Home!

I arrived in Seattle around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday after sixteen hours of travel. I sat next to a college-age girl from Canada for the longest leg of the journey and we had a great time chatting about our travel experiences and the things we most missed about being in Canada. My mom picked me up at the airport and I was too exhausted to cry or feel much emotion at all. It felt strange to not be really excited or bawling my eyes out.

We went straight to the hospital in Seattle where my eighteen-year-old cousin has been staying for the past couple of weeks as he recovers from a really bad snowboarding injury. Thankfully he should eventually make a complete recovery, but it will be a lengthy battle involving lots of physio for his back and no more impact sports due to a severe concussion (his fourth in the past year, crazy kid!). I was really happy to be able to see him and my aunt and uncle - they planned to head back to their home town in the interior of BC the following day so I made it just in time. We had a great visit and Steven was pretty proud that by visiting him I was staying up for twenty-four consecutive hours. I'm not great with jet-lag or pulling all-nighters so he eventually started making fun of my mumbling, confused conversation, and random hand movements.

My mom and I were hungry when we left the hospital so on the way to the hotel we stopped at Denny's. I had pancakes... they weren't great, but it was a good midnight snack and felt very Canadian. I was so happy to finally fall into bed around midnight, although I could feel myself perking up as it was morning in England. Jet-lag is a weird experience.

As we headed home on Friday we did some shopping to find mom a dress for David's wedding. We didn't have any luck, although we did stop at a consignment shop and I was pretty happy to find some barely-worn jeans for $30. Finding jeans that fit me is always a small miracle and I've never heard of the brand before so I googled it when I got home. I found the jeans on the James denim website for $185! For some reason the soft denim felt softer and the good fit seemed better after I saw the original price.

On Saturday I spent most of the day with David and Keri, the soon-to-be newly-weds, at their basement suite. Well, it's David's suite for now, but Keri will move in after the wedding. It's a great suite with some odd quirks they'll always be able to laugh and reminisce about when they remember their first place (such as some randomly-placed posts in the dining area, an old-school bar, and a solitary drawer in the kitchen).

David made me and Keri a delicious lunch while we worked on putting together the centerpieces for the wedding. Keri has spent every weekend at our house since before they started dating so I loved hanging out with them again. It was fun to help out with wedding preparations, although the jet-lag kicked in partway through the afternoon and I started fading. Thanks, Keri, for poking me and making faces at me to keep me awake. I knew I could count on you.

David, the master-chef.

Keri making a face in the midst of twigs, vases, and the fun of being creative and making a mess.

I love being back in BC again. Hugs from my family, curling up with Suka on the couch (she's sprawled out alongside my leg as I type this blog entry), eating my favourite ice cream, seeing my church family, and just being a part of family life again. I had forgotten how amazing the views of the Rockies are from the highways here. People in the lower mainland of BC are so spoiled! Those views of snow-capped mountains are absolutely incredible.

I've had a few people ask me if I've picked up the English accent (no, I haven't) and many people are surprised that I'm just home for a short visit. It feels good to be home, but it's also a bit strange. I think the strangeness is a combination of merging back into life here while also knowing I still have a life on the other side of the world. My future is more tied to England than to Canada at the moment and it's an odd reality.