Rimbey Trip Feb-23

We’re going to have to visit Morgan’s grandparents more often, even though they have moved to far away Rimbey. Morgan and I took a sunny drive out there on a Saturday several weeks ago and had a very pleasant time. We’ve been back since for Morgan’s grandpa’s 80^th birthday (!!!) and to help celebrate 55 long years of wedded bliss for him and Morgan’s grandma, but perhaps we ought to make that a special post all its own. This one’s from sometime in February...

We arrived at lunchtime and Morgan’s grandparents took us to a local restaurant called Monterey Jack’s. The owner/chef (whose name really is Jack) did his time at NAIT and has built a menu that is fairly extensive by small town standards and very reasonably priced. Not only did he serve us himself, but he offered various off-the-menu options, like grapefruit-and-something dressing for my salad (I don’t know what was in it, but it was great). The experience was as refreshing as the salad – with the small number of potential customers in his area, I guess Jack has to impress everybody to get repeat business and word-of-mouth advertising. Apparently it’s working. You’ll have to try the crème brulee cheesecake if you are ever in Rimbey!

You’ve got to love grandparents – it seemed that no sooner had we made it back to the house full of chicken cordon sandwiches than Morgan’s grandma sat us down for some of her uber-healthy bran+orange+raisin+cranberry+flax muffins, all pre-cut too. Food was kind of a theme for the day. There were certainly more colours on my plate at dinner than I’ve seen in my days of cooking for one – pot roast, spuds, gravy, corn, spinach salad with all the fixings, fresh grandma-made buns… and ice cream for dessert! Morgan and I are pretty sure we weigh about five pounds more that we did at the beginning of that weekend. We came home with freshly baked cookies and muffins, and if we had stayed the night, a hot batch of cinnamon buns could have found its way into our happily stretched tummies.

We did find time for a few things besides eating. We went over bits of the ceremony and vows with Morgan’s grandpa, who has agreed to marry us and who had to get a special one-day marriage conducting permit just for June seventh. We took the tour of the estate and put some holes in the walls for shelves, and then we played a game of “Murder” which is kind of like “Trouble”, but better. It was pretty tempting to stay and eat cinnamon buns and hide the measuring tapes and see the organ at the church on Sunday morning, but eventually we made our way back along the snowy roads to the familiar anonymity of the big city. We’ll definitely have to go back soon!

Diane

Diane in Vancouver Feb 8-12 2008

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I had a chance to go out to Vancouver to visit my sister a few weeks ago. We rode around the city on the bus and took in the sights… and food that Van had to offer. The weather was fine, with not too many rainy periods and even a few hours of blue sky! Carrie has gotten lucky with a really nice little townhouse with good landlords and roommates who call her to find out where she is if she isn’t home on time, which is really nice of them. I also got to meet Trio, who is a very pretty grey striped cat. We spent the mornings sleeping or reading and making porridge for breakfast – I discovered that the girls have quite a large collection of books that appeal to me between them, which they very kindly shared.

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We did the most important things first – a walk on the beach and a trip to the cupcake store downtown by the harbour where they have the international fireworks competitions. Those little cupcakes are expensive, but very fun with all the different flavours they have. Carrie was also adamant that she wanted to take me to try some fancy hot chocolate at a place which is conveniently located right beside the cupcake shop. Care had some creamy milk chocolate, and I had dark “mexican” hot chocolate with some spicy cayenne or other pepper in it – very tasty!

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Carrie took me to the site where she was a movie extra for a few days - she was ten feet from Keanu Reeves and some other girl. It was a pretty non-descript lot - I wonder how it was chosen.

On Friday night we all went down to Granville Island to watch some Theatresports. The improv was some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. The actors were experienced and totally on fire, and we all appreciated a chance to laugh. My favorite skit was built around a squeaky spot that one of the actors had found in the floor of the stage. It reminded me how much fun I have at improv nights – I’ll have to try and make it out again soon! Afterward, we went to a tapas place by the entrance to Granville Island called The Cat’s Meow for their sweet potato fries. I had some crab cakes that were really good too.

