What a wonderful year this has been

I am so excited about my life, and how could I not be with such an amazing year to look back upon. Last year around this time I was newly engaged to the most amazing man in the world. I spent christmas and new years with my dutch family. I came back for my last semester of university. It was a tough time, and there were moments when I thought I might not make it after all, especially with my thesis project. However, I did make it, with lots of support from family and friends I managed to finish a major important project and it felt great. It felt great to finally finish something for me, it made a big difference, and it felt great to have so many loving people behind me and encouraging me.
The rest of the year feels a little bit like a wirl wind:
- I started a work-out program at the gym (This feeling of achievement as well as the upcoming wedding encouraged me to work hard for a couple of months and I achieved great results, until I hurt my back)
-My mom surprised me with a special visit to attend my graduation ceremony. A very special moment.
- our good friends J&J got married in Nova Scotia, it was wonderful to be a part of their special day and get inspired for our wedding. We made a little trip out of it and had a great vacation.
- I finally went and got physio for my back, something I should have done a lot earlier. My back feels wonderful now
- I worked on a contract over the summer for the same lab I did my thesis project for. It ended up being a good learning experience, even though it was not the happiest experience of this year.

And then of course there was the wedding. Our main focus this year, and what an amazing time it was. I know I wasnt the easiest girl to live with, I dont deal with stress very well, and have always had a hard time making quick desiscions. Graduating and wedding planning at the same time were a little much at times. Again, I learned a lot this year and feel like I have grown as a person. The time we shared with our close friends and family was amazing. Everyone worked so hard to help us make our day special and as we wanted it, and I am feel really thankful.
It was a truely golden day. We could not have asked for a more perfect day. It was a gorgeous fall day, 20C and sunny, the leaves were breath taking in their vibrant colours. Everything came together and it was such a happy occassion, with both of our families almost all there and most of our friends to celebrate with us. A great memory.

This year also brought me my first 'real job'. After the wedding and with my family back overseas, we were both looking for work for a while, and had a 6 week period together at home. We started working the same week and I am loving it. I moved on from school and havent looked back. The regular schedule and having income again is a great feeling. The job itself of course can be improved, but I like the people I work with and it is a great learning oppertunity. And it makes a big difference in our relationship. Without the stress of school, I am much more relaxed and more fun to be around. And with the extra income, it really feels like we are not just functioning and coasting, we can now actually build on our future together, pay off the house faster and save for important and fun projects. I love being an adult. Haha.

What a great year we have had, I cant wait to see what next year will bring us!

Feeling under the weather

Dinner at Ks was really nice. It was great catching up a little, food was good, the only thing that was wrong was that things were tasting strange to me, plus I was feeling exhausted. I thought it was all due to me needing to get used to getting up early. The tired funny taste combo should have tipped me off; I caught what we call the office plague. Everyone at work has been getting sick with this terrible flu cold thing and I guess now it is my turn. I have been feeling off the last couple of days, no fun at all I am telling you. Today I am feeling a little better, I am thinking i might try to go to work tomorrow.
I have also been trying to come up with some descent christmas present ideas for people, so far however I am not very inspired. I am really looking forward to christmas, I just have no idea what to get people. I have ideas for A, not so much for the others, and even my ideas for him I am not that thrilled about. I also really dont want to go shopping, that may have something to do with it as well. I dont know, I really want to just stay in my pjs, snuggling under a blanket in front of the fire reading a book, while listening to christmas music, and eating cookies.... and decorate the house for christmas.... hhmmm... what to do....
The main reason I want to buy gifts is so I can wrap them up and put them under the tree and enjoy the way they look...
I also realised a few days ago, it just suddenly struck me: I dont want to move anymore. For the first time in months I am perfectly happy where I am. The need to move has left me, and we are passed the 2 year point. I think our house is really cozy and nice and I want to stick around for a while longer and do decorating and just vegs. This is huge for me, and I am really happy about it! Yay for feeling stable in your own home :)

lots of stuff

I didnt realise it has been a week since I wrote on here. Life has been pretty busy.
We did in fact get a tree las monday. We named it Tyrone, dont ask me why, it just seemed right. We brought him home and Isabelle was really excited about it, she sniffed it up and down, but fortunately she hasnt really tried to climb it so far. We left it for a few days to acclimatise.
I met my boss on tuesday and so far things are working out fine, he bought me a drink at the office christmas party on wednesday. It was semi-awkward, because even though I had started to get to know some people, I really didnt know them enough to socialise comfortably, Alan was a real trooper, he managed to save the day multiple times, as too many conversation were going on for me to keep following the conversation. It is one of the few things left over from my ESL and I am sure one day that wont be a problem anymore. There was lots of pubfood which I really enjoyed, and it was my first work christmas party in a long time, so it was nice to be out.
Thursday we were supposed to have J and S for dinner. Unfortunately due to the snow storm and insane transit strike traffic was brutal. A had a meeting, so he dropped me at work and was supposed to pick me up, however it was going to be really late before we gothome, so we went to J and S's instead as they live pretty close to work and had wine, nuts and bolts and pizza. It was a fun night and it was great to see their boys again. That same night our friends A and C welcomed their first little boy into the world, I can not wait to see him in real life, his pictures are adorable!
On saturday we cooked a big turkey dinner for our east coast friends and it turned out really well. It was a nice evening, with delicious food and we got to hang out with Baby B, who is really cute and had grown a lot since we last saw him.
More baby news: my brother and sister in law are expecting another baby in June, I am really happy for them, and cant wait to meet the new addition to the family. the baby looked healthy during their first ultra sound, and I am looking forward to seeing it's first pictures!!! Yay Iam going to be another aunt.
Sunday we puttered around the house and didnt get a whole lot done. I made some turkey soup in the evening, and A bought delicious snacks which we ate in front of the fireplace while listening to christmas music and playing cribagge. What a great time of year!!
I really should start thinking about what to get people for christmas, I have some solid ideas for A, but am still pretty wonky on the rest...
Today went by really fast. my coworker M has been away a lot as she is conducting interviews, which more or less leaves the office in my hands, it has been a lot busier because of this and I like it. I seem to be fitting in pretty well around here. In the mean time I am applying to a variety of permanent positions, because I would really like to be ableto apply for internal job postings. I have applied for a couple, and am curious to see how they will go. I will keep you posted.
Tonight we are going over to K's for dinner. Cant wait to see her, it has been much to long. We saw each other so often for wedding stuff, and I think that is one of the things I miss most about not having the wedding anymore, the time we spent with our friends.

christmas tree?

