn't idea, but at least we'll be on the same schedule this time, he wont' be so exhausted all the time since he'll be on an 8:30-4:30 schedule too...and we talked about it, this is the first time that Dan has had a 9-5 schedule since he worked at the Access Centre in McAdam I think...so like 7 years! That's nuts, poor guy, he's been working shifts and crap hours forever, I hope he likes being normal, haha. So we have about 3 weeks left before he moves, I better enjoy it now, it's nice to have him around, he's a very good house husband, he does the dishes everyday, makes the bed, has supper ready when I get home...I'm getting used to this!

Hmm well I guess that's all...my best friend Sara told me about 3 weeks ago that she is pregnant, which is awesome, she had had a miscarriage earlier this year so I'm happy that she is doing so well this tiem (she's nearly 12 weeks now, so she should be ok.) It's so scary to think that she is going to have a baby, she's the first of my good friends to have one, and she was the one I was supposed to have one with at the same time, but it really doesn't look like that's going to happen now, haha, considering I don't like babies or children, so I guess I'll just have to practise with hers :) She deserves it though, she loves babies, always has...so yeah, another baby on the way, seems like everyone is having kids! I have 2 weddings to go to this year (I've already gone to 3) and there are 2 babies that I know of that are due next year...sheesh, and then there's Dan and I, standing still, haha.

Ok, that's it for real, I'll babble more later probably, hope everyone is well!!

Me at Crystal Crescent Beach, in the Atlantic...lovin' it!

I'm a bad bad blogger...

Ok, so I just read from a certain new mama that she enjoys reading our blogs and would like to actually have something to read, so here goes...now that Facebook exists though I must admit that my blogging has gone way way down and I don't know when the next entry will be, but alas, it's better than nothing...

So what's been new with Dan and Geneviève Flynn over the last 2 and a half months? A lot and a little I guess...first with work I suppose...Dan is still planting trees in the woods, his summer has not been super great, but then again, when is planting ever great? Let's just say we are both very happy that this is his last summer doing this...he's doing ok financially though, so it's not too bad, plus we found out that he will be able to carry over his 1,000$ scholarship from last year that he didn't use over to this year, plus the 1,000$ he's getting for this year, so in total we will be getting an extra 2k from Irving for his schooling (half his tuition basically), which is awesome, it's the only thing that makes planting worth it, otherwise his wage wouldn't be that much higher than if he had stayed here, but anyway, it's all good. We have been seeing each other most weekends, with a few exceptions here and there, but of course Dan is quite tired when he gets home, understandably, so we don't do all that much, although July was quite busy as far as travelling goes (more on that later I guess)...last week was his last week planting at the camp in Truro, but he is now gone to Fredericton to plant at the camp in NB for a few weeks since they still a ton of trees to plant and they need more people to get it done before the end of the summer....so we're hoping it won't be longer than 2 weeks, but it may end up being 3 or 4, we aren't sure....after that he is going to be taking 3 or 4 much deserved weeks off to relax and prepare for the fall and for school. So that's Dan's work, much simpler and more clear cut than mine at the moment.

My job is going well, but it's kind of in limbo right now. I am still working at the same job that I have been since December, with the Dept of Health Promotion and Protection. I still really enjoy it and have been adding new responsabilities here and there, especially regarding French resources. I've been extended I don't know how many times now, but it looks like my end date will be August 24th...possibly. I got some good news last week: after working as a Temp for 7 months (getting paid through Kelly Services and not by the government), they finally got it approved for me to be a 'Casual' (which means exactly the same thing as a Temp except that I get paid-a lot more-by the government and not by Kellys, I'm an offical government employee, which is nice to put on the resume...) Problem is that this position is only for another 6 weeks, so I'm only a Casual for 6 weeks, but if all goes well, I may be here longer...everyone here from the beginning said how much it was a shame that I was leaving, and jokes started about how I would come back next summer to do more work, blah blah...well ever since I got that raise, Dan and I have been talking about the possibility of me staying here in Halifax for the year in order to keep my job, since it's too good to pass up really, and he would go live in Springhill by himself for the year and then move back once school is done...so I mentioned it to everyone here at work and thay are up for it, but now the question is whether they can find me a position to fill, since my position that I'm in now has already been advertised for, and they are planning on hiring someone to start at the beginning of September, since they assumed I was leaving (as did I) at the end of August...so it's too late for me to apply to keep working where I am now, but there is a possibility that I could work in another department close to where I am now. Nathalie, the French coordinator that I've been working with a bit, is trying to help me find something, possibly in French with Acadian Affairs or with her department, which would be awesome, I could start an actual carreer, and in French too! So, as I said, nothing is for sure now, which makes things kinda stressful, I don't know where I'm going to be living in a month, I don't know where I'll be working, I don't know if I'll be apart from Dan...we just don't know. I hope to find out in the next few weeks though. Phewf, so that's my work story!

Ok, other than work, we have been travelling quite a bit, well, if you call going to NB travelling...in June and July it seems that every week end we have had something to go to, I think that we were both home for 1 or 2 weekends out of 6 or 7...weddings, trips to see friends who were moving away, family reunions, marathons...always something! But it's ok, I enjoy it, it's just kinda hard on the wallet and the car always driving 6-8 hours a weekend. My friend Lucas got married in SJ one weekend, my friend John moved away to Japan to teach English 2 weeks ago, so I went to Fredericton to see him, my mom came to Halifax on Canada Day weekend, we had this Flynn family reunion this weekend...busy! I hope that in August things will calm down a bit so that we can stay home and get things ready for the fall, start packing up and whatever, but we will see, we already have one trip planned to go camping on the long week end, and my family is going to the camp on the last week end in August, so we said we would go too, but other than that it should be calm, we'll have 2 or 3 weeks in there to relax.

