Jet-setter: Ottawa, Ontario - October 25 - 28, 2013

I spent this past weekend flying off to Ottawa, ON to be present at the wedding of my friend David and his beautiful wife Flora.  David was my Parish Team Leader during the summer of 2012 while I lived in Halifax from May to August for a mission trip with Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO).  The summer mission was called Impact Halifax 2012.

I stayed at the house of two of my friends who were also in Halifax with me, Angèle and Maria, and so did my friend Adriana, who - you guessed it - was in Halifax too.  Angèle and Maria have three other roommates, so it was a wonderfully full house for the weekend with seven women.  About four doors down from the women's house is a men's house, where two men that were also in Halifax with us - Zachary and Jeremy - happen to live. A large portion of the people who were on Impact Halifax were either from Ottawa (or nearby), going to school in Ottawa, or had moved to Ottawa after the summer mission, so I was super excited that I got to see so many wonderful people whom I hadn't been able to see for over a year.

(Check out this post where Maria and I, along with some other friends, went down to the Halifax Harbour for sun rise)

Our first night in Ottawa happened to also be the night that CCO was hosting men's and women's nights, so Adriana and I joined Maria, Angèle, and many other young Catholic women in Ottawa for the evening that consisted of a potluck, testimony sharing, a talk, and then a girly evening of chatting, painting nails, and just hanging out.  After women's night a bunch of us went to a house party that was spread out over two houses that are connected through the corner of their backyards. One house had a live band and the other was full of people with a dance floor in the basement.  I ran into so many people I knew there, it felt like I had already been to Ottawa before.

Saturday was wedding day! Maria, Adriana, and I quickly walked to a nearby mall to get cards and some makeup before getting ready for the wedding.  The ceremony was so beautiful. I just love witnessing people that are important to me take part in the sacrament of marriage!

As I am living in Saskatchewan and the rest of the people who were on my parish team are all living in Ontario, the last time we were all together was the very last day of mission, August 11, 2012.  It was so awesome to see Jeremy, David, Beverly, and Marie all in the same place. Actually, it was the first time I had seen any of them since Impact ended.

Our parish team got a little bit bigger this weekend!

I'm actually a little disappointed that I didn't get more photos, but I was totally enjoying myself as I caught up with everyone, met new people, and danced the night away.  

P.S. I wore the same dress to this wedding as I did to Brandi & Kyle's wedding, and I am totally okay with it! Do you wear an outfit to multiple events? I certainly try to, it just seems so wasteful not to!

My weekend didn't end there! I decided to make a little vacation out of the weekend and booked Monday off of work. Since Friday was my EDO I had a nice little 4-day weekend to enjoy Ottawa for the first time ever.  On Sunday morning I slept in then Jeremy, Maria, and I dropped Adriana off at the airport to catch her flight back to Halifax. After we left the airport we stopped off at the Farmer's Market across from Carleton University. It was pretty chilly and we decided that we wanted to sit down somewhere warm to eat, so we didn't stay long. I did manage to snag some macarons, however, and they were delicious. Jeremy had one that was mocha-flavoured, Maria chose pistachio, and I got raspberry, vanilla, and two salted caramels (there was a deal for 6 that I just couldn't pass up). YUM.

There were three others, but they didn't quite last until the photo was taken.

We made our way to the ByWard Market and grabbed some lunch at Cafe 55 before heading towards Parliament Hill.  We decided to head inside to see if there was a tour time that would work.  We hung around inside for a little bit before deciding that we didn't want to wait. I'm heading back to Ottawa at the end of December anyways, so I can take a tour then when I have a bit more time. 

I really wanted the typical tourist photo in front of Parliament Hill, so we went outside to do just that. As we walked outside and towards the steps we saw a bunch of people in strange costumes and makeup walking towards us (towards the building really, but it totally felt like they were walking right. to. me.). Oh lovely, Ottawa's Zombie Walk had to happen right when I was first experiencing Ottawa and Parliament Hill.  I'll tell you, I doubt I will ever forget it!  I managed to get my photos and you really cannot tell that the people in the background are all dressed as zombies, it just looks like a bunch of tourists.

After my tourist moment was over we hopped back in the car and headed off to Jeremy's parents' place for a belated Thanksgiving dinner and then went to evening Mass at St. Monica's where Jeremy was playing in the band. We were there early for the band to set up, so Maria and I went on what ended up being a very long walk on the path that winds through the surrounding trees. It was quite beautiful, but we really didn't realize how far we had gone until we figured we should turn back. We still made it back with plenty of time to spare before Mass though :).

That's about it! The next morning I had the cab pick me up shortly after 4:00 am so that I could get checked in and through security before my 6:00 am flight back home.  Even though the trip was quick, I had a wonderful time. I cannot wait until I get to head back at the end of December!

Have you ever been to Ottawa? What was your favourite experience while there?