Monday, September 9, 2013

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

I went to Regina this weekend to participate in the Queen City Marathon. It was an incredible experience. I can't really describe what it felt like to see the finish line surrounded by people cheering me on. And at the end was Christina waiting to give me a big hug.

I've since seen my official time which clocked in at 4:36 which is right around where I thought I would be (if I managed to finish).

Also, there's some photos of me running that you can see here.

In an effort to share this experience with others, but mostly to preoccupy my time so I wouldn't freak out, I decided to live-tweet the entire experience. If you read on you will see the storified version of the last few days. Enjoy!















































































Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Jasper, Alberta, Canada

I am lucky. My life has been extremely fulfilling so far. I've been surrounding by great family, friends and coworkers while being able to visit amazing places around this world. And yet with all of the amazing experiences I've had in my life, I now have a new one that tops them all.

Christina and I traveled to Jasper this past weekend to tour around and visit friends (or so she thought). After some prodding, she discovered that I had booked us a fancy hotel room but the remainder of the details were still only known by me.

Some history for you before the full story. 11:11 is a special time for us. We like to make wishes for the future whenever we notice the time is 11:11. Our first kiss was at 11:11. Everything I ever wished for in our relationship came from a wish at 11:11.

I had planned for our trip to Jasper to be the time I asked her to marry me. When we got there, I still hadn't fully decided on how I would ask her. I had a few ideas that I was from which I was trying to pick. I couldn't really decide on which one would be best, but I knew whatever it was it needed to happen at 11:11.

Saturday morning, I got up at 6am to do my training run (or so she thought). I did run, but it was really an excuse for me to think for an hour about what I was going say.

When I returned to the hotel, I knew what I wanted to say. And with the weather being better than I had expected I had figured out which one of my ideas would work best. I convinced Christina that we should go up the Tram to the top of The Whistlers mountain as soon as we could as the weather was supposed to turn around lunchtime. We skipped breakfast and made our way up. I was trying to make sure we made it up there in time for 11:11am. Before we went up the tram, with everything shaping up how I had hoped, I snuck off into the washroom to get the ring out of my bag and into position in my pocket.

At the top of the tram we stepped out onto the mountain and I mentioned that we should hike a bit higher for a better view of Jasper and the valley. After about 15 mins of hiking, we had reached a beautiful vantage point and thankfully it was about 11:05.

We sat there and enjoyed the view for a few minutes as I slyly checked my phone to see the time. Finally 11:11 came. I showed Christina the time and we both made a wish. I told her I loved her. I told her she made me so happy. We exchanged some words that neither of us can remember. Then I said what I had thought of while running that morning.

"You are my friend"
"You are my partner"
"You are my lover" (she even laughed)
[I got down on my knee] 
"And I hope you will be my wife. Will you marry me?"

She said yes, I and felt happiness like I never knew existed. I wish I could describe it.

I am so lucky.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

San Diego, California, United States of America

I'm writing this from the Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego. Today we toured Balboa Park, downtown, an aircraft carrier, Coranado, and Imperial Beach. Somewhere in that I walked in the Pacific Ocean. This is my life.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Rancho Mirage, California, United States of America (2)

Well it is the middle of the night and we have officially survived three days of Coachella. Quite the experience. We saw fanny packs, drugs, drinking, crazy wardrobes, nudity, unruliness, unsanitary washrooms, lung-coating dust, a guy in a purple suit, and so on.

Through all of that we ended up catching 31 bands including:
  • Jake Bugg
  • Stars
  • Alt-J
  • Passion Pit
  • Local Natives
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  • Purity Ring
  • Foals
  • Theophilus London
  • Wild Nothing
  • Danny Brown
  • Dropkick Murphy's
  • Ben Howard
  • Violent Femmes
  • Cafe Tacvba
  • Portugal, the Man
  • Hot Chip
  • Postal Service
  • The XX
  • Two Door Cinema Club
  • Janelle Monae
  • Phoenix
  • DIIV
  • The Gaslight Anthem
  • Grimes
  • The Lumineers
  • James Blake
  • Paul Oakenfold
  • Tame Impala
  • Vampire Weekend
  • Wu Tang Clan (who maybe shouldn't be messed with)
  • And the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Despite seeing all of these bands, we missed about at least another 100 in total and 40 or so that were on our wish list. But that's the life at a festival.

Anyways, I have a million videos on my camera that I will upload and post. In the interim, photos.

Tomorrow we are going for sushi in a different city. 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Rancho Mirage, California, United States of America

I write to you this morning from my temporary refuge from the incessant thumping of all kinds of music that is Coachella 2013, Weekend 2.

Yesterday was Day 1 of the festival and myself and my sister engulfed ourselves into as many things as we could. Admittedly, the first day of any festival should be more or less to get your bearings but given the lineup, it was my busiest day.

All together I ended up watching Jake Bugg, Stars, Alt-J, Passion Pit, Local Natives, Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Purity Ring and finally Foals. I have two videos that I'd like to share as they are of two of my favorite songs. Songs that you want to sing along to as they are performed, but so great that they take your breath away.

Alt-J - Breezeblocks


Foals - Spanish Sahara


We also ducked our heads into the Sahara Tent which featured DJs all day and some ridiculous lights. Not to mention, so truly loud and intense music. Here's a taste.



And finally, here are a couple of panoramas that I took on my phone.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Yet another year has come and gone. With that finality, I have been sparked to review the last year but going through my favorite photos and combining them into one easy to view gallery. Just like last year, I managed to get the total number of photos to an even  Top 100. I didn't take nearly as many photos this year and the previous two, but I think there are still some amazing shots I was able to capture. I hope you feel the same way. Enjoy!

Havana, Cuba

Another post, and another place where I'm currently not located. Christina and I made our maiden voyage to Cuba a few weeks ago. We stayed in Havana and spent most of our time exploring the city, visiting the beach or off in the country side. I took somewhere around 1600 photos during the entire trip. This link contains the top 300 and some photos. I promise I tried to narrow it down. Enjoy

New York City, New York, United States of America (2)

Alright, I'm not really in New York at the moment but I think I promised that I would post some photos of our trip there after we returned. Well, it's a different year now so I figured I would get around to that. Please click on this link for my favorite pictures from New York in September.