We went to Ikea yesterday to buy a christmas tree. I checked the website and called to make sure they still had them, which they said they did. However, when we got there they didnt have any left. I was so disappointed. I was in a funk over it for a while, and I am not to sure why, I think the being-away-from-home-all-day- only-have-evenings-to-do-things in routine hasnt kicked in yet, so it felt really overwhelming that I couldnt use my day of to decorate as I had planned. that and maybe some left over mood swings, who knows what it was.
Anyway, today we are going to try again, I called Ikea and actually spoke to someone on the phone, they said they got a new shipment in today hopefully they will still have some by the time we get there. I kinda want to have it sit in our house a while to give our crazy kitty some time to get used to it before I decorate it.
Anyway, once I got over myself I had a good rest of the day. We made a whole bunch of food, slow cooker chili and slow cooker asian style turkey wrap filling stuff for lunches, I cooked granola for breakfast and made cookies. Alan made this amazing greek bread. We went for a walk around the block before dinner, got home with rozy cheeks, scooped up our chili smothered it with cheese and sour cream grabbed the fresh bread and took it to the living room where we ate it in front of the fire while watching christmas movies. What a great end to the weekend!!!
Work is busier today, so it actually feels like I am doing some stuff. Also, I made a wonderful first impression on my new boss. He called-in to talk to his EA (whom isnt in today), and I had no idea who he was. I didnt recognize her name because he pronounced it different from everyone else around here. I thought he asked for a man that I had never heard of before, so I suggested that perhaps he had dialed the wrong number, he told me he had not and explained who he was, still didnt really know who he was asking for, and then I got it.... Wow I felt pretty silly. My cheeks burned red... and then I laughed. It was pretty funny. I will meet him in person tomorrow, I hope that will go a little better than today...
If I make it in to work tomorrow that is. I have been feeling as if my head is wrapped in cotton balls all day. My throat is aching and my head is bounding, I am really out of it. But I dont really wan to call in sick in technically my first week of work. I think I am going to try to go to bed early tonight.

PPPPUuuuuuuuurrrrrrr

That is Isabelle saying good morning, purring from my lap. Today is going to be a busy day, there is lots on the schedule! it really has been an overal busy weekend.
Work has been good, I am enjoying most of the people there, but there i hardly any thing for me to do at the moment, so i am pretty bored. Actually, i keep sane by reading a lot of stuff online, but I still feel bad not being productive in a work kind of way when i am actually working...
Thursday night we went to see trans-syberian orchestra, with the bear and fam. The music was very interesting and fun, the light show was amazing, and I loved when they went up on their little floaty platform, they were right in front of us, playing their electric violin and guitar. It was definetly worth seeing!
Friday was sinterklaas. He surprised me with dutch pepernoten (ginger treats) and kerst stol (a christmas fruit bread, which I love!) at the breakfast table and chocolat on the front door! You never know where the old chap hides your presents! I brought some pepernoten to work to share with people, and I think they really liked them. After work we went to swiss chalet for the bear's birthday dinner. It was tasty, I had been looking forward to chicken alllll day! After dinner we went to the outlaws house for presents and Icecream cake made by mom, which was delightful as per usual!
Saturday we were supposed to go see the Sens play in the afternoon (free tickets) but that didnt end up working out, I had a long nap in the afternoon instead, because I wasnt feeling so good. In the evening we went to a pub in our old neighbourhood for birthday celebration number three, this time for the bear And the history buff, along with the cousins and we had an amazing time! After a bit of warm up at the pub we went bowling, which I was slightly sceptical about, but was a lot of fun, especially when there is lots of beer and gin and tonics involved. Mr Right kicked all of our asses, and I surprised myself by getting the highest scores I have ever gotten, well over 100 (126 and 142 I think...ish) It was exciting....! Today is lots of christmasy and around the house stuff, I probably should get started on that. Ciao

My first day of work!

I got up at 7 this morning because I have no morning routine yet and I didnt want to be late fr my first day. As per usual, I realised I had lots of time, so I took it very slow and left almost late. I still made it there just in time. Driving to work was fun, I felt all growed up going to my new job driving our car wearing pretty clothes.
When I got there it turned out the lady I am supposed to work with was sick, so I didnt have a whole lot to do. I got my email set up, my phone hooked up, and I read a lot about my department and Question Period. I also tidied my very own cubicle and my purse. I met a lot of people who were friendly, but whose names I already have forgotten, and I got the strong recommendation to attend the office Christmas party next week. I think it could be slightly awkward since I will not know many people, but I am going to have to introduce them all to Mr Right. I better start taking notes on the key names!

23 sleeps until christmas eve

I am looking forward to Christmas a lot, but I am not to worried about it yet. I am starting to slowly think about gifts, but havent really come up with anything spectacular yet. In a few days it is Sinterklaas, maybe next year I will remember in time and I can actually set something up with some friends and celebrate it ducth style, that would be fun.
We have had a busy weekend. I am trying to remember what we did. Oohh yeah, it mostly revolved around food. On monday we had Chuck Norris and Martha over for dinner. We cooked a vietnamese dinner, which involved delicious fresh springrolls and pho. Afterwards we played some rockband and a couple of games of cribagge.
Saturday was the big Denby trial dinner. We spent most of the day preparing this. I made rubarbh pie for dessert, a cauliflower sweetpotatoe curry soup and garlic mashed potatoes, and Mr right made a wonderful chicken, filled with a leek-gorgonzola mouse, wrapped with spinach and a brandy mustard sauce. Supper was great and so was the company.
Sunday,I had a nice chat with my brother, it was his birhday, and then I spent most of the day baking cookies at mom and dads. I made two tone cookies which took FOR EVEr, but were still fun to do, I always like the end result. Afterwards we had dinner and Batmans cookie exchange later that night. The weather wasnt that great.
Today we set up another joint bank account and did some more shopping for work clothes. I now have a really nice suit which was on sale 40% off from Jones new York, , a skirt a shirt and another shirt thingy. Popcorn and cribagge sealed the day. Battery is dying plus time for bed equals, write you later.

