While I was out taking pictures the other day I noticed this beautiful bird out of the corner of my eye. I literally hiked over a dune (highly frowned upon….), through the snow-covered beach, and up a cliff to get a good shot! As much as I wanted to get closer, I was quite nervous to be attacked (lol). 
winter
Guide The Way
Afternoon Fog
Hiking is by far one of my favourite things! Unfortunately, this winter seems to be either absolutely freezing cold (I don’t like hiking that much) or a blizzard. This is a throwback to a hike Shaugn and I did earlier this year. Fingers crossed there are some nice days coming!
Winter Chill
Winter pictures is something I haven’t really done before. Usually, I go into hibernation and don’t come out until it is warm and sunny. This year I’m trying to push myself outside of my boundaries and get a little more adventurous, which means that winter hiking is a must! Although I would much rather be snowshoeing through the trails, there is barely any snow right now, and hiking is turning more into slowly shuffling through the woods trying not to slip down into the ravine because the trails are nothing but ice. The day I took this picture featured one bruised elbow on Shaugn’s part, and me almost sliding down the hill after trying to read a map that was surrounded by ice. Nonetheless, getting outside and adventuring to all of these places is one of my favourite things, and I’m hoping to get out a lot more as the winter goes on!
Scotties/Tankard Provincial Playdowns
For those of you who don’t know, I have been highly involved in curling for the majority of my life. Unfortunately, this year, I was unable to play competitively because I was waitlisted for a Masters program and couldn’t commit to a team. Long story short, I did not get into the program, and now I’m still on the Island with no team to curl with :'(.
This weekend is the provincial playdowns for both the men and the women, with the winners advancing to The Brier or The Scotties Tournament of Hearts, respectively. Although it sucks not playing, I am very happy to say the organizers allowed me to go out on the ice and take pictures of the competitors.
I’ve been getting out to as many draws as possible, and taking about 700 pictures each time! I’ll be uploading all pictures on my Facebook page, so make sure you check them out here.
The Holidays
Hello 2017! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. I decided not to post a blog for the last week of 2016 because I was between being home and heading to Montreal, and I decided to prioritize spending time with friends and family over worrying about what my next post was.
My Christmas was spent at my parent house, and I was lucky enough to get almost 4 days off. It was so nice to be home for the holidays and not have to worry about driving home in any bad weather or trying to get back to town to go to work. It was also great because my uncle was home from Alberta – whom I haven’t seen in a year and a half – so I got to see him most of my time home.
After Christmas, I jumped on a plane to Montreal to spend New Years with Shaugn and his family and friends. Although our trip was cut a day short as we decided to drive home before the bad weather hit, it as a great time! We spent New Years at his friend’s house, where we had a huge supper, and spent the night outside by the bonfire and driving snowmobiles around. At midnight, we all popped some bubbly and set fireworks off.
While we were in Montreal, Shaugn and I did go on a tiny adventure to Sandy Beach to go for a hike through the woods and take some pictures. The “tiny” adventure got even more exciting when we got the car stuck off the edge of the road…
Although no one ever really wants the holidays to be over, I am very excited to see what 2017 has in store!
Christmas Lights & Presents
WOOHOO, exams are officially over! I finished my last exam on Tuesday night (pray for my marks, please..), and to celebrate, Shaugn and I went out to North Rustico to look at all the Christmas lights. If you are from the Island, you should definitely check out the lights in North Rustico. It all started (I believe) with a family who lost their son over 20 years ago, who decorate their yard bright enough for him to see from heaven. From there, multiple homes within the community have also gone to insane levels of decorating, and it is definitely a sure way to get you into the Christmas spirit. You’ll even be greeted by a boat covered in lights as you enter the community.
Also this week, Shaugn and I had our early Christmas. We did this last year and, keeping with tradition, did it again this year! Shaugn and I don’t really get to see each other over the holidays because he spends his in Montreal and I spend mine on lil ol’ PEI. So, our options are have Christmas before he leaves for the holidays, drag all the presents to Montreal and have Christmas on the 28th when I get there, or wait until after we get back on January. So, we have elected to do an early Christmas! I do have to admit, it feel weird opening presents early, and we even cheated and opened them a day earlier than we said we would this year, but it is so great to watch each other open the presents, and guess what each gift it, and just spend our little holiday together 🙂
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year 🎄
That’s right, it’s December, which means Christmas is just right around the corner! Now, this is something that I don’t normally partake in (Christmas decorating, that is) until after exams. I’m very much so bah-hum-bug until the semester is officially over. This year, however, I decided to celebrate early. Shaugn and I decorated his apartment this past Saturday, and even went up to my parent’s home on Sunday to decorate their tree (Mom insisted that it was to be decorated by us as she drank red wine on the couch – “managing”). All in all it was a great weekend to separate the end of classes and the beginning of stu(dying) for exams!
The big difference between Shaugn and myself when it comes to decorating is that I love simplicity, white crisp lights, and a more modern look, whereas Shaugn loves the different colours and more traditional decorations. Last year, I surprised him by going out and buying lights to wrap around his deck, as well as some bows to tie to the posts (which have since blown away in the wind, RIP).
According to both Shaugn and my mother, my tree “floofing” skills are sub-par.
If this smile(?) doesn’t say holiday spirit, I don’t know what does…
Already planning on how is going to tear the tree down before we even finish putting it up.
Side Note: the tree lasted roughly 48 hours before ornaments started becoming toys.
One of my favourite things of spending the holidays with someone else is learning about their traditions and how Christmas was for them and their family. This summer, Shaugn and his folks went on vacation to Cape Breton, and along the way his mom picked this up. She intended on hiding it for him to find when it came time to decorate, but she ended up showing him where it was hidden before leaving (probably for fear that we would break it lol). I’m so glad that Shaugn gets to go home to spend the holidays with his family, even if I will miss him like crazy until I head to Montreal for New Years.
Finally, we tried to get a “family” photo. As potentially unsuccessful as this was, I am not surprised that the cat took this opportunity to show his love and affection for us (well, me.. Shaugn feeds him the most so he’s in the clear).
Hope everyone has as much fun as we did decorating and getting ready for the holidays!
The Traveling Sunset
How about a little TBT for everyone?! This was captured on our way home from Montreal way back in January. It was my first time traveling with Shaugn (call us crazy, we had been together for all of three months and I flew up to Montreal to spend New Years with him..and still together a year later), and we had been heading east all day trying to get to PEI at a reasonable hour. We stopped at a gas station about an hour outside of Moncton, looked behind us, and saw this gorgeous sunset happening. Much to Shaugn’s protest (like I said, tight timeline here), I grabbed my camera and ran to the edge of the parking lot to grab this. So thankful I had my camera in the truck with me!
Deafening Silence
Slipped out to Stanhope the other night in hopes of catching the stars, however by the time I got out there the clouds had moved over. Was still able to catch this shot from where I started my leg of the PEI Corporate Marathon this past fall. Not sure if it was more beautiful then or now!
Emily Gray Photography 