Autumn

This time of year seems to make me feel the most homesick, probably because autumn in Tennessee is by far my favorite time of year, and Tennessee is my favorite place to enjoy that first breath of crisp air and glimpse of leaves changing to orange and yellow and red. Plus there are so many great memories of the fall in Tennessee, like our amazing October wedding, football season, and of course my birthday! After a somewhat disappointing Calgary summer that seemed to segway right into a gray, wintery September, I was beginning to worry there would be nothing nice between spring and another winter.

But Ben and I just spent my birthday weekend in the Rockies and after all my complaining about Alberta's lack of a real autumn and leaves changing, I was happily proven wrong. Proven wrong by Alberta's stunning larch trees and a couple of gorgeous sunny days! Somehow we totally missed the larches last autumn, but they are scattered across the mountainsides and valleys, offering the most spectacular bright yellow leaves, which are a stunning contrast to the deep green pines, gray mountains and bright blue sky.

I feel vindicated in a way, like I have not completely missed out on what is, in my opinion, the best time of year. The Rockies continue to surprise me! Here are a few photos of our trip into the mountains, and the view of Calgary from our balcony - even Calgary has exploded into a fall paradise over the weekend, so I will soak it up while I can!

Eeny Meeny

There is so much to say about pregnancy. And yet to my surprise, I find vocalizing what I'm experiencing next to impossible!

Perhaps the problem is the schizophrenic range of emotions brought on by pregnancy - by the time I finally sit down to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard just doesn't have the same ring), I have moved to a totally different frame of mind than the one I intended to write about.

But I will do my best, because it is such an amazing experience that I feel my pregnancy deserves a shot at being memorialized in this little blog.

So where am I today? Today I feel joyous, bursting at the seams with anticipation and nervous energy and sheer happiness about Eeny Meeny (the nickname dubbed by my parents) growing bigger and stronger every day. Days like this - when the exhaustion subsides, aches and pains ease up, and minor irritations don't throw me into a sob-fest - are the days I cherish, when I am riding the high of my body's potent cocktail of hormones and emotions.

A pregnancy high makes you feel giddy and giggly, almost drunk. At the moment I simply can't believe my luck at making it to 29 weeks - almost the safe zone; and I am so excited to meet Eeny Meeny that I literally could explode. I have never been so excited about anything in my life. The next 11 or so weeks will fly by I'm sure, but at the same time they will feel so slow - I am dying to know who is in there, a mini Ben, all long and skinny and mellow, or maybe a little Jenn, stubborn and short!

I am not one to often use the term "blessing," but I truly do feel blessed and sometimes I think I take it for granted that very soon Ben and I will have a new little family member. We are so freaking lucky and life has been so good to us!!

Summer Fun

I feel like the blog this summer has been replete of mountaineering photos and tales of our travel adventures - and this blog IS supposed to be about Canada ... and adventures HAVE been had here this summer!! Western Canada's summer weather has, I must admit, been pretty disappointing this year. We have fallen victim to several major hail storms, lots of rain, cool weather and a general lack of sunshine compared to last summer. But Ben and I have managed to sneak in a few nice exploits!

As soon as the weather was warm enough in July, we packed up and headed a few hours south, to Waterton Lakes National Park, for a camping weekend. This has been on our "Canada list" for quite some time, so it was awesome to finally make it there! There were plenty of low-key hikes that I could still do at five months pregnant, we saw our very first grizzly bear (a mom with three cubs!), and were just in time for some amazing wildflowers. I also learned that as much as I love camping, this would be our last camping trip while I'm pregnant ... even a thick blow-up mattress layered with every sleeping mat and blanket we own (while poor Ben slept on the ground!) are no match for a pregnant woman's aching back and hips!! But nonetheless, we loved the trip and I think Bosco did too.

We had gorgeous weather all weekend, so were shocked to drive right into an extreme hail storm on our way home! It's hard to tell from this photo, but in the course of about ten minutes, there were suddenly three to four inches of hail on the highway.

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We have also snuck in a few barbeques with friends and walks in the park on nice weekends, and last weekend we decided at the last minute to hop in the car with Bosco and spend Saturday night at a cozy B&B in Canmore, a charming mountain town between Calgary and Banff. The weekend was drizzly and cool, but it was still a treat to escape the city and cozy up in the mountains, doing little other than eat, wander the trails around the city, and wile away our Sunday morning in a cafe, gazing out the windows at the mountains. You can see me here, beginning to finally look quite pregnant at 27 weeks!