I'm a little behind on posting, it's been a busy few days and accessing an internet cafe hasn't been as easy as i'd anticipated. Here's an overview of our time in Nice France, which I wrote out while I was on the train on the way to Paris.
Nice was, well, nice. :P We arrived in Nice around 10:15 am, then we stood in line at the train station to book our train to Paris. It was a good thing we did too, because the night train we'd hoped to take to PAris had a full quota of Eurail passes (they only reserve so many spaces for Eurail) and the early train to Paris the following morning only had spots in 2nd class left. So we booked those nad set out in serach of a hostel. WE'd gotten some names of hostels from the trousit information place, so with map in hand, off we went.
The first place we found was nice, it had a courtyard with palm trees, a little cafe and glassed in eating area, a kitchen where we could prepare food AND a 3 person room available with ensuite shower and sink!!! So we took it.
Unfortunately we couldn't check in till 3 pm, so we went exploring. We discovered that right down the road was a full on grocery store (Monoprix)!!! It was like a fancy Fortinos with pharmacy and LCBO and clothing store included. So we picked up some meat and cheese and croissants for lunch and went in search fo the beach. WE cound it along with a nice park where we had lunch (the croissants were the freshest, best I'd ever had, I am FOREVER tainted! ha) WE strolled along the boardwalk and looked into some of the shops lining it. I had a chocolate from a little chocolate boutique, we looked at some clothing stores, then we returned to our hostel to check in.
Once we were into our room, we secured our valuables in one of the lockers and put on our suits. THe beach was not too packed, but it was different because it wasn't sand. It was all smooth stones ranging from the size of a penny to a CD. We laid out our towels and basked in the sun (since it was after 3 pm, sunburn was unlikely - but we still used suntan lotion). The temperature was a glorious 32 degrees, but with the wind off the ocean it felt a lot cooler. We even went in for a swim, which was pretty cold, but we couldn't come all this way and NOT swim! It was great.
After the beach we picked up some penne noodles, sauce and Emmanthal cheese and a bottle of red wine, which we made up for dinner. It was as good as any dinner out (especially since we were sitting at a table in a glassed in porch) but MUCH cheaper.
I had a GREAT sleep that night, we even slept in till 9 am. Then we ate the breakfast provided by the hostel. It was composed of cereal, orange juice, hot drinks and fresh bread with butter and jam. Very good!
The rest of the day was spent shopping, eating and lounging on the beach. While we were at the beach we got swamped by a HUGE wave while lying in the sun. No one was too worse for wear, Denise's camera was ok, we didn't lose our shoes (although they did float away a bit). It was hilarious. Wish we'd had a video of it.
We went to bed in good time again, woke up tired but refreshed from our 'vacation from our vacation' and hopped on the 7 am train to Paris.
As I'd said before, when we reserved our seats for this train, the woman at the ticket counter said there were no first class spots left. So we had to reserve 2nd class seats, which is a bummer because we paid for first class tickets. She said when we got on the train to ask the conductor and if there were spots we could move to first class.
Well our tickets ended up being a saving grace. One of the men in our compartment in 2nd class had the worst BO and it was making us all nauseous. We had to wait until all the pick ups had been done to see if any first class spots were left, but thankfully there were and about halfway through our trip we were able to move up to first class. The rest of the ride was spacy, comfortable and BO free!!! :)
September 26, 2007
September 22, 2007
Bella Roma
Rome is such a fascinating city. It's a combination of ancient and new - you can walk along a street and all of a sudden you'll see ancient roman pillars or a wall - and a church or some other building will be buyilt into it. It's so intereting. Rome was fun, but I really think you need a week or two to do it justice.
We stayed in a hostel that was a little off the beaten path, it was away from the old city and therefore the hustle and bustle of all the tourists. It was nice to be able to escape that in the evening and go to a place we could hab g out and relax. There was even cooking facitliites and a fridge, so we went down the street to the grocer's and deli and got supplies for sandwiches for lunch and dinner as well as bananas and yogourt for breakfast. Rome was expensive so it was good to find some ways to save a little $$. OUr food was very yu7mmy and I still partook in daily getlato! I wish we had it on every street corner in Canada. :P
We used A LOT of public transit to get around in Rome , and let me tell you,m some of the subway trains were pretty sketchy. Not becuase they were less safe (there were 3 of us and we looked out for each other) but moreso because ssome of them looked like they were on their last legs and some of them drove like it too. There were a few occasions where we had a little bit of worry that we might break down before our stat6ion, but everything turned out OK.
As for what we did , on Wednesday we went to the Vatican (the pope was giving a service) so we sat out in the courtyard with throngs of people to check it out. It was pretty neat to see where people came from, therew was a large group of men and women from Senegal who walked in singing and dancing. There were women from Trinidad, people from Hungary, and many other places. It was almost like a rock concert, there were definitely thousands of people there and when the pope drove in on his "pope-mobile" the crowd went wild. It was quite an experience.
WE didn't stay for the service, basically as soon as the pope had given the blessing, we headed over to the sistine chapel. All I can say is WOW! What a glorious and beautiful place. To get to the sistine chapel you actually7 have to walk through the vatican museum - rooms and rooms of paintings and tapestries so beautiful; you could spend the day examining the detail in any of them. It was glorious. Rooms and rooms of murals by artist like Rapheal that depict events in the Bible. It was so neat. The sistine chapel was all that it held up to be: overwhelmingly beautiful. You can't take pictures, but Michealangelo's scenes will be forever imprinted on my mind. The creation of man, the last supper and every story in the Bible in between seemed to have a place on the walls in the church. And marble floors, ancient and beautiful, rich in colour and worn so that you could actually feel beneath your feet the grooves between the marble. Go. All I can say is go and see this place some time in your life.
After the chapel we tried to get into St. Peter's basilica (big vatican church where they hold services) but the line was too long. So we went and wandered the streets instead. We saw the Pantheon (a former Roman temple to the god Romulus that had been converted to a church); a beautiful and huge fountain that had been sculpted by Benini in the 1500s; a beautiful old church, all made of marble where Andrea Bocelli had performed and Michelangelo's Christ stood; and all sorts of other amazing buildings and coman architecture we came across. It was truly an experience.
The second day we spent in "old Rome". We visited the Colliseum, which was huge. Amazing, interesting, huge. Then we visited the ruins and the Palantine (right next to the Colliseum, a former residence to Senators and other important people in the Roman community). What was so interesting about these sites is that they were right in the middle of town. You jumped off the subway, walked up to ground level and there they were, the colliseum, the ruins, surrounded by modern buildings. Both of these sites were very interesting and breathtaking. So neat.
After the ruins we went to find Circo Massimo, the site where chariot races supposedly took place (think Ben Hur). We wandered for quite a while, and when we finally found it, what a let down! It was just a bare field witha bit of a dirt track and a few ruins at one end. We had to laugh.
After Circo Massimo we caught a bus to the outskirts of town where we went to explore the catacombs of San (can't remember the rest of the name). These were the graves of ~half a million Christians (many martyrs and a few popes were buried there) from the time of the Roman Empire. This was another location where we couldn't take pictures, but it was very neat. All of the bones in the area we were touring had been relocated into a lower chamber of the catacombs.
On the way back to town, we accidentally took the wrong bus further out of town, so what should have taken about 20 minutes ended up taking over an hour. But it was an adventure. Our last stop was trying again to get into St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Since we hadn't planned to go, I had worn a tank top, and apparently the dress code is fairly modest. However, we thought my shirt was modest enough, but we were wrong. When we got to the "screening point" at St. Peter's, I got turned away because I didn't have something to cover my shoulders with. So while Sherri and Denise when in, I had to stand and wait for them. It was pretty surprising actually how many people they turned away. It made me sad, that a church would turn people away based on what they were wearing. Sherri had worn a tank top under her t-shirt, so once she was done she came out and gave me her t-shirt. I went to go back in and they tried to say my skirt was too short (when it was about an inch above my knee!!) and I gave them a look of exasperation, so they let me pass. :P St. Peter's was beautiful, probably one of the biggest and nicest I've seen, but I didn't feel in awe or happy - I was saddened that this building housed practices of judgement, that a person could be turned away based on what they wore.
Overall Rome was a good experience. We got back to our hostel, grabbed a panini at the paniniria down the street and then headed to catch a night train to Nice France. Beaches here we come!!! :)
We stayed in a hostel that was a little off the beaten path, it was away from the old city and therefore the hustle and bustle of all the tourists. It was nice to be able to escape that in the evening and go to a place we could hab g out and relax. There was even cooking facitliites and a fridge, so we went down the street to the grocer's and deli and got supplies for sandwiches for lunch and dinner as well as bananas and yogourt for breakfast. Rome was expensive so it was good to find some ways to save a little $$. OUr food was very yu7mmy and I still partook in daily getlato! I wish we had it on every street corner in Canada. :P
We used A LOT of public transit to get around in Rome , and let me tell you,m some of the subway trains were pretty sketchy. Not becuase they were less safe (there were 3 of us and we looked out for each other) but moreso because ssome of them looked like they were on their last legs and some of them drove like it too. There were a few occasions where we had a little bit of worry that we might break down before our stat6ion, but everything turned out OK.
As for what we did , on Wednesday we went to the Vatican (the pope was giving a service) so we sat out in the courtyard with throngs of people to check it out. It was pretty neat to see where people came from, therew was a large group of men and women from Senegal who walked in singing and dancing. There were women from Trinidad, people from Hungary, and many other places. It was almost like a rock concert, there were definitely thousands of people there and when the pope drove in on his "pope-mobile" the crowd went wild. It was quite an experience.
WE didn't stay for the service, basically as soon as the pope had given the blessing, we headed over to the sistine chapel. All I can say is WOW! What a glorious and beautiful place. To get to the sistine chapel you actually7 have to walk through the vatican museum - rooms and rooms of paintings and tapestries so beautiful; you could spend the day examining the detail in any of them. It was glorious. Rooms and rooms of murals by artist like Rapheal that depict events in the Bible. It was so neat. The sistine chapel was all that it held up to be: overwhelmingly beautiful. You can't take pictures, but Michealangelo's scenes will be forever imprinted on my mind. The creation of man, the last supper and every story in the Bible in between seemed to have a place on the walls in the church. And marble floors, ancient and beautiful, rich in colour and worn so that you could actually feel beneath your feet the grooves between the marble. Go. All I can say is go and see this place some time in your life.
After the chapel we tried to get into St. Peter's basilica (big vatican church where they hold services) but the line was too long. So we went and wandered the streets instead. We saw the Pantheon (a former Roman temple to the god Romulus that had been converted to a church); a beautiful and huge fountain that had been sculpted by Benini in the 1500s; a beautiful old church, all made of marble where Andrea Bocelli had performed and Michelangelo's Christ stood; and all sorts of other amazing buildings and coman architecture we came across. It was truly an experience.
The second day we spent in "old Rome". We visited the Colliseum, which was huge. Amazing, interesting, huge. Then we visited the ruins and the Palantine (right next to the Colliseum, a former residence to Senators and other important people in the Roman community). What was so interesting about these sites is that they were right in the middle of town. You jumped off the subway, walked up to ground level and there they were, the colliseum, the ruins, surrounded by modern buildings. Both of these sites were very interesting and breathtaking. So neat.
After the ruins we went to find Circo Massimo, the site where chariot races supposedly took place (think Ben Hur). We wandered for quite a while, and when we finally found it, what a let down! It was just a bare field witha bit of a dirt track and a few ruins at one end. We had to laugh.
