More Majestic Mountains

Today I wanted to share some of the photos I took during our trip to Jasper. This is by no means the whole lot of them, but enough that you get the amazing sense of awe and beauty that surrounded us during our stay.

The elk were abundant in the Park, and I was able to walk through a herd, getting as close as 3 ft to one as it grazed!

This beautiful scene takes in Lake Beauvert, and you can see where it gets the name "Pretty Green" from.

The air was so clear and clean, it felt like we were in a completely different world.

This old stump on the lake's edge was so interesting, I took several shots of it.

This photo is framed through the hole in the stump to view the Lodge across the lake.

The Athabasca River - before the spring melt. And this photo isn't mine! Matt took this one and managed to capture the wonderful play of the sunlight on the lens, which makes this shot simply joyous.

Gorgeous Lake Annette

This stream runs from Lake Edith to Lake Annette, and generated the most current we saw in any of the lakes.

The craggy top of this ridge was crystal clear to pick out against the true blue sky.

This bluff was the first and last peak we saw entering and leaving Jasper National Park. Its memorable face looked almost manmade.

 I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. I cannot wait to visit the area again - hopefully next time I can get some more wildlife to pose for me.

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Week in Review: Mountain High

This week's review is so full of fun things, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, Matt came home! He arrived home from Wainwright on Monday afternoon, and I went to pick him up at the base. It is so nice to have him here. I told him that we needed to make a hologram of him that says key phrases so that when he leaves it will still feel like he's here. Things like, "Good morning princess", and "Damn cats!" just so I don't miss him so much.

Friday we went to the Edmonton Public Library book sale and scored some excellent reads for super cheap. Thanks EPL! We had dinner at the Sherlock Holmes pub (because it is so good), and followed that with Iron Man 3. The movie is an excellent end to the series, but if you don't need to see it in 3D, don't bother. It loses nothing in the original 2D format.

Bighorn Sheep are just as cute as farm sheep!

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day! We went to our local comic shop and spent a couple hours taking it all in (and getting free stuff). Matt also picked up an air canister for his paintball gun. He is now completely outfitted to go shoot colourful pellets at other men next weekend. We had a quiet night in, some avocado chicken quesadillas, and Matty played some video games.

Sunday we loaded up the car and headed to Jasper! This trip was a bucket list item for both Matt and I. We couldn't have asked for better weather for the drive. It was just beautiful. I didn't realize this, but the town of Jasper is actually smack in the middle of the Jasper National Park, which explained why we had to stop dead on the highway for a super cute roadblock. Once we entered the park itself, the attendant at the gate gave us a helpful guide to spotting wildlife, and maps of the town and park highlights. I began using the list at once to help identify all the animals we saw, and I got to check off Bighorn Sheep right away. Check!

Our stay was fantastic. We were treated to gorgeous scenery coupled with fantastic weather. We saw caribou, elk, and bald eagles as well as the sheep. The town of Jasper is cute and unhurried, with all the amenities one could think of. We took in the shores of 3 different lakes: Lake Edith, Lake Annette, and Beauvert Lake. We got to wonder at the peaks of Mt. Aeolus, Whitecap Mountain, Sirdar Mountain, and the Whistlers in the distance. I would love to go back in the late summer and enjoy the Miette Hot Springs. The Athabasca River was running low, but even just overnight we could see the difference as the mountain run-off began to pick up speed. I felt like I was walking around in a postcard, or an advertisement for Tourism Canada.


Map from PlanetWare.com

We were sad to leave it behind, but we left Jasper yesterday afternoon and came home to the kitties, who were not sad at all to see us. When I booked the trip, I meant it to be a complete getaway from everything - the army, my ongoing struggles, even the world at large. And it was. It was an idyllic two days of peace and relaxation, of no worries and no problems, of stepping outside of it all and just living in the moment. I felt renewed. Getting close to our beautiful world was exactly what we needed. We can't wait to head back.

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The Bucket List

Wednesday's blog posts are typically different from the other two, in that I very seldom talk about myself - it's more of an opportunity to share with you things that I find fun/amusing/inspiring, etc. I unofficially call them "Wednesday Whimsies" when I plan my posts. It's unlikely this will ever change.

This week I'd like to share with you my Bucket List. Everyone has one, even if you don't really think about it fairly often. I didn't think much of it until I met Matt, and then suddenly, everything started to matter. I realized that, when we fell in love, I had somehow managed to cross an item off of the List without my realizing.

Yes, my "knight in shining armour[ed vehicles]" was not only on the list, it was in the Top 3. Then, along the way through our first few months together, I discovered there were more items on the List that I hadn't even realized were included. Things like having a ring on my finger that meant I was taken (not an engagement ring, just some sort of promise ring). Or having two moms (don't get me wrong: mine is fantastic, but two means that I have double the Mom-itude).

It is nearly 2 years since I moved in with the love of my life and began our epic journey together. Here are some more things I've crossed off the list in that time:

• Putting my feet down in every province in Canada (was only at 2, but have upped the count to 5)
• Riding in the ambulance with the lights on (which is secretly on everyone's list but no one wants it to be because of them)
• Private jet ride (see disclaimer above)
• Box seats at Spruce Meadows, and the subsequent
• Rubbing elbows with the insanely oil rich and other celebrities
• Box seats at a professional sports game (which was NHL), and the subsequent
• Being on international television
• Standing on Remembrance Day beside a soldier and swelling with pride because of their service
• Getting married!

Sure, there is a lot more on the List that I haven't done, but if it wasn't for Matt, good or bad, I wouldn't have experienced any of these things. In all honesty, I didn't really start living my life until he came into it. And now that he's here, the List has changed. It's now full of things I want us to do together instead of things I wished I could do alone. Things like:

• Go to Scotland
• Visit L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland
• Take the train through the Rockies
• Go to Disneyland in California
• Attend a music festival
• Go whale-watching
• Drink wine in France...

Et cetera. I'm so excited to check some of these off the List, and even if I don't, you know what I've learned? I've learned that it doesn't matter because as long as we are doing something together, it's a perfectly acceptable addition to the List.

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