After a wonderful two weeks we are back from our trip to Jamaica; tanned, a bit jet lagged and already back into the swing of things.

On this trip we spent the first week exploring the island with a rental car and then the second week relaxing at two different resorts.

Driving in Jamaica was quite an experience since driving on the left side of the road makes you feel like a brand new driver.  You spend the first few days just trying to stay in the lane while avoiding the drivers passing you in places you might not normally pass.  Sean was the lucky one who got to drive for the week.  Although I did take a turn for an hour I finally let Sean take over, it is much harder than you would think.

During our first week we visiting the beaches of Montego Bay, Negril and Treasure Beach.  The towns of Kingston, Mavis Bank, Port Antonio, Boston Bay and Ocho Rios.  We swam, ate loads of food and explored the many sights; making sure to visit the Bob Marley Museum, a coffee plantation in the blue mountains and tour the Appleton Rum distillery.

We pushed ourselves the first week to see the ‘real’ Jamaica, not just the resorts that most people see.  I believe we accomplished that goal.

The second week of our trip was a much different experience than the first.  We made our way from the airport after dropping off the rental car in a big bus of tourists.  We disembarked at the super all inclusive resort on the northern coast of Jamaica ready for 3 days of relaxing by the pool with a drink.

Since it was slow season the resort was pretty empty but we were later told that it was even slow for slow season.  We didn’t mind and just made our way to the pool for a quick swim and a drink.  We instantly made friends with others staying at the resort and managed to get pulled into a variety of drinking games, all in the name of fun.

We could tell it was going to be a very fun couple of days at the Grand Lido Braco.

One of the perks to a super all inclusive resort was that room service was included which meant that at any time in the day or evening I could call up and get just about anything I wanted.  Since room service is not something I ever do when we are on holiday I was just excited to get started on the menu.  I was loving all the fries and desserts I could get, the first night I had them come back with a second plate of fries and some brownies; because I could.

After a couple of days relaxing, eating and drinking it was time to head to the second resort for the remainder of the week.  Thankfully we had made some friends at the first place who were actually going to the same resort as us so we shared a taxi.

During the 45 minute drive to the second resort we learned that Sean and Fred were basically seperated at birth.  They have the same sense of humour and even have the same wedding ring.  We had a great time with Fred and Lynn through out the time at the second resort sharing many meal together and many more laughs.

Although the point of the resorts was to relax at the end of our holiday it also gave us the opportunity to try some new things.  On the last day I got the chance to do a beginner scuba diving course.  It was basically just a quick overview of how to breathe underwater, clear your mask and regulator and handling moving around in the water.  After getting an overview in the pool it was time for open water.

What I liked about the pool was that if at any time I felt a bit panicked I knew that I could just stand up and everything was okay.  What scared me about the idea of being 40 feet under water was that if something happened how would I react.

As anyone would probably imagine there was a bit of panicking, but funny thing was it was when I was on the top of the water and not when I was 40 feet under it.  After calming down it was time to descend and thankfully after a bit of trouble equalizing my ears I was at the ocean floor seeing things I had never seen before.  The coral and fish were so amazing, truly a great way to experience scuba diving for the first time.

We had such an amazing time on this trip, experiencing new things and looking forward to our next adventure wherever and whenever that may be.

When we got home from Jamaica there was some very exciting news waiting for us in the mail.  My permanent resident status is going to be decided after an interview on September 25th at 10:30am.  By being a permanent resident I no longer need a work permit and pretty much have all the rights of a Canadian.

Sean and I will be going to the Vancouver Immigration Centre to be interviewed based on the paperwork that was submitted back in February.  After the interview they decide one way or the other on my status, the good sign is that they are having me bring my photo’s for my permanent resident card.

If all goes well at the interview than I should be officially Mrs. Sean Payne by my birthday.  I have been waiting to change my name until after the immigration process which means I can finally do all of that paperwork once my status has changed.

Keep your fingers crossed on September 25th that everything will go well.  Updates to follow after our interview, hopefully good ones

My first Canada Day actually living in Canada was a success!  Sean and I decided to take our bikes from our house in Burnaby and ride to Granville Island which is about an hour ride each way.  There were bound to be loads of people at the market, but we thought it would be a nice way to spend the day off.

After a sushi lunch some coffee and a large bag of blueberries we decided to start the ride back to our house.

The ride back complete with all the hills was a good workout and a warm up for our trip this weekend.

On Saturday we are taking the ferry to Vancouver Island to ride our bikes from Swartz Bay to Victoria, to visit Sean’s mom, which is about a 3 hour ride.  It will be great to see Linda and Pedro and a fun way to spend Sean’s birthday which is also on Saturday.

With a lot of time on my hands over the last week and a half at work, my boss is out of province so there isn’t much ‘assisting’ to do.  I thought I would take a look at the immigration Canada website to see what applications they are processing.

We applied for my permanant resident status on February 17th and it looks like they are processing the applications received up to January 5th, which means we are getting really close.  It still means we probably aren’t going to hear anything until August but it is still exciting to know we are getting closer.

Although I don’t think there is anything to worry about it leads to some anxiety of things getting figured out before my work permit expires.  Thankfully I have until January 21st, when my permit expires.

We will keep you posted on any new immigration news.

After waiting impatiently for 9 months we were happy to welcome our new nephew to the world on Saturday morning at 9:26am.

Since my family is in the Seattle area we were unsure if we were even going to be able to make it to the hospital for the big event.  Thankfully Declan decided to wait until Saturday morning to make his big arrival.

We recieved the call from Megan, my younger sister, at 3:00am that Jennifer was in labor and already settling into the hospital.  After taking showers and packing some clothes we hit the road.  Thanks to the early hour, there was no one on the road or at the border and we made record time getting there, 2 1/2 hours.  Which only involved a little bit of speeding.

Sean and I are just so lucky to be an aunt and uncle to such wonderful kids.  Samantha is growing up before our eyes it just doesn’t seem like she is old enough to be in middle school next year.  Finley is such an active 2 year old exploring the world and getting so big between each of our visits to Seattle.  We are so excited about the addition of Declan and look forward to our visit again this weekend to have more time with him.

We hope this is a place for everyone to follow along as we make a life for ourselves here in Vancouver.  Check back often for new pictures and stories.

Sean and Kim