After Circo Massimo we caught a bus to the outskirts of town where we went to explore the catacombs of San (can't remember the rest of the name). These were the graves of ~half a million Christians (many martyrs and a few popes were buried there) from the time of the Roman Empire. This was another location where we couldn't take pictures, but it was very neat. All of the bones in the area we were touring had been relocated into a lower chamber of the catacombs.
On the way back to town, we accidentally took the wrong bus further out of town, so what should have taken about 20 minutes ended up taking over an hour. But it was an adventure. Our last stop was trying again to get into St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Since we hadn't planned to go, I had worn a tank top, and apparently the dress code is fairly modest. However, we thought my shirt was modest enough, but we were wrong. When we got to the "screening point" at St. Peter's, I got turned away because I didn't have something to cover my shoulders with. So while Sherri and Denise when in, I had to stand and wait for them. It was pretty surprising actually how many people they turned away. It made me sad, that a church would turn people away based on what they were wearing. Sherri had worn a tank top under her t-shirt, so once she was done she came out and gave me her t-shirt. I went to go back in and they tried to say my skirt was too short (when it was about an inch above my knee!!) and I gave them a look of exasperation, so they let me pass. :P St. Peter's was beautiful, probably one of the biggest and nicest I've seen, but I didn't feel in awe or happy - I was saddened that this building housed practices of judgement, that a person could be turned away based on what they wore.
Overall Rome was a good experience. We got back to our hostel, grabbed a panini at the paniniria down the street and then headed to catch a night train to Nice France. Beaches here we come!!! :)
September 18, 2007
Update
Life has been pretty hectic the past couple days. We spent two days in Vienna, one very hectic and crazy, we seemed to pack most of the activity into one day and then our second day we took it a little easier....then we caught a night train to Florence (first ever night train!). We arrived in Florence just after 6 am this morning and spent the day there. Then we caught the train to ROMA!!! So as I write this I am sitting in front of a computer in the lobby of our hostel in Rome.
Some of the experiences we've had include:
- being in a compartment on our night train to Florence with a man from Chile who only spoke Spanish, and I ended up being the interpreter
- we stayed in a dorm-style room for our two days in Vienna (as opposed to a private room), and it was fine, so we tried it again for Rome....I'll let you know how it works out
- Italy is expensive (especially anything to do with the trains or touristy stuff)
- people in Germany and Austria seem to be pretty nice (whereas our impression so far is people in Italy aren't so much....)
- Michealangelo's David is worth standing in line to see
- There are A LOT of churches in Europe
- we seem to be taking less pictures as we go along
- travelling is fun, but very exhausting (I think I'll need a week to recover when I get home!)
I'm having fun though. Please pray for continued good health and good weather.
Some of the experiences we've had include:
- being in a compartment on our night train to Florence with a man from Chile who only spoke Spanish, and I ended up being the interpreter
- we stayed in a dorm-style room for our two days in Vienna (as opposed to a private room), and it was fine, so we tried it again for Rome....I'll let you know how it works out
- Italy is expensive (especially anything to do with the trains or touristy stuff)
- people in Germany and Austria seem to be pretty nice (whereas our impression so far is people in Italy aren't so much....)
- Michealangelo's David is worth standing in line to see
- There are A LOT of churches in Europe
- we seem to be taking less pictures as we go along
- travelling is fun, but very exhausting (I think I'll need a week to recover when I get home!)
I'm having fun though. Please pray for continued good health and good weather.
September 15, 2007
Munich and Salzburg
In the past 48 hours I have been in 4 European cities. Yesterday we did a blitz of Munich, we were planning to stay in Munich for two days but then decided it would be fun to see Salzburg as well so we changed our plans.
Munich was an amazing city, the architecture was so interesting, I think it might be Roman? All the buildings were 4 or 5 stories high and no highrises. They were all stucco in different pastel-type colours, very square and boxy but at the same time beautifully ornate with designs around the windows, on the walls. A very neat city. We hit up a bunch of churches, to be honest, I can't remember the names of them right now, but they were beautiful. Really cool....man do the catholics ever invest a lot of $$ in the decor of churches. We also explored the English gardens, which is a HUGE park that has a beer haus, a really neat river, lots of green space, and something really cool - a place to surf!!! Right near the entrance of the river to the park there are these crazy waves that I think are made from the speed of the river coming through the bridge that goes over it. Anyway, there were at least half a dozen wet suit clad men taking turns surfing the waves. It was really neat to watch.
Munich was fun, we spent most of the day walking around, taking in the beautiful architecture, there was a neat archway that entered into the old city, cool statues etc. We even went to the HB beer house, one of the oldest in Germany, and believe it or not, I drank a beer. It wasn`t even that bad. However, our waiter was not good, and he even took his own tip from our change and didn't let us decide what we'd tip him. Weird eh? Anyway....we stayed the night in Munich and got up bright and early to catch the train to Salzburg.
We almost had another close call with the train when I went off to put a few postcards in the mail and the girls waited for me outside the station, but I had thought we said we'd meet inside, so needless to say there was a lot of running around trying to find each other and we literally found each other a minute before the train left. We had to run....again....with our big packs. HA HA but we made it and pulled into Salzburg Austria just after 10 am.
We were all excited to be in Salzburg because of the sound of Music, but it is famous for several other things. It is a very musical city, everywhere we walked there were musicians singing, playing instruments or the dozens of church bells were playing. Actually, as soon as we walked into the centre square we came upon a group of men singing....probably 20 or so, and they were so beautiful. It looks like they were tourists because they were there with their families, but we thought maybe they were in town to give a performance, were sight seeing and decided to do an impromptu concert in the town square. In front of the statue of Mozart no less. Pretty darn cool.
We walked all over town, got to see the house where Mozart was born and grew up and the house where he did most of his composing. We also visited this amaxzing fortress that overlooks Salzburg and used to house the Archbishop who was also considered the prince of the time. We visited the Abbey where the REAL Froline Maria had taught and studied to be a nun. We also visited St. Peter's church (which is composed of several courtyards and churches). As well, we visited Salzburg Cathedral, where Mozart used to play as an organist. Man oh man....was it beautiful. So many amazing paintings and ornate statues, I honestly can't imagine what the cistine chapel must look like, because this place was amazing. We finished the day with a giant pretzel (mmmmmmmmm) and sat at a cafe, where I had an excellent mocha. Considering how much we saw, it was actually a fairly relaxing day.
I really enjoyed Salzburg, it was so beautiful....right after we came out of the cathedral all the bells in all the church towers started ringing, and they rang for about 5 minutes. It was glorious. I love Europe. :P
We caught the train early in the evening, and as I write this I am sitting in an internet cafe in Vienna. We just finished dinner from a place down the street (pizza) and picked up some food for breakfast from a grocer. Now we'll go back to our hostel and plan for the day tomorrow, relax a bit and go to bed. I hope you all are well. I miss you. Cheers!
Munich was an amazing city, the architecture was so interesting, I think it might be Roman? All the buildings were 4 or 5 stories high and no highrises. They were all stucco in different pastel-type colours, very square and boxy but at the same time beautifully ornate with designs around the windows, on the walls. A very neat city. We hit up a bunch of churches, to be honest, I can't remember the names of them right now, but they were beautiful. Really cool....man do the catholics ever invest a lot of $$ in the decor of churches. We also explored the English gardens, which is a HUGE park that has a beer haus, a really neat river, lots of green space, and something really cool - a place to surf!!! Right near the entrance of the river to the park there are these crazy waves that I think are made from the speed of the river coming through the bridge that goes over it. Anyway, there were at least half a dozen wet suit clad men taking turns surfing the waves. It was really neat to watch.
Munich was fun, we spent most of the day walking around, taking in the beautiful architecture, there was a neat archway that entered into the old city, cool statues etc. We even went to the HB beer house, one of the oldest in Germany, and believe it or not, I drank a beer. It wasn`t even that bad. However, our waiter was not good, and he even took his own tip from our change and didn't let us decide what we'd tip him. Weird eh? Anyway....we stayed the night in Munich and got up bright and early to catch the train to Salzburg.
We almost had another close call with the train when I went off to put a few postcards in the mail and the girls waited for me outside the station, but I had thought we said we'd meet inside, so needless to say there was a lot of running around trying to find each other and we literally found each other a minute before the train left. We had to run....again....with our big packs. HA HA but we made it and pulled into Salzburg Austria just after 10 am.
We were all excited to be in Salzburg because of the sound of Music, but it is famous for several other things. It is a very musical city, everywhere we walked there were musicians singing, playing instruments or the dozens of church bells were playing. Actually, as soon as we walked into the centre square we came upon a group of men singing....probably 20 or so, and they were so beautiful. It looks like they were tourists because they were there with their families, but we thought maybe they were in town to give a performance, were sight seeing and decided to do an impromptu concert in the town square. In front of the statue of Mozart no less. Pretty darn cool.
We walked all over town, got to see the house where Mozart was born and grew up and the house where he did most of his composing. We also visited this amaxzing fortress that overlooks Salzburg and used to house the Archbishop who was also considered the prince of the time. We visited the Abbey where the REAL Froline Maria had taught and studied to be a nun. We also visited St. Peter's church (which is composed of several courtyards and churches). As well, we visited Salzburg Cathedral, where Mozart used to play as an organist. Man oh man....was it beautiful. So many amazing paintings and ornate statues, I honestly can't imagine what the cistine chapel must look like, because this place was amazing. We finished the day with a giant pretzel (mmmmmmmmm) and sat at a cafe, where I had an excellent mocha. Considering how much we saw, it was actually a fairly relaxing day.
I really enjoyed Salzburg, it was so beautiful....right after we came out of the cathedral all the bells in all the church towers started ringing, and they rang for about 5 minutes. It was glorious. I love Europe. :P
We caught the train early in the evening, and as I write this I am sitting in an internet cafe in Vienna. We just finished dinner from a place down the street (pizza) and picked up some food for breakfast from a grocer. Now we'll go back to our hostel and plan for the day tomorrow, relax a bit and go to bed. I hope you all are well. I miss you. Cheers!
September 14, 2007
Heidelberg
Our first night's sleep was great. I think we were all so exhausted from all the travel we could have slept anywhere. The room wasn't too bad, small but clean, smelled a little musty, but I canät complain. It was a bed. I think our only complaint was that it was quite cold in Heidelberg at night, and our room was pretty chilly. And despite promising online that our rooms came with linens, they did not. I had a sheet, and it worked, but I was a little chilly.
We slept in Thursday morning, till about 9 or so, so by the time we got up and on our way it was after ten. We stopped at a little bakery just down the street and had yummy pastries for breakfast. Then we walked around the city to explore. Heidelberg is a fairly large town, and within it there is an 'old city' which is where we were that includes a castle, some beautiful old churches and lots of pedestrian only walking streets.
The castle was up on a hill, so we had to hike up this loooooonnnnng flight of stairs, it was numbered in some spots and I think it worked out to more than 300 steps. We spent well over 2 hours exploring the castle. It was beautiful....it was a ruin so lots of areas of the castle had actually fallen away, but it added to the character. The grounds were large, with beautiful big old trees, statues, fountains and all sorts of neat little off buildings. It also gave a great view of the city.
We also visited the churches, which were both beautiful, full of neat architecture and paintings - one of the old churches had just undergone extensive renovations so it actually had old architecture but was all re-done in plaster. It was still beautiful and the plaster just gave it a modern look (although I still prefer the marble/stone look) :P
Oh! and there was a beautiful old bridge that went across the river (I believe the Rhine) which was really neat. There were trails on both sides of the riverbank, so we were able to cross the river, stroll along the banks, enjoy the architecture around us and then cross again further up. Very cool.