The next day Care and I went back again for the market. I really love it there, even though it’s crowded beyond my liking. I like to see vendors selling directly to their customers, and there are so many fresh and exciting products to be had. Carrie and I munched on some turkey sausage and rosemary bread with herbed butter and strolled from shop to shop. We visited a dive shop, a stationary store, a store that sold natural dyeing supplies…

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I felt I had to show Carrie a restaurant that Morgan and I had found in the summer called Memphis Blues. There’s a couple of them in Vancouver, but the only one I’ve been to is on East Broadway. The “Memphis Feast” only comes to about $30 or $35 and you get a year’s supply of meat with bbq sauce and cornbread. Morgan’s skillet cornbread is much better, I think, but I love the pulled pork. Two times I’ve been, and two times I’ve left with a considerably large doggie bag. Ah, meat.

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Carrie’s roomy lent us her car, a cute little Honda called “Josh”, to do a grocery shop on Sunday morning, and I got some split green peas and sausage so we could boil up a mess o’ comfort food. You could stand a spoon up in it – a real big spoon!

Well, there was even more to do – we tried on potential bridesmaids’ dresses and found a style Carrie liked and played with hairstyles for me. It’s been a while since I had my hair in curlers. We made some tasty cookies and Care opened birthday presents from home. Carrie’s roommate drove us out to Deep Cove and we walked around on the dock and ate some sushi in a warm little place nearby. Mmm, west coast sushi!

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Eventually, it was time for Carrie to get to rehearsal and me to head back to the airport. Unfortunately, I never made it to a runthrough of Wedding of the Year, but I did have plenty of time to admire the artwork displayed in the Van International. The stone carving is lovely, and the whalebone work is actually pretty imaginative. I couldn’t do it, that’s for sure.

Anyway, it’s business as usual for me again, but I have enjoyed my excursions to the coast the last little while. That makes 3 Vancouver trips for me in the last 12 months.

Year Under Review (Diane)

You’ll notice that Morgan’s end-of-’07 post falls neatly on January 1, while my post gets twice the 1’s. Nevertheless, my sweetheart has decreed that there shall be a year-in-review post from our separate perspectives. As a loving companion, I have so far indulged him by ooh-ing and ah-ing over his very fine example, including, but not limited to, utterances of,

“Oh, yeah! Kimberley! That was awesome!”

“Hey, you got a master’s?” (Heh, heh.)

“Aww, the family reunions – they seem so far away.”

“Oh right, I guess we got engaged last year.” (I took some flack over that one, but I’m pleased to be able to report I took it graciously ;-) Seriously though, it was a pretty great birthday, right up there with bowling parties and wiener roasts of old. Good food, good wine, good company…pretty ring :)

Hmm, 2007… I remember spending a little time in hospitals this holiday season and last. I had some dear friends and loved ones in a fair amount of pain. It was pretty sucky for some of my homeys. You people know who you are, and I’m sure you remember how truly “special” those times were. I’m happy you’re on the mend!

I seem to remember changing contracts at work and slowly taking a hand in a few newer projects that are pretty exciting. I have my own way of putting everything, and it’s been a lot of fun puttering about the lab with Mohan, who doesn’t seem to mind my experimentation. It’s great to work with these good folks on the brink of retirement, but I am anxious over the loss of wisdom and expertise and legacy and heritage that must come with the newer, younger culture that we’ll make then. I hope that I can somehow be around to hear the stories and tell them again. This has been a real year of growing to appreciate how important stories are to culture and to individuals – particularly in the department and at home with my family.

