Valentine's Day, home-style

Valentine's Day is an extra special day to me. While my siblings and I were growing up, my parents always did something special for us on Valentine's Day. We had a small gift (often a small Lego set during the early years) waiting for us on our breakfast plates in the morning, and my mum would always make a fun and different breakfast for us that morning, pink pancakes or French toast with hearts cut into the middle, etc. Of course we did the whole Valentine's cards exchange at school, but that was never really what the holiday was about for us. We grew up knowing that February 14 was a day to show love and appreciation to those we care for the most, be they family, friends, or significant others. I still see it as just an awesome day to love people, and not as a particularly romantic holiday as it seems to be touted in the media and in advertising these days. Good job, Mum and Dad, for showing your kids the true meaning of Valentine's Day. You guys are the best and I love you so much!

And now here's a little look at how the homey Valentine's Day celebrations went at the Gerrans'.

Homemade Valentine's dinner

Homecooked/Asian-themed meal, apparently

My love! :) 

Homemade cheesecake with strawberries

Heart sparkler that my mum put in our Christmas stocking

It sparkled really well!

Valentine's package from my mum which, unbelievably, arrived today! 

Exciting mail, haha

The 2013 calendar my mumma made (all her own amazing pictures in it!)

Us on our second married Valentine's Day

Birth day

I don't usually write about my birthday on my blog, but I'm going to make an exception this year. This morning, as I was getting ready for church, I suddenly realized that this year my birthday, January 25, fell on the same day of the week as the one on which I was born. So Friday at 7:38 p.m. PT was exactly 28 years since the moment I came into this world, same day of the week and everything! Pretty cool, eh? :)

My cousin, grandma, and mum helping me blow out my candles on my first birthday*
(Apparently I was scared of fire or candles or something back then...)

Twenty-seven years later (not afraid of candles anymore!)

*Sorry, I didn't have any pictures of newborn Ali on hand for this post, so you get to see 1-year-old Ali instead.

Christmas card

Jonathan and I have had many incredibly blessed and wonderful experiences in 2012! I hope you all have as well. I want to share our Christmas card with you. Enjoy! (Click on the images to view larger.)

Pictures of our year

The descriptions for the pictures (These pages were designed to be printed double-sided,
so the descriptions are on the opposite side of the page from the pictures that they correspond with.)

Merry Christmas, readers, and a very happy New Year! I hope 2013 is an amazing year for you all!

Home for the Holidays!

I'm starting the trip home in about four and a half hours! Yep, that's early (2 a.m. over here in the east), but it means I'll be in Seattle by 12:30 p.m. and home about 7 or 8 hours after that (traffic and weather permitting). I can't wait!! See you soon, everyone from the Okanagan Valley!

Advent activities calendar

Every December of my life (except, I think, 2010 when I was living in Tanzania) I've had a chocolate Advent calendar. Even last year in Korea I convinced Jonathan that we needed to go to E-Mart, the large Korean chain store, and search the International aisle for Advent calendars. (Yes, we found some.) In all the hustle and bustle of decorating the house this week and getting our things ready to move, I nearly forgot about the Advent calendar tradition. I remembered last night and told Jonathan we'd have to go get a couple tomorrow. (Picture coming! :)

This year, in addition to the chocolate Advent calendar, I want to start a new tradition with Jonathan. A tradition where we take a little bit of time each day of December and spend it doing something together. So we made a list of fun activities to do together. Some of the things on the list are concerts or events that we've committed to taking part in. Others are just fun things I've always enjoyed doing with my family or ideas I read on other blogs and thought would be fun to try. Some will involve more people than just the two of us (our families or fellow church members). Some will be just for us, a time when we can put away other distractions and just spend time together. I love all the ideas and I just can't wait to get started! December is going to be SO much fun!!

