I made the pumpkin black bean soup from my previous blog post. Verrrrrry good! Perfect thick, rib-coating soup for a February dinner. So filling! And the depth of flavour is terrific.

Thanks so much to everyone for returning to my page! It feels great to know you still remember me and still care how I'm doing. The gist of my absence is that I gained weight, became depressed - more due to my thesis than to the weight gain but we know these things are all connected - and had a hard time pulling out of it. Working on making a comeback now, which includes dedicated work on my thesis, almost daily exercise (which is making a HUGE difference in my mood), and a renewed focus on healthy eating and limiting alcohol.

Some wedding planning has been happening, but it still feels like August is a long way away and that we have lots of time. That's probably not true and I should take everyone's advice and get more accomplished early, but then I remind them that I have a thesis outstanding that needs priority attention. Still, by dribs and drabs we are making headway. Pam, we chose to have the event in BC. It's home to us now and we couldn't imagine having it anywhere else. Check out the location at www.bodegaridge.com on Galiano Island, then tell me you would have it anywhere else!

I've been still reading blogs and spinning that Spark wheel regularly, and recording my exercise. At some point I'd like to start tracking food again, too. I remember that being all consuming (ha!) last time though so for now I'm kind of putting it off until more time magically appears in my day, week, and year. For now it's really good to be back enough to feel confident to write this catch up blog. And of course it feels wonderful to be accepted still as part of the community. You guys are great!