October 8 - When in Rome...

What a perfect way to start a Roman holiday - a gorgeous sunny day! We woke up feeling frustrated about not being able to check into our proper hotel but made the best of the tiny shower and hilariously small breakfast (cup of instant coffee, one croissant) but feeling the heat outside made up for it a little. We finally got to check into the right room and once here, we decided that there wasn’t an issue with the water at all since there are other people staying here, obviously had been last night too. We think the lady was just too lazy to walk us over here from where she lives. It’s less than a five minute walk away. Grrr. Anyway, we made it in and we’re much better off here.

We headed towards the Coliseum next and found it quite easily. Brandon’s sense of direction really is pretty amazing! The Forum is next to it and with the advice of websites and a guide book, we headed there to look for a combo ticket that would allow us to skip the line ups. There are so many people trying to sell tours and we tried really hard to avoid them, but were stopped by an accent that sounded normal - Scottish! The guy was from Glasgow, had been in Rome for about six months and was running a tour company with his friend from Ireland. We ended up agreeing to go with this company because it was a pretty good deal and not really knowing anything about Roman history, we figured it might be good to have someone tell us what we were looking at. We were told we’d start in the Forum then make our way into the Coliseum which is what I wanted because I thought we’d need the extra time there to explore on our own. When we joined the tour group though, we went the other way. The guide, who was local as all official guides have to be in Rome (and possess a degree in history or archaeology), lead us to the Coliseum and told us lots of information about it while we waited for the girl from the office to arrive with our tickets. Getting in was much more complicated that expected and the shear number of people there was unreal. It regularly sat 70,000 people and I’m sure the way they all got in was easier than the way it is now. But in we eventually got and we spent over an hour climbing up and wandering through the areas that are open to the public. There were also really good views from here of the square below, the Palatine Hill and some of the modern buildings that are built layer upon layer above ancient ruins.

The guide told us that unlike the movies portray, the gladiators and others who fought in the exhibitions in the Coliseum were performers; actors who went to school to train to fight. Slaves could choose to try their hand at fighting and if they survived their contracted term, they would be free men with money and fame. It’s worth noting however that only about 2% of the men who fought survived.

The next stop was the Palatine Hill, the choice neighbourhood of the emperors. There’s not much there today to suggest that this was where the richest and most important people lived. But at one time most of the entire area and even more down below was encompassed by Nero’s massive palace.

Down the hill on the other side we ventured into the Forum, the most important place in the centre of Ancient Rome. This is where everything happened. Government, markets, temples, and just plain gathering took place here. There are so many ruins it’s hard to really know what to make of it all. It’s good we took the tour otherwise it would not have meant much. One thing we learned here was the meaning behind the term basilica. It used to mean basically just a gathering place. But when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity these round places turned into places of worship. From then on all churches built in that style were known as basilicas and it just kind of stuck.

One of the most important things we learned while on the tour was about water. There are fountains all over Rome and they are all safe to drink from. Everyone just fills their bottles wherever there’s a running tap. It’s the biggest, most important monument the ancients left because the water is flowing from nearly 3000 year old springs.

The tour ended here and we left the Forum walking towards a massive white building. We approached it from the back so we didn’t really know what it was, only that there was a regimental museum inside. We wandered all over, inside and out, and even ended up in a church next door for a while. When we left and turned around to see the front of the building we found out just how grand it really was. I still don’t know what it’s called, but there’s a war memorial that it is constantly guarded by Italian soldiers and it’s apparently where Mussolini gave speeches to rile up the people.

We walked to the Pantheon next and rested there for a little while. We probably should’ve gotten a guide book or audio tour because I don’t really know what it is we were seeing, but it was fabulous none the less. Aside from the crowd this was a really cool place.

We found ourselves down a side street where we stopped for gelato for me and pizza for Brandon. It’s really quite amazing to just wander down all the narrow little alleys that you think are going to lead one place and end up taking you somewhere completely different. We never felt uncomfortable though and even though it wasn’t terribly clean, it wasn’t dirty either.

Next was Piazza Navona where we sat in front of a fountain for a while and soaked up some atmosphere. The whole square is filled with artists selling pictures and drawing caricatures and there are cafes lining both sides. It was very much how I imagined Italy to look and feel. Brandon was nearly falling asleep by this point and we were starving so we left in search of dinner, stopping for yet another cup of gelato on the way. We wanted to stay away from such tourist trap places in the squares and on the main streets because we didn’t want to spend a fortune on frozen or pre-made pasta. We found a place down a dim little street and had a really nice, romantic dinner before the long walk back to the hotel where we had showers to take off the sunscreen and sweat and basically fell into bed. It was a great first day.