Then we spent quite a bit of time wandering in the pedestrian walkway - eating gelato, we found a cute little grocer where we bought apples and bananas for snacks and breakfast, and another cool bakery that sold GREAT sandwiches for 1.39 euros - which is very good. We even picked up some pastries for the next morning because we were getting up at 6 am and catching a taxi to go to the train station to catch a train for Munich.
Overall it was a very good start and relaxing...a good way to ease us in.
More to come.
We slept in Thursday morning, till about 9 or so, so by the time we got up and on our way it was after ten. We stopped at a little bakery just down the street and had yummy pastries for breakfast. Then we walked around the city to explore. Heidelberg is a fairly large town, and within it there is an 'old city' which is where we were that includes a castle, some beautiful old churches and lots of pedestrian only walking streets.
The castle was up on a hill, so we had to hike up this loooooonnnnng flight of stairs, it was numbered in some spots and I think it worked out to more than 300 steps. We spent well over 2 hours exploring the castle. It was beautiful....it was a ruin so lots of areas of the castle had actually fallen away, but it added to the character. The grounds were large, with beautiful big old trees, statues, fountains and all sorts of neat little off buildings. It also gave a great view of the city.
We also visited the churches, which were both beautiful, full of neat architecture and paintings - one of the old churches had just undergone extensive renovations so it actually had old architecture but was all re-done in plaster. It was still beautiful and the plaster just gave it a modern look (although I still prefer the marble/stone look) :P
Oh! and there was a beautiful old bridge that went across the river (I believe the Rhine) which was really neat. There were trails on both sides of the riverbank, so we were able to cross the river, stroll along the banks, enjoy the architecture around us and then cross again further up. Very cool.
Then we spent quite a bit of time wandering in the pedestrian walkway - eating gelato, we found a cute little grocer where we bought apples and bananas for snacks and breakfast, and another cool bakery that sold GREAT sandwiches for 1.39 euros - which is very good. We even picked up some pastries for the next morning because we were getting up at 6 am and catching a taxi to go to the train station to catch a train for Munich.
Overall it was a very good start and relaxing...a good way to ease us in.
More to come.
September 13, 2007
Safe and sound
Well, it's been a long while since I posted on this thing, I've been super busy this past month with finishing up placement and moving, Tim and I are in a NEW apartment. But the neatest thing going on in my life is that currently I am in EUROPE with two good friends from school. We arrived here safely on the 12th of September and will be here and touring around until the 28th when we fly back to Canada.
The trip over was loooooonnnnnng and full of adventures. We flew out of Toronto International at 6:45 pm and landed in Glasgow international airport at 6 am (their time). We actually had a huge tail wind during the flight so we had to wait an extra 25 minutes before we left Toronto and still landed 30 minutes early! (Btw, I'm using a german keyboard, so if you see any odd symbols or z's where y's should be, it's because they're in the opposite spots). Anyway, once we landed in Glasgow we had to get to the Prestwick airport, which is about 30 minutes outside of town. So we took a bus to the train station (rode on the other side of the road!) and then took a train to the airport. Since this airport only services one airline, and since our flight was so early, we ended up arriving at the airport 4 hours before our next flight! Needless to say, since it was 12 am (our time) and we had to sit in an airport for 4 hours with very little to do, it was hard to fight the sleepiness and stay amused. Somehow we managed.....and caught our flight to Dusseldorf Germany. The fun thing about this flight was that you had to pay extra to pick your seat, so the majority of us hadn't, and there was a mad rush of people when we were let through the gates to get seats. Denise was our hero in this department, boogying her butt through lots of people and getting us good seats behind the wing so we could see stuff. It was good. :P
We landed at the airport near Dusseldorf Germany at like 2:50 pm (another time zone over from Scotland) and had to book it to the train station to catch our train to Heidelberg. We took this fun taxi/van with a nice man who explained what we'd have to do once we got on the train to authorise our eurail pass, because we hadn't yet. He said all you had to do was show it to the conductor and he'd sign it etc. Well, we discovered that Germany operates on an honour system, because there was definitely no conductor on the train, so we rode for over an hour to the main train station before we got it validated. Ha ha....
From the main train station (I think it was in Dusseldorf) we had to take 3 different trains. The first transfer was fine, we made it in decent time, the second was ok as well (we even had time to grab some water). The third transfer was CRAZY! We pulled into the station and the conductor said over the loudspeaker that our train was leaving from platform 8 at 19:26 and it was 19:24 and we were on platform 5!! With our heavy, heavy packs we had to run through the station to platform 8, at which point we realised our train was on platform 9 across the tracks. We had to run like mad back down the stairs, down the hall and up another set of stairs (well, they were actuallz escalators but might have well been stairs because we were running!). Anyway, we made it, but the train was actually closing their last set of doors and we started yelling and the conductor saw us, so they re-opened them for us. But it was nuts....we almost didn't make it there.
We arrived safe (and EXTREMELY tired 24 hours in transit is alot) in Heidelberg....grabbed a quick bite to eat and went straight to sleep. We found out we had to pay extra for linen though, thank goodness I brought a bed sheet....it came in handy! I stuffed clothes in my pillowcase for the night, but today bought a bright pink pillow with german writing on it. She said it was a missing heart pillow i.e. I miss you Tim!!! :)
We are heading out to Munich tomorrow morning, so hopefully I will post some stuff about Heidelberg and our adventures here somewhere from Munich tomorrow. I'm running out of time on the computer....so it will have to come later.
Sorry there are no pics, thereäs no memory card slot in this computer....
A few prayer requests - my camera, specifically the battery, has been acting up - my camera keeps thinking that the battery is dead when it's fully charged, so I have to turn it off, take out the battery and put it back in, then it's fine. Pray it stops doing this.
- health and safety for me, Sherri and Denise
- good sleep for us the entire time
I miss you all
Laura
The trip over was loooooonnnnnng and full of adventures. We flew out of Toronto International at 6:45 pm and landed in Glasgow international airport at 6 am (their time). We actually had a huge tail wind during the flight so we had to wait an extra 25 minutes before we left Toronto and still landed 30 minutes early! (Btw, I'm using a german keyboard, so if you see any odd symbols or z's where y's should be, it's because they're in the opposite spots). Anyway, once we landed in Glasgow we had to get to the Prestwick airport, which is about 30 minutes outside of town. So we took a bus to the train station (rode on the other side of the road!) and then took a train to the airport. Since this airport only services one airline, and since our flight was so early, we ended up arriving at the airport 4 hours before our next flight! Needless to say, since it was 12 am (our time) and we had to sit in an airport for 4 hours with very little to do, it was hard to fight the sleepiness and stay amused. Somehow we managed.....and caught our flight to Dusseldorf Germany. The fun thing about this flight was that you had to pay extra to pick your seat, so the majority of us hadn't, and there was a mad rush of people when we were let through the gates to get seats. Denise was our hero in this department, boogying her butt through lots of people and getting us good seats behind the wing so we could see stuff. It was good. :P
We landed at the airport near Dusseldorf Germany at like 2:50 pm (another time zone over from Scotland) and had to book it to the train station to catch our train to Heidelberg. We took this fun taxi/van with a nice man who explained what we'd have to do once we got on the train to authorise our eurail pass, because we hadn't yet. He said all you had to do was show it to the conductor and he'd sign it etc. Well, we discovered that Germany operates on an honour system, because there was definitely no conductor on the train, so we rode for over an hour to the main train station before we got it validated. Ha ha....
From the main train station (I think it was in Dusseldorf) we had to take 3 different trains. The first transfer was fine, we made it in decent time, the second was ok as well (we even had time to grab some water). The third transfer was CRAZY! We pulled into the station and the conductor said over the loudspeaker that our train was leaving from platform 8 at 19:26 and it was 19:24 and we were on platform 5!! With our heavy, heavy packs we had to run through the station to platform 8, at which point we realised our train was on platform 9 across the tracks. We had to run like mad back down the stairs, down the hall and up another set of stairs (well, they were actuallz escalators but might have well been stairs because we were running!). Anyway, we made it, but the train was actually closing their last set of doors and we started yelling and the conductor saw us, so they re-opened them for us. But it was nuts....we almost didn't make it there.
We arrived safe (and EXTREMELY tired 24 hours in transit is alot) in Heidelberg....grabbed a quick bite to eat and went straight to sleep. We found out we had to pay extra for linen though, thank goodness I brought a bed sheet....it came in handy! I stuffed clothes in my pillowcase for the night, but today bought a bright pink pillow with german writing on it. She said it was a missing heart pillow i.e. I miss you Tim!!! :)
We are heading out to Munich tomorrow morning, so hopefully I will post some stuff about Heidelberg and our adventures here somewhere from Munich tomorrow. I'm running out of time on the computer....so it will have to come later.
Sorry there are no pics, thereäs no memory card slot in this computer....
A few prayer requests - my camera, specifically the battery, has been acting up - my camera keeps thinking that the battery is dead when it's fully charged, so I have to turn it off, take out the battery and put it back in, then it's fine. Pray it stops doing this.
- health and safety for me, Sherri and Denise
- good sleep for us the entire time
I miss you all
Laura
July 29, 2007
Time with mom and dad
On Saturday, after Tim and Vanessa's wedding, I went home with my parent's for the week to relax and get away from the busy city.
We had a good drive home, the weather was a little wet, but otherwise, traffic was good and moving well (thank goodness we missed the 400 north traffic you get on Friday nights!) We even convinced dad to stop at the Cookstown Outlet Mall just north of Toronto, and we spent about an hour enjoying all the different stores, looking at shoes and purses and cool clothes....so much I wanted to buy! I can't wait till I'm working and can buy a pair of shoes or a purse on occasion without feeling buyer's remorse. ;) There was a Cadbury store in the Mall, and despite all the cool stores, the only thing we ended up buying was a week's supply of chocolate!!! :D
On Sunday after church we went out to the cottage, which I have to say was not anything like I remember it. My parents are in the process of re-building the cottage, and a lot of trees have been taken out as a result, and the yard is all dug up and mounded up everywhere. It was an odd feeling, I could close my eyes and clearly see our cottage as it used to be, and then I'd open my eyes, to see a completely different scene. I know the new cottage will be fun and beautiful, but I was sad to see how different it had become...sometimes we don't like change. :) The day was full of nostalgia; we went for a tour around the lake in our boat and then we went to "Blueberry Island" our favorite place to swim and camp. Me and mom even went for a swim....dad sat and watched us, not envying the slightly chilly water we were swimming in. But we had a great time! It's so nice to be able to do fun things like that. :D
The rest of the week was very fun....On Monday mom and I did some shopping, had a picnic at the waterfront. and then rode the miniature train and carousels. I wish I'd had my camera with me, it was great! We spent an afternoon at the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday Dad and I went and played 9 holes of golf with a friend of the family Len....we needed a fourth, so we were joined by a young guy, his name was Jeremy. On Thursday we headed down south to Kingston to spend the weekend with Gary and Sue (Tim's parents) at their cottage. All in all, I spent a wonderful week with Mom and dad..... :D
We had a good drive home, the weather was a little wet, but otherwise, traffic was good and moving well (thank goodness we missed the 400 north traffic you get on Friday nights!) We even convinced dad to stop at the Cookstown Outlet Mall just north of Toronto, and we spent about an hour enjoying all the different stores, looking at shoes and purses and cool clothes....so much I wanted to buy! I can't wait till I'm working and can buy a pair of shoes or a purse on occasion without feeling buyer's remorse. ;) There was a Cadbury store in the Mall, and despite all the cool stores, the only thing we ended up buying was a week's supply of chocolate!!! :D
On Sunday after church we went out to the cottage, which I have to say was not anything like I remember it. My parents are in the process of re-building the cottage, and a lot of trees have been taken out as a result, and the yard is all dug up and mounded up everywhere. It was an odd feeling, I could close my eyes and clearly see our cottage as it used to be, and then I'd open my eyes, to see a completely different scene. I know the new cottage will be fun and beautiful, but I was sad to see how different it had become...sometimes we don't like change. :) The day was full of nostalgia; we went for a tour around the lake in our boat and then we went to "Blueberry Island" our favorite place to swim and camp. Me and mom even went for a swim....dad sat and watched us, not envying the slightly chilly water we were swimming in. But we had a great time! It's so nice to be able to do fun things like that. :D
The rest of the week was very fun....On Monday mom and I did some shopping, had a picnic at the waterfront. and then rode the miniature train and carousels. I wish I'd had my camera with me, it was great! We spent an afternoon at the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday Dad and I went and played 9 holes of golf with a friend of the family Len....we needed a fourth, so we were joined by a young guy, his name was Jeremy. On Thursday we headed down south to Kingston to spend the weekend with Gary and Sue (Tim's parents) at their cottage. All in all, I spent a wonderful week with Mom and dad..... :D
July 28, 2007
Well it's been an exceedingly busy couple of weeks. Since I last posted on here, me and friends from class (Anna, Melissa and Sherri) completed our research project, on July 12th we presented our findings in our LAST DAY of class! It's exciting to be done school! :) All I have left is my clinical placement, and them I'm DONE forever!!