Roller coaster of love.. roller coaster....

Oohh Red Hot Chili Peppers, that song has been stuck in my head off and on today.. , well actually only that particular chunk of it and I wonder why..
There have been lots of ups and downs in the last few days, but it seems like I might be close to the end of the ride, things seem to be stabilizing in my head, and hopefully that effect will continue to stretch out into the rest of my life. I met with my new dr today. Her name is Ewa and she is pretty and nice. Unfortunately she didnt have a lot of new insight into the mood swings. The result is I am just going to have to do some thinking, and I am well on my way doing that. While at the Drs I also got a flu shot. I dont think I often get sick, but I dont want to be a carrier and make other people sick either. Better safe than sorry.
Alan is very close to completing the bathroom. He put caulking around the tub, so other than some nicnacs to pretty up the place I think we are pretty much set. Which means it is soon time for some pictures.
He also bought some boxes to organize our bathroom stuff (= mostly my girly stuff, nail polish, bathfoam etc) so it looks pretty :) and he found us some nice cutlery on sale 60% off. We have been using it for the past couple of days and it is very exciting and will work great for our nice dinner with friends on the weekend. He also rearranged our bedroom furniture, and I like it, except that I will need a powerbar for the plug. I have the alarm on my side of the bed and I cant have the lamp and the laptop run at the same time, which means I am typing in the dark right now. The most exciting part is that we were finally able to hang Alans beautiful Greece photo on our bedroom wall!
I start my temp job on wednesday, I am looking forward to that. My first regular money coming in in a long time. Celebration is in order :) My new boss will be out of town on a conference so I will be trained by somebody else. Could be interesting, I am sure you will here all about it.
I am going to attempt to make fresh vietnamese springrolls tomorrow, so i was at the chinese grocery store today. It is always an experience to go in there. It smells.. exotic, and I am affraid yet intrigued to look at all the jars and products they carry. I did find star Anise, (trust me this is exciting, because it is one of the key ingredients to making delicious Pho!!), and we hadnt found it in Canada until today. I am stoked for our vietnamese themed dinner tomorrow!
The funniest part was, when I went to Sobeys after and ran into a whole bunch of organ meat in the meat department. Here I was in the chinese store trying to not see the yummie fish head snacks, only to grab my chicken breasts from next to the cows tongue and pig feet at Sobeys.. haha I am so spoiled and western. Cow tongues are huge and hairy... I like them better when they are in the cow... What would people use those for anyway?

maybe venting helps...

I dont know what is going on inside my head or body, but the last few days I have been having miserable mood swings. They really really suck and I cant seem to do very much to control them, no matter how hard I try. I go from extatic to super sad, to angry, to giddy... and I am hyper sensitive. I read things into everything that happens around me. Needless to say, I am not the most fun person to be around at the moment, and I have an general crappy feeling... I cant really explain to anyone what is going on, because quite frankly I dont understand it, which makes me more frustrated and lonely. Bbaahhhh I hope this passes soon...
That is all...

Let it snow

It has been snowing, pretty much all day, and I absolutely love it! I really want to play some christmas music. This may also be due to the fact that I have been trying to decide what christmas cookies to bake this year. On sunday I am going to a family cookie bake and exchange. M, J and I will be baking cookies all day, exchanging said cookies, and have supper after. It am looking forward to baking cookies. I was browsing the internet for some new ideas and I might try to make peppermint swirl bark this year. I try to make a different recipe once a year to add to our family favorites collection and I think it is a lot of fun. They get better each year, and I dont know if that is because I am actually starting to learn what recipes work, or whether iam becoming a better cookie maker and so the cookies automatically taste better.
I have decided my next project is going to be painted, now I just have to decide what I am going to paint it on. I might actually try painting it on card stock and framing it... Just a thought.

title... because I should have one...

Since we both arent exercising i.e playing sports, we have decided to go on daily walks or at least try to go on a regular bases. The first week went very well, this past week has room for improvement, but it is very enjoyable. It is fun together time, which I know sounds funny since we are together all day lately, but it is time we spend talking about everything and anything, while enjoying some fresh air. Tuesday night Alan surprised me with a walk to Futureshop where we bought Wall-E. We went home and had a nice date night in front of the fire watching Wall-e, it is a very cute movie! I am intrigued how they can use mostly sounds and hardly any dialog and still achieve people's emotional involvement with the characters. I really enjoyed it.

This is us during one of our walks. Alan brought his camera to take some pictures of my new hair cut, which I absolutely love! It is so easy, I barely have to come it and it looks good! yay for shorter hair.
No new developments on the job. I am going to continue applying for some other jobs, because too many options is better than not enough.

Last night we had Alan's parents over for dinner. I tried a new chicken recipe and it was very tasty and easy to make, a keeper for sure. After dinner we sat down in front of yet another fire and looked at the wedding photos Tyson sent us in the mail. We have had them for a few days now, but we decided not to look at them until A was done giving our bathroom a face lift. He figured he would want to work on the photos once he saw them, so this means 1. A is pretty much done with the bathroom, and it looks amazing! I am super excited about it. Pictures to follow 2. We got to finally look at the pictures, trust me, it was hard not too, and they turned out great! 3. We found ourselves with a new project: making our wedding album, which is going to be a fun and long process :) Oh well, gives A something to do aside from watching soaps on the couch while I am bringing in the big bucks :P
I am considering starting a craft project. I havent decided yet between knitting and painting. I have a couple of ideas, but havent settled on either yet...

A whole new world!

