Next please.

Last week I came across an on line ad for what seemed to be a to good to be true job. The position called for someone to assist a Chiropractor as well as front reception. I wasn't to sure how it would go as the position was on kjiji but thought I'd apply anyways. About 2 hours after I wrote an email with my resume attached I received a phone call asking if I could come for an interview and if I would like to sit in on a course she was teaching so I could get an idea of what the job would entail. This Dr is fantastic! Her energy is through the roof and she really has a unique way of helping her patients. More on the natural healing side of things. It seemed like a perfect match.

During the evening I learned a few things and was given some papers to take home, fill in and bring back the next day. When I left the office that evening I was so caught up in working for this lady I couldn't see the long term and how it might really affect my future if I got this position.

She told me that she wanted someone long term, now my plans are to go to school in September and this would be a very hard thing to do with a full time job. I can't believe the blinders I had on for her. I was considering NOT going to school but rather being her assistant. WHAT?! This is NOT how I imagine my life going. I feel like this is a hard choice as it would be so good but in reality I need a job for about 10 months that will allow me to make and save some cash for the future, either give me the time off I require for the summer OR that I have no issues leaving so that I can have the summer available for Shambhala, Burning man and then off to school in the Fall.

I really felt like this was THE job for me but then realized that I would be holding myself back once again from completing any school programs. I know my 5 year plan and sadly this position does not fit into the mold. So now here I am looking once again, luckily Steve is very supportive and stands beside me on this decision.

Taking a hint for now.

Steve and I made the executive decision to get vaccinated for the H1N1 virus. Since Steve is back at work now we have to go at night, no big deal. Yesterday morning I woke up early and drove with him to work then headed to the grocery store and grab some dinner supplies, enjoy my day and pick him up to head to the needle clinic. I get the bright idea to make a fancy dinner to surprise him when I picked him up. Dinner was looking awesome, roast pork with sauteed pears and melted goat cheese, roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus. I even warmed up the container so that the food would stay warm on the drive to his work.

Jumping into the truck with all kinds of warm clothes in case we have to wait in line all night I had no problems starting the truck, actually the problems didn't start until I ventured onto Deerfoot. Oh good. Then things started getting interesting, I got about 2 .5 exits down Deerfoot when the truck would no longer accept the gas pedal.

I managed to pull off the road into the shoulder, realize that I have no way of calling anyone as we have yet to re-hook up our cell phones. After a few tears and a couple of curse words I needed to think of a plan to call Steve and get him to get a ride home.

Flashers on and the truck locked I booked it to the closest place that I could get a phone book and a phone. While running down the side of Deerfoot I noticed that a car had pulled over and a nice lady was asking if she could give me a lift somewhere. Thank goodness I was running out of time. She dropped me off at the Co-op and they were able to help me. I got a hold of Steve and after much driving around we made our way back to the truck which Steve managed to drive home with out any issues.

So now we have no idea what is wrong with the truck. We will try again to get our vaccines but if there is yet another road block on that day Ill take a hint and debate if the shot is actually for me.

Getting back on track.

It's been a long time since I wrote in here.

We got so caught up in our adventuring that I didn't fine time to write down my thoughts and feeling and adventures that we had.

Since being back our house has gone through such a wave of emotions, not all of them very fantastic. Luckily things are urning around and we are back where we thought we would have been when we first got home 3 weeks ago.

Since I have yet to find any employment to fill my days I will try and fill this blog with things that we did and things that are going on now.

Thanks to anyone who is still checking and I hope you will read on.

Just a small note......

The weather in the UK sux, even in the summer.

I feel like I didn't bring enough clothes for this part of my trip and its friggin August!!!!!!

Note to self next time you visit the UK bring a winter coat.

Tusenfryd........say that 5 times fast.

With the amsuement park in Copenhagen under our belts we set off to try out the Norweigan equivilant.

We had bought the Oslo cards and not only got a discount into the park but also free transit to the park, which is about 15 mins outside of Oslo. We planned to get there just as it opened and we arrived just in time.

Like a couple of school kids we ran up the steps into the park and straight for the rollercoaster. Wait let me first tell you of the huge giant massive coaster that greeted us at the top of the steps. Speed Monster. Man was it ever awesome, but we had to wait, give the other rides a chance.