I've done tons and tons since then, but today I'm going to talk about Friday July 13th....my little brother Tim got married to a very sweet girl, my new sister-in-law Vanessa. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, it was warm (but not too hot) and I have to say, it was a neat experience being on the groom's side of the family. All of the weddings I've been involved with thus far were for the bride's side, and it is SOOOOO stressful....being on the groom's side, you could just relax and take your time. I got up in the morning, went for a run, had a shower, got to go help run some errands with my mom and brother, and then we got ready for the wedding. Had some swiss chalet for lunch.....overall a very relaxing morning.
My mom (in blue) and Vanessa's mom lighting the "family candles" on the Unity candle table.
Vanessa's dad giving his daughter one last hug.... :)
Vanessa's bridesmaids - my sister Alissa is the second one in from the left
"The Kiss" - sorry it's not cropped....I'm having trouble with Picasa and currently can't do any photo editing.....so as a result you'll just have to deal with the back of Richard's head! :P
The wedding ceremony was very nice, my husband Tim was a groomsmen for my brother Tim, so I have to admit, although the bride and groom looked good, I was slightly distracted by the handsome groomsmen a little to the right. :P
There he is! Second guy in from the right.....isn't he handsome? I think so! (Again sorry about the picture, couldn't crop it because of stupid Picasa!)
After the ceremony, we went to the waterfront in Burlington for pictures. Since I wasn't in the wedding party, I was only in a few pictures, and for the rest of the time I got to take video of the wedding party and family during the picture time. There were some great moments, the groomsmen attempting to flip their canes, the bridesmaids getting picked up by the groomsmen, the mothers posing with the groomsmen......all in all, quite enjoyable!
We had dinner at the Indian Wells' Golf and Country club - we ate filet mignon, herbed chicken, beans, potatoes, salad and cream of broccoli soup (in the reverse order) as well as all sorts of yummy desserts. It was a great time, the music was nice, the company was wonderful....all in all a great evening! Congrats Tim and Vanessa!!
I've done tons and tons since then, but today I'm going to talk about Friday July 13th....my little brother Tim got married to a very sweet girl, my new sister-in-law Vanessa. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, it was warm (but not too hot) and I have to say, it was a neat experience being on the groom's side of the family. All of the weddings I've been involved with thus far were for the bride's side, and it is SOOOOO stressful....being on the groom's side, you could just relax and take your time. I got up in the morning, went for a run, had a shower, got to go help run some errands with my mom and brother, and then we got ready for the wedding. Had some swiss chalet for lunch.....overall a very relaxing morning.
My mom (in blue) and Vanessa's mom lighting the "family candles" on the Unity candle table.
Vanessa's dad giving his daughter one last hug.... :)
Vanessa's bridesmaids - my sister Alissa is the second one in from the left
"The Kiss" - sorry it's not cropped....I'm having trouble with Picasa and currently can't do any photo editing.....so as a result you'll just have to deal with the back of Richard's head! :P
The wedding ceremony was very nice, my husband Tim was a groomsmen for my brother Tim, so I have to admit, although the bride and groom looked good, I was slightly distracted by the handsome groomsmen a little to the right. :P
There he is! Second guy in from the right.....isn't he handsome? I think so! (Again sorry about the picture, couldn't crop it because of stupid Picasa!)After the ceremony, we went to the waterfront in Burlington for pictures. Since I wasn't in the wedding party, I was only in a few pictures, and for the rest of the time I got to take video of the wedding party and family during the picture time. There were some great moments, the groomsmen attempting to flip their canes, the bridesmaids getting picked up by the groomsmen, the mothers posing with the groomsmen......all in all, quite enjoyable!
We had dinner at the Indian Wells' Golf and Country club - we ate filet mignon, herbed chicken, beans, potatoes, salad and cream of broccoli soup (in the reverse order) as well as all sorts of yummy desserts. It was a great time, the music was nice, the company was wonderful....all in all a great evening! Congrats Tim and Vanessa!!
July 06, 2007
Veggies :)
Well, it's been a busy week,I've been all tied up writing a research paper with a few classmates (our last official school project!!!) :)
We didn't get our veggies till Wednesday, so I'm a little behind on posting them. Here's what we got this week:
- Kohlrabi (again - I'll have to try cooking it or something)
- bunch of carrots
- a bag of loose leaf lettuce
- a head of boston lettuce
- a bag of peas in the pod
- green onions
- some kind of funny leafy green shoots (no idea what they are)
It's a real quality order....very yummy :P
Oh, and by the way, I made some mint sauce, I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but I'm thinking I'll have to pick up some vanilla ice cream tonight and give it a try! :)
We didn't get our veggies till Wednesday, so I'm a little behind on posting them. Here's what we got this week:
- Kohlrabi (again - I'll have to try cooking it or something)
- bunch of carrots
- a bag of loose leaf lettuce
- a head of boston lettuce
- a bag of peas in the pod
- green onions
- some kind of funny leafy green shoots (no idea what they are)
It's a real quality order....very yummy :P
Oh, and by the way, I made some mint sauce, I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but I'm thinking I'll have to pick up some vanilla ice cream tonight and give it a try! :)
June 26, 2007
Veggie day
Delivery of the week:
- radishes (a bunch - about 6 i think, they still had the greens attached)
- (another) big bag of spinach
- bunch of garlic scapes (like green onions, but it's garlic)
- kohlrabi (weird mystery vegetable, kind've like a turnip apparently, the only reason I know what it's called is because we got an email with some of the veggies we'd get this week)
- bunch of swiss chard (red, white and yellow!!)
- another good sized bag of peas
- half a head of romaine
- oregano
- weird leafy vegetable - a little bunch, i'm wondering if they're dandelion leaves maybe?
Every basket is an adventure! :)
- radishes (a bunch - about 6 i think, they still had the greens attached)
- (another) big bag of spinach
- bunch of garlic scapes (like green onions, but it's garlic)
- kohlrabi (weird mystery vegetable, kind've like a turnip apparently, the only reason I know what it's called is because we got an email with some of the veggies we'd get this week)
- bunch of swiss chard (red, white and yellow!!)
- another good sized bag of peas
- half a head of romaine
- oregano
- weird leafy vegetable - a little bunch, i'm wondering if they're dandelion leaves maybe?
Every basket is an adventure! :)
June 24, 2007
The many faces of Ed
I got a camera for my birthday this year, and I'm really enjoying taking pictures. One of my regular subjects of interest is my kitty Edwin, so here are a few pics I've taken that have been of particular interest or enjoyment. :)
Ed making himself at home in our laundry...it doesn't really matter where the laundry might be, whether it's in a laundry basket or being sorted on our bed, he'll find it and sleep in it.
This is a Rubbermaid shelf unit we have in our study...he found his way in here all by himself.
Another testament to Ed's love of laundry...if only I could teach him how to fold it...
Takin' a snooze with his favorite Tim...
The last two pictures are my favorite.
Ed making himself at home in our laundry...it doesn't really matter where the laundry might be, whether it's in a laundry basket or being sorted on our bed, he'll find it and sleep in it.
This is a Rubbermaid shelf unit we have in our study...he found his way in here all by himself.
Another testament to Ed's love of laundry...if only I could teach him how to fold it...
Takin' a snooze with his favorite Tim...The last two pictures are my favorite.
June 21, 2007
Job Interview
Well....today was my first grown up, adult interview. First interview for a job to be a physiotherapist. I was nervous, I was excited, I was wearing a suit in 26 degree weather... :P But it was good, it went well.
They asked alot of tough questions, things I may not have thought about before, but I was able to answer all of them and I was relatively calm in the process. It's cool, because despite my nerves before the interview, afterwards I felt pretty good. :) I realised that if I'm not meant to get this job, I won't. And there will be other jobs. So I'm happy I have peace about it. I'd love to work at St Joe's, it would be cool, but I know there's lots of other great opportunities as well, so I just have to have faith that the best job for me will come along, whether it's this job or something else.
It's weird though, looking for a job, thinking about having a career.....Having a structured schedule, going to work 9 to 5 (or 8 to 4)....I've been in school for so long it doesn't seem real to me that I will soon be done and will be leading a semi-normal adult life. so crazy....
But it's good....change is good. :)
They asked alot of tough questions, things I may not have thought about before, but I was able to answer all of them and I was relatively calm in the process. It's cool, because despite my nerves before the interview, afterwards I felt pretty good. :) I realised that if I'm not meant to get this job, I won't. And there will be other jobs. So I'm happy I have peace about it. I'd love to work at St Joe's, it would be cool, but I know there's lots of other great opportunities as well, so I just have to have faith that the best job for me will come along, whether it's this job or something else.
It's weird though, looking for a job, thinking about having a career.....Having a structured schedule, going to work 9 to 5 (or 8 to 4)....I've been in school for so long it doesn't seem real to me that I will soon be done and will be leading a semi-normal adult life. so crazy....
But it's good....change is good. :)
June 20, 2007
Vegetable Tuesday
So Tim and I have invested in a farm for the season.....
Curious how?
Well, friends of ours told us about ManoRun Farm, which is an organic farm in Ancaster that you can buy "shares" in and in return get a delivery of vegetables every Tuesday. The price was very reasonable (only 225 for the entire season (June to October)) so we decided to try it out.
Last week was our first delivery, and we got a giant bag of spinach, another large bag of leaf lettuce, fresh mint, another random spice, chives and rhubarb. Apparently this was a "small" delivery, but Tim and I were barely able to finish it and only did so by sharing with some friends and family.
Yesterday was delivery #2, and in our basket we got:
- generous bunch of Bok Choi
- another giant bag of spinach
- a bigger bag of leaf lettuce than last week
- swiss chard
- a HUGE portion of fresh mint
- beets
- green onions
- sugar snap peas
It's kinda fun, because every week is sorta like Christmas, you don't really know what you'll be getting, and even when you do get it it's a surprise!
I plan to try and post what vegetables we get every Tuesday, because there are a variety of veggies I don't really know what to do with....and may need suggestions on how to prepare/cook it (I'm looking at you Richard!)