I have been wanting to write for weeks and I finally managed to sit down and do so. So much has changed since I wrote last, I might as well be in a completely new world! Life is so exciting, and Alan and I are so happy together!
In the mean time I have graduated, planned a wedding, had my family visit for the wedding, had the most amazing day during the wedding, had a couple of mini-moons that were fantastic and I finally got real about looking for work and probably have found myself my first post-graduation job. Once my family left I started applying for jobs on a daily bases. A friend of Alan's found out about my job search and mentioned she could ask around. that first seemed to resolve into nothing, until her boss's boss mentioned he needed someone for his office. I ended up getting an interview for that position. I therefore tried to brush up on my French a little bit, I went shopping with Alan and bought a few new clothes and some great new boots, so I would look sharp in the office and I got a new haircut to match, which I absolutely love. It is so fast, I barely have to do anything to style it if I dont want to, but I can do lots of different looks with it. I am going to try out something new today, probably straighten it, to see what that is like when I do it.
I had my interview this past thursday morning and I had really good feeling about it. My feeling was right, because I got a call back late that afternoon to say I got a job. They felt I had to many skills for the one I interviewed for, so they are trying to find me a different job around the office from their job pool. If they can't find anything that matches my language and security clearance level, I would do a clerk job for a while until my secret clearance came through, which is fine with me. The office will give me a great opportunity to meet lots of people and to get some gov experience on my resume. Because she is still looking I am not sure when i will begin work. I am hoping sometime this coming week.
I am still going to continue looking for other work since this contract is only temporary, and it isnt really in my field, but it is a nice thought to have something for a little while.
I always thought that getting married wouldnt really change anything between us. Maybe it is the fact that we have experienced something incredibly emotional together, I don't know exactly what it is or why, but I do feel there is a small yet significant difference in our relationship. I couldnt even tell you where exactly and it doesnt matter, the only thing that matters is that we are both incredibly happy and excited about our future. It is time to go for our daily walk.

Cat's are funny

Isabelle has a new game. It is called the Try to take fridge magnets of the fridge and then play with them-game. It is the cutest thing and next time I am going to have to take a picture of it. First she stands on her back feet and reaches with her paws for a magnet. She gets really into that. If she can reach it she bats it down along the fridge until it is at her level and then she sits back on her back feet like a land beaver (aka ground hog) and tries to lift it off the fridge with her paws. It is just so funny to watch her. So far she managed to lift one off. I let her play with it for a while and then rescued it, but is is definitely funny.
I never ended up going back to the gym as it seems the flu finally ended up pushing through. I have been feeling nauseated all week and havent been eating a whole lot. Maybe later this week I'll feel up for going back to it. I'm still very committed, but my health is more important.
Saturday was T's going away barbeque. It was an alright time. Didnt really know anybody there, so there was a lot of small talk. Sunday we went taste testing at the golf club and we had a wonderful time. We came up early, had lunch with poppa, visited with Aunt E and left for the golf course. It really re-assured me that the food is going to be nice. We had two different dishes and the chef came and talked to us about what options we had for sauces etc. We also got to see some of the golf course. Last time we were there it was winter, so we didnt get to see very much. It looks well kept and nice. The renovations to the building were done and they look very good. It is exactly what we want, nothing extremely fancy, it is going to be nice and still comfertable for everyone.
This week is an extremely girly one. Last night I watched Made of Honor with my schoolfriend L.
Tonight I'm having my girls over for dinner so they can get to know each other. It should be a really fun time. Also, friday is the kick-of of J's bachelorette weekend. Starting with going for dinner, watching sex and the city, a sleep over, then the next morning breakfast before we go to the train station to catch our train to Montreal where we will party it up. Sunday we come home from an insane weekend I am sure. Update will follow.

windy

One thing I always have a hard time with when blogging is finding a good title. It shouldnt be that difficult, just something I will be discussing, but it is tricky either way.
I got the results back from my blood work. They showed I am a healthy lady, which is wonderful news yet slightly disheartening. I 'hoped' for low iron or something like that which is fixable, not this random tired without a specific reason stuff. I am going to think on the results for a few days then maybe go to another doctor if I still dont feel any improvement.
Monday we had a really nice barbeque get together at K and J's which we carpooled to with L and S. We had lots of yummie food. l had made a really tasty dip, we brought veggies and dip and lemon chicken and K and J made two lovely salads and burgers. lots and lots of food. For dessert we had chocolate icecream and italian chocolate. Mmmmmmm..... While eating this tantalizing dessert I asked L and K if they would like to be my bridesmaids and they graciously accepted. Yay! Yesterday I asked my friend J as well, whom also said yes. We went shopping at Bayshore for office attire for me, and I asked her over frozen yoghourt (I'm detecting a trend) All my major decisions in life are made over icecream... So, if you ever want to bribe me or get something done, chocolate icecream is the way to go. Just fyi.
I ended up coming home with a nice summer blouse, a good pair of black pants and an all purpose black sweater vest.
Wednesday we met with our first photographer. His pictures were nice, but there where many things we didnt love about him, so he is a maybe for now. he will definetly do if we can't find anything better.
Today was J and my first day back at the gym after her being sick and my 'low energy' streak. We basically took two weeks off, which totally set us back, which is to bad, but there wasnt anything we could do about it. We both where having a bit of hard time, not necessarily muscle wise, but we both didnt have our usual energy back yet. Of course muscle wise we have made a set back, but we'll get it back again. It just means that our 6 week photo shoot isnt going to be as amazing as it would have been before, but that doesnt matter. We have lots of time to get in shape, and we're back to working on it.
Tomorrow is T's going away barbeque and sunday we're going for a tasting at our reception venue. I'm excited!

