A dozen roses from Tim

Wow! Today I received a delivery of a dozen roses from Tim. It was such a huge surprise and I am overwhelmed and feeling so special! Now I just need to concentrate to study for this exam...but not sure if I can. So blown away right now! He he.

And Tim, if you're reading this (which I know you are!)...thanks again! They are beautiful! You're amazing.

Trip to New York

Hi everyone,

Well...thanksgiving came and went...will have to put some pics on the next post (perhaps) due to a few technical difficulties. Was a super great weekend cruising to Kelowna (5 hours) with Sarah and back on the bus. Three thanksgiving dinners in fact. (Sat, Sun, Mon) with different friends/families. That's a lot of pumpkin pie. You gotta love it.

Last night I stayed at a pretty ritzy hotel downtown...in fact it was where the Queen stayed during her visit. Was staying with some friends who were attending a Cardio Conference of about 3,500 Cardio delegates/nurses/doctors/whatnot from around Canada. It was super fun as we were literally seconds away from the hub of it all happening - shops, cafes, art gallery, anything really. And so much fun living it up. Went to a halloween party too...interesting indeed...but the free food/fruit was delicious. :). There was even a movie being shot outside the doors of the hotel this morning...The pics attached look like I was in NY...but actually they were prop taxis, buses and dog walkers to give the impression of being in Central Park (look closely!!!). Fun, fun, fun.

And that's enough fun for now...because there's an evidence exam coming up and so a major crash course and cramming to complete before then! Am doing a group presentation tomorrow on child soldiers...the fun part about that is I get to wear my suit. :).

Vircom...are you still out there? Haven't heard from you guys for awhile...must be far too busy working, eh? (Yeah right!). Lovely to see all the support we've been gathering for Miranda's friend. Perhaps she should consider starting up her own blog! Nah, great to hear from everyone (of course!) and hope all is good in your hood - wherever that may be. Take care, Sonya

October!

Hi everyone...

Wow. It's October already. As Tim informs me, there are only 90-something days before I will be returning home. Woah! Not long now...but oh so much work to do before then...and oh so little motivation! Usual school work mentalities! Have been having a fine time in Vancouver - dining with friends and attending classes with great regularity. In some ways life isn't as 'exciting' as it has been compared with the recent weeks of travelling around North America. Yet life has been greatly fulfilling as I spend quality time with friends as well as learning a lot about the world and current issues in my lectures. Feel less like a tourist everyday and hence, less reason to pull out my camera...but still seeing beauty everyday. I especially feel like part of the city when I catch the bus every morning and afternoon to Uni along with half of the rest of the city. Lots of interesting faces to look at and conversations to eavesdrop on. So yeah, life is good in the hood. Ticking along at a rapid pace. Delving into the deeper issues of judicial canings in Singapore, first-degree sentencing in Canada, the one-child policy in China, the history of Vietnam and the continental shelf cases of Britain and Iceland.

A few weekends ago went to Vancouver Island to the city of Victoria - which is where Leah's sister lives. An absolutely beautiful place (as per usual in these parts!) The pics are of me and Shena hugging the totem pole, then me with the parliament buildings in the back as well as Leah and I in front of the Empress (famous hotel). And the guy was this spray paint artist who made the most amazing paintings using only spray paint, lids, cardboard scraps, rags etc. It was hard to capture the talent...but it was very impressive. You can see the delight on the Amish tourist faces in the background in one of the pics.

This weekend is thanksgiving. What am I thankful for? All of my friends and family thoughout the world - that probably includes you (!) unless you're some random looking at my blog (hope not!). The opportunities I have every day. Everything I have - material and otherwise - peace, joy, love. Okay, starting to sound like Christmas now!!! How about you?

Son