So feel free to post ideas on how I can cook my veggies, and stay tuned for the variety of good stuff to come!!! :)
Curious how?
Well, friends of ours told us about ManoRun Farm, which is an organic farm in Ancaster that you can buy "shares" in and in return get a delivery of vegetables every Tuesday. The price was very reasonable (only 225 for the entire season (June to October)) so we decided to try it out.
Last week was our first delivery, and we got a giant bag of spinach, another large bag of leaf lettuce, fresh mint, another random spice, chives and rhubarb. Apparently this was a "small" delivery, but Tim and I were barely able to finish it and only did so by sharing with some friends and family.
Yesterday was delivery #2, and in our basket we got:
- generous bunch of Bok Choi
- another giant bag of spinach
- a bigger bag of leaf lettuce than last week
- swiss chard
- a HUGE portion of fresh mint
- beets
- green onions
- sugar snap peas
It's kinda fun, because every week is sorta like Christmas, you don't really know what you'll be getting, and even when you do get it it's a surprise!
I plan to try and post what vegetables we get every Tuesday, because there are a variety of veggies I don't really know what to do with....and may need suggestions on how to prepare/cook it (I'm looking at you Richard!)
So feel free to post ideas on how I can cook my veggies, and stay tuned for the variety of good stuff to come!!! :)
June 11, 2007
Licensing exam
This afternoon in class a rumble started....and the conversation got to where I was sitting and we heard that someone in class had received their PNE (physiotherapy national exam) results. Then, after class one of my classmates got a call from her mom, who had checked the mail, and sure enough....her results were in!
I had to bike home, but the whole way I was super nervous, thinking about the fact that it was very likely that sitting in my mailbox was a letter from the Physiotherapy Alliance....with my PNE results in them.
As soon as I parked my bike in the bike room, I booted it up to the mailbox. And sure enough, there it was....sitting, waiting for me to open it. I brought the letter upstairs, and let me tell you, I don't know when the last time my heart had been beating so hard just for a little piece of mail (probably the acceptance letters for physio two years ago....)
Needless to say, I tore the letter open, and the first word I read was CONGRATULATIONS!!! :)
I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had to bike home, but the whole way I was super nervous, thinking about the fact that it was very likely that sitting in my mailbox was a letter from the Physiotherapy Alliance....with my PNE results in them.
As soon as I parked my bike in the bike room, I booted it up to the mailbox. And sure enough, there it was....sitting, waiting for me to open it. I brought the letter upstairs, and let me tell you, I don't know when the last time my heart had been beating so hard just for a little piece of mail (probably the acceptance letters for physio two years ago....)
Needless to say, I tore the letter open, and the first word I read was CONGRATULATIONS!!! :)
I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 07, 2007
A day of firsts...
This past Sunday we had the pleasure of joining the Berezny/Radford side of the family for a wonderful day of Blue Jays baseball and then a visit to the CN Tower.
The Blue Jays game was in honour of Grandpa Radford and Mary and a gift that they had gotten at Christmas and all of us were lucky enough to be a part of. We got to join them at the Renaissance hotel to watch a Jays game from a very nice hotel suite attached to the Roger's Centre (aka Skydome). This was my first visit to a major league baseball game, or any "major league" sporting event, so I was very excited! And it was lots of fun!
Mary, Grandpa and Tim surveying the pre-game set up
Me catching all the action
Tim and Mom Berezny
After the Jays game (which they won 4-3!) we headed to the CN Tower to celebrate Tim's graduation from his MBA! I had never been up the CN Tower before, nor had I dined at the 360 restaurant, and both were exciting (and a little scary at times....I have a tiny fear of heights....)
This was the view from the restaurant. Pretty cool eh? I was actually sitting on the rotating part of the restaurant, and as Tim was taking this picture I was slowly moving away. PT side note: Look at my elbow! Totally hyper-extended...yikes!
Yummy "Congratluations" dessert our waiter brought Tim :)
Tim and I laying on the (gulp) glass floor....yes, it was glass, and yes I stood on it....Tim had to lead me out on it, but I did it!
We had a wonderful evening and it was really nice to spend time and catch up a bit with family! :)
The Blue Jays game was in honour of Grandpa Radford and Mary and a gift that they had gotten at Christmas and all of us were lucky enough to be a part of. We got to join them at the Renaissance hotel to watch a Jays game from a very nice hotel suite attached to the Roger's Centre (aka Skydome). This was my first visit to a major league baseball game, or any "major league" sporting event, so I was very excited! And it was lots of fun!
Mary, Grandpa and Tim surveying the pre-game set up
Me catching all the action
Tim and Mom BereznyAfter the Jays game (which they won 4-3!) we headed to the CN Tower to celebrate Tim's graduation from his MBA! I had never been up the CN Tower before, nor had I dined at the 360 restaurant, and both were exciting (and a little scary at times....I have a tiny fear of heights....)
This was the view from the restaurant. Pretty cool eh? I was actually sitting on the rotating part of the restaurant, and as Tim was taking this picture I was slowly moving away. PT side note: Look at my elbow! Totally hyper-extended...yikes!
Yummy "Congratluations" dessert our waiter brought Tim :)
Tim and I laying on the (gulp) glass floor....yes, it was glass, and yes I stood on it....Tim had to lead me out on it, but I did it!We had a wonderful evening and it was really nice to spend time and catch up a bit with family! :)
May 30, 2007
Pansies
Hey mom,
I've managed to keep the pansies alive!! They're FULL of blooms right now, I know I should break some off, but I like them all. This pic's for you!! :)
I've managed to keep the pansies alive!! They're FULL of blooms right now, I know I should break some off, but I like them all. This pic's for you!! :)
May 27, 2007
Blender Adventures
Have you ever heard of Will it Blend? If you haven't, you really need to visit this site, it's pretty funny.
Tim and I had a blender adventure of our own last night. We were making a rather yummy fruit smoothie for dinner as it was late and we didn't want to eat anything heavy. Tim had put a LOT of fruit in the blender and it was having difficulty mixing up all the fruit. So despite coaxing, adding milk and more coaxing, my little blender just couldn't seem to conquer all that fruit.
So I got out a spoon and started gently sifting around the frozen chunks of fruit to help the blender along. Accidentally, I launched a bunch of the fruit out of the blender onto the counter. Not thinking, we scooped up the wayward fruit and tossed it back into the blender.
Within a minute or so after returning the fruit to its home in the blender, we heard a funny clinking noise coming from the blender. At first we thought it was the gears slipping, so we took the blender off its stand and tightened everything up. The clink continued. We stirred up the smoothie thinking some some of the frozen fruit was being stubborn and wouldn't blend. The clinking continued. We were stumped.....
Then I noticed that one of the screws from Tim's bike shoes was missing off the counter. They had been sitting nearby, but certainly they couldn't have been close enough to be effected by the wayward fruit.....could they?
Needless to say, we discovered that (thankfully) our blender is not as high-powered as the blender on "will it blend?" Otherwise, as Tim put it, our poor duodenums could have been in some trouble.... (we didn't eat the smoothie in case you're wondering, and the screw was relatively unscathed) :P
Tim and I had a blender adventure of our own last night. We were making a rather yummy fruit smoothie for dinner as it was late and we didn't want to eat anything heavy. Tim had put a LOT of fruit in the blender and it was having difficulty mixing up all the fruit. So despite coaxing, adding milk and more coaxing, my little blender just couldn't seem to conquer all that fruit.
So I got out a spoon and started gently sifting around the frozen chunks of fruit to help the blender along. Accidentally, I launched a bunch of the fruit out of the blender onto the counter. Not thinking, we scooped up the wayward fruit and tossed it back into the blender.
Within a minute or so after returning the fruit to its home in the blender, we heard a funny clinking noise coming from the blender. At first we thought it was the gears slipping, so we took the blender off its stand and tightened everything up. The clink continued. We stirred up the smoothie thinking some some of the frozen fruit was being stubborn and wouldn't blend. The clinking continued. We were stumped.....
Then I noticed that one of the screws from Tim's bike shoes was missing off the counter. They had been sitting nearby, but certainly they couldn't have been close enough to be effected by the wayward fruit.....could they?
Needless to say, we discovered that (thankfully) our blender is not as high-powered as the blender on "will it blend?" Otherwise, as Tim put it, our poor duodenums could have been in some trouble.... (we didn't eat the smoothie in case you're wondering, and the screw was relatively unscathed) :P
May 22, 2007
Traffic
Tim and I drove home from Kingston yesterday, and sure enough, there was lots of long weekend traffic to contend with. During the drive I was regularly getting frustrated and I was talking with Tim, trying to understand how it is that traffic happens.
See, I understand how traffic happens in really populated areas like Toronto, but tell me, does anyone know how you can get stop and go traffic in the middle of nowhere? We were on a stretch of highway between Belleville and Cobourg that has very few towns, on/off ramps, and only one major highway that feeds onto the 401. However, we were regularly STOPPED on the highway! How does that happen? I just don't get it, there wasn't a huge influx of cars onto the road at a certain point, no bottlenecks, no accidents, just lots of traffic.
But if there's no interruption in the flow, how is it that you can get stopped so often? It was so annoying. Anyone have some insight that I'm overlooking? :P
See, I understand how traffic happens in really populated areas like Toronto, but tell me, does anyone know how you can get stop and go traffic in the middle of nowhere? We were on a stretch of highway between Belleville and Cobourg that has very few towns, on/off ramps, and only one major highway that feeds onto the 401. However, we were regularly STOPPED on the highway! How does that happen? I just don't get it, there wasn't a huge influx of cars onto the road at a certain point, no bottlenecks, no accidents, just lots of traffic.
But if there's no interruption in the flow, how is it that you can get stopped so often? It was so annoying. Anyone have some insight that I'm overlooking? :P
May 20, 2007
Cottage Shenanigans
Tim and I are at his parent's cottage this weekend. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday. :P
May 14, 2007
My weekend
This past Saturday I wrote my licensing exam, well at least the first component of the exam. It was a four hour exam consisting of 200 multiple choice questions. I've been preparing for it for weeks now, studying with classmates and dedicating every spare moment to being successful in this exam.
Despite every preparation, it's really hard to say how I did. It's one thing to prepare for an exam, and feel confident that you will succeed. It's totally a different thing on the day of the exam when you get to the exam site, feel the tension in the room from everyone's apprehension, brave the flutters in your stomach, the racing heart...and do well. I hope I did well. I tried my best, I studied hard.....the rest is up to God. :)
The rest of the weekend was actually really nice. After the exam a whole bunch of people from class went to Boston Pizza for lunch, and it was really fun. :) I enjoyed it. We got to sit around, laugh, and recover from the gruelling morning. Tim joined us for lunch which was really nice, and after the lunch we went to the movies and watched Spiderman 3. So relaxing.
And then we came home and TIM HAD CLEANED THE HOUSE!!! What a great guy eh? Tim's been so supportive in the past few weeks while I've studied, I don't know what I'd do without him. :)
We had a wonderful evening full of fun, the outdoors, good food and "Heroes" (great TV show, you've got to watch it sometime). Sunday was also quite relaxing....I have to say, it's a great feeling having this exam behind me, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Just keep hoping & praying that I passed. :P
Despite every preparation, it's really hard to say how I did. It's one thing to prepare for an exam, and feel confident that you will succeed. It's totally a different thing on the day of the exam when you get to the exam site, feel the tension in the room from everyone's apprehension, brave the flutters in your stomach, the racing heart...and do well. I hope I did well. I tried my best, I studied hard.....the rest is up to God. :)
The rest of the weekend was actually really nice. After the exam a whole bunch of people from class went to Boston Pizza for lunch, and it was really fun. :) I enjoyed it. We got to sit around, laugh, and recover from the gruelling morning. Tim joined us for lunch which was really nice, and after the lunch we went to the movies and watched Spiderman 3. So relaxing.
