An Island Wedding

Siquijor Island, Philippines
January 30th to February 11, 2015

Well, it seems like I was just at home for the holidays but just 4 weeks later I was on vacation again. This time it was back to the Philippines but this time it was for a big event....Debi and Scott's Wedding. We were getting in a few days before and would be there a few days after so lots of vacation time along with the nuptials. It would prove to be a fantastic trip with people travelling from Canada (including Mom, Dad and Gramma) and Australia.

The first night a number of us would meet in Manila before making the trip to Siquijor Island the next day. No running through the airport and hopping into a cab trying barely make my flight in time (see my last Philippines post if you need a reminder). This worked out much better. I'm not going to post too many pictures of the wedding itself (Debi has the best ones).....well actually none but here are a bunch for the days surrounding the big event. It was a very enjoyable 10 days.....with a wedding in the middle.

Ahh the business class life......one of the perks of working in Saudi that I really.....really enjoyed. Made the long flights to everywhere much more tolerable.

The happy couple.

Debi and Deon......the best man.

We had to take a boat to Siquijor Island. This is how we were met when we hit land.

Walking into the resort. Very nice first impression.

The view from my room. Yeah.....it was a little rough.

Taste testing some drinks. Needed to find something for the wedding....or just needed to enjoy some fruity drinks.

This one was good.

Wedding rehearsal time.....Yeah we're pretty gangsta. I was a good maid of honour.

Lots of time to relax on the beach. It was sunnier than it looks in this photo.

Took a little road trip on the island. Siquijor is not a very big island so easy to explore in a day. Here we are at the fish pond.

Yes they are eating all the dead flesh off my feet.

Another one of our island stops.

Swimming at the waterfalls.

Hiking back up out of the waterfalls.

The beach at the resort. It was a really nice place.

Late night beach walking.

Bachelorette night. Pretty sure she thought she was getting out of this but she did not.  I think we took it pretty easy on her. 

The wedding shoes.....it was on the beach after all.

The dresses.....well mine and Debi's.

Off to take some pictures after the ceremony on the beach. Everyone in a great mood.

Some of the wonderful staff that not only took care of us over the 10 days we were at the resort but on this night made sure all the wedding guests were watered and fed. Can't say enough good things about them.

You know....just hanging out in a rooftop hot tub at a rooftop wedding. It's what you do. (That's Stef and Deon).

There was a little diving as well. Hello fishes.

Not sure if they are smiling or growling at me......Do fish growl? I think these ones did.

Scott and I. Scott joined me for one dive.....I got a few more in as I did not have the same wedding commitments that he did.

Turtles. No need to dive to see these guys. Just needed a snorkel.

A little swim with a pretty big turtle.

Mom and Debi with a big lazy turtle.....just eating away. Not sure he even knows we are there.

Post-wedding road-trip to the butterfly conservatory. 

Not a butterfly....yet.

A little night-time entertainment.

Evening swims.....for some of us anyways.

No shortage of beautiful sunsets.

Jumping in to end a wonderful trip.

Eventually I had to go back to Saudi and other guests made their way back home. Mom, Dad, Gramma, Debi and Scott had another week.....although they moved to a different resort.

Not much more to say about how wonderful this trip was.....hopefully the pictures speak for themselves.

Julie

Home for the Holidays

Milton, Ontario, Canada
Christmas, 2014

After all the fun I had in the summer, I decided to take a couple weeks and head home to Canada for the holidays. I did not have a lot of time (only 10 days....more vacations to come in 2015) so had to choose wisely. Milton was the obvious stop so I could spend Christmas with Olivia (and Steve and Heather too). This trip would not be all fun and games however because I was in the middle of a course, and with the way my courses are set-up there is no way to take a break....not even for Christmas. That meant homework had to be done while I was there. I tried to get a lot of the work done before I left but there was more than a lot that could not (and simply did not) get done.

It had been a long time since we had a little one for Christmas.....we all probably went a little overboard with presents for Olivia but it was most certainly worth it to be there and see how excited she was Christmas morning. I am sure by now we have all seen (better pictures) but here are a few anyway.

The tree looked beautiful as usual.....lots of room for all of Olivia's presents.

Stockings for everyone as well.

Even my stocking made its way from Vernon to Milton in time for Christmas Morning.

Santa brought lots of presents.

Olivia's new kitchen from Santa. She was very, very excited.

Looks just like the real thing. So much more real than anything I had as a kid.

Opening more presents from Santa. Pretty sure there were so many presents that we had to take a break.

Not gonna lie....spent some time on the couch looking like this. Between the jet-lag and trying to do homework at night, I was pretty tired.

Olivia enjoying some turkey.....just a little leg.

Of course it's a Police Car.

More Boxing Day shopping. Steve was looking for something specific so Olivia and I just hung out in the store.

Olivia playing in her tent.....also a Christmas gift. Not sure this is how a tent works....but she seems happy so it's OK. 

Playing with a few more Christmas gifts. She certainly did have a pretty good haul. So much to play with.

Did make some time to head outside too.

And back to the kitchen. The new kitchen location. Got a lot of sunshine and a lot of use.

More time outside to play. No snow but a little bit cold. I was not enjoying this cold.

Eventually I had to leave Milton and I headed to Calgary for a few days. I had the opportunity to catch up with a few friends but mostly it was a quiet and relaxing couple of days. Apparently so relaxing that I did not take many pictures until I was at the airport heading back to Riyadh.

The view of my friend's backyard. Just a little bit of snow in Calgary. But super cold so mostly enjoyed the view from here.

More snow at the airport as I was getting ready to leave. Probably picked a good time to head back to the warm(er) weather in Saudi.

So that one green not delayed or on-time flight.......my flight......actually early.

So a really quick trip back and as always I did not get to see too many people and I spent much of the trip doing homework and feeling jet-lagged......but totally worth it to spend Christmas morning with Olivia.

And that brings 2014 to an end. Bring on 2015......which turned out to be a very interesting year.

Julie