Starting With a Picture

So I thought I'd start with a picture today.  That's me, barefoot on the beach with a beer in my hand.  If you recognize the label, you probably know I'm from Nova Scotia, and yes, Keith's is my beer (but not my only beer).  The other foot is my man, Owen.  He doesn't so much like Keith's, but he put up with it for the week we were home.  I mean my other home, the one in Nova Scotia.  My home now is in Valemount BC, and I moved here for one reason only - Owen.  We met online about three years ago, and I flew out here to meet him.  Then I flew home, quit my job, packed up my car and my dog and came back.  It's been interesting, strange, sometimes challenging, and the best thing I ever did, and I know we were meant to be together.  We finally had a chance to go back to Nova Scotia, and for Owen to briefly meet my family and friends last Thanksgiving, and I got to show him the beach that I love (although I didn't get to swim, October is a bit too chilly for that).  I miss that sand sometimes, but, strangely, we are nestled here in the mountains and surrounded by - sand.

I've always loved the idea of traveling around the world, seeing far off places, and I did actually live in Scotland for a year.  Imagine that, a Scottish girl going back to Scotland... but it's funny, once I got home, I realized that there was still so much of THIS country I hadn't even begun to see or understand.  Yes, I'd already driven from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back, but there is so much in between that I missed, and you really have to spend more than a few days in a place to get to know it.  Seeing the different seasons, getting to know the locals and the stories, learning how the politics (that dreadful word) of a place affect the people and vice-versa.   BC is so different from Nova Scotia in so many ways, but we're still part of this one amazing country, and I feel pretty lucky.  I said I moved here for one reason only, but it's part of our luck and our blessing that Owen is from here, and had moved back here.  We were able to meet each other when the time was right, and not a moment before. 

By the way, I don't believe in happily-ever-afters, life is always changing, there's always new challenges and new joys to be found.  Owen and I compliment each other, and we enjoy each other, but most importantly, we both recognize that we sometimes just have to figure stuff out.  I am currently unemployed (no surprise, if I have time to be writing a blog, eh?) and I have tons of bills from my two houses in NS (yep, I said two houses - and that's another story entirely).  Owen does a lot of different things (you have to, if you want to live in Valemount) and he's currently working on a business case that involves Kinbasket "Lake" (mentioned in yesterday's picture).  You'll probably hear more of that if I keep at this.  I actually might get to go to Golden with him next week, which is why we spent his lunch hour replacing the front brakes on our car in the driveway (something that is technically against the rules of the trailer park... but it's not the first transgression... maybe more on that later too).  Anyway, that's enough for today, and here's a shot of us in the Northumberland Strait, October 2012.  Maybe I'll be talking to you tomorrow...