January’s Reasons to be Grateful!

1. Grateful for arriving home from our DREAM vacation on the last day of 2010 to THIS view of the 2011 New Year’s Eve Fireworks Spectacular...from our living room!! I don’t think that the view gets any better than this!

 2. Grateful for keeping high and dry during the devastating Brisbane Floods and for still being able to purchase beautiful flowers, even when no groceries were left at the store.  

 
3. Grateful for MUCH needed haircuts!

                 
 And for lazy Sundays in our pool!      

 

4. Grateful for an abundance of fine wine and for being able to share it with wonderful company, when my parents arrived to visit Jan 26^th.

6. Grateful for smiles and wine that sparkle!! And for Happy Engagement celebrations at Restaurant Manx!!

Here's to a February that is just as Fabulous!

xoxo Love Tegs

Higher Ground

It’s hard to know where to begin with the story of the floods in South East Queensland, but i guess after a month of straight rain, all of the accumulated water eventually came thrashing down the Brisbane River at alarming speed and volumes. On the evening of Monday, January 10^th a town west of the city, Toowoomba, was hit with a massive flash flood that took the entire community by shock. Cars were washed right off the roads as a wall of water took out the main roadways. People clung on to trees for dear life; it was complete devastation as no one predicted this size of storm to hit the region. On Tuesday, all the water from the Toowoomba floods had to flow somewhere and by 10am we were receiving notifications at work that we needed to get home to prepare for the flood to hit Brisbane. The suburb adjacent to ours, West End, was currently being evacuated. By noon, no one was left in the office and Dave met me at work to rush home in the pouring rain, I mean cats and dogs and lizards and frogs...we were drenched!! We had no idea what was in store for the next couple of days that lay ahead so we sat at the windows in our living room, safe and dry on the 8^th floor, and watched as dock after dock and boat after boat became untied and thrashed down the river. Some boats hit the bridge piers and sunk to the bottom of the river. At one point one in the day we looked out to keep an eye on the rising waters to see a floating restaurant break loose of its bearing, it was completely shattered as it collided with the Go Between Bridge. By the end of the day Tuesday the floods had engulfed whole suburbs in the lowest lying areas of Brisbane, and the water levels were still on the rise. Wednesday marked the day that the peak of the flood was expected to hit and it did so at 5.3m. Just picture that - five meter sticks stacked up, it’s hard to imagine. Many rescue efforts were in place to save families stranded on rooftops and in trees. We stayed safe in our place watching as the footpaths disappeared from sight. We were very lucky to be safe on higher ground, however many of our friends and coworkers were not. Cars were washed out, basements inundated, and the power was cut off from many of their houses. Our hearts go out to everyone who was affected by the tragic floods. My parents arrive in Brisbane in just 11 days, what crazy timing for them to see the aftermath of this destruction. The coming weeks ahead will be focused on cleaning up the mess and helping out people in need. We have scheduled a work meeting for Sunday, to determine how and when we will return to work, if not from the office then at least from home. A coworker has flown all the way to our Vancouver office location with backup drives for the computers network system, so they are doing all that can be done to get us back on track and working again.

Well, on the plus side, since we are now staying on the Gold Coast until Monday, we are going to spend the day on the beach today and let our troubles wash away in the tide!

Farewell 2010...HELLoOoO 2011!

Well, it’s always a bit difficult saying goodbye to the past year but this time it’s especially hard for me because 2010 has been a year for the record books, that’s for sure! So in saluting the past year I am going to go through all the great times that highlighted the end of this decade for Dave & I.

 

1.       January – Dave and I rang in the New Year in Vail, Colorado with my sister Sabi! And what a party it was. We stayed in a breathtaking chateau right on the mountain where we snowboarded (ok...so that’s a stretch on my part, but Dave and Sabi did), hung out with a pretty cool five year-old, Jacobi, and karaoke’d “Red Neck Woman” with some of the UK’s finest elite...haha!! I think it was a show stopper, they loved it.