Long weekends are nice

Even though I am currently on a continuous long weekend it is nice to have Alan there with me to putter around the house. It is sunday but tomorrow we get another day. Wonderful.
I have mostly been doing gardening the last few days, so I wont go into to much details on that as I will be writing about that on my gardening blog. Friday I cleared some space for a herb garden. We had M and J over for dinner. We had bought some steaks on sale at sobeys and decided to treat ourselves. The steaks were massive, 4 of them filled the entire barbeque, J and I shared one, because there was no way we could actually finish one. The biys of course bigged out. We played rockband after and now had a jet, and bodyguards. Yay!
Saturday was more puttering around. Alan played soccer and I watched. I supposed to play but I felt way to tired, so I sat with two other girls and cheered our understaffed team on.
Later we tried to get together with friends, but everyone already had stuff to do. We therefore stayed at home and ended up watching the worst tv hockey movie ever!! It was four hours long, but we couldnt be bothered to move off the couch 'cause we were to comfy cuddling. I think that is about the extend of our long weekend so far.

sleepy girl

even though I have been resting a ot and eating pretty well I still feel extremely tired all the time. I have therefore made a doctor's appointment because I want to find out why this is. whether it could still be from school stress etc, or perhaps I am low on iron again. Who knows, I'll get the doc's to figure that one out. So next tuesday I'll hopefully be turned inside and out to see what is going on, if anything.
I got all my marks back and passed all my courses. I have to be honest that I am a little disappointed I missed highest honours by .2, If I had gotten two more A's instead of B's I would have had it. What can you do right, I should still be proud of myself, which I am dont get me wrong, but there's just that little stinger. Oh well, that's just me, I tend to be to hard on myself, but at the same time that is how I push myself to achieve things.
My lab offered me a job to finish up tracing the brains I started for my thesis project. I am going to accept it as they are giving me until the end of august to finish the project. Better yet I can work from home so I can hopefully do this on the side of an actual full-time job I will be acquiring sometime soon hopefully. This means I have to get my act together and start working on my resume. I haven't really been able to get myself into job hunting mode, partly because of the low energy/tired situation thing I've got going on. I really want the new job, and I dont even mind looking for it, I just really don't want to write my resume, makes sense? It doesnt to me either. It just feels to much like homework, plus I have to brag about all my qualities, which I have a hard time doing. Oh well, I promised I would have a first draft done this week, so that is what I'll be doing today. Working on my resume. And hopefully I will still have time to work on the garden. As I mentioned in my gardening blog I went to the market and but a whole bunch of vegetable plants and herbs. The veggies are in, the herbs still need to have a spot in our wild garden, so I am going to be clearing one for them. Lots of work to be done in the garden yet.

feeling

despite the fact that I have had a couple of weeks off now, I still feel extremely tired. Mind you, I have been getting up early in the morning almost everyday to go to the gym etc, and havent been going to bed early much, but I still expected to feel more rested than I do. I suppose going without a real break for months at a time will do that to you. But I am keeping an eye on it anyway.
So what have I been up to the last little while? Well I have been going to the gym faithfully. Today was our second weigh-in day. I was a little nervous as I have been working really hard and was hoping for encouraging results. We discovered the body fat calculator of the scale is defective, as both mine and J's body fat content went up and it is obvious it should have gone down. I ended up loosing 0.8 pounds and am now 136.8lbs (=62.05kg), which is not a whole lot of weight in 4 weeks, however, the results really showed in our measurements: I lost 1" on my hips and 3"(7.62cm) around my waist! That means I am now 95.25cm around the hips and 76.2cm around the waist That was very exciting for me and pretty surprising. I knew my weight had changed around my body, but I didnt think it was that much, So yay me!
So far I have officially passed three of my classes. I am waiting for the other two and cant wait to hear back. I officially failed my first exam ever, but luckily I had enough points to compensate and still passed the class.
I have been enjoying making meals and doing things around the house. It is really nice to have a real home.
Alan and I have started to tackle wedding plans. So far we have pretty much decided on our wedding cake, we signed up for our marriage course through the church and we are trying to get in touch with the hall and minister to get the day filled in. There are lots more details to fill in, but we have good ideas for party favours and our guest book, and I have been browsing the internet for ideas for invitations and photographers and center pieces. It is a lot of fun.
On the job front not a lot of progress yet. I have officially decided to sign up with an agency so they can find me a temporary job while I decide what I really want to do. I dont feel mentally ready for it, but I'm going to have to get there soon. Anyway, that is the short version of my days, more to come later

My non-existent triceps are tired

This morning was triceps chest and shoulder day at the gym... gaaahh... My Tsh feel really tired. I am very glad to report a massive improvement from last week. I still cant do a lot of the excersises properly, some I cant do at all yet because the strength isnt there yet, but I definetly try to push myself and it seems to be paying of. I'm excited! I will be even more excited once I can actually do the excersises properly.
Yesterday was crazy cardio day at the gym. We did treadmill in the morning, interval running, for 45 minutes and 15 minutes of bike. I went home while it was lightly snowing :S We also did a cardio class in the evening, Zumba it is called. It is very interesting, basically non-stop movement on latin music, I thouroughly enjoyed it and wanted to go clubbing at the salsa club downtown, haha, maybe some other day.
We picked up mom and dad from the airport yesterday afternoon. They came back from visiting my parents and had lots of stories pictures and most importantly cheese!! I am beyond stoked about the cheese. See normally Alan and I bring back balls of Edam cheese, very tasty for sure, but it isnt the exact type of cheese we eat at home, it is a more than adequate substitute, but sometimes you just want home cheese you know? Well, mom and dad discovered you can get regular cheese vaccuum packed and still bring it across the border, which is what they did. So now we have two nice large pieces of home cheese. Yummieeeeee!!!!!!!
I cleaned out my wardrobe and cleansed it from almost all my old warn out crappy clothes I cant and.or shouldnt be wearing in public or around the house anymore. This is something which is really hard for me to do, because I get really attached to my clothes. I filled up 3 garbage bags and my closet looks pretty sad and empty right now. The plan is I will be going shopping once every week or two week for the next month or so, buy a couple of items each time and get my closet up to date. This is going to be hard for me, because I am definetly bad a shopping for myself and spending money. It will be a great feeling once it is done though.
My hair turned out pretty nice. It is definetly not exactly my colour, but it is close enough that many people around me havent really noticed a change, so it cant be off by much. It is lighter and more red than my own colour, but it will defintely do for now. I am just excited to have the blond out for a while.
I'm going to have a snack because my tummy is rumbling write you later

Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd Mama!