Hmm, what else? Our one year anniversary is coming up in less than 2 months, which is kind of exciting, it's gone by so quickly, yet it feels like foever ago. Everyone says that the first year of marriage is hard, and I suppose they are right, it was hard, but not in regards to our actual relationship, it was just the circumstances were hard (him working overnights and then heading out to plant trees, always seeming to be out of money) As far and Dan and I go though, things are the same, if not better, between us since we've gotten married, so I can't complain...as for expanding our family, I've put that idea on the shelf, and I have no idea how long it will be before it comes off it. I have absolutely no desire to have children yet, and I can't see myself wanting any anytime soon...it sounds quite different than how I felt at the beginning of the year, but I think things changed once I saw how I could possibly and actually have a real carreer, I don't want to give that up to have a child, because once I do, the chance might be lost forever...plus I just don't have the patience for children right now, I can deal with them in small doses but I am quite glad to hand them off to their parents after a few minutes...like this weekend, I loved hanging out with Sean, he's adorable (I love how he's not afraid to be with other people other than his parents, I hate kids that are clingy, I'm afriad Noah won't be so easygoing once we see him...) and I felt comfortable enough with him, but after seeing how much it affects your entire life and the life of your marriage, I don't think I'd want to start that just yet, Dan and I have plenty of time for that later. We are happy just the two of us, and frankly we're probably too selfish to give a child what it needs just yet. I love my hubby and want him all to myself :)

Ok well I guess that was quite the ramble, I'll try and remember to ramble more once the plans for this year are more definite, since it will have a big impact on us for the next 10 months...here's a cute pic of me and Sean from this weekend...ciao todos.

"Il n'est pas nécéssaire de parler quand on a un regard qui en dit long."

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted, I just keep forgetting I guess, not much to say...things are pretty good around here, a few changes since Easter. Dan is in his 2nd week of planting trees, so during the week he is now staying in the camps in Truro and he comes home on the week ends, so that's not too fun, being apart, but we're pretty used to it now (this is our 5th summer together, and we've been apart for 3 and a half of them.)

Also it's not so bad for me because my friend Heather moved into our spare room in mid-April, so I'm not alone, it's really nice having her around. We don't do all that much really, just regular stuff, but it's nice to have someone to talk to, plus we meet for lunch everyday during the week (she works in a law firm, downtown), we started a garden, and we watch LOST every week and go to the library and shopping and stuff, so that's good. We had alot of fun last summer (I lived with her here in her apartment), so it's going to be like that. At the end of the summer when we move out she's probably gonna take over this apartment too, so that's good, no worrying about any of that. now if only I could find a place to live in Springhill...

Other than that, not too much new. I'm going home for the long week end this week end, that will be fun, haven't been home since Easter so it'll be nice to see everyone. Work is good, same old, I'm sad that I have to go in August 'cause I'm pretty sure they would like to try and hire me on full time if I were to stay, but it's not the way it worked out, so I'll just have to not worry about it. I mention to them often that I would like to come back, so maybe if I'm lucky something will be waiting for me if we do....IF being the key word, since we don't know where we'll end up after Dan's course...we talk about coming back here to Hali since we both like it, or possibly moving closer to home in NB, or doing the exact opposite ansd moving out West for a few years (so cliched I know), so we'll have to wait and see, basically we will go where Dan can get good work, but I think that he will be able to get good work wherever he goes...me on the other hand, I don't know.

I get all these ideas in my head of what I would like to do, but I'm just not sure...I think about going back to school to get another diploma in something, but then I wonder if it'll end up being another waste of time like my first degree was...since working in Dept of Health I've become interested in that field, but I'm not sure what I could do to get more invilved in it....I'm still interested in my languages but it just doesn't seem to translate into a good job...frig, I was thinking how it would be cool to be a midwife, so you can see how far reaching my brain is going! Part of me also has it in the back of my mind that I should start thinking about kids and family, since I always said I didn't want to be too old (25 was my ideal age to have my first child, but that's next year!) So we'll have to see I suppose, I'm happy to know that at least Dan will have a steady job from now on (starting in a few years I guess, but at least he'll be done the school thing), and I hope that I will be able to find something steady as well...it's hard not knowing though.

Well I suppose that's enough rambling, off to do another scrapbook page...I try and do about one a week or so...oh, one more thing, my running is going pretty well, only 6 weeks before the marathon, but I became alot more confident this week when I actually ran the 10km that I needed, it was the first time I had ever run that far! It was easy too, I was really surprised and happy with myself, I did 10.9km in 1:04mins, so right on track for a 6min/km. Now I just need to keep it up and try and improve a little, since I know that running in July will be much harder than running now in the cool weather.

Ok, that's all for now...oh yes, Dan has a new woman in his life....her name is Taylor, she's a few weeks old and cost quite a bit of money, but she's beautiful (Hint: She's a guitar) I, on the other hand, did not get to spend any of my tax money on a trip like I wanted, it all went to credit cards...darn I hate being the responsible one!