 

2.      February – I travelled to Phoenix, Arizona to visit Sabi again, this time at my Aunt & Uncle’s place. Luckily I was able to spend reading week with them, chilling out by the pool, going to gigs and just enjoying a few bevy’s in the back yard. Wish I could do this more often!!

3.       March – was the month of the big “Iron Ring Ceremony” in which all fourth year engineering students are sworn into their duties to keep public safety a priority. I was able to have my mom, dad and Dave attend, and then the rest of the gang... my Sisters, Grandma and Onny Bon, celebrated with a nice dinner that night in Edmonton.

4.        

      April – marked my graduation from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering!! Whoot Whoot, 6 years of post secondary, check!!

5.      

Last picture in the empty house.

May – We sold our beloved first home at #78 2204 118 ST Edmonton. We bought it almost exactly 4 years ago, and it was the perfect little humble abode for Dave and I. We put our blood, sweat and tears into that place to renovate it and make it a home, but it was time to make a home someplace else as we signed on to work in Brisbane, Australia!!

 

6.       June – My wonderful friend was married and I was happy to be by her side the whole day as one of her bridesmaids.

 

7.       July – Dave and I jetted off to Toronto for a Farewell Visit with the family that we babysat for over the past year. We stayed with them at their beautiful cabin on the lake and had the perfect week just relaxing in the sun and enjoying our time with two amazing kids that completely won our hearts.

8.       August – was a month of packing our lives into one little box (Ok, maybe not THAT little...a 20ft Seacan, but still, that's our whole life in there awaiting our return from Oz). We said good-bye to all our fabulous friends and family with a “Martinis til Midnight” party and took off to Australia with all that we could possibly fit into two suit cases each. We made a fun pit stop in Palo Alto/San Francisco to visit our wonderful friends Mike & Paige. We went to a BBQ cook-off/concert, rode double bicycles across the golden gate bridge and saw the Giants beat the Dodgers at AT&T Park.

9.       September – was a whirl wind of craziness trying to set up a new life in Oz. We arrived to Brisbane and stayed in a hostel for the first week until we settled on renting at the Park Regis...fully furnished AND a pretty fabulous pool to boot! We saw Tim McGraw in concert and I started working at Klohn Crippen Berger. I am settling into the life of a career girl...Audios homework, i will never miss you!

10.   October – was quiet...Finally...and we were loving the warm spring sunshine in Queensland. We spent one fun filled day with my wonderful Grandma and Great Aunt when their cruise docked in Brisbane. At the end of the month we traveled to Byron Bay for a weekend of sand and surf.

11.   November – was our first Melbourne Cup experience, and a special birthday for me. I turned twenty-five and am now a quarter of a century!! I must say, it’s feeling pretty darn good so far!

12.  December – we had our first visitor when Dave’s friend Ryan came to stay for a short bit. The boys went adventuring on a canoe trip to Noosa and a camping trip on Fraser Island. Dave and I saw Jack Johnson in concert at the riverstage, ahhh! We prepared for our first Christmas away from all of our family by island hopping to Vanuatu for a relaxing, romantic retreat...little did I know, it was going to turn into the vacation of my dreams. I will always hold that place close to my heart as that’s where Dave asked me to marry him on December 27^th at sunset on Hideaway Island!! (Another post to come soon)

13.   January – I am ringing in the New Year with a ring on it!! Since we arrived home from Vanuatu the evening of NYE, we stayed in and watched two firework shows from the comfort of our living room where we have the most stunning views of the river city...what a way to wind down the end of the year!

I guess it’s easy to see that with all the adventure that we saw in 2010, it might be tough to top it off for 2011. But if anyone can do it, Dave and I are up for the challenge!! And we’ll be taking on the new year as a newly engaged couple, I couldn’t be happier! Wishing you all a year of peace and abundance, and may happiness greet you each day of 2011.

xo Tegs