My SO left today after a two and a half week visit. This was actually our very first visit which was a little weird. Since we've known each other one of us has always just moved to the other or whatever when we were together, it has never been just a short visit. Lived in the same city we met, apart, he moved here for 5 months apart 6, I moved there two years,apart, visit. Weird. We are properly in a LDR now and I don't want to say I always felt above it but I could never really relate to a lot of the visit posts and I kinda liked it that way.

I guess I should start from the beginning.

I drove to Calgary to pick him up on Thursday. As I waited at the gate I got more and more anxious and nervous to see him as y'all know my feelings for him have been very up and down. He walked out the gate and I was happy to see him. A little weird but good. We went for lunch and then to drop off our bags at the motel. It was a dive, but it was only for one night and it was cheap. It couldn't have been that bad though cause it didn't take him long to sex me. Woo!

The next day we drove to Canmore. The wedding rehearsal was early evening so we went a bit early to have lunch, and walk around. During lunch he asked if I wanted to go back to England. I told him as much as I liked it there I didn't think that was the best place for me/saving/our future. He seemed to understand and he said we would figure something out.
We still had some time to spare until the rehearsal so we decided to go check out some lakes and test out our new hiking gear. We were about two minutes in to the 1.5 hour (4 km) round trip hike and I was ready to die! We made it to the top though and there were a couple beautiful crystal clear lakes and a huge cliff where people were rock climbing.
We changed and cleaned up a bit before heading to the venue. We were a little early so we helped with setting up the tables, Her decorations were so pretty! Very simple and totally pintrest. It was white table clothes with a silver table runner, in the middle was a circular mirror centerpiece with a mason jar wrapped with burlap string with pebbles in the bottom and babies breath and candles around it.
The rehearsal went alright. We all had pizza afterwards. The dinner part was in the hotel we were staying in so we has time to sit in the hot tub before bed!

Wedding day!
Had to get up early to get my hair done. I was able to find a ride for my SO to the wedding so I didn't have to worry about him getting there without me. The hair appointment was at 9 am, which I thought was a little early for a 2pm ceremony, but it was alright since it meant no rushing, My hair took the longest which made spending $112 a little more worth it. Everyone said they liked it but it felt a little too side pony 80's for me. It was a messy side pony but it felt like it was a little too high up. I haven't seen any photos yet so as soon as I do I'll make sure to share.
We went back to the brides chalet to get ready. We ate and she gave us these pretty little necklaces as a gift so we all wore those with our dresses. The photographer came and took some photos before we left. I'm not used to being on that side of the camera, it was a little weird and sometimes I worry I have bitchy resting face so I hope the candid ones turned out okay.

I was first to go down the aisle. It was quite exciting. The ceremony was beautiful, it was outside with the mountains in the background. It was wonderful,..until the minister went off about adultery and how people have experimented with a man and a man and a women and a women but nothing is right unless it is a man and a women. My freaking jaw dropped! That was one of the first things my SO commented on when I saw him after the ceremony. I asked the bride afterwards what she thought about it and she was horrified. She gave him a sheet of what to read and he said hardly any of it. I told her if anything it's a story to tell. Shit though!

While the bride and groom were in the receiving line I talked a bit with my SO. I saw one of the girls that was at the bridal shower and bachelorette and introduced them and then asked if she'd mind if my SO tagged along with her and her bf until the reception. I guess they had a great time so that worked out well. I went off to get the photos done, we all got burnt. We were so worried about bug spray we forgot the sunscreen.

The reception was really nice. The food was good. My SO sat with friendly people and lucky is good at talking to people I didn't feel I had to worry about him. The master of ceremonies was hilarious! When dinner was over and everyone was getting up to get drinks and mingle I went to see my SO. He must have been hit my the emotional wedding but because he said this really heartfelt thing to me....that I can't remember clearly! gah! He said basically that he really loved me and he quit his job and came to canada once early on so it wouldn't make sense not to now. It was really sweet.

The rest of the night was fun. We danced, drank, I danced for like an hour straight. Cotton Eye Joe came on and everyone started line dancing and he was so shocked the people actually broke out into dance haha.

The next day we started our camping trip by heading to Banff.

(I don't know who did it in a recent blog. I've just skimmed a whole bunch trying to catch up with everyone. Anyway someone was using bullet points and I feel that it may be important to continue in that manner as I have two very busy weeks to recap and as excited as you all are to read about it I don't want to drag on too long!)

Banff

• We got to Banff mid afternoon, checked in to our campground then went for a small hike then for a nice steak dinner afterwards.
• The next day we hiked Johnston Canyon and up to the Ink pots (12 kms) The canyon was really cool. The inkpots were 5 ponds with different levels of minerals that colored them slightly different shades from each other. It was Canada day so we watched the parade and went for the best wings I've had in a long time! There was music in the park we listened to for a bit and then went for a walk to bow falls
• We drove to Lake louise and did the hike there (15.5 kms) the trail was cool, it wasn't just in forest. Half way up there was a little tea house we stopped at for a bite to eat. There were some amazing views and I discovered my new favorite mountain Mt Lefroy. To me it is what a mountain should be. Huge, rocky and when you are right beside it, it is just such a humbling feeling. On the way down we took an alternate route to lake Agnes.
  
  That evening we stopped back home to shower and as I was coming from the shower there was a little juvenile black bear walking by about 15 feet from me! It was so cute I just wanted to run up to it and give it a big hug. Instead I ran as fast as I could to get my SO cause he had never seen a bear, but I was too late. He was gone by the time I got my SO. We went to the hot springs it was just what we needed after all this hiking!
• The last full day in Banff we spent it hiking in Moraine lake. (12 kms) I think this was one of my favorite hikes. I think I'll let the photos speak for themselves on this one.
  
  
  
  These photos don't even begin to capture the intensity of how huge everything was. It was amazing! We saw a marmot on the way up to Sentinel Pass. I also became very good a pooping outside. I think if I had a choice that would be the only place I'd do my business from now on, way more peaceful!
  
  I think that i'm going to run out of room soon, so I'll continue with a part two.