December Advent Activities
Dec. 1, Saturday - Read the Christmas story from the Bible
Dec. 2, Sunday - Play with the Topsham Strings at L.L. Bean in Freeport
Dec. 3, Monday - Set up and decorate small Christmas tree
Dec. 4, Tuesday - Decorate our new apartment for Christmas
Dec. 5, Wednesday - Send out Christmas cards
Dec. 6, Thursday - Set up nativity scene (maybe this one this year since my creche is still packed)
Dec. 7, Friday - Play in Handel’s Messiah at the Brunswick church
Dec. 8, Saturday - Attend Talent Show at Penner’s ?
Dec. 9, Sunday - Make paper snowflakes
Dec. 10, Monday - String popcorn while listening to and singing favourite Christmas music
Dec. 11, Tuesday - Make marshmallow snowmen
Dec. 12, Wednesday - Make a real snowman (snow pending, might have to switch)
Dec. 13, Thursday - Make sugar popcorn and watch a Christmas movie
Dec. 14, Friday - Have a sock snowball fight :)
Dec. 15, Saturday - Go Christmas caroling with the Topsham church
Dec. 16, Sunday - Drink hot chocolate & read a Christmas story/book (when we get to Kelowna)
Dec. 17, Monday - Cut down a real Christmas tree in the woods, bring it home, and decorate it
Dec. 18, Tuesday - Make a gingerbread house
Dec. 19, Wednesday - Drive/walk around town and look at Christmas lights
Dec. 20, Thursday - Make and decorate sugar cookies (and/or make gingersnaps)
Dec. 21, Friday - Colour/draw Christmas pictures while listening to a Christmas story
Dec. 22, Saturday - Participate in the Orchard City church Christmas program & go Christmas caroling in the evening
Dec. 23, Sunday - Wrap Christmas presents and put them under the tree
Dec. 24, Monday - Play crokinole and board/card games with family; Later, open Christmas name gifts with extended family and then open Christmas Eve pajamas with immediate family

*Note: I would like to try to blog about these activities. I can't promise I'll blog about each one every day, but I'll try to blog about several together at the very least. Look out for a lot of blog posts coming throughout December! Also, all of these activities are subject to change, especially making a snowman and the ones later in the month when we'll be in BC. I haven't confirmed the activities or dates with my family, but I'm quite sure they will be quite happy to join in in the activities, even if we have to move them to different dates.

Christmas is started!

When I was a kid one of our family traditions was to start getting ready for Christmas on December 1. Sometimes we would sneak in a little listen to Christmas music in late November, but for the most part, we started our Christmas celebrations on the 1st. On the evening of December 1, we all gathered together in the living room. Some of us helped Dad drag our fake Christmas tree up the basement stairs and into the living room, while others pulled out a pile of our favourite Christmas CDs and popped the first one into the CD player. Christmas music set the mood while Dad worked on putting the tree in the stand, and the rest of us went downstairs to bring up our boxes of Christmas ornaments and decorations out of storage. We went through the hundreds - it seemed - of strings of Christmas lights, searching for the newer ones that still worked and had the least amount of burned out bulbs. Then Dad wound them around the tree as Mum organized where to put the different special holiday decorations. Once the lights were on on the tree, we each opened our own box of ornaments, the ones my mum and grandma had given to each of us every year since we were born. Stories and memories flowed between us as we carefully took ornaments out of their boxes and found the perfect places to hang them on the tree. Once all the ornaments were hung, one person was selected to put the gold tinsel star on the top. Dad put the lucky person on his shoulders and leaned close to the tree and he or she set the star on the top sprig. Then, with ceiling lights off and just the twinkling of the coloured Christmas lights to illuminate the darkened room, we would perch on couches or beside the blazing fire and sip hot chocolate all stirred around with candy canes and listen as Mum read us Christmas stories. It was magical. The whole family stopping to take a breath from the busyness of everyday life and all working together to transform the house into a place of wonder and excitement.

Q kids in 1992 or 1993 (Haha, look at me thinking I'm so hilarious wearing my stockings & Bryn trying to copy me!)

The first year I went to college, we had to change our longstanding tradition of starting Christmas on December 1. I begged my family to wait to set up the tree until I got home after exams. They agreed and for the most part, we went through the same wonderful process of changing our house from a fall haven to a winter wonderland. By that time, my younger siblings had grown out of their asthma, and we could again go up in the mountains surrounding our city to pick out a live Christmas tree to cut down. Even though we had an abbreviated holiday time, we still packed in all the same traditions.

