best of 2009 - part one.

the year has been pretty awesome, i must admit.
so awesome that it takes 3 posts - this is from jan to april! others below :)

it began in toronto. with the best roommate and best friend ever - cindy. and our endless giggle fits, kitchen adventures and sex and the city marathons.

i worked at the urban scrapyard.  getting paid to scrapbook full time.

steve and i went to calgary, for my dad's beach wedding. (in january, yep.)

he took us on a roadtrip to banff. 

my mom came to toronto, and we ran a scrapbooking activity table on family day at the sick kids hospital. such a fun day!

steve and i were still long distance...

i went to montreal with my auntie lyette and cousin jocelyn, to help with their first trade show to sell their flirty reusable shopping bags.  (i love montreal - and hanging out with these ladies!)

steve and i went to see bloc party and holy f*ck. 2 of my favourite bands.

my coworker agnes modeled for me - these are 2 of my fave shots of the year.

i visited the magical toronto island with some great friends.

after a day out for cindy's birthday we came home to firemen in our living room and a broken door.

(the fire was actually in the apt below, but they had disconnected their alarms! ours went off)

and then i moved to kingston. to live with steve as a test drive before france.

but i had to say bye to the best housemates of all time. and my toronto family.

it was really bittersweet. (but we did have a great night out dancing!)

best of 2009 - part two.

moving to kingston was difficult in more ways than we would have thought.  i missed my old friends, didn't have a job for the first while (and while steve was too busy with exams to hang out).  we fought a lot.  including on a long weekend trip to montreal. ha ha.

the only person i knew was annie.  such a sweetheart and lifesaver!

(as we made sushi for the first time)

but eventually kingston grew on me.  i got a job at the university bookstore and met some cool people.  the best part of the day was by far the lunch hour.  spending it in the sun and taking pics around campus with my fave co-workers.

and steve and i got along better ;)

 

there was a power outage that lasted hours... all we could do was go to the park, play frisbee and watch the birds and squirrels fighting in the trees overhead.  a great evening. 

and of course - the philosophers stones! - the unofficial ultimate frisbee team of the queens university philosophy department, which i joined when they began playing non-competitively after the season ended. lol.  great fun and fantastic people.

i got to take 2 trips to thunder bay to attend and photograph good friend's weddings. and of course reconnect with old dear friends.

two trips back to thunder bay also meant visits with my family.  and getting to take photos of my grandma's garden for her.

the next weekend was another wedding in toronto. (i'm of that age...)
an awesome party with some of the best people in the world.  aww i miss you!

then came the news that i had the job in france! and saying goodbye again. everywhere.

we sold almost everything in a yard sale. then drove the 18+ hours to thunder bay to store the rest with our parents.  2 days drive, 2 days to visit, 2 days drive, 2 days until europe. insane.

best of 2009 - part three.

moving to europe. wow. big one.

and i really have blogged most of what's been going on, but here goes.

this is where we moved:

best first and foremost - getting to hang with my cousin jocelyn.

this is us out for dinner on my birthday and getting photo-bombed by the waiter.

swimming in the ocean and lying on the beach!

getting to know the other language assistants, and having girls nights out.

why don't men take this job?

halloween vs michael jackson.

only 15 or so dressed for halloween (not so big in france) but maybe 100 m.j.'s and his music played all night.  joce and i have never gotten to party together like this before. such a great night.

day trip to the market in ventimiglia, italy. and the best gelato of all time.

watching the finish line at a marathon and cheering.

seeing how dedicated steve is to watching football. note that we also have a 6 hour time difference whenever he wants to watch a live game.  8 pm game = 2 am here.

 going to paris for a weekend and meeting steve's cousins.

american thanksgiving for the first time.

preparing for christmas. a.k.a. hanging pictures and making paper trees. and making chocolate chip cookies in the toaster oven, without many of the usual supplies.

and holiday parties. and the christmas markets full of fake snow.  and sandmen.

having steve's friend jon come to visit for 10 days.  to see avatar, have a beer at a pub and then watch steve as he had the flu. but we bonded :)

spending christmas in paris with my best friend.

(more pics of this later)

what can i say... it's been an incredible year!