A Teacher's Summer

In August I put out a poll on my Instagram stories about whether you wanted a school related blog post, or if I should switch it up with a more personal blog post. The poll ended up being 50/50, so I wrote 2 school related blog posts (check them out!), and here is a more personal blog post. I was meaning to post this at the beginning of September, but the month got away on me and here we are nearly in October already! Oops.

I decided to write this post about what I did over the summer and give you a little insight into my life beyond the 4 walls of my classroom. Summer seemed to fly by extra fast this year. I am not sure if it was due to the COVID burnout I experienced by the end of the school year, or if it was that we were actually able to do things this summer. Either way, it felt like I blinked and summer was over.

On the last day of school in June, my sweet mom surprised me with a charcuterie board and wine from a local business to celebrate the start of summer. My niece, Vivi, had her last soccer game of the season that day as well, so I was happy we were able to catch it as we didn't make it to a game before then! It was a great way to start holidays!

Early in July, Kyle and I headed to Banff, Alberta. We really love the mountains and Banff holds a very special place in my heart. As a child, my family and I would take all of our family holidays to Banff and it was something I would look forward to every year. In high school, my family had 2 stores on Banff Ave, so we would work there in the summer and over school holidays. While we are in Banff, we often enjoy hiking and exploring during the day.

Banff currently has Banff Ave (which is the main street in the town) blocked off to traffic, which allows pedestrians to walk on the street, and for restaurants to extend their patios onto the road, which I really enjoyed. When it comes to places to eat, as a tradition, we always stop at Chili's on our first night there (lame I know), but we love Mexican and we no longer have it in our city. On our second night we went to Magpie and Stump- more Mexican food, LOL. Our last night we went to Banff Brewing Co. to celebrate, which is always so delish! They used to have a vegetarian sandwich with eggplant and some sort of carrot paste that I often crave, but they removed it from their menu.

During our first full day there we went to Grassi Lakes, which is my absolute favourite trail. There are often bear sightings there, which can result in the trail being closed. If you haven't done the trail before and are in the area (Canmore), I highly recommend it. At the beginning of the hike, you're able to choose an easy or difficult path. Whatever path you choose, the end point is at the same place. Full disclosure- the views are much better on the difficult trail. However, we always choose he easy trail on the way up, see the breath taking lakes, and then hike down the difficult side. There are so many gems on this trail. My favourite part is a hidden waterfall off the trail. It is only seen on the difficult side shortly after coming down the stairs. I recommend you stop and spend some time or maybe have a picnic there! Later that day we stopped by Cascade Pond for a snack and a game of cards (we take Dutch Blitz very seriously!) We then headed to a quick, but steep hike to a waterfall. To this day, I am unsure of the name of the falls, but I believe it is on the back side of Cascade Mountain and can be seen when entering Banff. I have hiked this trail since I was a young child, and my family has unofficially named it "Krogan Falls." When we got about three quarters of the way up, it started to downpour on us. Because of the wet rocks, we were unable to climb up closer to the falls, but It was definitely something to laugh about after!

On the second day we hit up Takkakaw falls in B.C., and the drive there is almost as breathtaking as the falls itself. If you plan to go, make sure to bring a rain jacket or umbrella (or not if you're like us and don't mind getting wet!) After Takkakaw, we then made our way to Moraine lake to see the beautiful blue water and the Valley of the Ten Peaks (which is actually on the $20 Canadian bill). Lastly we went to Marble Canyon, which is a nice little hike with beautiful views just past the British Columbia border.

Now before I go on any further, I need to back track a little- or maybe a lot! Our second day of our trip landed on July 3rd. This may just seem like an ordinary day to you, but my grandparents got married in Banff on July 3rd, my parents got married in Banff on July 3rd, and when we went to Banff during July 3rd this Summer, I had a feeling we might be getting engaged after being together for 9 years! There were a few things leading up to our trip that made me think a proposal might be happening, and we had gone and looked at rings prior, so I kind of had a feeling it was coming. However, Kyle completely led me astray. We were on our final hike of the trip, at Marble Canyon. We just witnessed another couple hours before at Moraine Lake get engaged right in front of us (I know, twist the knife, right!?) Anyways, we love this hike and make sure we see it each time we go out there. It is beautiful all year long and we have many great memories together there. Once we got to the top of the rapids we relaxed and enjoyed the sounds and the view. No one was around and it was just us. I had asked Kyle to have a competition of who could keep their feet in the glacial water the longest (fun fact- I am really competitive, especially with Kyle. LOL.) He wanted to relax and just sit there, which was a bit odd as he loves competitions almost as much as I do! Eventually he asked to take a picture of me, so he went to get his camera and asked me to stand up for the photo. When I did, he got down on one knee. I actually thought he was joking at first because I made a few (sour) remarks about the couple getting engaged right in front of us an hour before! I started crying and asked if he was joking, which he wasn't. I pretty much blacked out and Kyle told me I said yes before he even got the words out. LOL.Once we got back into Banff and regained cell service, we FaceTimed our family and close friends and went out to celebrate! It still feels surreal. On our way home the next day, we met with our friends who recently moved to Calgary for a celebratory lunch and of course a trip to Ikea.

The next weekend I had my girlfriends over to see my new house that was purchased in the Spring for the first time and hosted brunch. My girlfriend from Vancouver happened to be in town visiting her family, so she and her cute babies came to join! All the girls gifted us a wedding planning book (they know me well- I am a planner!) and a Visa gift card for things for the house. We are SO spoiled! In the middle of July, one of my best friends from high school (who is also a teacher) got married and it was so fun to dance, and see everyone as COVID restrictions were lifted that weekend. I was even able to buy some of her wedding stuff from her to use for our wedding- Score!

The rest of July was spent wedding planning! We have our venue, hair, DJ, and photographer booked and bought some center pieces and other decor too. We chose our flower girls (our niece, Vivi and my God daughter, Anna), our ring bearer (our nephew, Maric) and my bridesmaids. We are also getting Kyle's brother, Lorne to officiate our wedding which we are very excited about! 3 weeks of July was also spent in a University class on Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education, which was so great and something I enjoyed as I work towards my Masters.

For August Long, we headed to the lake to spend time with friends, which is an annual tradition we've had for many years. At the beginning of August, I surprised Kyle with a glamping site at Camp Wolf Willow, and it was absolutely wonderful to get away alone together. We had their locally made wine, cider, and pizza and we walked down by the river. It was so beautiful.

The rest of August consisted of classroom set-up and home renovations. We painted our guest room, my office, the master bedroom and the living room. We changed out the closet hardware and curtain rods in the bedrooms and my office and added board and batten in the master bedroom. My dad celebrated his 60th birthday in August and even came to help paint that day! We wrapped up our summer by going to the Exhibition to watch Dean Brody with a couple of our besties.

Just like that, Summer flew by and we are already back into routine for the 2021-2022 school year and headed full force into October.

If you're still reading this, thanks for sticking around! I'd love to hear what you have gotten up to over the summer! :)

XOXO,

Elle