Hello Nova Scotia Goodbye Nova Scotia

I've been feeling somewhat like I've been clogging up people's instagrams feeds, so I've decided to kick start my hopefully renewed blogging dealy with some more Halifax pictures! 

We were there for 12 days, which is the longest visit we've had since Christmas of 2010... Whoa. We were able to relax and meet up with friends, spend lazy days with family and take many walks. It was delightful. And since Mark's job doesn't start till Dec 7 (today!) we didn't have anything to worry about at all. It was a strange and wonderful sensation. Without any further ado, here are some more pictures from our trip. 

Reflections in the lake.

Mark's parent's sweet house. 

             

Enjoying TIBS and Mark's totally normal eating face. 

Bruce and Lyds got a sweet new lamp while we were there. 

Sending some business emails.

Exploring a sweet bookstore in Dartmouth.

Buying supplies.

Christmas Baking time! 

Panorama from the Citadel. 

We took the ferry over to Dartmouth, t'was beautiful and cold.

A cool cork.

Transit passes, nbd. 

Sometimes I'm scared Mark is getting sick of me taking picture of him at every turn. 

Halifax was so beautiful this day. 

The citadel from in the city.

The street Bruce and Lydia live on. 

We went on a road trip to the valley to visit both of Mark's grandmothers and also Audrey, a lady who has prayed for Mark his whole life. It was really great to meet her, she was so chatty and so very short. Dan and Peter did a few impromptu piano duets while we were there. 

We picked up Grammie Freeman and Mark leapt at the chance to ride in the trunk. What a weirdo. 

All cozied up.

We stopped in at the Price's, close family friends of the Freeman's. They were so cool! They had so many neat things. Including these old cars and tons of cameras. 

We went to Frenchy's in Bridgewater and I found these goods. 

This is future Atangard.

Mark got his hair cut and his beard trimmed by the sweet Lydia.

Eli rocking the iPad at the apple store. He was so serious about it. His little fingers kill me.

Mark and I went to a sweet craft market. Overwhelmed with the amount of amazing art and goods. 

This photo is to document how Eli likes to wander into every sketchy alley available. Gotta watch that kid.

Cold Sunday afternoon walks. 

Typ.

I'm offended at Mark's face.

No explanation.

Brothers!

This post has been sitting on my computer for over a week. Mark has now finished his first week of training. It went well & he loves it! We went on celebratory date last night and stayed out way too late. We are currently enjoying his first day off in our PJ's and it's snowing outside. Really looking forward to Chad and Em coming this weekend for a lil' visit. Also can't wait for Christmas, praying we can make coming home work out. I should post this before another week passes. Tata! 

First Etsy Purchase

Bonjour, bonjour!

Here are some pictures from lately.

Mark and I went out for Thai food upon his arrival home. It was fun. We talked about many things. After that, we went to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which. was. amazing. We sat in the theater after everyone left, just kind of leaning into one another. It will move you, oh yes it will.

Tessa bought a new jacket which she jokingly calls her sleeping bag, but really, it IS quite like a sleeping bag. A fashionable one though, come on guys! This was after we went to Lou's and shared nachos and a pitcher of beer with Sofe and Tiff and Lianne and sat on the very cold patio because inside was too loud for us. This was before we played an epic game of Dutch Blitz in the kitchen for Levi's birthday and drank Porn Stars and Blue Lagoons, and had a gay ol' time.

This, my friends, is my very first etsy purchase ever. I selected 20 different small spools of tape. For what purpose? WHO EVEN KNOWS YET? The possibilities are endless. Maybe for wrapping presents? I just love them, so don't question it, okay? On the same day, I also purchased an iPhone cover, which I CAN'T WAIT TO GET but it takes 3-5 weeks to be shipped. WTD. WTD forever. (what the deuce) This is the one I selected. Please don't go on the site and tell me which ones are better, because Society6 has about a billion cool ones and I got overwhelmed and I'm on a bit of an Aztec kick (and when I say Aztec kick, I mean I bought one shirt with an aztec pattern and that's all) so I just picked one! This one!

I find it to be subtle, but oh-so-aztecky all at once.

Mark leaves again for five days gross-early tomorrow morning and so tonight we will continue our somewhat new tradition of having a date night before he leaves. I like this tradition. I also like going on dates right when he gets back, to catch up and whatnot. I also like going on dates to avoid homework, to avoid a dinner I don't like at home, to talk about secret things, and for countless other reasons! Tonight we are playing cards and eating cake, a perfect combination.

I will now attempt to tackle some homework while I wait for him to get home from being a Youth Leader.

Ta-ta.

On Forgetfulness.

I forget things. All the time. I forget whole conversations. Meaningful conversations! I forget not only the words I heard, but the words I said, words I said and truly meant. I forget things I read in school. I can't remember even one idea from a textbook I read over the course of three months. I forget lectures. I do, however, remember reading this passage from 'Everything is Illuminated' years ago:

He lost so many slips of paper over time, and keys, pen, shirts, glasses, watches, silverware. He had lost a shoe, his favorite opal cufflinks (the Sloucher fringes of his sleeves bloomed unruly), three years away from Trachimbrod, millions of ideas he intended to write down (some of them wholly original, some of them deeply meaningful) his hair, his posture, his parents, two babies, a wife, a fortune in pocket change, more chances than could be counted.

- Jonathan Safran Foer

I forget my ideas (some of them wholly original, some of them deeply meaningful) which scares me so much. When Mark asks me if I thought more about what we talked about yesterday, I feel like it is a trick question, and more often than not it is met by me with 'Uhhhh...' followed by a hasty 'Remind me! Remind me!' or 'Give me a hint!' I feel like a dolt in these situations. I feel like my mom, who asks us the same questions a dozen times sometimes in one sitting (sometimes we tell her, sometimes we let it slide). I feel fear because Alzheimer's runs thick in my family's blood. Lately, in an effort to remember I have taken to writing things down more which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Often I flip through the pages and can barely remember writing what I did, or am struck with the repetition of my thoughts, as entries months apart are strikingly alike. But sometimes, my words bring back memories or serve as reminders. I also know that I process through writing, so even if it helps me just a little bit to work through conversations and ideas, I think it is worth while.

I will try and remember to keep it up.

I would like this internet space to becomes a memory bank of both pictures and words, helping me to share these things with others and also (and especially) with my ever-forgetful future self.

Here you go self, here are a few more pictures from Jamaica:

I remember walking behind these girls while we were in town, having that strange travel-induced feeling of astonishment that this was just a regular day in these school girls lives, and here I was, a stranger with a camera on vacation taking pictures of them.

The flora. The fauna. The forests. Jamaica was green.

Odettes Beauty Salon.

The sand was so soft! It created little clouds that I was very fascinated with. A couple times I covered my entire body in this sand mixture and scrubbed my skin just because it seemed like a really good idea.

Mark sitting like a king in the gift shop.

We turned our chairs to face the ocean. I love his sleepless state, I can't help but take pictures of him in it.

That is my arm Mark is holding. Trust me.

C'est tout!