October 7 - Another day and a half

Yesterday was another great day here in Amsterdam. It was grey, windy and rainy when we woke up but by the time we got to the city centre it was clear and sunny.

 

We started the day with pastries from the bakery again and ate them on our way to the tram. Our first destination was the Hermitage Museum but it took us a while to get there. Along the way we stopped for fries with mayo and people watched a bit on Damark, one of the busiest streets. We wandered through Dam Square, found some cough medicine and sunglasses for Brandon, and browsed through a tourist shop before making our way further along to the museum.

 

Because we’d bought our tickets the day before we were able to skip the line completely and walk right in saving us a solid two hours. The reason for going there is really because the van Gogh museum is closed for renovation and the largest and most famous paintings have been moved there. And they’re beautiful. It was really busy so it was hard to really appreciate all the paintings the way they deserve, but I feel privileged to have seen them. There were a few missing I’d loved to have seen, Starry Night and Café Terrace in particular, but some I’d never seen pretty much made up for that.

 

We stopped for a coffee and then went through the rest of the museum where we saw paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Degas. All of them amazing and beautiful.

 

We left there and headed back to the red light district to visit sex museum number two. This one wasn’t nearly as good as the first, but it did have a bicycle doing very naughty things to a mannequin girl which was rather funny. But we were really getting sick of seeing naked bodies and things made out of penises so we didn't spend too much time in the museum.

 

We’d kind of run out of ideas of what to do for not much money so we made a quick stop in at the Condomerie, a shop that sells every kind of prophylactic you can think of including novelty ones shaped like windmills and cows. We made our way back slowly to the tram and like the party animals we are, we went back to the hotel where we had dinner in our room, did some laundry in the sink and repacked our bags for checking out in the morning.

 

Sunday morning we kept with our theme of sleeping in and got everything sorted in our room before checking out at 11. The hotel stored our bags for us and we headed out into the city centre for the last time. We stopped at Westermarket again for breakfast at a pancake shop. We both had bacon and apple pancakes which were really, really good. Too small, but really good. We decided that we would shop for a few things to bring home so that’s how we spent about an hour wandering through some of the shops in Dam Square and back again through the red light district and then back up to Central Station. We stopped for a coffee there before getting back on the tram and heading back out the hotel.

 

Amsterdam was a great start to our vacation. It was comfortable, it was easy to get around in, people were mostly friendly and we felt safe everywhere we went. I didn't really know what to expect of the city, especially since it's reputation is mostly all about sex and drugs. But there's a huge art scene and it's so easy to just wander and spend time watching people and looking at the old buildings. The canals are beautiful and with something like 1200 bridges, there's always a photo waiting to be taken.

 

We bought tickets for the airport shuttle when we arrived and asked the front desk to arrange our pick up the night before. They were worried though that because we’d only given them 20 hours notice instead of 24 they might not be able to accommodate us, even though the driver on the way from the airport told us they only needed two hours notice. He was late, but our driver arrived in a Mercedes Benz sedan instead of the minibus we were expecting and even though he missed the exit for the airport, we arrived on time and in style.

 

The line up to check in and drop baggage was really long and by the time we were through we decided it best to go right through security and hope for food on the other side. There was some, but it just about cost more than the actual flights did and it was far from good. We had to wait for quite a while for them to announce our gate and when they did there was the requisite mad dash for the door that accompanies any discount airline flight with a rush seating policy. After making our way through two crazy lines, we were able to get seats together at the back of the very full plane which made me happy. The flight was about an hour and forty minutes long and even before we were on the ground we could feel the Roman warmth. 22 degrees at 9pm? Awesome! We got our back packs and quickly found our way to the train station where Brandon skipped the line by buying our tickets for the Leonardo da Vinci express to Termini Station and a little more than half an hour later we were in the centre of Rome.

 

Getting a little lost, we eventually found our way out of the station and to the condo complex where we were to check into our hotel. We were buzzed into a courtyard where eventually a girl came down in her slippers and pajamas (it was 11pm after all) only to tell us that there was a water issue at the other place where we were staying and that we’d be sleeping there, in another guest house for the night. Okay, a little annoying, but at least there was a bed for us. We got in, changed really quickly out of long sleeved shirts and went out for a quick dinner. It wasn’t very good but it wasn’t bad either and we were soon back in bed and quickly asleep, ready for the first full day in Rome to start!