Also, getting away to post-man-machine match Vancouver was wonderful – I’m really happy I took those days off. Everybody should get a holiday like that now and again. I believe I should visit again soon. Like, before the games come to town. Not poker, the other games…

Speaking of Vancouver, Shelly and I took that trip to Bamfield, the same trip my mother took more than ten years before me. Everyone should get to ride the ferry ‘Lady Rose’, and the little rainbow harbour ferry too. There was Shelly and Jeff’s trip to South Africa and Eric’s trip to Zambia and all the cool pictures of Victoria Falls. Not to mention the tales of Carolyn’s adventures in London with Eric, plus France, Italy, Greece, and Megan’s trip to Ireland. Dan went to India, and I find it funny that Canada has seen a mere 140 years since confederation, and it’s only been 50 years since India’s independence. India’s so old though!

Hmm, what else? Dan loaned me his guitar while he went home for Christmas – it was very kind of him – my fingers are soft as a baby’s bottom and I forget everything I ever learned, which wasn’t much to begin with. My keyboard sits untouched and my sundress is half cut out on my table. How I thought I was going to make bridesmaids dresses and a few for myself I’ll never know. I have, however, managed to catch every episode of Heroes, some of The Office, Amazing Race, and the odd Oilers game. There really needs to be more cool, creative, person-building stuff in my life. I think I'd like to make it home to my folks' place a little more too.

My “Christmas Loot” post is still waiting in the wings. I totally want to show off my holiday haul, but I need to take pictures of some of the nifty gifties for completeness, so give me another few for that.

There were a few very enjoyable concerts, and lots of very well-enjoyed dinners and get-togethers with Morgan’s charming friends, who have become mine as well. If there had to be one thing I enjoyed spending time doing in '07 it would have to be that.

Diane

Year in Review (Morgan)

This year has been quite busy and exciting for Diane and I. Here's a brief-ish look from my perspective at the year that was 2007. Obvious highlights for the year are the engagement in May, finishing my MSc degree in January, and the Man-machine poker match in July. January was a pretty relaxing month for me, despite my master's defense being scheduled then. The biggest reason for this was because my thesis needed to be turned in three weeks prior to my defense. So for the bulk of the month of January I didn't have a lot that I needed to do so I spent a lot of my time playing poker. My friend Mike had convinced me to switch my game over to shorthanded no limit hold'em, and I quickly found more success there than I had had in my couple of years of limit play. After successfully defending my thesis, I was hired on by my former supervisor to continue work on the poker project at the UofA. Finally, Diane and I went on the annual department ski trip to Jasper on the last weekend in January. It was quite fun, as usual. This time, unlike past years, Diane and I spent both days on the mountain skiing instead of joining the usual group that hiked down Maligne Canyon on Sunday.

The biggest event in February was the free beer that I put on with my friend Jeff who also recently defended. In our department, it's a tradition for freshly defended students to hold a department-wide free beer night. Jeff and I held a rather successful free beer (the bill is pictured). I also happened to have a birthday in there as well somewhere.

In March, Diane and I joined a couple of our friends and for another ski trip, this time to Kimberley. This was the first year in a long time that I had managed to get out to two trips out to the mountains so I was pretty happy about that. The weekend was quite a success, and we look forward to our next trip out to the mountains now that it is wintertime again.

April saw my photography hobby become much more serious as I purchased a couple of new lenses for my camera which had been getting increased use up to that point. I purchased a new low-light wide-aperture lens and a better walk-around zoom lens. You can view some of my work on my flickr page. I've been more and more active on flickr, uploading 178 photos over the year. Another key event in April was the first Bayne family reunion in over a decade. We went to Camp Nakamun which is a pretty nice facility, and got to spend some time meeting some family that I haven't seen in many many years. So that was cool.

Diane and I were engaged on May 31, so that was the big event that month. We had a pretty good meal at the Creperie for her birthday, and I would pop the question later that night. By that time, we had been dating for over 3 years, and we both kind of felt that it was the right time.

June was a frantic month for me as my officemate Darse and I worked hard in preparation for the upcoming AAAI poker competition. The bot we eventually entered won the bankroll competition (with the other UofA entry taking 2nd place), so that was pretty cool. Following the deadline for entering we began working towards building a bot for the man-machine competition which had been confirmed for July. So the entire poker group began working like crazy to get a bot ready.

