Time at home

My mum and I had the most fun keeping my real intent for what I was going to do after my immigration interview a secret! Jonathan dropped me off at the Montreal airport in the afternoon after my interview. I flew home to Kelowna, BC and got in late that night. The next afternoon, March 12, after going with my mum on a few errands, we stopped at my grandparents' condo and I rang the doorbell. No one answered, so I knocked on the door. "Boom-boom-boom," called a voice around the corner. My grandpa! I jumped out of the door's alcove and rushed to him, my arms outstretched. His mouth fell open in shock. He had thought it was just my mum, knocking on the door for some reason, instead of just knocking once and going inside like she usually does.

Surprising Gramps! (Photo by Glenda Quiring)

Just as I was hugging Grandpa, the front door opened and my grandma said, "What's going on out here?" I leapt back to the door and squeezed her in a hug while shouting, "Surprise!" Her eyes almost popped out of her head.

Hugging Gram! (Photo by Glenda Quiring)

It was such a fun surprise and I was so happy that they hadn't gotten wind of it ahead of time!

Being in Kelowna with my parents, grandparents and younger sister for three weeks was just amazing! I had so much fun being back "home" for a few weeks. We spent time playing games together, eating great food, and doing lots of talking. I also got to help my sister, Bryn, do some wedding planning and the two of us and our mum spent two evenings at a wedding dress shop. Bryn tried on wedding dresses and I tried on bridesmaid dresses (sorry, no pics of that yet... :). I had so much fun getting to be involved a bit in her planning!

But it wasn't just a vacation, it was a working vacation. I spent a lot of my time helping my parents to do a bit of clean-up and organization in the house, something I've wanted to help them with for a couple years. We didn't completely reorganize the whole house, but we did make some good changes. Sometimes it's the small changes that you stick to that make the most difference.

All to soon my time in Kelowna was coming to a close. I want to post more about some specific things I did while I was there in the near future, but for now I'll just say that I had a wonderful time at home with family, but coming back to Maine was great, too. I missed Jonathan while I was away and it was good to be back. In the afternoon on March 25 I picked up my passport with my US resident visa stamped in it and all the paperwork that I would need to submit when I crossed the border. Jonathan and I decided on my return ticket, booked it, and figured out the logistics of him coming to pick me up. And now I'm back. And it's good to be back.

But wherever I live here on earth, there will always be that pesky business of missing people. When I'm in Maine with Jonathan, I miss my parents and relatives in BC. I miss my friends living all around the world. I miss the beautiful places I've seen and grown to love in my travels. But I am learning, ever so slowly, that no matter where I am or who I'm missing, I can be happy with the life that I have right now. That is the key and that's what I'm going to work on throughout the rest of this year. Being happy and content right where I am.