October 6 - Amsterdam dag twee (day two)

**WARNING** This post contains details that may not be suitable for all readers. Your opinion of me might be changed if you continue to read!

 

We’re nearly to the end of our time in Amsterdam and already we’re both feeling so rested and we’re loving this vacation thing.

 

Yesterday we slept in and it felt great. We left the hotel just after Noon and stopped at the bakery for ham and cheese pastries and a little walnut cake that was really good. We headed into the centre of town in search of the place to buy discount tickets for the things we wanted to do. When we finally reached Central Station we stopped first to buy Starbucks and ten Euros later, we were outside and lost. It took us a little while but finally got onto what we thought was the correct street. A stop in at McDonald’s for some cheap lunch and we finally found the ticket shop and we got all of our entertainment sorted for the next two days.

 

Right next door was the Sexmuseum and oh what a place. The galleries are filled with all sorts of displays showing things you wouldn’t believe. Pornographic photos from the early 1900’s, statues, paintings, cartoons…all showing the world’s fixation on sex. At first is was all very, very giggle worthy and a little embarrassing. But by the time we were about half way through the museum, it started to get actually rather interesting. There were displays from various cultures including Ancient Greek, African and Asian and all of them had surprisingly similar themes; fertility featuring heavily in all of them. We took some rather hilarious photos and had a good laugh at everything.

 

We quickly made our way across the street just in time to hop onto our canal cruise. It was an hour long and was so much fun. With recorded commentary, we learned how the city grew up around the canals and how they were used by all levels of society. The closer you lived to the innermost canal, and therefore the centre of the city, the wealthier you were. The owners of the Dutch East India trading company would’ve lived and worked right in the centre of town along with many, many other incredibly rich merchants. At one point they could be expected to make the equivalent to 700,000 Euros per month.

 

The best part of the views on the canals are the facades of the houses themselves. They’re all tall, most of them are really skinny, and some of them angle out a bit at the top. That’s because everyone was quietly trying to outdo each other and from the street, a house that tips out a bit looks bigger. Some of them are tilting to one side or the other, something caused by rotting timber foundations under the canal waters. The locals call one specific group of these homes the dancing houses. It was also neat to see the hoist beams at the top of each of the houses along the canals. Because the stairwells are so narrow and steep, furniture for homes and large, heavy items that were stored in warehouses would have to be lifted to upper levels of buildings by rope and pulley. They still use them today which I think is pretty cool and very efficient.

 

We got off the cruise and made our first trek into the red light district. We very quickly were walking past ladies in their windows as they tapped on the glass and beckoned to men who showed any interest. They were, as you would expect in various states of undress, most of them in bras and panties or skimpy little bikinis. There really is something for everyone in terms of taste; every size, nationality, hair colour…we saw it all and it was only about 4pm. I had a really hard time at first, not knowing where to look and not wanting the girls to see that I was looking at them. But it shortly became sort of normal to peek into the windows as you came across them. As Brandon put it, they’re for sale. You can’t think of it as odd or awkward because they are the product and they are okay with that so it’s okay for the passerby to think that. Very odd.

 

We headed back to our hotel to change and get ready for dinner and the evening’s entertainment. We were lucky enough to get into a Japanese restaurant for their all you can eat dinner. It was pricey but totally worth it for the feast of sushi, noodles, dumplings, and all sorts of other things we ate. From there though we walked back into the red light district to Cassa Rosso for our show.

 

A live sex show. Now I know this sounds really strange and a little gross to some. But this is a city that has been known to be open minded for centuries. And these shows have become a regular and very popular occurrence in Amsterdam for men and women alike. They start at 7pm and run till 1am with acts changing out every fifteen minutes or so. When we walked in a woman was just finishing up her act, smoking a cigar from someplace other than her mouth. Second came a couple who engaged in some very choreographed sex with some crazy positions. There was a dominatrix who pulled a “volunteer” from the audience, a striptease, two women, a pole dancer who was amazing, another very acrobatic couple, and two audience participation acts in which people from a Contiki tour group were pulled up on stage and given all sorts of lovely tasks to perform. But as shocking as it all sounds, and as real as I know it all was, it all seemed really fake. None of the performers really looked like they were having any fun and one act in particular was really rough and was kind of disturbing. Once you’re in you can stay as long as you like but we left after a little more than an hour. I think it was worth the really expensive ticket, but I wouldn’t have to do it again.

