I love weekends. Some of them don't hold too much of anything, while others are pretty full, but regardless, they give me a chance to recharge and do things that I love. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them.

This weekend did not disappoint. Much of it was spent with my new-ish friends, Erin and Benny, and a few of their friends. Friday night I went over to their place, and drank tea, visited, and played cards with them, and a friend of theirs who is here from Germany. Then Saturday morning, I was up bright and early to spend the day hiking with the three of them, and another friend, Chris, who is actually from Switzerland (but living in Merritt as well). It started out interesting as we had to leave their van about 6 km out from the beginning of the trail because we couldn't get through because of snow on the the road. Once we actually reached the trail, it was snow from there on in, making it difficult to find the trail, meaning we did quite a bit of heading one direction, only to decide that we were likely going the wrong way, and head back to try a different route. Partway through the afternoon, we decided to try heading upwards so that we could get a better view. Once up a little higher, we cooked some chicken noodle soup on a little stove that they had brought along. After that, we started heading back down, and began the trek back to the van. The boys took off ahead of us, as being typical boys, they wanted to see if they could get the van through the snow. When Erin and I finally got to them, we found them stuck in the snow, and so we all spent the next 45 minutes or so trying to get the van out. Thankfully we eventually did! :) It was quite an adventure - but such a fun day! So nice to be out in the sun, spending the day with good friends - even if we were trudging through snow! And now today, my muscles are aching some, and my face has a definite reddish hue to it - but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'm looking forward to more adventures with them this summer!

Other exciting news is that in less than three weeks I'll be in Europe! It was 3 weeks from yesterday that I fly out to Rome, and then on to Estonia about one week after that. I can't believe it is nearly time to go back, but I am SO excited for it all!