When the usually sunny and warm Mount Maunganui gets hit with a blustery, windy, cold and very rainy day, what do the two kids from Victoria, Canada do to entertain themselves? Go for a rainy, windy trek to the point closest to the massive rolling waves of course! 

Moturiki Island has been a point of interest for Luke and I since we moved here two months ago, and yet, we had yet to adventure out to it. It is the beautiful"island" just down from Mount Maunganui main beach, a very popular spot for travelers and tourists to explore. I guess we figured since we're now locals, we'd wait for the perfect opportunity to trek out and see what Moturiki has to offer. Clearly we waited until the rainiest and windiest of all days to explore it! 

The trek out was lovely, a very easy stroll along a well-kept path with beautiful natural scenery. We were lucky that parts of it were sheltered from the wind, as once we got out to the tip, closest to the big waves, we had to stay low and step very carefully to avoid being blown into the ocean! 

The best part of the entire trek was, it made us appreciate the weather instead of complain about it! Sometimes the only thing you need when the wind is blowing and the rain is pelting down is to step outside, geared up in appropriate attire, and just experience the weather. You'd be surprised by how much you can laugh while being blown around, laugh while trying to see through a torrential downpour and become awestruck by the colossal power of the waves!

I guess it's time to dive into how, why, when, where and who Sweet Dea and Dukey are. 

In August of 2009, I packed up my life in Prince George where I had been living and playing for 4+ years studying at UNBC and took a leap of faith! Joined by my good friend Lyndsey, we set out to create a new life for ourselves on the little island that could.. Vancouver Island. The City of Victoria had always been a bit of a haven for me as I used to visit my aunt on a regular basis as a child, and it was always my space of freedom. Not in the sense that my aunt let me do anything I wanted.. in the sense that, she allowed me to be exactly who I was. It excited me that I could go to the store in my pajamas.. and not run into a single person that I know! And that I could talk to my aunt about any and everything that was running through my mind, and she never treated me as a child. She treated my problems and concerns as though they truly were just that, legit problems and concerns. As a kid, this feels pretty good! 

So as Lyndsey and I packed up everything we owned, packed up the vehicles, packed up the memories, and we set off for our new home and our new lifestyle. We both had family living on the island, which was definitely a nice reassuring feeling when moving to a brand new city where you basically don't know a soul. 

Lucky for me I had Kate. Kate and I had been friends since our fun days of being volunteer co-councillors at Camp Potlatch when we were 15. She was attending UVic at the time and as it turns out, we ended up living in the same neighbourhood, within walking distance from each other! Woohoo!!   

Also lucky for me, Kate lived with two boys, both of whom I'd never met.. and both of whom were quite easy on the eyes.. bonus! This is how I met Luke. He was one of the hunky roommates. We all spent many nights playing board games and drinking beers together, just being ridiculous and enjoying life. From day one there was chemistry between Luke and I, we had a lot of fun together and our relationship basically consisted of sharing a love of laughter. We kept it to just friends for quite some time and built a strong base foundation for our friendship. We sure had seen all sides of each other in that time. Which I think is the key to us having a healthy relationship now.  

Fast forward to today, we are one of those ridiculously supportive couples that talk to each other all day long about how our days are going and even though I know nothing about electrical, and he knows nothing about whatever it is that I do, we support each other! This is my favourite part. And we laugh. I lied.. that's my favourite part! 

A while ago when I was single and enjoying life on my own in Victoria, I contemplated what it was that I needed from a man to make me happy.. Of course every woman has her list; hunky, dreamy, active, loving, blah blah blah (okay maybe most lists don't include the terms "hunky" or "dreamy", but mine sure does!) But my number one, the one thing that if it wasn't there, it would never last, and I'd never be truly happy, regardless of all the other pieces... is laughter. If you can't make me laugh.. I'm not interested. 

Lucky for me, there have been countless nights when I genuinely have been in an absolute fit of laughter with Luke.. over absolutely nothing.. just him.. being him.. and I love it! so much! it's perfect.