And then we came home and TIM HAD CLEANED THE HOUSE!!! What a great guy eh? Tim's been so supportive in the past few weeks while I've studied, I don't know what I'd do without him. :)
We had a wonderful evening full of fun, the outdoors, good food and "Heroes" (great TV show, you've got to watch it sometime). Sunday was also quite relaxing....I have to say, it's a great feeling having this exam behind me, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Just keep hoping & praying that I passed. :P
April 30, 2007
Wiiiiiiiiii
I had decided a few months ago that I would get Tim a Wii for his birthday. He's been asking for one since it came out before Christmas, and I had told him he should wait until it's been out on the market for a little bit until we have an idea of whether it's a dud or not. And it's good we waited, because there's been issues with the wrist strap, where people don't tighten them up and throw the controller right into their TV. That would suck. :P
About three weeks ago Tim and I were at Fortinos doing groceries, and I had actually started looking around for the Wii because it turns out it was super popular and hard to get your hands on. I don't have a lot of experience in the video game world and I had just assumed I'd be able to walk into a store 8 months after the release of the system and be able to buy it off the shelf. ANYWAY, back to Fortinos....it's a grocery store for those of you not in the Golden horseshoe area, and the one Tim and I frequently shop at includes a rather extensive electronics department. Needless to say, on this normal grocery day, I was in an aisle looking at cereal I think, and Tim came RUNNING, yes running up to me with a big grin on his face, grabbed my hand and told me he had to show me something. Sure enough, they had a Wii in Fortinos of all places. So Tim got his birthday present early. Since then we've had some fun creating Miis (computerised versions of people) and playing tennis, bowling etc. Last weekend my mom and gramma came over for dinner, and I had the opportunity to play some tennnis with my mom. It was a blast! Dad, you definitely need to try this! You'd love it. :)
About three weeks ago Tim and I were at Fortinos doing groceries, and I had actually started looking around for the Wii because it turns out it was super popular and hard to get your hands on. I don't have a lot of experience in the video game world and I had just assumed I'd be able to walk into a store 8 months after the release of the system and be able to buy it off the shelf. ANYWAY, back to Fortinos....it's a grocery store for those of you not in the Golden horseshoe area, and the one Tim and I frequently shop at includes a rather extensive electronics department. Needless to say, on this normal grocery day, I was in an aisle looking at cereal I think, and Tim came RUNNING, yes running up to me with a big grin on his face, grabbed my hand and told me he had to show me something. Sure enough, they had a Wii in Fortinos of all places. So Tim got his birthday present early. Since then we've had some fun creating Miis (computerised versions of people) and playing tennis, bowling etc. Last weekend my mom and gramma came over for dinner, and I had the opportunity to play some tennnis with my mom. It was a blast! Dad, you definitely need to try this! You'd love it. :)
Mom prepping for the good time fun.......
April 26, 2007
April 20, 2007
Tim's favorite medical terms
My husband really enjoys some of the medical jargon for different body parts etc that he often hears me and colleagues talking about. Here's some of his favorites:
Medulla oblongata (in the brainstem)
Scapula (he likes to pronounce it sca-poo-la) (it's the shoulder blade)
Supraspinatus (muscle in the shoulder)
Metatarsals (bones in the foot)
Mandible (jaw bone) - Tim likes it in the context of "Mandibles of death"
Meniscus (padding in the knee)
Brachial plexus (bundle of nerves in the neck/shoulder region)
Medulla oblongata (in the brainstem)
Scapula (he likes to pronounce it sca-poo-la) (it's the shoulder blade)
Supraspinatus (muscle in the shoulder)
Metatarsals (bones in the foot)
Mandible (jaw bone) - Tim likes it in the context of "Mandibles of death"
Meniscus (padding in the knee)
Brachial plexus (bundle of nerves in the neck/shoulder region)
April 18, 2007
It's funny how fast time flies......I have already finished my 6 week placement at McMaster Children's hospital and am now halfway through my first week of school. Goodness eh? Where does the time go?
My placement at Mac was really good, very challenging but good. It was really challenging because there were so many sick little kids that were on the ward, some that had more hope than others. This was something I had to get used to because it was possible that some of my patients could have died. Thankfully, no one died while I was there, and I'm so thankful for it. It's one thing to have a grandparent die, because despite the sadness they have lived a full life, known love, had children, and grandchildren...
It's heartbreaking to see little boys and girls who are so sick, they will very likely not see adulthood. It makes me wonder why some people get the lucky shot in life, they're full of health and make it through, and then there are others who are in the hospital almost since birth. I met one little girl while I was at Mac who had been in the hospital since she was born, and she was about 10 months old. She was the cutest, sweetest little baby I'd ever met. So pleasant, never cried, just smiled at you and begged you to hold her. I really struggled with why this little girl was in hospital, that every day she is on the earth is a struggle to survive.
Sometimes life doesn't make sense.
But I learned alot, and I have many good memories - like bowling in the therapy room with one patient and the prize if she won was to do another PT student's makeup (a guy PT!). She DID win, and we even got photographic proof of the day.
I feel like this placement made me grow in ways that I hadn't expected, and it has given me a new thankfulness for my own health. We are truly blessed. I pray for all of you, that you have a good day and that you don't take your health for granted.
My placement at Mac was really good, very challenging but good. It was really challenging because there were so many sick little kids that were on the ward, some that had more hope than others. This was something I had to get used to because it was possible that some of my patients could have died. Thankfully, no one died while I was there, and I'm so thankful for it. It's one thing to have a grandparent die, because despite the sadness they have lived a full life, known love, had children, and grandchildren...
It's heartbreaking to see little boys and girls who are so sick, they will very likely not see adulthood. It makes me wonder why some people get the lucky shot in life, they're full of health and make it through, and then there are others who are in the hospital almost since birth. I met one little girl while I was at Mac who had been in the hospital since she was born, and she was about 10 months old. She was the cutest, sweetest little baby I'd ever met. So pleasant, never cried, just smiled at you and begged you to hold her. I really struggled with why this little girl was in hospital, that every day she is on the earth is a struggle to survive.
Sometimes life doesn't make sense.
But I learned alot, and I have many good memories - like bowling in the therapy room with one patient and the prize if she won was to do another PT student's makeup (a guy PT!). She DID win, and we even got photographic proof of the day.
I feel like this placement made me grow in ways that I hadn't expected, and it has given me a new thankfulness for my own health. We are truly blessed. I pray for all of you, that you have a good day and that you don't take your health for granted.
March 25, 2007
Rainbow Trout
Tim and I tried a new recipe last night....and it turned out pretty good! We had never tried rainbow trout before, and I had never prepared it before, so we googled some recipes and I settled on this one:
| BROILED RAINBOW TROUT WITH HERB MAYONNAISE | |
| 6 tbsp. reg. or light mayonnaise Combine mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, herbs and pepper in bowl; mix well. Cover flesh side of each trout fillet with 1/4 of mayonnaise mixture. Broil 4 inches from heat source for about 3 to 5 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork and topping is bubbly. | |
(courtesy of Cooks.com)
It turned out pretty good. I used lime juice instead of lemon because we were out of lemon, I added basil, oregano and thyme for the "herbs" and we just used good old Costco Rainbow trout fillets (which are HUGE by the way, and really reasonable - about 12$ for 4 LARGE fillets that would have easily fed 5 or 6). Tim and I tried this recipe on two of the fillets, and we're trying another recipe tomorrow....either way, it was good. Try it out and let me know what you thought and what modifications were good.
Just to give you an idea of how big the fillets were, this plate has ~10 inch diameter and the fish is folded over! That's ALOT of fish. :P (for interest, we had it with home fries and beans!)
March 24, 2007
One time lucky, two times blessed
So I've been on placement for the past three weeks at McMaster Children's Hospital in the acute care ward. It's really interesting and challenging, and I am enjoying it.
This week I sure realised God's looking after me, because there was 20 confirmed cases of rotavirus (really nasty gastro flu, basically comin' out both ends nonstop for 24-48 hours) on one of the floors I work on. I'm not on that floor very often, but even being there and touching door handles, charts etc puts you at greater risk.
Wednesday morning I got into work a little early because I wanted to be a keener and have the patient lists printed off and to have checked the referral books, just because I'm usually there just on time. I wanted to make a good impression on my preceptors. Usually I start work at about 8:30, so I showed up in enough time to have everything ready for 8:30. Well 8:30 rolled around, then 9 o'clock came and neither of my preceptors showed up. I was a little confused, and I didn't really know what to do. There was a message on our phone, but I didn't know how to check it. So I paged one of the other PTs we work with and found out how to check messages. It turns out BOTH of my preceptors had come down with rotavirus, and there I was, healthy as can be!
You might say that's just luck, but it's the second time in less than a month that I have been exposed to a nasty gastro flu and been totally fine. About 4 weeks ago Tim got REALLY sick with Norwalk that was going around at his work, and I stayed home and looked after him for two days, and was totally fine.
All I can say is that I am very grateful that I haven't gotten it so far, and I really believe it's God looking out for me, because right now I can't afford to be missing placement or school.
Just thought I'd share my fun story. Hope you all are well.
Blessings
This week I sure realised God's looking after me, because there was 20 confirmed cases of rotavirus (really nasty gastro flu, basically comin' out both ends nonstop for 24-48 hours) on one of the floors I work on. I'm not on that floor very often, but even being there and touching door handles, charts etc puts you at greater risk.
Wednesday morning I got into work a little early because I wanted to be a keener and have the patient lists printed off and to have checked the referral books, just because I'm usually there just on time. I wanted to make a good impression on my preceptors. Usually I start work at about 8:30, so I showed up in enough time to have everything ready for 8:30. Well 8:30 rolled around, then 9 o'clock came and neither of my preceptors showed up. I was a little confused, and I didn't really know what to do. There was a message on our phone, but I didn't know how to check it. So I paged one of the other PTs we work with and found out how to check messages. It turns out BOTH of my preceptors had come down with rotavirus, and there I was, healthy as can be!
You might say that's just luck, but it's the second time in less than a month that I have been exposed to a nasty gastro flu and been totally fine. About 4 weeks ago Tim got REALLY sick with Norwalk that was going around at his work, and I stayed home and looked after him for two days, and was totally fine.
All I can say is that I am very grateful that I haven't gotten it so far, and I really believe it's God looking out for me, because right now I can't afford to be missing placement or school.
Just thought I'd share my fun story. Hope you all are well.
Blessings
March 14, 2007
Allergies
Yesterday I visited the allergist for the first time ever! About a year and a half ago I had a substantial allergic reaction to something, but to this day we're not sure what it was. It's possible that I may have reacted to some generic gravol I took because I was sick with the flu, but we're not sure. So I was going to visit the allergist to test for a potential allergy to gravol, and they had asked me to bring in the brand that I thought had made me react. I wasn't sure what brand it wasy, so I went out to the grocery store and brought two brands of generic gravol that I thought migh have been the culprits.
Unfortunately, in the rush of the morning and the realisation that we were running late, I left the gravols at home. So they tested me with the generic brand that they had at the hospital, which I was NOT allergic to. YAY However, they also tested me for all the standard allergens, and I discovered that I have allergies to tree pollen, grass, ragweed pollen and dust mites.
Have you ever seen a picture of dust mites? They're kinda gross looking.