 

We made our way back to the hotel after that, mostly because the trams stop running at 11:30 and a taxi back to the hotel would cost a fortune. But it was a very eye opening and interesting night!

October 5 - Homeless

We are officially homeless again - or well, we’re not, we have a house to move in to when we arrive back in Calgary. But all we own is once again on our backs.

 

The past week has been draining both physically and emotionally. There were work parties and band parties and then cleaning at an almost breakneck speed. But on Monday we finished everything up in the flat and then spent the rest of the day closing up shop in Edinburgh. We mailed two boxes home totaling just about 25kg and bought health insurance from the post office. Never had I thought you could spend over 200 Pounds in a post office! Then we bought Euros and some last minute stuff from the everything store on Easter Road before heading to the internet café to print and organize all of our travel documents. And then, the rest of the day was spent roaming. Brandon had to drop some stuff off where he worked so I had a cup of tea in my favourite coffee shop on the Royal Mile and then we wandered up to the castle, down to the Grassmarket, back up to Princes Street and we met Lachie for dinner at the Conan Doyle pub. Took pictures of things in the dark, tried to go to a movie but they’d all finished, and finally took a bus home to pack our back packs. It was a crazy busy day!

 

Tuesday dawned much too early but it had to come. We had bacon rolls and lattes from Greg’s and then did our walk through with Ed from the letting agency. He didn’t say anything about the spots on the walls or the chipped paint on the coffee table, but he did manage to find some dust that had settled over the week on the top of a picture frame. He commented on how much effort we’d put in though and gave us our full damage deposit back. We left just as we’d arrived, with just what we could carry.

 

We headed for Waverly station and jumped on a train to Dunkeld where Jesse picked us up for what would be an evening and morning of total relaxation. We played with Eccles the cat, made dinner in a proper sized kitchen, drank wine, played music and went for a muddy walk in the dark. But back into the city we had to go and when we arrived back at Waverly, we stored our back packs at the station and headed out for the last of our running around. Up to the Royal Mile for one more stop at The Clam Shell for chips, cheese and gravy, a quick stop in at Primark to buy me pajamas because apparently I’d forgotten to keep any for the trip, and then over to Lachie’s flat to pick up Brandon’s uniform pieces before returning to Waverly and hopping on a bus to Calvin and Kirsten’s flat. Pizza, visiting and a lot of laughs and we were in bed by 11 for our early alarm at 4:15.

 

We had a quick and easy check in at the airport, really smooth considering all the people in there and that it was 5:30am, and then had some breakfast before going through security. We didn’t wait too long and were on the not quite full plane with a seat between us in our row of three. I had held it all together the entire time - through cleaning and packing and closing out our life - but I bawled as the plane took off and I saw my last glimpse of the Forth bridges. I suddenly thought that we’d just begun living our life there. We’d just begun to forge relationships with all our friends there. But there’s a life ahead and relationships that we’ll return to so no need to be unhappy. We were soon half way through our hour long flight and we both read some of my new book until we were on the ground in Amsterdam.

 

It was raining. But not cold and we found our way through to our bags and then to the stop where the hotel shuttle would meet us. We were the first drop off and our hotel is kind of blah from the outside, but it’s roomy and clean and really quite nice. We’re about a half an hour’s ride into the city centre by tram and that’s fine by us. We’re in the middle of a residential area which feels a little odd, but there’s a bakery on the way to the tram stop and a grocery store for snacks too.

 

We couldn’t check into the hotel when we arrived so we stored our luggage and made our way to the Anne Frank House. The line was not too bad and aside from the German man and his grandson’s that kept pushing us and trying to get in front, it went rather smoothly. Inside, it was hard to understand exactly what we were seeing. The descriptions in the rooms were a little vague and most of them are totally empty, as requested by Otto Frank. But as we moved along with the crowd we were eventually behind the bookcase and up the stairs into the secret annex where eight people lived so cramped and silent. I had imagined the rooms smaller when I read the book but without furniture it was hard to picture what life was truly like for them. There were pictures that Anne had pasted on the wall still there and quotations from her diary were stenciled on the walls to emphasize events and feelings. Coming to a large room at the end of the museum Anne’s actual diaries were displayed in glass cases under low light so that they will be preserved. Her registration card, along with those of her family, were also on display and a short film of a transport of people being loaded up from Westerbork camp was being played. We visited that camp when we were on the trip with the Highlanders in 2010. It was a very somber place to visit but one that I’m so thankful we got to go.