It is my mama's birthday today, but she celebrated yesterday and said she had a really nice day. I was with them in thought. It is definetly weird having Alan's parents be there while I am not. But it is cool at the same time and I am so happy they went. We will be picking them up from the airport tomorrow, but I still have to check what time they get in, I already forgot again.
So as I am writing this I am sitting on the toilet seat with the lap top on my lap. This is not what you think, no need to stop reading. The reason I am here, is that I am dyeing my hair back to my natural colour. Or attempting to. All of the sudden I had just had it with blond streaks and just wanted my own brown back. So I went to the store and bought some dye, this was saturday, and now I am sitting here, with a meowing Izzy on the other side of the door, waiting for the timer to tell me it is time to rinse out my hair and see if it worked. I am curious. I will let you know what happened with that.
Soooooo I am DONE SCHOOL FOR EVER!!! Well... for now, until I decide I might want to do a masters or something, but not for a little while, time to enjoy my freedom. Yay Yay yAy!!
After I wrote my last exam thursday I had some friends over for a barbeque and rockband. It was a golden afternoon. I made lemon chicken, and the girls brought salads and spinach boat, we also had strawberry daquiries and sat on our lower patio in the sun and got sun burnt! Then we played rockband.
Yesterday Alan and I along with K and J, L and S and T went to Gatineua park and walked or should I say climbed the luskville falls trail. It was wonderful. The weather was perfect, the company was great, the climb was intense but great as well. Another wonderful day. K, Alan and I got seperated from the group, today everyone ended up just sort of going their seperate ways, but we all had good times. We were definetly the slowest group. We climbed up in stages, stopping now and then to enjoy the view. We also made an unintentional but wonderful side trip to some beaver ponds that pretty much feed and create the falls, and it was gorgeous, we kind of lost track of the blue hicking man signs, and followed deer trails to get there. The surroundings were breath takingly beautiful, so along with the wonderful scenery and the great company we couldnt have asked for a nicer day.
When we finally got down all the other were waiting for us and had been there for almost an hour. Oops, oh well, luckily it wasnt raining.
We went to our house for another barbeque, (I'm telling you it really feels like summer has started) Chicken and sausages provided curtesy of L and S, mixed greens salad that I had been wanting to try and turned out nice, pasta salad and two types of pie curtusy of K and J. Yummie! Then we played rockband. J had brought the songs he had downloaded, so it was nice to hear/play some of the songs we dont have. Alan and S played soccer and L and I went to watch. We picked up M and J, drove T home and then watch the game, and came home for an early bed night, we were both tired, and Alan got a sunburn, as did I but mine was mch smaller. We bth were treated with noxema and then sleep.
This morning it was biceps and back day again. It went better than last time and we did the excersises by ourselves this time. It is fun to see the progress and we are definetly doing well by ourselves. It is nice to have a motivated partner, and I am still very motivated as well! I am going to try to stick to the diet better this week. Perhaps plan social events outside of meals so I am not as tempted to eat red light foods on my non-cheat days.
Well the timer is about to go off, so more about the last few days another day!

Getting up with the birds

One last early morning study session left. My exam is in less than 4 hours, end of exams here I come, yay!

Blegghh.. Ranting

I am having great difficulty staying awake and concentrating on my course materials. I think I shouldnt have started relaxing a week and a bit ago with my exams still ahead, because my body is just not listening to me anymore . I am having great difficulty remembering anything I read, which is not normal for me at all and my concentration is out the window. Even though I really want to study, especially since I am 95% sure I failed my last exam, I am having great difficulty. I am just feeling extremely tired.
This is therefore the reason that I wont really be blogging until both of my last exams (eek 3 more days!) are finished. I have lots of things to write about, but I guess they are just going to have to wait. Back to my books I go..

Nice breeze through the window means concentration out of the window

I wrote my first final exam of my last final exams today. I found it pretty tough to write so we shall see what happens. I definetly wrote enough stuff to pass the course .
Yesterday was not a good studying day for me, i was not able to concentrate at all. Now that I had a breath of freedom, I want more! But I cant have it yet. unfortunately concentrating on school has become almost impossible. I can do three more exams piece of cake.. mmm cake!
Tomorrow is my second exam. This one I havent been to class for in a while, and I am starting my studying nowish. so it should be interesting too. It will all soon be over!
My arms are not nearly as bad to deal with as my legs were. Taking a little step back was the right idea I think. So far I have been very good with my eating and working out schedule. I am excited to report minute differences in the way my shirts fit, yay! I also discovered today that I do not have a triceps... at all... Today was day three of personal trainer madness. It was actually really funny to watch myself in the mirror doing these excersises with a 5 or even 3 lbs dumbbell. It looked really comical, here I am beet red head trying to lift this thing over my head, giving her all I've got and when shakingly triumphant this dumbbell appears from behind my head it is only 3 lbs.. Hahah! It makes me laugh. It will be really interesting to see the progress for sure. I am excited about it. I definetly did more push ups today then I have in a long time, or maybe ever. I also got my before pictures emailed to me today. I think I wont post them until I actually have the after pictures to show off the effect
Yesterday Alan's dad dropped off a couple of barrels for us. Alan's been wanting to make an irrigation system for our (veggy) garden using rain water, so we needed rain barrels. I'm curious to see how that pans out. Alright, time for studying.

We have a date!

So I finally made the decission. After browsing the internet a little bit more and thinking a little bit more I decided that I want to get married in Hawkesbury. It is going to be lovely in the fall, it is great for pictures, it will keep our wedding to a smallish scale and it is financially more affordable. I am really happy that we have our official date now. Less than 6 months away!! Wow... I am getting married, how cool is that.
Now that we have the location and date (October 11th 2008!!!!), we are going to be doing a lot of planning. One of the desicions we are trying to make right now is whether or not to have a bridal party. I want to have a hybrid wedding of both of our cultures represented, which we can do in sooo many ways. It is just a matter of discovering what I want, not what I think other people want me to want, if that makes sense.I will let you know more once I know more of what is happening. Alan has some great ideas too, so I am sure we will work it out just fine. I am not always very good at knowing what I want. This wedding thing is going to be great learning experience for me. Everything just is sooo exciting!
Today we did arms at the gym. My arms are pretty weak, as I never work them, and never have. I can barely do a push up, so it was hard work. I didnt go as hard this time as I did with the legs as i am going to need my arms this week for my exams. They are tired, but at this point they feel better than my legs did last week at this time, which I think is a good thing.