Yucky!! I don't really like them, they make my skin crawl......ugh....and to think they live all over the place. SO GROSS
Icky icky icky!
What a weird thing, to all of a sudden be aware of the fact that you have allergies. I've been healthy all my life, and it's weird to think that there are things out there that can make me sick that may not make others sick. I mean, I had a suspicion that I might be allergic to some environmental stuff because the last couple summers I've had itchy/watery eyes and runny nose, but still, it's weird to have it confirmed. Oh, and know what's even weirder, it's not the dust mite themselves that people are allergic to, it's their "waste" (aka poo) ha ha. Go dust mites! Toxic poo :P
So the allergist was giving me all these suggestions of things I should do, and made it out to be a big deal and that my allergies were pretty bad. It made me laugh, because I've never really noticed them that much, and having someone say that it is a problem seems odd. He seemed to think my allergies were so bad that he gave me a steroid nose spray (so much for my Olympic dreams! LOL) I don't think I'll be using that one too often, I'll probably opt for the reactine route or even look into whether there are herbal alternatives I could try using. I'm not really into the side effects that regular steroid use can bring, even if it's just going up your nose....
I think the funniest thing I got out of this entire experience was that I was provided with a bunch of information sheets, and one of them mentioned that pets are a major source of dust, and that they should be washed every month. Hee hee.....I wonder what Ed will think of that one. :)
Unfortunately, in the rush of the morning and the realisation that we were running late, I left the gravols at home. So they tested me with the generic brand that they had at the hospital, which I was NOT allergic to. YAY However, they also tested me for all the standard allergens, and I discovered that I have allergies to tree pollen, grass, ragweed pollen and dust mites.
Have you ever seen a picture of dust mites? They're kinda gross looking.
Yucky!! I don't really like them, they make my skin crawl......ugh....and to think they live all over the place. SO GROSS
Icky icky icky!What a weird thing, to all of a sudden be aware of the fact that you have allergies. I've been healthy all my life, and it's weird to think that there are things out there that can make me sick that may not make others sick. I mean, I had a suspicion that I might be allergic to some environmental stuff because the last couple summers I've had itchy/watery eyes and runny nose, but still, it's weird to have it confirmed. Oh, and know what's even weirder, it's not the dust mite themselves that people are allergic to, it's their "waste" (aka poo) ha ha. Go dust mites! Toxic poo :P
So the allergist was giving me all these suggestions of things I should do, and made it out to be a big deal and that my allergies were pretty bad. It made me laugh, because I've never really noticed them that much, and having someone say that it is a problem seems odd. He seemed to think my allergies were so bad that he gave me a steroid nose spray (so much for my Olympic dreams! LOL) I don't think I'll be using that one too often, I'll probably opt for the reactine route or even look into whether there are herbal alternatives I could try using. I'm not really into the side effects that regular steroid use can bring, even if it's just going up your nose....
I think the funniest thing I got out of this entire experience was that I was provided with a bunch of information sheets, and one of them mentioned that pets are a major source of dust, and that they should be washed every month. Hee hee.....I wonder what Ed will think of that one. :)
February 27, 2007
A matter of perspective...
Lately you might say Tim and I have been experiencing some bad luck. We’ve run into a number of frustrating and sometimes exacerbating situations. Here’s a brief list of what has happened to us the past 2 months:
- our rental car was broken into while in Aruba and our laptop, camera, all camera accessories, Tim’s wallet, his ipod and a specialized camera bag he got for Christmas was stolen
- our fridge freezer died, we lost a lot of food and the fridge was on its last legs
- someone showed up looking for $$ in unpaid cable bills which our landlord was supposed to be paying since it’s included in our rent
- the internet died, we called the cable company, they said there was nothing wrong with it, they set up an appointment for us to get it fixed A WEEK LATER; we called two more times to make sure that the cable hadn’t been turned off, they said no; called them the day before the scheduled appointment to find out when they were coming, they told us that the appointment had been canceled and that our cable had been turned off the previous week….
- Tim got Norwalk at work and had to take 2 days off
- I found our car dead in the garage the day Tim got Norwalk, when I went out to get him some chicken noodle soup
- my application to the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapists for the written portion of my licensing exam was suspended after our VISA was declined; had to get a money order and pay a 50$ charge for the declined card to the Alliance
- our landlord hadn’t received the rent from January and wanted us to send it again, although our bank clearly said that the money had gone through
- my desktop crashed
- my gramma had a heart attack and spent almost a month in hospital
It has been a frustrating experience, but we have been learning a lot through it all. I’ve learned that you can dwell on the crappy things that have happened, or you can try to make the best of them. Because really, when it all comes down to it, God is looking after thngs and it will work out in some way or another in the end…..For instance:
- We had the opportunity to be in Aruba in the first place, and thankfully our insurance company will replace everything that was stolen
- We got a new fridge from the deal that actually keeps ice cream frozen!!! :)
- The internet eventually got fixed, it had all been a misunderstanding due to the incompetence of a new trainee at the cable company (stupid Cogeco); the downside is that since this incident our router has not been working well at all; keeps kicking off our computers and re-setting itself randomly
- Tim has a job!
- I was able to call CAA and get the car jumped, and got a new battery with a 6 year warranty in the process
- I got to spend 2 whole days hanging out with Tim, while he was home sick with Norwalk
- I got the application in to the CAP on time, and that’s really all that matters
- The lost rent money was found! It had been put in a different account than our landlord normally puts the $$ into
- My computer is ancient, so maybe now I’ll get a cool new computer!
- Gramma is feeling much better and was sent home! She’s so pleased to be home, and we’re praying for a swift and full recovery
So when it all comes down to it, everything is a matter of perspective. It hasn’t been an easy month, but I’ve been learning to try and see what good might come out of a situation and then trust that things will work out in the long run. It’s a hard lesson to learn, and believe me, I’m still learning. But thankfully, things usually work out ok. :)
- our rental car was broken into while in Aruba and our laptop, camera, all camera accessories, Tim’s wallet, his ipod and a specialized camera bag he got for Christmas was stolen
- our fridge freezer died, we lost a lot of food and the fridge was on its last legs
- someone showed up looking for $$ in unpaid cable bills which our landlord was supposed to be paying since it’s included in our rent
- the internet died, we called the cable company, they said there was nothing wrong with it, they set up an appointment for us to get it fixed A WEEK LATER; we called two more times to make sure that the cable hadn’t been turned off, they said no; called them the day before the scheduled appointment to find out when they were coming, they told us that the appointment had been canceled and that our cable had been turned off the previous week….
- Tim got Norwalk at work and had to take 2 days off
- I found our car dead in the garage the day Tim got Norwalk, when I went out to get him some chicken noodle soup
- my application to the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapists for the written portion of my licensing exam was suspended after our VISA was declined; had to get a money order and pay a 50$ charge for the declined card to the Alliance
- our landlord hadn’t received the rent from January and wanted us to send it again, although our bank clearly said that the money had gone through
- my desktop crashed
- my gramma had a heart attack and spent almost a month in hospital
It has been a frustrating experience, but we have been learning a lot through it all. I’ve learned that you can dwell on the crappy things that have happened, or you can try to make the best of them. Because really, when it all comes down to it, God is looking after thngs and it will work out in some way or another in the end…..For instance:
- We had the opportunity to be in Aruba in the first place, and thankfully our insurance company will replace everything that was stolen
- We got a new fridge from the deal that actually keeps ice cream frozen!!! :)
- The internet eventually got fixed, it had all been a misunderstanding due to the incompetence of a new trainee at the cable company (stupid Cogeco); the downside is that since this incident our router has not been working well at all; keeps kicking off our computers and re-setting itself randomly
- Tim has a job!
- I was able to call CAA and get the car jumped, and got a new battery with a 6 year warranty in the process
- I got to spend 2 whole days hanging out with Tim, while he was home sick with Norwalk
- I got the application in to the CAP on time, and that’s really all that matters
- The lost rent money was found! It had been put in a different account than our landlord normally puts the $$ into
- My computer is ancient, so maybe now I’ll get a cool new computer!
- Gramma is feeling much better and was sent home! She’s so pleased to be home, and we’re praying for a swift and full recovery
So when it all comes down to it, everything is a matter of perspective. It hasn’t been an easy month, but I’ve been learning to try and see what good might come out of a situation and then trust that things will work out in the long run. It’s a hard lesson to learn, and believe me, I’m still learning. But thankfully, things usually work out ok. :)
February 25, 2007
boardin'
Tim and I were lucky enough to escape to Blue Mountain yesterday evening.....we had hoped to make a weekend of it, but alas, other things interfered. But it was still a super fun evening! :)
Me about to get in line for the lift, you can't tell, but the line is actually REALLY long.
Zippin' along at top speed...........well actually......Tim just got a good shot :P
Standing in front of the beaver tails and hot chocolate shack
Tim's artistry :)
Me about to get in line for the lift, you can't tell, but the line is actually REALLY long.
Zippin' along at top speed...........well actually......Tim just got a good shot :P
Standing in front of the beaver tails and hot chocolate shack
Tim's artistry :)
February 23, 2007
Excellent Birthday!
Yesterday I turned 25! And it was a great day.
Despite having my final exam yesterday morning, which was WAY too long and had some confusing questions and was in general pretty tough, it was a nice day. Tim woke me up just after midnight to sing me Happy Birthday, which was really cute and sweet and made me laugh. :P
I got up at 6 am to do some last minute studying, but once Tim got up around 7:15 I couldn't study anymore, because I was too excited! He sang me happy birthday (AGAIN! so fun) and then gave me a card. He had me completely fooled, because I didn't think he'd had the chance to get me anything yet. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered tickets to Phantom of the Opera taped inside the card!!! They were for 2pm, so basically as soon as I finished my exam, we were headed to Toronto to enjoy the show. Needless to say, after he gave me the card, there was NO WAY I could study anymore, I was bursting. :P
So we ate breakfast and planned for the day until it was time to leave for my exam, and then off we went. Tim dropped me off at school, and I made my best attempt at concentrating while I wrote the exam....like I said before, it was WAY too long! My hand was hurting by the end of it!
We got to Toronto in good time and made our way to the Princess of Wales theatre for the show. Our seats were in the "dress circle" - so not orchestra seats, but still really good ones! The show was amazing....I had a hard time controlling myself from singing along with all the songs. I had seen the movie, and listened to the soundtrack many times, but nothing beats seeing a play in the theatre. It evokes such emotion, such joy, being in the theatre is beautiful. I really had a wonderful time! We even had some haagen dazs ice cream during the intermission (very yummy).
Then Tim and I went to dinner at a place called "Fred's not here". I don't think Fred was present, and it was a neat little restaurant serving mostly smokehouse/steakhouse meals. Lots of meat, not as many other options. I think if I'd known beforehand, I might have chosen another restaurant, just because I like to have lots of options, and I felt somewhat limited in what I could order. I mean, I like meat, but it's nice to have some veggies or other yummy tidbits to accompany your meal.
Nonetheless, dinner was great, I had mushroom ravioli and salad and Tim had duck prepared 2 different ways. We also had some coconut shrimp as an appetiser. Everything was very good, and we had a great time chatting about the play and enjoying the evening. I think the only thing that was missing was a big group of waiters coming over to sing happy birthday, but what can I say, not all restaurants do that kind of thing. :P Overall, it was really fun!
We came back to Hamilton, and much to my excitement there was a notice in the mail for a package!! So we went and picked it up from the post office, and sure enough, it was a present FOR ME!!! :D Tim's parents had sent me a gift in the mail, which I was super excited to open, and Tim made me wait until we got back to the apartment before I could open it! The anticipation was HUGE.