Getting our Christmas tree in 2009 (Mum's taking the picture)

The past two years, I haven't had even that abbreviated time to celebrate with my family. I've been overseas, doing interesting work and quite enjoying myself. But always, when December 1 rolls around, I feel like something is missing. That joyous occasion of stopping whatever we're doing individually and all coming together to make Christmas come to life.

Christmas Day 2010 - Bryn and me Skyping the rest of the family from Cairo, Egypt

Christmas 2011 in Cheonan, South Korea - Our first Christmas as a married couple!

This year, I again won't have that, at least not on December 1, but I have been able to take part in Jonathan's family's traditions. We hung the outside lights, we helped take boxes out of the attic, his mom told us stories about the different ornaments they have as she took them out of the boxes. And now the living room downstairs is a little bit of Christmas away-from-home! I love it! And, the best part about this year is that I get to experience it all again in a few more weeks when I go home and help my family put up our Q-Christmas tree. Two starts to Christmas this year! Could I be any luckier?! I really don't think I could be!

Kitchen ready for Christmas

Window ornaments

Hanging stockings

Lighted present (made by Jonathan's grandma)

Pretty colourful tree

Spreading Christmas cheer

Christmas is coming and I'm gearing up for all the coming cheer! I've made my Christmas list and my mind is dancing with gift ideas for my family. I just can't wait to get the gifts, wrap them, put them under that beautiful REAL LIVE Christmas tree, and see them unwrapped on Christmas morning.

But at the same time that visions of wonderfulness are filling my brain, I can't forget the others. Those people around the world who won't have snow and colourful Christmas trees and wrapped presents waiting impatiently for December 25. The people who don't even have all they need, let alone anything they want.

So while I get ready for my first Christmas back in North America again, I think of the past two Christmas seasons. The simple ones I shared with just one loved one instead of my whole family. The ones without trees and multitudes of presents, without excess. The ones that were even more abundant than what some people will ever experience. And I take a little bit of time to do something for those people. And you know, it's that little bit of time that makes this season a whole lot sweeter.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35b (NKJV)

Here are some ways you can join me in helping someone else this Christmas
Give a child in Tanzania a backpack and school supplies for $7 - Funds needed by December 10th
Pack a Operation Christmas Child box and donate the shipping costs - Needed by November 19th
Choose from a multitude of gift options on ADRA International's Gift Catalog
Buy an End it Now gift to help end violence against women and girls
Pick out a Christmas gift for a special person on your list from the International Children's Care shop or buy the ICC kids a much-needed item
Buy a cookbook written and designed by a Cradle of Love Baby Home volunteer to raise money for the orphanage and two other charities in Tanzania
Make gift baskets to give out to needy families in the community

How else are you helping someone in need this holiday season?

A Day of Remembrance

Okanagan Valley poppy ~ Photo by Glenda Quiring

Again. Another special holiday with many childhood-and-teenage memories flew past yesterday. Just a day in an ordinary week. But to me, it's another tiny hole in my heart. Another reminder that I've missed a small window for having experiences and making memories that I'll never have a chance to bring back again. Another failed promise to myself.

I looked back through this blog today. The second and third posts in my 'holidays' label are about Remembrance Day. The next year I was using a different blog for a class assignment, and on my Remembrance Day post on there I linked back to my post from the year before. And in the post I said, "So maybe next year I'll actually get to celebrate Remembrance Day again...who knows." And next year has become next year and then next year and so on and so on. Every year I make some kind of proclamation that next year I'll celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day at home or even just anywhere in Canada again. It hasn't happened yet. So I've slowly stopped saying it. This year I simply wrote on Facebook, "Some year I WILL be back in Canada for Remembrance Day. And some year I WILL spend Remembrance Day at Vimy Ridge." Some year. Not next year, but some year. I still have wants, wishes, dreams. But I don't know when they'll come true. So for now, I compile a list of things I want to do again, some day. And I hope that that day will come soon.