As the deadline approached, we worked long and hard to get a bot tested and ready for the match. Along with those responsibilities, we also needed to organize the match details, work on public relations stuff like webpages, press releases and interviews and all sorts of little things. The match went pretty well with relatively few hitches. My duties during the match included taking photos and working on a live blog on the website so that people who couldn't attend could still follow what was going on. After the four sessions were over, we barely lost with a record of 1-2-1. It was a lot of fun, and pretty cool to be able to meet and hang out with the poker pros Ali Eslami and Phil Laak.

After the last match, Diane joined me out in Vancouver to take a few days of holiday. I had only been in Vancouver once before, and we only went to the beach and then moved on in our travels. So there was a lot of touristy stuff I hadn't had the chance to see. We spent a few days there and saw the Aquarium, the Capilano Bridge, Stanley Park, the Sun Yat Sen Chinese garden, and quite a few other things. We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast, and it was a quite relaxing trip!

August was a slow month. With all the wild preparation and the work that went on during the big match, I felt quite a bit of post-match let down and managed to not get a lot done in August. It was in this month that I found out my officemate would be going to Ireland to work at Full Tilt. Darse's departure is a big blow to the UofA poker group.

In September, I was able to start picking up my productivity at work again. Two particular events of note were Diane's family reunion in Manitou, Saskatchewan, and Darse's Wedding. The family reunion was pretty cool - Manitou is a small town in Saskatchewan where their claim to fame is their lake that has some sort of mix of minerals (mostly salt) that make you float in the water more easily than normal water. So we spent a fair amount of our time swimming around in the pool that was fed from the lake. I got some glorious photos while I was there (pictured) since we caught sunset at the exact right time over the lake. Darse's wedding was an honour because I was one of the only people that got invited (thanks to my camera hobby). They held it in a lovely spot next to the river valley, and my job was to take some photos. Several turned out quite well I think and they were pretty happy with the results.

Diane and I had our engagement photo shoot in October, and we started getting down to business with planning the wedding. By this time we had the hall picked out, the church booked, and the photographer chosen so we were feeling pretty good about where we were at. Hopefully the planning continues to get done at a good pace.

November and December lacked any big stories or trips. We've been busy with social and family gatherings, and have been out of the house to see people or attend parties. It has kept us real busy and in some respects I think I'm starting to get a little drained.

Christmas was good this year. It was pretty low key, which is something that makes me pretty happy. The gift giving thing has come down to a minimum which also makes me happy -- I'm a fan of the main gift of Christmas being the time that everyone spends together playing games, and enjoying each other's company.

I think I've managed to remember most of everything. If I'm missing something important, Diane is sure to remind me and she'll mention it in her year in review (forthcoming).

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and a very happy new year. Good luck to everyone in 2008! Morgan

Photos

I've been working on the site for a little while. The beauty of using a content management package like wordpress is you can put together a pretty impressive looking site in pretty short order. I've installed a plugin that lets us upload photos and present them in a pretty slick way. If you head to the Pictures page, you can check out a selection of our engagement photos. I'll try and upload some more photos in the next little while as well. Once the DNS has updated, you should be able to access the website using www.minoragenda.com. This should happen later on tonight I hope. I also added a little countdown timer to the sidebar in anticipation of the big day!

Do you like the design? Please leave us some comments if you see something wonky or that doesn't look good. We tweaked a publicly available theme with one of my photos to get this and changed the colour scheme so there are probably some weird fragments we haven't spotted yet. Also, we'd appreciate any suggestions you'd have for content we can add to the site. Photos are obvious, and we plan on keeping people informed about the wedding plans, but if you have any other ideas we'd love to hear them!

Also, if you've got a blog that I didn't put down in the blogroll on the right, it wasn't a concious error. Please help me correct it!

Morgan