They got me a digital camera!!! A really cool one, one I've been wanting for a while, that Tim and I had been talking about getting because his little camera is on its last legs and so I needed a little camera to use. The camera they got me is the Canon Digital Elph SD 600 - a fun little camera that I am enjoying learning how to use. I got to take it out with me, because later that evening I went over to Anna and Leana's place for a post-final party with classmates. :)
The gang at the party (I'm using my new camera to take this!!!) :)
And they had cake for me! And sang me happy birthday! It was so fun. I think it made the day just about perfect. We had a fabulous time laughing, playing goofy games and some of us even stuck around till 2 am talking about everything and anything.
Leana with the super-chocolatey-uber-yummy cake that they got for me!
It was a wonderful day. :) Probably the only thing missing was my loved ones who live far away; it would have been nice to see all of my family, but I know your thoughts and prayers were with me. It was a fun day. A good day. And now I'm a year older.
Despite having my final exam yesterday morning, which was WAY too long and had some confusing questions and was in general pretty tough, it was a nice day. Tim woke me up just after midnight to sing me Happy Birthday, which was really cute and sweet and made me laugh. :P
I got up at 6 am to do some last minute studying, but once Tim got up around 7:15 I couldn't study anymore, because I was too excited! He sang me happy birthday (AGAIN! so fun) and then gave me a card. He had me completely fooled, because I didn't think he'd had the chance to get me anything yet. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered tickets to Phantom of the Opera taped inside the card!!! They were for 2pm, so basically as soon as I finished my exam, we were headed to Toronto to enjoy the show. Needless to say, after he gave me the card, there was NO WAY I could study anymore, I was bursting. :P
So we ate breakfast and planned for the day until it was time to leave for my exam, and then off we went. Tim dropped me off at school, and I made my best attempt at concentrating while I wrote the exam....like I said before, it was WAY too long! My hand was hurting by the end of it!
We got to Toronto in good time and made our way to the Princess of Wales theatre for the show. Our seats were in the "dress circle" - so not orchestra seats, but still really good ones! The show was amazing....I had a hard time controlling myself from singing along with all the songs. I had seen the movie, and listened to the soundtrack many times, but nothing beats seeing a play in the theatre. It evokes such emotion, such joy, being in the theatre is beautiful. I really had a wonderful time! We even had some haagen dazs ice cream during the intermission (very yummy).
Then Tim and I went to dinner at a place called "Fred's not here". I don't think Fred was present, and it was a neat little restaurant serving mostly smokehouse/steakhouse meals. Lots of meat, not as many other options. I think if I'd known beforehand, I might have chosen another restaurant, just because I like to have lots of options, and I felt somewhat limited in what I could order. I mean, I like meat, but it's nice to have some veggies or other yummy tidbits to accompany your meal.
Nonetheless, dinner was great, I had mushroom ravioli and salad and Tim had duck prepared 2 different ways. We also had some coconut shrimp as an appetiser. Everything was very good, and we had a great time chatting about the play and enjoying the evening. I think the only thing that was missing was a big group of waiters coming over to sing happy birthday, but what can I say, not all restaurants do that kind of thing. :P Overall, it was really fun!
We came back to Hamilton, and much to my excitement there was a notice in the mail for a package!! So we went and picked it up from the post office, and sure enough, it was a present FOR ME!!! :D Tim's parents had sent me a gift in the mail, which I was super excited to open, and Tim made me wait until we got back to the apartment before I could open it! The anticipation was HUGE.
They got me a digital camera!!! A really cool one, one I've been wanting for a while, that Tim and I had been talking about getting because his little camera is on its last legs and so I needed a little camera to use. The camera they got me is the Canon Digital Elph SD 600 - a fun little camera that I am enjoying learning how to use. I got to take it out with me, because later that evening I went over to Anna and Leana's place for a post-final party with classmates. :)
The gang at the party (I'm using my new camera to take this!!!) :)And they had cake for me! And sang me happy birthday! It was so fun. I think it made the day just about perfect. We had a fabulous time laughing, playing goofy games and some of us even stuck around till 2 am talking about everything and anything.
Leana with the super-chocolatey-uber-yummy cake that they got for me! It was a wonderful day. :) Probably the only thing missing was my loved ones who live far away; it would have been nice to see all of my family, but I know your thoughts and prayers were with me. It was a fun day. A good day. And now I'm a year older.
February 15, 2007
Charity Ball
Here are some pictures from the Charity Ball. Although I took like 45 pictures, alot of them ended up being of the same people and the same stuff. Ha
So here's some of the more interesting pics, I'm going to try and figure out how to post the entire folder. Enjoy! :)
Yasmin, myself & Helen
Me and Alexis :)
So here's some of the more interesting pics, I'm going to try and figure out how to post the entire folder. Enjoy! :)
Yasmin, myself & Helen
Me and Alexis :)
Beautiful people
So pretty! So dashing! The newly engaged couple, don't they look great? :)
Steph, Myself, Catherine, Sarah, Alexis, Nicola
Noah and Anna Banana :D
February 13, 2007
Somehow I survived not having the internet all weekend and finishing my paper on time. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that my friend Helen was gracious enough to share her apartment and internet with me for the weekend. Thanks Helen! I don’t know how I would have gotten it done otherwise. I just can’t imagine having spent all day Saturday and Sunday in the library….boo
February 09, 2007
Well it's been another interesting and challenging weeks. I think I'm starting a pattern here of posting on Fridays. I was actually planning on posting earlier this week, but alas, our internet has been broken since Wednesday with no hope of repair until next Wednesday. BOO
So I'm at the library, working on our laptop, trying to recuperate from all the time I've lost not doing work because we were trying to figure out the internet problem. Such fun :(
ha ha and instead of working, I'm blogging. Where are my priorities? :P
Just to answer a few of your questions, the charity ball was tons of fun, I will post some pictures very soon, just depends on who I can steal internet off of. :)
My gramma is doing ok, she's now off the oxygen, which is a good thing, and now she just has to work on improving her breathing (taking deep breaths) and getting up and around more. It's definitely still a long road to go, but she's on the way to recovery I think.
Currently in the library the fire alarm is going off....weird....no one is leaving either. I wonder if we're supposed to leave? It's actually quite loud and obnoxious. Oh! it just stopped. I guess we didn't have to leave after all. Weird. i'm really not used to working in the library, I've always been a working/studying at home kind of girl, it's what I did all through undergrad and what I prefer VERY much now too. I just find I can't get comfortable. AND have you ever tried to bring a laptop with you to the bathroom? VERY difficult.....it's just not as nice working on campus. argh
Anyway, I think I should stop now, need to get back to the work. But I hope everyone out there is doing well.....anything new and exciting happening to you? I'd love to hear about it. Oh, and check out Tim's blog, it's pretty cool. The link is under my "fun links" section. :)
So I'm at the library, working on our laptop, trying to recuperate from all the time I've lost not doing work because we were trying to figure out the internet problem. Such fun :(
ha ha and instead of working, I'm blogging. Where are my priorities? :P
Just to answer a few of your questions, the charity ball was tons of fun, I will post some pictures very soon, just depends on who I can steal internet off of. :)
My gramma is doing ok, she's now off the oxygen, which is a good thing, and now she just has to work on improving her breathing (taking deep breaths) and getting up and around more. It's definitely still a long road to go, but she's on the way to recovery I think.
Currently in the library the fire alarm is going off....weird....no one is leaving either. I wonder if we're supposed to leave? It's actually quite loud and obnoxious. Oh! it just stopped. I guess we didn't have to leave after all. Weird. i'm really not used to working in the library, I've always been a working/studying at home kind of girl, it's what I did all through undergrad and what I prefer VERY much now too. I just find I can't get comfortable. AND have you ever tried to bring a laptop with you to the bathroom? VERY difficult.....it's just not as nice working on campus. argh
Anyway, I think I should stop now, need to get back to the work. But I hope everyone out there is doing well.....anything new and exciting happening to you? I'd love to hear about it. Oh, and check out Tim's blog, it's pretty cool. The link is under my "fun links" section. :)
February 02, 2007
Another Friday already?
Wow!
The days seem to be just flying by, I can't believe it's Friday again, I feel like I just posted that it was a Friday and I was thankful for the weekend. Well here I am, a Friday again, and I am again very thankful. Ha ha
I can't wait for reading week, only 3 more weeks, then I have a WHOLE week off! I can't wait. :P Plans are still up in the air as to what I'll do for reading week, some friends from class have asked me to come with them on a trip to Florida, which would be SO FUN and I'd really like to go. But then Tim and I haven't gotten to do much boarding this winter, and we'd really like to get some in before all the snow melts, so we were thinking of going somewhere to board for my birthday.....it may just end up being Blue, but it would still be fun! So I'm torn....not sure what to do.
My parents are in town again this weekend to visit with my grams - she's still in hospital. She's doing ok, she's recovering slowly but she's still pretty sore from the incisions of the surgery (heart bypass), so she's having some trouble breathing and has had some issues with fluid around her lungs. In fact today they had to perform a procedure on each lung to remove the fluid. And her feet are pretty swollen. So I'm worried. I know in the long run it will be ok and likely these are just after-effects of the surgery, but it still causes concern you know? However, on the bright side she seemed really good, she's chipper and alert and has even been up around on her feet a little the last few days. Hopefully now that she can breathe easier, the nurses will have to be chasing her around. :P That would be good.
Tomorrow is the Charity Ball for the OT/PT classes, I'm really excited. This year for a second year in a row we're raising money for Cancer Rehab, a not-for-profit organisation in Hamilton that provides rehab services to cancer patients and survivors. It's a pretty cool cause and I'm so happy we get to help them out. :) It is going to be an awesome event, and I bought new cute shoes to wear - although I'm a little nervous because they're much taller shoes than I would normally wear. Hopefully I won't fall. Ha
Here's to 3 inch heels
The days seem to be just flying by, I can't believe it's Friday again, I feel like I just posted that it was a Friday and I was thankful for the weekend. Well here I am, a Friday again, and I am again very thankful. Ha ha
I can't wait for reading week, only 3 more weeks, then I have a WHOLE week off! I can't wait. :P Plans are still up in the air as to what I'll do for reading week, some friends from class have asked me to come with them on a trip to Florida, which would be SO FUN and I'd really like to go. But then Tim and I haven't gotten to do much boarding this winter, and we'd really like to get some in before all the snow melts, so we were thinking of going somewhere to board for my birthday.....it may just end up being Blue, but it would still be fun! So I'm torn....not sure what to do.
My parents are in town again this weekend to visit with my grams - she's still in hospital. She's doing ok, she's recovering slowly but she's still pretty sore from the incisions of the surgery (heart bypass), so she's having some trouble breathing and has had some issues with fluid around her lungs. In fact today they had to perform a procedure on each lung to remove the fluid. And her feet are pretty swollen. So I'm worried. I know in the long run it will be ok and likely these are just after-effects of the surgery, but it still causes concern you know? However, on the bright side she seemed really good, she's chipper and alert and has even been up around on her feet a little the last few days. Hopefully now that she can breathe easier, the nurses will have to be chasing her around. :P That would be good.
Tomorrow is the Charity Ball for the OT/PT classes, I'm really excited. This year for a second year in a row we're raising money for Cancer Rehab, a not-for-profit organisation in Hamilton that provides rehab services to cancer patients and survivors. It's a pretty cool cause and I'm so happy we get to help them out. :) It is going to be an awesome event, and I bought new cute shoes to wear - although I'm a little nervous because they're much taller shoes than I would normally wear. Hopefully I won't fall. Ha
Here's to 3 inch heels
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