Poppies in our yard back home ~ Photo by Glenda Quiring

But I need to live a life filled with hope, not regret. So I'll forget about the tiny heart-holes and focus on the soon-to-come heart-filling. Right now, I'm looking forward with great anticipation for Christmas at home this year. Christmas with my family, my parents, siblings, husband, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, friends. My first one at home in three years! Maybe I wasn't home for Canadian Thanksgiving or Remembrance Day this year, but come Christmas I'll be in that big pink house on Juniper Rd. that will be filled to the brim with my people. That will be delicious, and I can't wait to savour all the memories to come!

Canadian Thanksgiving, a week later

On Friday morning I had a wonderful surprise. During breakfast my mother-in-law suggested to me that we have a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner in my honour the coming Sunday evening. I was quite surprised, mostly because Jonathan and I had already celebrated my Thanksgiving, not in the traditional sense, but in our own special way. The idea to have a special meal, though, was such a kind thought, and I was eternally thankful and immediately said so. Soon we were in the midst of discussions about what to have for the meal and what groceries we would need to get before the weekend.

On Sunday morning we bustled around putting together many dishes for the meal. Then we left everything in a nearly-finished state, a casserole in the oven ready to start baking at the appointed time, and took off for the cabin. We spent the afternoon bringing items inside to close off the summer season and winterizing the small chalet so that it will be ready when the snow comes. A few hours later, when we were done at the lake, we dashed back to the house and finished the few things left to do for the meal. Then all four of us sat down at the table to enjoy the first of two Thanksgiving dinners we'll have together this year. It was a fabulous feast! And then we spent more time together playing games (one of my favourite family-togetherness activities), Spot It and Apples to Apples. We had fun. We laughed. We bonded. And I gotta tell you, Canadian Thanksgiving might be even more magical than Christmas! (OK, not quite as magical, but almost. :) Thanks for the special time together, Mom and Dad in Maine! It was a great week-after-Thanksgiving surprise!

Our version of Canadian Thanksgiving dinner

The spread (That plant at the end was not to eat, although it looks quite delicious in this picture)

Four of the Gerrans clan - We forgot to get a picture of all of us together before starting the meal, so we did one before dessert

Dessert traditions - homemade cheesecake and pumpkin pie 

I'm not such a fan of pumpkin pie, so I made my traditional Q-cheesecake for half of our dessert spread. Yum! Thanks, Mum, for the recipe!

Canadian Thanksgiving...

...Maine style!

That's right. This past Monday another Canadian Thanksgiving arrived, the sixth in a row since I last celebrated it at home. In fact, the sixth in a row that I have been living in a foreign country for. And the seventh in a row since I have had Thanksgiving at home with all of my grandparents, parents, and younger siblings together. You'd think, after six or seven years, I would get used to the loneliness and intense homesickness that overcomes me during the entire Thanksgiving weekend. But I'm not, and I don't think I'll ever be. I used to write on this blog, "Next year I'll make sure I'm home for Thanksgiving, for Remembrance Day." I've long since given up saying that. I honestly have no idea when I'll next be able to be home for Thanksgiving. (I am going to give it a concerted effort for next year, since at this point we're planning to be in Maine for Christmas 2013.)

But this year, like last year, I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in Maine. Last year Jonathan and I went on a paddle-wheel boat tour and reveled in the fall colours painting the shore. Later in the day we went back to his parents' camp, and Jonathan took me on an impromptu catamaran ride, my first ever! I had to give up making a real Thanksgiving meal to go out on the cat, but I did so with no hesitation. Sailing in October beats out a pretend (not at home) Thanksgiving meal hands down! So last year we had a great day together, despite it not being quite the same as celebrating at home.

