A Winter Engagement

In the early hours of December 25, 2011, Christmas Day, Alex proposed to me and I said YES!

I knew the engagement was coming, we picked out the ring together a few months earlier, but I had no idea when he was going to ask. The moment I tried on the ring at Sasha's Jewelry, I knew it was a perfect fit. The ring features three (.27-.33 Carat) Canadian Diamonds, mined in the Northwest Territories, and is set in a beautiful band of 14k white gold with specs of yellow gold, it's perfect. A ring meant to be worn a lifetime and that's what I plan on doing.

Last week, Alex and I hosted one of our frequent house guests from Vancouver, photographer Sean Norman. Sean is obsessed and passionate to view and capture the northern lights any chance he can get. He's also blessed with flight benefits with West Jet, making him a frequent flyer. It is always our pleasure to have him visit and this time he offered to take a few casual pictures of Alex and I to celebrate our recent engagement. I couldn't be happier with the way the day turned out. We found "secret" ice caves to do the majority of the pictures after we did a small session on the ice road over Great Slave Lake.

Please take a look at his blog, and our engagement photos and let me know what you think!

Engagement Photos: http://seannorman.com/samantha-and-alex-at-the-ice-caves/
Uninsured Adventures the night before: http://seannorman.com/stuck-on-a-lake-under-the-aurora/ 

The North Inspires

If there's one thing about my job that I love, it's promoting the North to people that have never been here. It's also watching people experience something unique and truly northern for the first time.

This past week I hosted my friend Kristen again. She's originally from Australia, but was my roommate in Yellowknife for about 6 months a few years back. I always think of her as kind of a unique individual because since she moved away, this was her second visit back, in the cold winter. It makes sense though, I live in the cold and I want to go somewhere warm, she lives in the warmth and seeks something cold and unique.

How did she first hear about Yellowknife? Ice Road Truckers of course! Remember the first season of the show where they were trucking on the ice road from Yellowknife to the diamond mines northeast of here? THAT is what inspired her to apply on a few jobs and eventually move here, in the summer. She liked Yellowknife so much, she decided to come back over the winter that year to experience the cold (-30C) and Northern Lights. Her reaction to seeing the northern lights is priceless, she compares it to surfing waves, every wave is different like every aurora is different. Wow, I just love to hear $h*t like that!

I know she'll be back to the north, she loves it, and with good reason. Every time I go to consumer shows to promote the NWT I find myself really emotional, really homesick and I just want to go home. I have been thinking a lot about the Dempster Highway trip I did with friends this summer, I want to go back so bad, soon! It was just such a life changing experience for me and I have never felt so free, so happy in all of my life than when I was on that one stretch of road.

Below is one of my favorite images of myself during the Dempster trip, and some of Kristen's thoughts on her recent visit to Yellowknife and seeing the Aurora Borealis.

Jumping for joy, pure happiness at the Arctic Circle in Canada.

Nothing else in the world can calm you like the open road.

The Dempster Highway is the only year round road in Canada where you can cross the Arctic Circle.