Saturday was such a beautiful sunny day. It seemed a shame to stay indoors, so a group of us helped Cayleen re-do her sidewalk (Mike was a huge help, me... not so much). We then treated ourselves to a fabulous barbecue outside at Assiniboine Park. 

Being cooped up all winter makes me appreciate spring and summer all the more. I was in a happy, sun-soaked euphoria all weekend!

Who doesn't need a mid-week ice cream break sometimes? BDI is a bit legendary around these parts. The protocol is thus: 1. Grab ice cream. 2. Walk over the bridge.

In other news:
I finished my final practicum on Friday. That night, I flew to Alberta to visit my cousins. Came home yesterday and am now subbing (!) and working as a research assistant for one of my profs. Hello, real life!

We walked to Sarah's place after church on Friday and made dinner together in her kitchen. The food, the sunroom, the reflection of twinkle lights in the windows at night - I loved it all.

This chicken | This salad | This cake

These wee little green buds are making me very happy. Spring does not often come so soon, so we are just relishing in every minute!

Last night, Mike, our friend Kevin, and I threw some stuff on the barbecue and ate on the front stoop. I could get used to this!

My friend Sarah has this great apartment in a beautiful neighbourhood. The only catch is that parking is terrible. I usually circle around for fifteen minutes before I find a spot (admittedly, this is also due to my lack of parallel parking skills). But as soon as I get there, it's worth it.

She flung open the doors to the sunroom this weekend and we had the best time - s'more pie making, prosecco, hair braiding, + kitchen dancing.

Saturday morning we woke up and felt like brunch. So, at ten o'clock, we sent our friends a facebook message. By eleven, there was a crowd in the kitchen. We had a veritable feast of waffles and fresh fruit!

More friends kept coming and the temperature kept rising. I was very recently complaining about the snow, but it's all gone now! Not only that, we've also been experiencing unseasonably (worrisome?) warm temperatures of twenty degrees (sixties fahrenheit).

We brought our chairs outside and sat for hours in the sunshine. We drank iced tea, took an enneagram quiz (I'm a three, what are you?), and played football.

I still smile when I think about it.

This was truly one of my happiest Sundays in recent memory. It felt incredible to enjoy the day without having homework or lesson planning hanging over my head. Such a wonderful feeling.

We cleaned Mike's house from head to toe and then had a bunch of family over for Mother's day. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, the quality time was so so good. Things got really interesting when Mike's dad pulled out his blood glucose monitor (no, he doesn't have diabetes. Apparently it's just a quirky part trick). Mike's cousin Nathan got unexpectedly freaked out about it which led to a hilarious half an hour of convincing.

And a quick note on our mamas - they are both pretty incredible. That's mine on the left , and Mike's on the right. We love them both so much.

I'm so happy spring has finally arrived. I look forward to more convertible rides, picnics, walks, and dinners outside. But I really need to figure out how to balance things better because I'm feeling awfully tired and stressed out during my supposedly happy care-free summer holidays. I have so much to be grateful for and need to focus on the positive. Example: I get to marry this guy in exactly three months.


ps. Keep the questions coming! There have been some really interesting ones. It will be fun to answer them!

five hours...

till mike gets home! you may be getting sick of me talking about him all the time...but i'm sure once he's back, i'll talk about him even more + i will lose all readers.

{...i really hope not!}

while he's been gone, we've had many skype dates - 7 hours being our record! ha!- and loooong facebook messages... 

i've quite enjoyed snapping screen shots during our long chats:

{he is my favourite!}

{we liked to take sneaky pictures of each other eating. here is him eating a mango. 
i am never showing you the one he took of me eating cornflakes!}

{he is so handsome!}

while he's been gone, i've also been writing up an epic list of:

"janis & mike's list of things to do in april & may"
k

since i'm planning on leaving for turkey early june (sent off the application today!), we have limited time to plow through the 40+ items. might have to carry some over into autumn! some of the items include:

1. take photos in the photobooth at the airport

{expecting to complete that one ce soir}

16. go out for crêpes at the frenchway

18. paint his house
{affectionately named "ruby" since it's on ruby ave...creative, i know!}

20. finish flight of the conchords season I

27. go on a tour of manitoba hydro place!

38. go dancing

41. order indian take out + eat in on the hardwood floors at ruby

expect photo-documentation of all of the above! yayayaya!

sincerely, an extremely excited janis roseanne.

ps. he's promised to do a guest post on his voyages to laos + thailand! it's going to be incredible!

le parc en printemps...

just about every time my niece & nephew come over they ask to go to the park. today was the first day in a long time that it wasn't glacially cold or too dark (thank you daylight savings!) - so off we went! my brother brendan had to occasionally carry the little tykes through massive puddles lakes, but we came back relatively dry. oh spring! i am so happy to see you!*

*although spring, you're making it rather difficult to focus on homework...