The Songo River Queen on Long Lake in Naples, Maine

Us in a cracked mirror on the paddle-wheeler

Shore from the boat

Tiny lighthouse (for you, Mum)

Autumn island

And this year, while I was again in Maine instead of BC, was equally as wonderful! It started with a drive to the camp, then a boat ride to take the boat out of the lake. The day was glorious. Blue skies, large white clouds, warm sun, no strong breeze, stunning colours nestled in between the evergreen trees. Perfect for an autumn boating expedition! Later we walked around downtown Portland, ate a meal at Flatbread Company every bit as filling as a Thanksgiving dinner - cheese and herb flatbread, lemonade (cold for him and hot, of course, for always-freezing me), and brownie sundaes for dessert. Amazing! Then it was off to do a bit of shopping together, but mostly window-shopping. We bought an unfinished wood chair and a can of stain to complete our table-and-chairs set, then a canister of herb tea after trying on some clothes we didn't buy. There was nothing traditional-Thanksgiving about our day. But it was special, set-apart, and that's what made it Thanksgiving to me. Jonathan took off work, we spent the day together, and we had fun doing it! It was perfect.

October sailboat on Panther Pond

Perfectly adorable '59 wooden boat that came up to the boat launch while we were there - I fell in love!

Beautiful building in Portland

Cold lemonade, hot lemonade & two brownie sundaes - dessert was gone too fast to get a before picture... :)

Next year, maybe I'll have the homemade Thanksgiving meal with all my family that I've been longing for since 2007. Maybe I won't. But either way, I'll find a way to make it special!

Terry Fox Day

Today is the Terry Fox National School Run Day. I remember my very first Terry Fox Run. I was a kindergartener at Quigley Elementary School. Each child in our kindergarten class got paired up with a grade 5 student. We met our partners once before the Terry Fox Run to get to know them. I remember I told my partner, a grade 5 girl with long brown hair pulled into pigtails, that I played violin. The next time I saw her was on the morning of Terry Fox Day. All the kids at Quigley Elementary milled about the playground and soccer field waiting for instructions from our teachers. Finally my teacher, Mrs. Ackerman, led the kindergarten class over to the grade 5 class and we got reacquainted with our partners. Then our whole school set out down the city sidewalks, walking or running in pairings of two.

I didn't even understand what we were doing. I barely knew who Terry Fox was. I wondered why we had broken out of our structured kindergarten schedule to take a walk around several city blocks. There were children and teenagers flooding from the gates of the school across the road from Quigley. That was the school my older sister went to, the Adventist school that I would have gone to if they'd had a kindergaren class that year. I searched for Becky in the crowds of students, but never saw her. I wondered who her partner was. Maybe she was too old to need a partner.

By the time we rounded the last corner heading back to our school, my feet were sore. I was tired of walking and just wanted to be back in our familiar kindergarten class with the bookshelf full of puzzles and the playhouse set up like a hospital and the loft filled with comfy cushions and tons books for us to read. But I was also proud. Proud that I had made it the whole way. Proud that I, for the most part, had kept up with my partner. Proud that I had participated in Terry Fox Day.

On Sunday, this year's official Terry Fox Day, thousands of people of all ages, from all walks of life, from all parts of the country, will walk or run because of Terry. Today school children all across Canada took time out of their school day to participate in the Terry Fox Run, just like I did 19 years ago. Today I think of that courageous 21-year-old with only one leg who captivated an entire country. Today I imagine how he felt as he dipped his prothetic leg in the Atlantic Ocean in St. John's, Newfoundland and started his run across the country. Today I wonder if he ever realized the difference his Marathon of Hope made for cancer research. Today I'm proud to be Canadian.

Terry Fox Foundation

Canada Day!

I wish you all a happy and glorious Canada Day. Exactly one year ago my family and grandparents enjoyed the festivities at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It was awesome and I would encourage every Canadian to experience the capital-city celebration at least once. Even though I had a blast last year, I'm excited to be celebrating Canada Day in Kelowna again. My family is planning to take advantage of the perfect weather and go boating this afternoon and then head downtown to the Waterfront in the evening to watch the fireworks. All in all, it should be a great holiday, even without all the Ottawa-style excitement we took part in last year.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I found a random CBC TV sign-off video clip.

I like the shots and the accurate depiction of life and scenery in all areas of Canada.
I also think the intro is really awesome and leads perfectly into the anthem. Enjoy!

Groundhog Day

No, not the movie (that was such a ridiculous movie), but the real, official day where rodents decide if winter will prevail for another six weeks or if spring will, for once, come early.

