geeksville... and proud...

See my other posts about our trip to Vancouver and Whistler here.

On our final day in Vancouver, we had a little extra time to kill, so in true geek fashion we headed to the local botanical gardens.  If you can't handle nerdiness, hit your escape key now (do people still use escape keys?)  If you want to see gorgeous plant life, and colours you couldn't make up in your wildest imagination - then hang in there.

 To add to the geek theme, we wore matching jackets.  Die hard geeks.

Heading into spring, all the flowers were in bloom, and there was every colour imaginable (and more.)

I felt like I appreciated the imagination and creativity of a God who wants us to enjoy life!

I revelled in the deliciousness that was around me...  (romantic gag)

I stopped a while to smell the... uh... red ones.

Hope you enjoyed this journey into dweebsville with me.

Thus ends the trilogy that was our trip to Canada - country of awesomeness.


* Originally written for www.kendylsplace.com

[technology...]

Dear future techological me,

I know it may seem 'olden days' to you, but smart phones are currently the 'in thing'.  We don't have communication devices implanted in our brains yet so we have to make do with carrying something around.  

And this week, mine broke.

The only picture I have of technology.  We love it, but we don't photograph it.  Weird.

I never realised how much I used it (or maybe I was in denial) until I didn't have one anymore.  My battery went funny (so technical) and the phone wouldn't charge.  I had to use my housemates old little phone - it has a black and white screen and doesn't even take photos...  I had no contacts, no way of finding out how many calories in an all day breakfast panini, no way to tell how long my bus would be, or whether the tube was even running.  What a saddo.

Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't be without a smart phone now - I don't know how people do it without them.  Paper maps?  Books?  Asking for directions?  Fooey.

What a sad and tragic life I live, when all my comings and goings, my communication with friends and family are all entwined into a rectangular device which holds my life in the palm of its... well, whatever they have instead of hands... gigabytes?  For that one day I actually felt lost.  I didn't know what to do with my hands.  I brought a magazine so I would have something to do on the bus on my way home.

So future technological me, when they try to implant something into your brain, remember this lesson. Life is still for living.  Technology is meant to help us make our lives easier and free-er, not live it for us.  Put down your phone (or power off your in-brain communication device) and have a sit down dinner with your family.  Use a paper map.  Listen to the radio.  Read a real book.  Smile at a stranger.  Be present.  

Love, awkard limbs when something isn't in my hand me.

when it snows...

If I thought Vancouver was amazing, and beautiful - I was doubly impressed with Whistler.  One of the best places I've been, ever.  I got to spend my 29th birthday there, by myself looking around the town and appreciating every part of it.  

Come with me through your computer screen...

Whistler was the home of the winter olympics in 2010.  There are some super cool structures left over, not to mention cute cafes and shops.

We headed up the mountain for a spot of snow...

It snowed while we were up there - see the shape of the snowflake on my arm?  It looks like a real snowflake shape.  Cool beans.

(Feel free to avoid looking at my frodo fingers.)

Me and My Guy looking like total tourists in amongst all the die hard skiing fans on the last weekend of ski season.

I got trapped under the gate on my way up the hill...  You should really stay clear to avoid injury...

Farewell, sweet Whistler.  It was fun while it lasted.

See you again soon.

*Originally written for www.kendylsplace.com

there are some places...

Oh Canada.

Canada is quite similar to New Zealand, so going there felt strangely familiar somehow.  My Guy and I went for a five day trip, to Vancouver and Whistler.  And it was cool.  So cool.

I think I'll do a three part series - a trilogy of sorts.

Part one : Vancouver city.

We were in Vancouver for a day, then travelled up to Whistler for three days, and back to Vancouver for the final day.  It rained the whole time we were in Vancouver - I was a little nervous to take the real camera out, so it's iphone pics (not my best work) mixed with real ones.

Airports are always so cool to me...  I love people watching and the thrill of going somewhere new.

 Flying, on the other hand, is less awesome every time I do it.

 Lost luggage (for a while) - also not cool at all.

Next morning I do some planning.  My Guy is at a training day and I have some sights to see! 

 Such as...  

  Granville Island markets for awesome sights (and purchases)...

 Including places to charge up your electric vehicle...

 And grape flavoured apples (why, oh why?!).

After some lunch and a look around, I headed back on the aquabus to the mainland. 

I walked back in the rain (with my new umbrella), along pretty streets lined with pink flowers.

And my favourite flower - the tulip.

Once we'd been to Whistler (post on that to come...), we drove this beast back to Vancouver - on the wrong side of the road.  Well, we drove on the right side but it was the wrong side.  Get it?  Sweet crumbs alive, I must have looked like a child driving this thing.

 We stopped off along the way for some sights and history lessons.

(This photo is probably wildly inappropriate, culturally speaking.)

There is some of the most amazing, peaceful scenery in Canada....  Just breathtaking.

Also Vancouver cityscapes.

Vancouver delivered, oh yes it did.

Stay tuned for Part two : Whistler!

*  Originally written for www.kendylsplace.com

dear future readers...

Dear future readers,

Thanks for coming with me to my new spot.  I hope you enjoy reading letters I will be writing to my future self - a preservation of my memories and experiences.  A journal of sorts.  I brought over some of the features of my old spot, that I intend on continuing here..

Thanks for joining me!

Stacey.

(*formerly kendylsplace)

things you didn't know you wished you knew...

Monday memorandum with a difference.

This life is a journey, and as part of that we have to know ourselves, and be true to our real person.  In keeping with that theme, here are some things you always didn't know you wished you knew about me.  Well folks, no more wishing...

: :   I hate having long fingernails.  As soon as they get close to the end of my fingers, I need to cut them.  Heaven forbid they would ever clickety clack on my keyboard or cellphone.

: :  I love red.  Red anything - clothes, food, house colours.  Red eyeshadow...  Just kidding - yikes.   Red, red, red.

: :  I feel like I have enough friends in my life.  Sad one huh?  I used to be so social, but as I get older I just appreciate the ones I have and feel like I want to work on nurturing them.  Quality over quantity.  Am I awful?

: :  In addition to that, I used to be very compassionate, and feel others pain deeply.  I've become cynical and less emotional over time, and it affects my nursing career.  I don't know if it's just part of life, or something I can (and should) change.

: :  I love food, but am reluctant to try new things.  I want to broaden my foodie horizons, but find myself sticking with the same old things.  I love greek and mediterranean food.

: :  Lately I find myself obsessed with birth, birth stories, maternity shows and I cry every time.  I've been thinking about retraining later on as a midwife.  And no, I'm not clucky.

: :  I don't drink coffee or tea.  I know, I know - blasphemous, I'm missing out, blah blah.  My Guy drinks coffee like it's going out of fashion but I just can't like it.  I like the smell, but hot drinks in general just creep me out a bit.  I like a hot chocolate, but that's only occasionally and not just any old one.

: :  I'm an organised person, and I need to learn to balance that with an ability to be relaxed when things don't go according to plan.  I've yet to discover that ability.  I hate that I'm not down to earth and calm about things.

: :  My sense of humour is very dry, and often gets me in trouble.  I make jokes about inappropriate things sometimes mostly (I especially think poo stories are funny) and with a straight face as well, so people often don't realise I'm joking.   

: :  There are a lot of things I don't like about myself but I'm okay with that, and I just try to see them as growing opportunities - things I can work on and change.  I guess most people feel that way, and like I said - life is a fabulous journey.

What things do I wish I knew about you?