Happy, long week

It has been such a busy busy week that I can hardly believe it has only been one week since last time I posted!
Wow. Ok well, let's start at the beginning and see how far I get without making this into a super long novel.
Monday - our first day with our personal trainer M. This day was leg and abs day. We worked super hard, the hardest I have 'ever' worked out, but it felt really good at the time. I wasnt completely able to do all the excersies fully, but pretty close and I was proud of myself. We also ran out of time and didnt get to do abs.. Oh well ;) M. told us she was going ot be going on a trip to NY so next monday is our next work out with her. In the afternoon I went and picked up my poster for the fair at staples. They did a descent job, they only mucked up one table, but it was a minor mistake so it didnt matter. Monday night J and I went to pilates to try to stretch out our pretty stiff and sore muscles. It was funny as we werent able to push our buts off the ground completely and do some of the excersises as our legs were so tired.
tuesday- ouch.... did I ever feel stiff from the day before, I could not comfertably put my shoes on or anything. I dressed up nicely and got in the car and drove to Carleton. I met some of my friends there and we talked about the poster fair. At 11:00 we set up the posters and at 12:30 the fair started. I was interviewed by my unofficial supervisor, and 2 other profs that new very little about my projects or science in general, so their questions were pretty easy. At the end of the day there was a wine and cheese, and there were fancy baguette slices with smoked salmon, shrimp, roast beef and turkey. There were deviled eggs and filled cherry tomatoes, they went all out. It was tasty after a long day on our feet. Alan came and saw my poster and the fair and it was really nice to see him. Then we waited for the prizes to be awarded. I did not really expect it, but I ended up comming in second place for the integrated science department. I was so happy, and Alan looked so proud, which made me all warm and fuzzy inside. It was funny. Appearantly there is some money attached to this win, but we only got a generic letter 'Dear research day award winner, we will notify you later', so I have no details yet.
After that we went out for dinner with a bunch of my school friends at Kelsey's. It was funny because by that time I had gotten so stiff I could barely walk or get into the booth where we were sitting. We offered to drive L home and ended up kidnapping her for the night and renting a movie as she was planning on getting right back into school work. Not allowed! We watched Enchanted, which was so girly and sweet it was an hilarious contrast with our highly scientific day.
Wednesday - I met J in the gym. We took it very slow as we could barely walk. We biked to loosen up our muscles, sped walked on the tredmill for 30 minuted and biked some more. Then we stretched or rather attempted to. I spent the rest of wednesday day working on my developmental bio assignment, while sitting on or against hot water bottles and almost got it done before we went for dinner at J&J's our old neighbours. They were having an early birthday dinner for Alan. J had made the most delicious clam chowder! Yummie. We watched the hockey game, saw Ottawa loose and went home.
Thursday - was Alan's big day! He had a meeting in the morning, so I didnt make him breakfast at that point like I was planning too. I finished up my assignment, went in to school to deliver it. Then met up with my supervisor and talked jobs. They want me to finish up the project after I am done exams. I might do it depending on how much they pay me.
Then I went to the dutch grocery store to buy mix for dutch apple pie. K, L and I planned a surprise birthday dinner for Alan later that night, and I was making dessert. When I was in the mall I couldnt resist and got my hair trimmed and styled all nice. I really liked the way she did it and it is my intention to try to replicate it..... we will see.... Then I went to best buy to buy Alan his present: xbox 360! He deserved to be spoiled this year. I also did groceries for supper
It was hard to stall supper long enough for K, L and S to get to our house, but in the end it all worked out really well. Alan was surprised and no longer grumpy, because he finally understood why I was taking so long making supper. We had a great supper, Alan liked his gifts and we talked, mostly about weddings and had fun.
Friday-was anothermorning at the gym this time we spent 30 min interval jogging on the treadmill and spent some time doing machines. our muscles were feeling much better. During the day I picked up my lecture dvds to try to catch up on at least one course, and I discussed my poster with my prof, he is actually going to pay for it!! Yay!! In the evening we went to mom and dad's for family birthday dinner.
Saturday - made Alan belated birthday pancakes for breakfast. We bought Rock band with birthday money he got from friends and my parents and I spent some time studying. Saturday night we went to a birthday party for M. he is one of our camping friends, whom I hadent seen since our engagement party and some people that were there even longer, so it was very nice to catch up. I was good that night I didnt eat anything I wasnt supposed to it
sunday- we visited with grandpa who wasnt having a very good day unfortunately, spent more time studying and have had another green light in the food department day. Tomorrow is the next personal trainer day and I have 2 more days to prepare for exams. Eek... Back to studying!

Well, I'm getting there!

I finished my poster this afternoon, burnt it onto a CD, drove like a mad girl across the city to south keys to get my poster in for printing. I made it, and it should be ready for pick up tomorrow at 3 pm. Scary, I hope it turns out. Then I rushed back so I could meet up with J in time for our 'Before Pic's' . We are supposed to do this training program for 3 months. The first two weeks we will be taught exactly how to do everything. Then we will be checking in after a total of three months for our after picture, but we are encouraged to weigh in every month and take pics every month to see our progress. Today my waist is 33 inches (=83.8 cm, geez sounds much nicer in inches!) and my hips are 38.5 inches (=97.79cm). I am137.6 lbs (=62.4kg) and have a total body fat% of 26.2. What ever that means. I am not really too concerned about loosing the weight, more about living healthy. If I happen to loose some in the process, cool. I only have two real goals. The first is to be able to fit into a pair of pants I bought about 4 years ago and have never worn yet. I really like them and have been wanting to wear them for a while ;) The second is to look smoking hot on my wedding day. Oh and the third be healthier all around, but we already kinda sorta covered that part.
I dont have much time to write today because I still have one major assignment due, yes folks, my last university assignment for a while if not ever!! So I am going to get busy on researching the circadian rhythms of drosophila melanogaster also known as the fruit fly. Exciting I know.
Next time I write I will hopefully be done this dreaded 10 page paper.