February 2 is my favourite non-statutory holiday (just one of those records Ty) and has been since I first found out about Groundhog Day in pre-school. Ever since, I've looked forward to the day and anxiously awaited the reports from the official groundhogs, Canadian Wiarton Willie (of Wiarton, ON) and American Punxsutawney Phil (of Gobbler's Knob, Pa).

Today, both official groundhogs, and a third, not so well known Canadian from Nova Scotia, Shubenacadie Sam, saw their shadows, predicting winter to extend for another six weeks.

I don't mind a bit, seeing as how I only had two weeks of good winter weather at home during break. My relatives, living in BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario, are not so accepting of the verdict and I do feel for them. They've had a hard winter already, but, since the groundhogs unanimously agreed that winter will continue, there's not much anyone can do to change that fact.

(The Official Website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club provides additional info on the U.S. weather-predicting rodent.)

Advent Calendars

Today I drove Tim to Fresh Market so he could pick up some myzithra cheese. While he was trying to find it, I saw some exquisite looking smoked gouda that was completely irresistible...so I decided to buy it. And then I saw Advent Calendars for sale. I didn't have time to look at them extensively because Tim had to get back to SAU for a quartet rehearsal, but I think I'll go back in the next day or two and get myself one because it just doesn't feel quite like December without one. Plus, I'm pretty sure that eating one of those little chocolates every day for 24 days straight is probably an excellent idea...

Flanders Fields

More than 100,000 Canadians soldiers have died in various conflicts since 1899, including:

• More than 240 in the Boer War
• More than 66,000 in World War I
• More than 44,000 in World War II
• 516 in the Korean War
• 121 in peacekeeping missions
• 97 in Afghanistan (to date)

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, which ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.


FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, was written on May 3, 1915 as he was on the battlefield at Ypres, Belgium. It's the reason we wear poppies.

Lest We Forget

Since I left for college, every year at this time I wish I was at home. I'm not homesick (although I do long to see my beloved mountains again and to enjoy some real cold weather), I simply miss celebrating Remembrance Day. In Canada, Nov. 11 is a federal holiday and, until college interfered, I always attended the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. Now, residing in the States during the school year, I've realized that I really miss Remembrance Day. Down here it seems like nobody cares about the significance of Nov. 11. Veteran's Day sales seem to have become more important than using the day to remember those who lost their lives. So this year, instead of being home and going to the Remembrance Day ceremony at Kelowna's City Park, I'll do the same thing that I've done since Nov. 2003...get out my red poppy lapel pin and wear it on my backpack for the next week. It's the least I can do to honour the soldiers who fought and died for my country.


Remembrance Day related news stories:
Fallen Soldier Vigil
Poppy stickers
Poppy Man
CBC News In Depth: Remembrance Day

Happy Birthday Canada!

Happy belated Canada Day everyone!! Yesterday was jam-packed from the time I got up until falling into bed just hours before getting up again to leave for the airport and home, so I didn't get a chance to wish you all a Happy Canada Day. Hopefully you'll accept both my humble apology and also my day-late Canada Day wishes.

Canada Day in Ottawa, ON was absolutely amazing!! I'm really glad that I was able to convince my dad that we needed to experience Canada Day in our capital city. This July 1 was an especially significant one because of three major national anniversaries. First, tomorrow marks the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. Second, this year is the 200th anniversary of a democratic vote being established in Nova Scotia, ensuring Canada would become a democracy. Finally, this year is also British Columbia's 150th anniversary of becoming a British colony, which meant that Canada would enjoy borders from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. All three occasions are being celebrated all year long in their respective regions of Canada. In their speeches at the Parliament Hill noon show, both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General Michaëlle Jean mentioned these three anniversaries. It was really neat seeing these two Canadian leaders so close up on the Hill yesterday!

Other than the noon show on Parliament Hill, we also visited the Royal Canadian Mint and the Canadian War Museum. Both were free because of the holiday. The only downside to the day was the extreme heat. We were walking around all day with no sunscreen on and now we look like lobsters. Later, in the evening after the merciless sun set, we watched the national fireworks from Major's Hill Park just behind the Parliament buildings. Have I mentioned yet that it was an awesome day?