Canada!

First of all...yay only 110 Days! Crazyness...the more crazy part is that I'm actually going down in 12 days for school! But we'll get to that after this...

Yay Buddy!

This was a huge moment.  I was the first one in our house to have it actually sink in that we won and everyone went insane!! Chicago has kicked the Canucks out of the playoffs the past two years in a row, and then we had a really hard go having this series extend to 7 games against last year's Stanley Cup winners.  You could feel all of British Columbia exhaling after the goal...and cheering and screaming and being sooo freaking happy!! 

Another incredible part of Canucks hockey is this...

You may notice that Canuck's fans never want to miss the start of a home game, and this guy is definitely a part of that. Mark Donnelly has been singing the Canadian Anthem at Canucks games for quite a few years now and it gives me chills every time.  Especially when lucky enough to be in the building.  The sound on this clip is a little scratchy..but I think you get the idea ;)

So as you can tell I've been watching a lot of hockey since returned from my road trip! And intense doesn't start to describe it.  I'm so glad we're onto the second round! Go Canucks Go!

Besides watching hockey (and I will admit too many other tv shows) I have been running, hanging out with friends, hanging out with family and trying to unpack, sort out, and repack my room and belongings. I have too much stuff. It actually drives me crazy how many possessions I have and if I could I would go back and unbuy the majority of them.  I think this is a good sign because hopefully it will remind me not to buy stupid things when I'm in Florida!  I've been trying to sort out all my school paperwork and packing and everything and it's been pretty stressful and I will be so happy when I can just be there and work and be good.

I am running the BMO Half Marathon on Sunday (in two days!! ahh!!) and am going over to Vancouver today with my Mum to stay at my sister Kimmy's! I'm excited to see how my little niece has changed in the last almost two weeks! I get back home Sunday night and then work the federal election as a poll clerk on Monday! (It's like 12 hours of crossing out peoples names on a list and telepathic-ly trying to tell them who to vote for. I'm going to bring a book :P

Then Wednesday is my birthday!! Yay! I'm going to have a little celebration with some girlfriends as most of my friends are out of town right now, and then a family dinner as well. Then Kim, Gar and Clodagh are visiting for the weekend and then I'm off Tuesday to Florida! 11 days! Crazyness! Right now however, I just have to focus on my 21.1km run on Sunday and pray it goes well! I'm super nervous. I hope I can do it and it's all okay....

I went and watched the Canucks beat the Predators last night with my dear friend Holly at a restaurant in town.  It was really nice catching up on some of our ridiculous antics from when we were younger and when

Younger versions of us!

we lived in Grande Prairie, Alberta together! Holly and I have come to the realization that we are amazing friends, but just can't live together! haha. We laughed so hard Holly shed some tears - it was awesome! Somehow through all this I convinced Holly to come over and watch the Royal Wedding with me...LIVE! Yup, I'll admit it here first...we watched wedding coverage from 930pm until (are you ready for this?!) 6am! In this time we also played a short lived drinking game (take a sip every time they said Kate or Harry (because he's the cuter brother), we baked fantastic chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter cookies, spent long periods of time only speaking in ridiculous perfect British accents and we laughed and joked and somehow kept each other awake for that kiss on the balcony!

She is gorgeous!

It was a really gorgeous ceremony and Kate looked amazing.  We also discovered that Kate Middleton's name is Catherine Elizabeth...and mine is Kathryn Elizabeth too!!! So it's almost as if I'm married to the Prince of England. Almost.

Fun Fact: Holly's middle name is also Elizabeth! 

I couldn't believe how long the aisle was! That's a hike and a half to get to the alter.  It was cute seeing Kate and Wills share some looks and smiles and apparently Will said to Kate's dad "I thought this was suppose to be a small affair" or something like that.  Hehehe. All in all I thought it was lovely.  People ask what is the big deal with the Royal Wedding.  I can only answer for myself, but I enjoy the monarch. They don't really have any power in Canada, however they are great figureheads and the Queen is such a strong woman.  I think William is a great humanitarian and a lot of people who love Diana and have watched William and Harry grow up were happy to see him have such a great, happy moment.  I also love weddings in general, and this one was huge, grand and beautiful! It's also a historical moment, we watched the future King of England get married! 

I watched in 1997 as Will and Harry stood as their Mother's casket went past, and it was the first time I ever saw my own Mum cry.  Watching some of the wedding pre-show with her meant a lot, it felt very connected to that moment when I was younger and sort of tied it up into a much happier conclusion.  

 Wills and Kate drove around The Mall so fans who lined the street and waited forever could have a wave.

I also remember singing 'God Save the Queen' in elementary school all the time.  I can't kid anybody...I'm a royal lover. There, I admitted it. Sorry Gareth.  Weddings are a vision of hope, love and optimism, and in an ever changing and uncertain world, the Royal Family is a sign of traditions and stability. Love it.