Going on a Monday morning was the best thing we could have done........No one was there!! The red one was first on the list. With no line up it was calling our name. Who am I to say no?

Woah, what a rush. Now the fun was just getting started. Off to the crazy blue one that greeted us, can I say best coaster ever? Well so far I can.

Quinn when you are old enough to travel, either with Mom and Dad or on your own, we highly suggest going to this park. You think you love rides now? Man you would be in heaven!!

We spent the rest of the day riding whatever we could as many times as we could and dodging down pours of rain. We ended up riding everything about twice except the Speed Monster. That one we did 3 times. We decided to call it a day when we got stuck on the ride for about 10-15 mins. Fortunately we were stopped waiting to get out before the ride broke down.

There were still so many hours left in the day we thought we'd make the most of our Oslo cards and go take a water taxi to the Viking museum. We thought this would be a good idea since we were going to be leaving the Viking area sooner then we had originally thought.

Love from Oslo.

# 12, just take the #12.

Ok, how hard can that be? Well as long as you get on the tram going the right way maybe you'll end up at your destination before it closes.

On the bright side of things we saw some of Oslo hat we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Back to our starting place off in the right direction we were on our way to see a giant sculpture park that was over 80 acres!

Once arriving there and taking some wicked pictures through the rain we set off to find some fish and chips on the dock. Sadly no luck but we did share a nice American meal at the T.G.I Friday's. Beer and chicken wings have never tasted so good compared to the many sandwiches we had been eating.

With full bellies we took off in search of a train to get us back to our hotel but rather than wait in the rain we took a path leading us to a very old fortified city complete with old cannons!

Since it was merely a Sunday we called it an early night and collapsed back in our soft hotel bed and called it a night.

Major changes.

Ok ok I know that none of this is in order. I try to write some little tid bits while I'm on the train or if I get an idea here or there.
They are still coming, our mini adventures from along the way. But I have to get this out NOW!
We have changed our trip around deciding that we will not go to Stockholm or Helsinki and would get out to meet with Scott and Dee sooner. We didn't really take into account that it would take 12 or more hours to get from one place in Scandinavia to the other. So we headed off to Copenhagen to try and catch a train to Amsterdam, no dice on the train. Overnight is full and the other option was to go on a train from 2am with 7 stoppes on the way. FOR SUX! So we headed over to the airport again with not much success. From one airline to the other we passed a Budget car rental. We thought it would be worth it to find out how much it would cost to drive.

Turns out it was less then the plane and we could leave right away.
$800 later we were on our way. Driving 150km/h down the Autobahn with cars passing us like crazy......Videos to follow.

We arrived in Amsterdam at 3am, found a place to park the car and laid down to sleep.
The rest of the day was kind of a shit show but finally Scott and Dee arrived and since then things have been great.

It still seems like its not really happening, all of our planning and talking and scheming and now its here..........let our party begin!

Tivoli Gardens

While some of you were lacing up your dancing shoes at Shambhala we were getting our scream on at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen on Friday. We showed up around 5 as we were told that the gates would get busy later on for the Aqua show that was happening that evening.
Naturally Steve was so happy about the Aqua show he almost made us camp out to listen but I was more interested in getting on the roller coaster as many times as we could. It turned out to be only twice as the park was super busy. I guess going to the park on a Friday night in the summer while there is a top Scandinavian band playing is not the best idea.

We stayed around to see the gardens light up once the sun went down. Rode a few more crazy fun rides and wanted to call it a night. Since we were on the grounds we thought what the heck lets get a glimpse of Aqua. No such luck, we barley made it through the massive crowd of people! There must have been 10,000 people there! Finally we met up with a random guy who was trying to get through the crowd as well so we grabbed on to him and had him bring us to safety.

All in all the park was awesome, but really how could you be disappointed by an amusement park in the middle of a city?

Arriving in Copenhagen

After a 14 hour train ride from Amsterdam we arrive tired but in excellent spirits. We grab a cab to help us find our Bed and Breakfast.

"What do you mean you don't know where that is?" We ask. He punched the address into his GPS for a third time and finally something matching came up and we were off.

Steve and I both looking at ourselves thinking, 'where are we going'.