 

Next we just kind of wandered about in the Westermarket area. We ate really expensive hotdogs on the canal side and wandered through tulip, delftware and cheese shops. We sampled 4 year old gouda and a number of other really good - and not so good - cheeses before we went back to wandering along the canal and finding a paddle boat rental company.

 

Now I should mention that I like to be in control. I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going to happen next or where I’m supposed to be going. It doesn’t always happen and lately I’m getting better at deferring to Brandon, but not always. I gave in and we got into our little boat with no instruction of how to properly steer it or where we should go. We started off okay but turns out they aren’t the easiest of boats to operate. We just could not stay in a straight line for more than about 2 feet at a time. We spent more time going around in circles and hitting the walls of the bridges than anything else. I was stressed and kept trying to pedal backwards when I should’ve just let Brandon tell me what to do…it was hilarious. If anyone was watching from above I’m sure we were quite the amusement! We didn’t get hit by any of the big canal boats so I guess that’s one accomplishment and eventually we did get back into the dock and now I can laugh. But oh what a disaster!

 

After that we were both pretty tired and Brandon was really not feeling well so we headed for the tram and home. We stopped in at the grocery store for some snacks and got comfy with a wee bed picnic. Eventually Brandon went down to the bar here in the hotel and got us some dinner but we were both asleep by 8:30. How crazy are we?

Hellos and goodbyes

The one year mark has come and past. On this day last year we had just arrived in Glasgow and spent a rather difficult day searching for bank accounts, national insurance numbers and cell phones. Rereading my post from that day brings back the overwhelming feelings I had of both frustration and hope.

 

We felt completely indestructible when we left Calgary that day a year ago. When we tearfully said goodbye to our families at the entrance to security in the airport, we looked at each other and said well, it’s you and me against the world now. And I have to say that we’ve done a pretty good job against this great big world.

 

Now on this blog I’ve kept everyone up to date with all the fun things and amazing places we’ve seen. It might seem like we’ve really just been on an extended vacation. And while this year has had elements of that, vacation is far, far from the reality that we’ve lived here. We had to start this life we’ve lived from the beginning. Everything that you take for granted back home like a bank account or a SIN number, those things that you got as you were growing up or your parents started for you, we had to do here all very quickly without any help. The first two banks we talked to basically told us no thanks, flat rental agencies were skeptical of us being foreign, the job centre people didn’t understand what it was we were doing trying to take jobs away from locals. And as much as this country speaks English, definitions, connotations and accents were far from easy to understand in the beginning.

 

My difficulty letting go of my identity as a Coast Paper employee lead to entirely too much time being unemployed. And even though I have had a job for the past ten months, that didn’t bring in nearly as much money as we’d hoped. We didn’t allow this to hold us back or keep us from doing the things that made us happy, but it definitely didn’t make it easy. Both of Brandon’s jobs have caused him so, so much stress and he’s been tired for an entire year. Physically and mentally he is exhausted. But he’s kept everything together and been an absolute rock this entire time.

 

Life here in Edinburgh has not been easy. But we have had a whole lot of fun. We’ve met some amazing people who have helped us through and given us so much. We were given some advice when we left Canada to get in a pipe band as soon as possible - that would ensure we had people. And that was really some of the best advice ever given. The friendships we made with the people in our respective bands (and a few that overlapped) have been essential to us. Without the girls in the tenor corps, I wouldn’t have had a social life. I wouldn’t have had people to text when I had exciting news, wouldn’t have someone to take me to the craft store, meet for lunch, go hike up a hill or sit in the pub with. Brandon wouldn’t have had someone to travel to practice with, go for cheeky MacDonald’s, attend games days and competitions, spend a week soaking up island life, or talk pipes with for hours on end. Saying goodbye to all of these people is going to be difficult. They’ve really made a difference in our lives that won’t ever be forgotten.

 

We’ve been so lucky to have entertained so many visitors in this year. The hellos at the airports and train stations were unforgettable. We’ve felt so loved and so missed this whole time and re-energized and re-excited to see the sights with each of our visitors, even though I could run my own tour company at this point! Each of my seven trips to Craigmillar Castle was worth it. I feel privileged to have introduced so many people to Scotland and to have shared my love of this magical place with them.

 

Our flat has been an adventure in itself. We’ve had to learn how to avoid dampness, to expect the hot water to take forever, how to bathe using an electric shower, heat an under insulated home so it doesn’t cost a fortune, how to cook without an oven, how to do laundry and get it dry when it’s almost always raining outside, and how to sleep in a seriously small bed. But it’s all taught us how to be comfortable with just what we actually need instead of all the things we want. And that the best way to keep warm in a cold, damp winter involves two people, a TV movie, a couch and a big cozy blanket!

