CH-CH-Changes

As the seasons change, so do the Days of our Lives at General Hospital...and by "change" I mean BIG changes. I, Brina L Schenk, am at this moment spending my last residential work day in Vancouver, BC. Starting Monday I will be working from my home in Fernie, BC. What impact does this have on you? Well, other than the fact that I won't be physically attending meetings (we're hoping for video conferencing though! FUN,) not much. I'll still be working full time on Blue Skies and Daisies and continuously creating cool and creative wedding stationery for those who want it. Blue Skies and Daisies will be the Blue Skies and Daisies we've always been; loving our jobs and moving full steam ahead.

What this means for Albertine and I is: less coffee dates, less hugging and more phone calls. Awe, that's sad. I'll be visiting Vancouver often to help out with production and give Albertine the support a co-owner needs, plus, I might need to get out of Fernie every so often to postpone my insanity.

What does this mean for Brina? This means I'll be living with my manfriend, Mr. Rodney Brink, who has been enduring a long distance relationship with me from it's inception (almost 2 years), I'll be living in a small mountain town (population 5000,) and getting used to snow again. It's gonna be great!

the highly anticipated photos

We did it!! I have our mini vacation photos nicely organized and instead of 1 photo per day, you get 3!! Hooray for you.

So to begin the trip, we have the road trip on Friday from Vancouver to Fernie, BC. It's supposed to be a 12 hour drive but ended up being a 16 hour adventure for 3.

The Okanagan Vineyards

Everything was going quite smoothly until some strange metal piece FLEW off our car. After a few cars drove over the run away part, we picked it up and tried to pretend we knew what we were doing and place it back where it was supposed to go. Without it we would be driving a loud bad ass Rav4 for 8 hours. We're not very bad ass.

Ben was the one who got it temp fixed so we could get to Rod's place before sunrise. Way to go Mr. Krich!!

Ben taping the Rav back together

On Saturday, our first mini mini trip was to Lake Kookanusa where we found our own private camp site with our own private Jamaican sand beach. We felt really special. In between patting ourselves on the back, we managed to relax, play FrizKnock in the water, speak Science by the fire and cook hot dogs.

Teenie and Ben enjoying the view

FrizKnock in the water and our fire

On Sunday we enjoyed more camping fun times.

Teenie and Ben floating.

Rod enjoying his new hammock

But the fun didn't end there. Monday consisted of White Water Rafting (thanks to Jared of Mountain High Rafting in Fernie), frizbee golf and hanging out in Fernie. We didn't end up getting rafting pictures...which is a shame because that was AMAZING.

Ben gracefully riding Brandon's mini bike.

Good form, Brina!

Tuesday was another day of new discoveries and brilliance. We all slept in (finally) and did a bit of shopping in town while Rod put a few hours in. When we all got together in the afternoon, Rod, Ben and some friends did a quick mountain bike ride in the backyard...but first you have to take the truck the mountain...and then the girls have to take the truck down to the house...and the mountain is STEEP...and I've never driven Rod's truck before. We didn't scream once!!

The boys all suited up for their meeting with destiny.

We prepared our sweaty feet for the ride down.

And Wednesday was the saddest day of all. It was packing and spend time in Cranbrook day. SIGH. All good things must come to an end. But we didn't waste any time, even near the end. We managed to witness an amazing waterfall in Marysville and then buy apple strudel in Kimberley. When Rod and I were driving back to Fernie we encountered a super bright rainbow to lead us all the way home. Anyone know how rainbows form? I think I might do a little research.

The waterfall of greatness.

Rainbow of greatness.

healing in fernie

Last Thursday Rod had surgery on his knee, after a 2 month waiting period, so I flew (picture me as superman) into Cranbrook, BC just in time to take him home...just as soon as he could stand up and not throw up. I've been here for almost a week and he's been healing quite quickly, in my mind. He's bustling around on his crutches, going up and down stairs, like it's no big thing.

Fernie isn't a bad place to be locked up for a few weeks. All you have to do is look out the window and you should start feeling better instantly, in my mind...or maybe it's the T3s.

The best part about this whole situation is my friend Dana Oikawa is in Vancouver healing from the exact same surgery, performed on the exact same day at the exact same time. So Dana and Rod have been bonding daily over their healing experiences. It's nice to have someone who is going through the same thing, and to have someone completely understand the pain you're in.

Here are some pictures of rod, for those who want to see how he's doing...and for those who don't. haha. You MUST look at them. I will refrain from posting the pictures of his scars. Gross.