I am loving summertime. Here in The 'Peg, we had such a ridiculously long winter. Even partway into May we didn't have any greenery. And then BAM, we got a weekend full of rain and BOOM, green everywhere (or at least that's how it felt). It makes me so happy to look around and see the green trees and grass and all the lovely flowers.

I am looking forward to summer. I have so much planned that I can't wait to share. I have a summertime personal "to-do" list to break up my not-so-fun work to-do list.

Here's to 4 more days of classes and many wonderful long, lazy days of summer!

Tomorrow starts the new school year. We're starting off the year easy with an inservice, so it's not too bad, but it's still going to be a start.

It's been an awesome summer full of ultimate, adventures with my brother and dad, wedding stuff, and general fun. It was a great rest and I'm excited to go back!

As previously mentioned, here are the very few pictures that I took at ultimate frisbee!

(L-R, Top)
(1.) Lined up, waiting for the pull. (2.) Luke has an amazing vertical. Here's a poor image but I thought it was kind of cool. He looks a lot less graceful than he usually looks. (3.) My bro (in the corner) and Guida (in the foreground). (4.) The team (Kristin, Dennis, Joel, and Shan along with the other team). (4.) Luke, ready to pass off the disc after his catch from 2. (5.) Dennis, running for the disc. (6.) Jamie, doing some terrific defence with Kristin in the background.

Madeleine, Gennie, and I went on an adventure through the Exchange. It was super hot and super sunny so in my books it means it was super fun.

From left to right, top:

(1.) Lunch at Peasant Cookery was fantastic; I can't wait to take Shoes there! (2.) Gennie trying to figure out what to eat. Also, there is a lot of chicken-type "stuff" all over. I wish it would have been appropriate just to walk around taking pictures of everything. (3.) At one point we got really thirsty so we made a stop at Don Pedro's for adult beverages. (4.) There are so many fun colours in the exchange. I loved this blue building. (5.) Artwork is everywhere in the Exchange. (6.) Gennie with her adult beverage. (7.) We also made a stop at Cake-ology. So cute and sweet! (8.) We went to a shop called Rhymes with Orange which is adorable. I found vintage Pyrex (one of my absolute loves) and I bought this beautiful casserole dish. I will be going again!

This past weekend was the ultimate frisbee championship weekend. It was a lot of fun but very tiring, particularly on Saturday. It also marked the end of another season of ultimate (and therefore another summer). It's been an excellent season and I'm very happy how it went. Both of my regular team played excellent considering the conditions (sunny but windy). My Wednesday team tied for third (weird set-up) and my Tuesday team got fourth in a very hard fought bronze place game.

I have a few pictures that I will put up but I'm either playing or concentrating on the play that I never get pictures (or good ones). A teammate from my Wednesday team did get pictures and has posted them up on Flickr. And the great thing...I'm actually in the pictures (never happens, haha!)

My dad, brother, and I went and did the Hunt Lake Trail. It's a 5.5hr walk through the beginnings of the Canadian Shield. It was lots of fun but very tiring.

From top, left to right
1.) Hunt Lake!
2.) My dad at a rest stop
3.) Matthew, checking out the scenery.
4.) The beginning of our hike
5.) Looking out at the lake
6.) I remember coming out the first time when I was 16 and Matthew was 13. I was so amazed that in Manitoba we had these large rock faces. It seemed like I was in another land. Crazy, huh?
7.) Always make sure you follow the little blue signs. We would go on a path that seemed like the path and then a few minutes later someone would say, "I don't think this is right..." And everyone else would look up (because you've spent all of your time looking down to make sure you don't trip on some rocks or roots) and then we would have to go back to the original spot or until we spotted a sign.

It was Shoes' birthday last week and yesterday (Saturday), a bunch of us went out to celebrate. We went to Famous Dave's (we only waited 50 minutes!) and had a blast eating ribs, drinking beers (or root beer floats!) and then afterwards watching Boondock Saints and drinking more beers.

Shoes looked like he had a great time, so that makes me happy. He deserves to have a day just for him

A giant root beer float that Matthew Urban had. That goblet could kill people.

My cousins had the very hot barbeque sauce on their burgers. They had a rough time.

Happy Birthday, Shoes!

Shoes and I went on a burger adventure yesterday. I have just been hankering a hamburger. A nice, juicy burger with chili and mayo... We tried to go to Red Top but apparently they close at 2 on Sundays. We then headed over to VJs which is literally a hole in the wall. You know that it's going to be a good burger when it comes in foil and you can't fully take it out otherwise it will fall apart! It was a lot of fun.

I enjoy these days where I get to go out on dates with Shoes. It's fun and it truly is what I imagined my grown up life would be like.

Smokie's, a photo by edgeandvertex on Flickr.

My dad, brother, and I went for lunch at this awesome poutine place. I love summer Thursday lunch days with my dad and bro!

It's August 1. That means summer is almost over soon and it's back to work in 17 days (well... going in for periods of time, I mean). I should be working now. In fact, I will be right after this post. I am going to go to Starbucks to do some work (the best way to start up again). I took some pictures at the beginning of the summer when Matt and I went for ice cream and I thought I would post them, just to remind me that, one, the summer isn't over and two, even if I'm working again, it's been an awesome summer.

*Edit: How spoiled do I sound?! "Oh, boo hoo, I have to work again..."  Yeesh! I guess that's what being a teacher is all about!