When we arrive at the street it was deserted, no signs or lights on. We couldn't even find the right house. Looking at each other again we decide to ask the taxi to take us back to the city center, thats right we were out of Copenhagen all together!

Funny as the summary on the computer said a short distance from the center. That would be like me saying my house is a B&B and right near Down Town calgary.

Anyways we checked into a super nice huge hostel right on the canal. It was awesome! Unfortunatly we learned a very expensive lesson that night.........always book a room to stay in the center of the city. CHECK!

The land of Oslo.

With so much going on we haven't really had a chance to do much updating.
Our room here in Oslo has internet access which we will be using to get caught up and maybe even put up a picture or two in our flikr account.

So this hotel that we staying in, which by the way was the least expensive of the last 3 available for the 3 nights. I'm very impressed! They are a very sustainable, some how they off set our stay (I'll have to look into how), use bamboo door keys, bamboo pens, and even have many organic options for there amazing breakfast. I had salad with my pancakes this morning! I'm not sure I can describe how happy I was with the sunflower seeds and flax seeds on my salad after eating many hot dogs or what ever else has been cheep for the past few days.

So with a belly full of great food and our brains full of excitement we are off for another day of adventure.

Being down to the last few hours of work has so many thoughts running wild through my head.
Everything from unexplainable excitement to wondering if I made the right choice. Naturally some thoughts are stronger than others. Thankfully the shitty music in my ears, poor excuse for a computer that I have been forced to use 40 hours a week for the past 2 years and the lack of anyone here to help me today makes those thoughts quickly diminish. lol.

Tonight Steve and I will be locking the doors to our house and finishing off everything that needs to be done.
Laundry
Cleaning
Outdoor finishing touches
Packing
And maybe even some relaxing in our big bed.

These past few weeks have been spent hanging out with our friends and family. Trying to jam in as much quality time as we can. With only 1 family left to say 'see ya' to I'd have to say that we are right on track. Not that we really had much of a schedule but we are right on it.

I'm not really feeling much stress, things are just falling into place.
Gives me the feelings that this trip is just meant to happen.

So 3 days from now we will board a plane for the most extravagant adventure of my life.
I couldn't be more ready. =)

Man did I ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
I'm trying to stay positive. Only 6 more sleeps, 3 more works day, 5 more total days to get things ready.
But today, I my nerves are stretched thin.

Breath.............

Tomorrow is a new day.

So last night we bought the last of the things we will need for trip. Thus we decided to take our packs for a test drive with all the things we will be toting around with us. I can hardly believe how little we are taking but it still seems like so much.

We packed up everything and were surprised to see that there was still space in the packs! We stepped on the scale to see how much it all came to, mine is less than 20lbs. Sweet, I've seen boot camp shows where they get you to wear heavier packs than that and then climb a mountain. I think we have the perfect fit!

I've been telling Steve about the blog and he is also interested in writing in it while we are away. Which is awesome, its going to be really nice to have a log of how we are both doing.

A few updates, we have decided not to take a cell phone with us. We will have our laptop so email or face book messages will be checked often but really if we need to phone you we can just buy a calling card and make the call. It will end up costing less in the long run. 1 Less thing to carry.

We have been going through a real struggle with Steve's guts these past few weeks. He's been for testing that showed nothing but trust me, at 3am when your seeing him in so much pain you know there is something wrong. I wish I was a Dr. so that I could help more but really other than asking other people and trying a few herb/tinctures there is not much we can do but hope for the best. lol.

Not really the best thing to happen before the trip, though I have my fingers crossed that its lifestyle related and if we are living a different lifestyle there Steve will be cured for the 2 months we are gone for.

Well, we are down to 17 days and counting. I know there will be tears on my face when we board that plane. And they will be there on countless occasions along the trip too!

The Perfect Crime......

With a sleeve of 6 jalapeno pepper plants, a shovel and 2 of the best crime partner's around we set out to make Cranston a spicier place.
The perfect crime starts out with an innocent walk in the early evening. No one could suspect a thing as we walk to the park to plant these plants.

Choosing prime locations. Ones that I know will get watered and also get lots of sun.
I can't wait to go for a walk and see how hey are coming along. I would just love to see people's faces when they are walking along and see a hot pepper growing by a tree in a park.