Unproductive day

First things first. Happy birthday captain underpants! I hope you were spoiled :) I miss you lets catch up soon!
I have been having a pretty unproductive day. Which made me feel extremely stressed which made me do less work. Viscous cycles like that are not good. I really wish I could deal with stress a little bit better. It would make my life so much easier. Oh well, something to work on I suppose. I am currently taking a short break from working on my poster to regroup my thoughts for the next section I will be working on. I think the chocolate covered strawberries mom made me for dessert unlocked my cycle and got my writing going again. Yum strawberries and chocolate, two of my favorite things.
I was going to get my hair trimmed and highlighted tonight so it would look all nice and fancy for the poster presentation I am doing this tuesday, but I figured a finished poster is more important than fancy hair, so I cancelled it. I rescheduled it for sometime next week instead. Which will be a nice way to relax afterwards as well I'll just look really good at home and for my fiances birthday which is comming up as well :)
Today was a beautiful day outside and lots more snow melted away. It is slowly but surely turning into spring. I am definetly happy about that! I am constantly thinking gardening thoughts and outdoor activity thoughts rather than about school work, but that is also to be expected at this time of year I suppose.
I am hoping to get some shopping in before the poster presentation and by a snazy suit jacket and pants which I could use on my soon coming up job hunting adventures. I am going to be all growed up soon! I may also check out some outfits for a wedding we have to go to for ne of Alan's old high school friends. It is supposed to be a country theme... I choose the country canada, and dress like a canadian. Yay! I was excited to find out I fit in one of my old dresses again, so if shopping doesnt happen before the wedding takes place I have something to fall back on.
Got to go back to my poster. Tomorrow is 'before picture'-day. Eek, I'm excited and slightly concerned. I will let you know how that goes.

Spring means time for change!

I signed up with a gym yesterday so I can start working on my physical fitness with my future-sister-in-law J. I know, another J, maybe i need to start naming them J1, J2 J3 etc.
Anyway, last night I went to a 'striptease' class, and it was hilarious! I had a good time and it was a descent work out as well. Because J works at this gym she is going to be able to get us a super huge deal on a personal trainer. Seen as though I dont have a clue how to work out effectively, plus I will never ever be able to afford one if it wasnt for J I figured now would be a good time. The only catch for us getting the deal is that we are going to be the before and after girls in her portfolio. Oh well, I suppose I can consider this an even bigger motivator right? We are going in for the before pics on sunday and then we start our training program monday. Yikes! It will definetly help me get into a work out routine and they also have lots of fun classes. I will keep you updated on the progress for sure!
I went out and bought new work out pants because my old ones are just beyond public display and should only be kept for indoor use. They are super comfy though so that is why i am sitting here wearing them. And after the pants I went to canadian tire to buy some seeds for gardening purposes. On that note, I also started a new blog. I know what you are thinking, but you cant even keep this one up to date. I know I know, but I am feeling super positive about it. It is going to be my gardening log in which I keep track of things I learn about our plants and trees etc, so I can go back next year and remember how we did things or what we learned etc. check it out! sylverrrisgardening.blogspot.com I am excited about it!

On the home stretch

I am happy to report that my thesis has been submitted! Woohhooo I am so happy. I can not believe that part is over. I know it wasnt my best work by far, but I am mentally done with the project, so I dont really care anymore. Now all I want to do is party it up! Any takers?
Still have a big assignment and a posterpresentation to go and then I am done with assignments, all that will be left is 4 exams. Woohoo! I am stocked.
I am also happy to report that spring like weather is hitting the city. I am really happy and am looking forward to gardening. I am going to start some beans and herbs in pots inside today so we can plant them in the garden as soon as the soil thaws I also found a pot with daffodil bulbs still in it in the garage, bone dry, but the little guys were coming up!!! So I brought it back inside and have started watering. Soon we will have gorgeous spring flowers in our house!
ooohh kitty just came and jumpd on my lap and she is kneeding it.
I did groceries for the first time in like a month and a half yesterday and i was excited! I bought lovely veggies and made apple crisp for dessert. Alans parents came and shared it with us , it was tasty and I have been wanting to make and eat it for a while, so it was sweet that I got to do so.
Now that school is over and spring is coming I am really wanting to get working out, get back in shape be fit healthy mentally and physically, shake of the stress and move on with my life. I am looking to get my hair trimmed and am trying to decide whether to stick with my highlites or go back to natural or do a completely different colour. Any thoughts? And of course plan our wonderful wedding, everytime I think about it I smile!
O well time for me to get some more work done.

mmm popcorn!

I love popcorn. I never used to like it that much, but in the last two years I have grown to love it. I like it best when it is nice and fresh and warm (in our case fresh out of the microwave). But my absolute favorite bits are the cornels that have barely popped. You know, the kind where there's just a bit of white sticking out, but it still looks a little bit like a kernel, so its crunchy on the outside, then soft and squishy on the inside.. , or the sort of opposite version where there's a little bit bigger white, almost like a little flower, but then the kernel bit is still attached and it is squichy first with a crunchy middle. I think the latter is my all time popcorn.... Yummy!
Back to my 3D models....

Need to waste some precious time

Hello little blog. I missed you dearly. I have been busy with lots of things, and didnt really feel like writing nor had time to do so. What has changed you ask, not to much, I still dont have time, but I am stuck writing my thesis and I felt I needed to do a little bit of satisfying writing, and produce something, so here it is, my something, on your poor negelected page. I know we have a very unbalanced relationship going here.
9 days before my due date still 26 pages to go.. Can I say it now? AAARrrrghhhh.. Ok feel much better already.
I need to find something extremely interesting inside my thesis somewhere so I can actually finish writing this puppy. Because I am just so bored and fed up with it... I think I need to try a different room to write in. See I can do this now because we have a wonderful cute little laptop, I absolutely love it! Perhaps a different setting will get my thesis writing juices flowing.
Alright, lets try it, if that doesnt work, I'll be back later.
Miss you, lets keep in touch and catch up a little bit soon!
s.