 

We’ve lived life here. There are things we’re both going to miss, the very least of which is chips, cheese and gravy from The Clam Shell on the Royal Mile. We learned how to grocery shop when the shelves hold things very different from what we’re used to and the names are strange:

 

Courgette = Zucchini

Coriander = Cilantro

Aubergine = Eggplant

 

We say strange words and use inflections that are not Canadian at all. And we’ve learned how to live life without a car. Very little of what we’ve learned or come to love will be easy to do without.

 

This is our last week at 18 Elgin Terrace. We move out on Tuesday with just what we brought in - a backpack each. All of the extra bits and pieces that we acquired along the way are either back in Canada already, in a box ready to spend the next eight weeks in the care of the mail system, or in Ikea bags going to a friend who’s just setting up his new flat. And suddenly it feels like there’s not enough time. We’re being treated to some fun with work and pipe band friends this weekend and on Monday we’ll spend a few hours saying goodbye to the city that has given us so much and been such a character in so many of our stories.

 

Our memories of this year may fade. My ability to recall where every photo was taken may not last forever. But Edinburgh will never be far from our thoughts because this year has truly shaped who we now are. As individuals and as a couple. And I can truly say that we have lived here. We’ve experienced as much as we could and adapted ourselves as much as we could to a Scottish life.

 

~

 

But up next…vacation! Amsterdam, Rome, Ancona, and a Croatian cruise. And then, on October 21^st, that big Canadian flag on the wall in the customs hall in the Calgary airport will have never looked sweeter.

Handfast

Yesterday was a very important day. Not only did it mark the one year anniversary of our arrival in Great Britain, it was also the day that Brandon and I promised to marry each other in a Celtic handfasting ceremony.

 

First, a little background. For centuries, various groups of people and religions have used ceremonies that involved physically tying the couple's hands together as part of their marriage rites. I've read many, many stories explaining the background of this process, but the one I like the best stems from a time when priests would travel from village to village taking care of the religious needs of a very large area. Because it would often be a long time before a priest would be available to marry a couple, sometimes they would stand before their community and commit to live together as husband and wife for the time period of a year and a day. If the priest came by in that time, they'd be legally married and all would be well. If he didn't however, they could decide to either continue on as married or end the relationship and part ways. The tying of their hands together with a strip of cloth called a ban was symbolic of the joining of two lives and also of their commitment to each other.

 

Our good friends Jesse and Katie gave us the idea and the name of their wedding officiant, Scot, who tailors ceremonies to each couple he works with. He's a tradition keeper - a story teller. We placed a lot of trust in him and didn't actually meet or talk to him in person until we saw him at Craigmillar Park in our ceremony space yesterday. We didn't know what to expect the ceremony to be like, we didn't know what we were supposed to do or even wear. But what did happen was nothing short of perfect. We made promises to each other, exchanged small gifts, and created an experience that is truly unique and totally us.

 

I won't be able to describe the entire ceremony here, it was over much too quickly and I was so wrapped up in the moment that I'm actually having trouble remembering it all already. There is video! I'm so grateful for that. But a few highlights were Brandon promising to always provide me with potatoes, me promising to let him help with the housework, and Brandon lifting me up one handed for a grand celebratory kiss while our hands were still tied together. One moment I will never forget is how the wind picked up and blew hard through the tree in front of us as Scot called on the element of air to be a part of our ceremony. And then, as he called out fire, the clouds parted and the sun shone bright and hot. It felt like we were doing something powerful, something meaningful and perfect right in that moment.

 

But quite possibly the best part was Scot tying our hands together with the beautiful ban that Wendy helped me make. He had us close our eyes, focus on our own breath and heart beat and then change the focus to feel the other person's breath and heart beat fit in beside our own. Looking back on that today, I can't help but think that's really what being a partner to someone is all about. And how interesting that right from the beginning of our relationship I've said how perfectly Brandon fit into every empty little spot I had in my life. I feel like my spirit - or maybe it's the space I take up on the earth - is bigger and more important because he's beside me.

 

Brandon put it very well last night that he feels officially engaged now. And really, that's the perfect way to say it. We've really chosen each other and made it official that we will get married some day soon. Pictures to come!

Chop, chop, chop, chop, chopping!

I will never get tired of this TV commercial!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MspN-CBOTaw