Out of Hibernation

Well it has been awhile since we last shared What the Funk we are up to in Vancouver. The past month has been very busy, starting with the fact that I have completed my first year of grad school at UBC. Grad school was already busy but I managed to complicate life a bit more by picking up some work to fill my free time.

This past semester I partnered with Rafael (fellow UBC arch student) during my comprehensive design studio and looking back it turned out to be a fortuitous pairing. Rafael had a little design company he had started several years ago and my curiosity got the better of me so I inquired about joining the team. In short, a company that started out generating renderings and websites has moved into design and architecture projects of all varieties. So the last month or two between school work and dog walks I have spent many hours lining up enough work for full time summer employment. Now two weeks into the summer we have more work than we can handle...projects ranging from residential renovations to a coffee shop to restaurant design to heritage work to office planning and a rooftop pavilion. We also have our nose in a variety of design competitions, just to keep us on our toes. Probably what I like most about our little design studio (besides working for myself) is the diversity each team member brings. First there is Rafael (born of Mexican and Italian parents) who grew up in Mexico and Canada, then Miguel (born of Russian and Ukrainian parents) who grew up in Ukraine and Mexico, then Antonio who just moved to Vancouver from Mexico City, then Polina (born of Ukrainian parents) who grew up in Israel and Canada, then me...I like to think I bring English as a first language to the group. We also just hired Barb (born and raised in Vancouver) as our accountant, and there are many others that are helping us along the way. Although getting a small company up and running takes a lot of energy I am excited about the chance to balance school work with professional practice.

While I finished the semester and phased into full time work Lindsay has been keeping equally busy. A month ago Lindsay made a quick trip to Wheaton to visit family and friends. She threw a surprise baby shower for one of her best friends then headed back to Vancouver bringing Mom Holloway with her. Mom split time between Lindsay and I in Vancouver and Lindsay's grandma and aunt in Bellingham. While Mom was here we celebrated her birthday by dining and the Tea House in Stanley Park and enjoying the Vancouver Symphony. We also celebrated Mom's visit by using her Costco card to stock our shelves with toilet paper and canned goods. Although we are still awaiting appropriate papers for Lindsay to work in Canada, she has managed to pick up a slew of little projects from babysitting to sewing to editing and painting. But I will let her blog about all that. Till next time...hopefully not another 40 days...peace to all.