A much-needed escape

So it was been a ridiculously long time since I've written on here, and I've suddenly had the urge. There is PLENTY i could catch you all up on, but then this post would become massive and unconquerable. And much too heavy. So I'll try to keep this one short and sweet. Key word: try.

Joel and I celebrated our ONE-YEAR anniversary last weekend in the lovely town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. It was a blissful weekend full of WINE tasting -- there are over 40 vineyards in the area. My love for wine was definitely reinvigorated and I brought home some amazing Riesling and ICE WINE -- my new favorite! Mmmmm! If you've never tasted it before, you've got to try it. It's a dessert wine, so sweet and delicious -- I've never had anything like it. It's like liquid honey... that may sound weird, but trust me, it is scrumptious. I've heard that it's great with an assortment of cheeses or some dark chocolate. Sounds like pure bliss to me. To make it, they let the grapes completely freeze in the winter and then squeeze whatever juice they can from them. Because they are only able to get a couple drops from each grape, it is not cheap, but it is completely worth it.









Below is the adorable Bed & Breakfast we stayed at -- The Apple Tree Historic B&B, circa 1820.
Our hosts Gail & Dave were so gracious; we enjoyed spending our mornings indulging in Gail's delicious homemade breakfasts and chatting it up with her and the other guests. At one point, Joel overheard one of the other guests complaining about how their alarm clock kept going off throughout the night, to which Gail replied, "Well, that room is said to be haunted." Ummm, excuse me?? Apparently, many guests had complained of the same occurrence, and despite her replacing the alarm clock on more than one occasion, the problem had continued.. Freaaaky. That night, Joel and I spent way too much time in bed listening intently for unusual sounds.. we kept hearing creaking up and down the hallway past our door well past the other couples' bedtimes (Gail referred to us as 'the kids'). Needless to say, I didn't sleep all that well that night.



During our wonderful weekend away, we were isolated from all the forms of technology which are a daily part of our lives-- cell phones, TV and Internet. And it was completely REFRESHING. It meant no distractions from enjoying each other and our gorgeous surroundings. And it made me realize how much time I WASTE watching the idiot box/screwing around on the computer (mostly the latter). Really I have realized this for quite some time (years, even?) but I've finally decided to try to put an end to it. Or at least cut it down significantly. I want to start using the time I spend on my freaking computer in a more productive way. For starters, I'm going to start getting back into playing guitar -- Joel's going to give me weekly lessons like he did back in college :) I'm also going to start re-learning piano on my own, now that I have one at my disposal. I also neeed to start reading, especially since my job does not do a good job of exercising my brain. I want to grow in all sorts of ways. So wish me luck on this new endeavor because the Lord knows it won't be easy! I'll update ya'll (whoever you are) soon!

Peace!