The most epic sunset ends the adventure and we head home.
What a way to end a fabulous weekend.

5 Straight Days......

Of solid friend time.

It's been such a nice change to have so many friend encounters going on the sleep takes a back seat. But in that same breath I couldn't be happier to have my quite house back in order.
* I wouldn't have change the past week for anything*



Thanks to everyone that made it a success. I love how weddings bring everyone together.



So now that we have taken Scott and Dee to the airport to start their year long journey its time to get down to business and get things ready for my own.
I am constantly making lists, making decision/changing my mind and learning more about the places we intend on seeing.




So far we have 13 countries to see in 2 months, that works out to about 1 country every 4 days.
Granted we will be staying longer in some places than others but the average works out.
I'm not sure I even understand what it meas to see that many places in a short time.
In all of my almost 27 years I have only been to 4 countries.





Our list right now goes as follows......in particular order
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and finally Austria.

A Tale Of Courage.

There has been much discussion in my house about getting our cat Pamplemousse a mouse to play with. I have been on the NO side of the equation the whole time. But it has been a battle, to say the least.

Over the weekend we were trying to fill a few hours in the night and came across a movie that will join our collection. 'The Tale of Desperaux' has all the right ideas we want to instill in our child. Be brave, have courage, and stand up for what you believe in.

Best of all this was done with no reference to a 'higher power', in fact its more so for yourself.

There was a certain scene in the movie where the rats had Desperaux, who is a small but mighty mouse, captured in a gladiator typed ring and unleashed a hungry cat on a chain to get him. This made me turn to Steve and say can you still even think about getting a mouse for Pamplemousse?

Naturally after connecting with the small mouse he has decided to drop the subject.

Seems like the movie even has the right ideas for big kids too!

Fillings and a free cup of coffee.

I left work early as I couldn't shake the idea of riding my bike on such a nice day.

Down to only a few minutes I knew I had to really push it. WOW, my legs are feeling it today but I made it with a few minutes to spare.

Sitting down into the dentist chair for the 3rd time in only a few weeks I was feeling much more comfortable than ever! Then he stretches back my cheek to administer the needle. Well, after a few pokes my hand flies up and hits his arm. "Good I found the right place" is all he replies.

Though the whole front of my face was frozen I could feel the drilling. Like a very cold blast on 1 part of my bottom molar. Luckily the whole experience only lasted about 45 mins from start to finish and now I don't have to see that office again until long after we are home.

Only able to control half my mouth for a good portion of the evening I challenged myself to drink some wine. YUM!


This morning I left my house early with a tiny bit of Baileys in my coffee mug I headed to the 7-11 for a coffee. Much to my happiness the girl working the till was letting people who brought there own cups in to have free coffee!
Talk about a nice way to start the day. Reminds me of the share your smile technique.

Speaking of which, have you shared your smile with a stranger today?

54 Days.

In 54 days Steve and I will be boarding a plane, with a small 5 hour lay over in London England we will reach our destination of Amsterdam!

We have a rough idea of the places we will stay and how long we will be there for. We want to leave things open just in case we find some shows that really tickle our fancy. The closer we get to our leaving date the more that keeps popping up.

Ive been asked if our list is as long as Scott and Dee's. My answer is I'm not sure as I have yet to really get one down all in one place.

So lets get down to business.

- Final arrangements for our cat Pamplemousse, buy his food and litter.

- Put our phones on hold, pick up international phone.
- Talk with Credit card companies letting them know that we are traveling.
- Book our first hostel in Amsterdam.
- Buy train passes.
- Save money.
- Buy coffee mugs.

- Cancel insurance & cable.

- Buy final clothing items.

- Apply for a few jobs for when I get back.
- Update Itunes library.
- Research more for the end of the trip.

And last but not least.............WAIT!

Getting Started.

The thoughts of writing this blog have been tumbling around in my head for a while. As you can see I've decided to go with the thoughts. With all the things that are coming up in my near and distant future I am ready to share it all.......with who ever will read it.

Not only that but I'd really like to have some way to keep track of my life for myself. Not that I'd have to explain any of these things to you out there as I'm sure you have very similar reasons for writing your own blogs. This is a work in progress......

We shall see where this goes.