Vive le Québec!

This past weekend, Dan and I took our long-anticipated trip to Montreal to see UFC 124, and I have to say, it was completely and utterly awesome!  We were really lucky, weather-wise, the roads were good, we got to relax and see a new city, watch some awesome fights, and spend a lot of alone time together.  The only downside? It was way too short.

A few highlights:

*A 10-hour drive that seemed much shorter, partly thanks to Jon Stewart's audio book of Earth (totally hilarious, we listened to it twice!)

*Working on the tassels for Victor's blanket (almost done!)

*Stopping at the Irving Big-Stop for lunch and breakfast (Maritimers will know why this is a good thing)

*Seeing Notre Dame cathedral in Old Montreal (pictures below)  I never, ever, ever get tired of seeing beautiful churches.

*Walking down St-Catherine's Street and seeing all the Christmas displays and holiday shoppers bustling about

*Starbucks

*A heavenly king size bed. Enough said ;)

*Sleeping in (related to super comfy bed mentioned above)

*Eating sushi (yumm!) and having a few drinks for the first time in a looong time.

*Watching Georges St-Pierre kick Koscheck's ass for 5 straight rounds (and seeing lots of other good fights too)  I can totally see Dan and I becoming UFC live event junkies after this (hello Toronto in April!)

*Hearing the Montreal Symphony practice Handel's Messiah in the cathedral as we toured around

*Swimming in the hotel swimming pool (my first time swimming since Croatia in August of 09!)

*Testing out my next lens purchase (oooh man I loved it and want it NOW)

*Not worrying about naps or feedings or tripping over toys

*Wearing bras (non uni-boob sports bras that is), jewelry, a dress, heels, make-up, and generally having some time to put into my appearance

*Dan. Talking with, walking with, laughing with, kissing, and focusing on Dan

We're already excited for our next trip together and have decided that we need to make this happen from time to time, even if it means going without a few things for a little while to be able to afford it.  I HIGHLY recommend that parents get away together whenever they can, whether it be date nights or yearly trips, I know that it's going to be a life saver for us over the next 20 or so years, ha!

Anyway, here are a few pics from the trip (I've realized that I suck at taking vacation pictures, I just don't feel like pulling out my big DSLR for every little thing...again, I need a point and shoot and/or cellphone camera!)

Floor to ceiling windows in our 15th floor hotel room...freaked me out a little, honestly.

This is actually Mary Queen of the World Cathedral, it's a 1/2 scale replica of St Peter's in Rome...

Me with my boyfriend :)

Our computer fritzed out on us earlier this week so I'm surviving on a very lean Internet and computer diet (using the Playstation and TV), so I hope to be back next week, if the Christmas to-do list doesn't crush me first.

Until then,

G.

Oh boy...

Here I go.  Wish me luck! 

I'm packing and cleaning all day today, and soaking up my hubs as much as I can before we're separated once again...have a great week everyone!

(Ps-I'll try to post some pics once I get there, to show that I'm still alive and in the mountains!)

The difference a year can make...

A year ago today I flew off to Italy and Croatia to reunite with my friend Jelena and return to Europe after 4 years away, to see St. Peter's and Vatican city (and nearly cry from the beauty of it), to swim in the Adriatic Sea (and the bluest, clearest, warmest water I've ever swam in), to eat delicious pasta and drink delicious cappucinos, to visit ruins and landscapes that were centuries old (beyond my North American comprehension), to nearly suffer heat stroke from the +35C weather nearly every day, to take a train through the Italian countryside, to drive through Slovenia, to see the canals of Venice, to go to what must have been a Roman paradise in Brijuni, to see 3 of the 7 coloseums in the world...I left a year ago for a trip of a lifetime.  

And today I'm doing this.

But you know, I wouldn't trade it for anything

...

(well, maybe one more swim in those waters, lol)

Happy Sunday to you!

G.

Vive l'Acadie!

Last week I went up to Bathurst (about 3 hours north where my family is from) to visit my French grandmother, aunts and cousins. Victor and I spent 5 days with family and it was a really nice change of pace for us (the pace being much faster that is!) My aunt from Toronto and her girls were there and it was actually the first time in a long time where all the grandchildren were together in the same place. My mom and sister also came up for a few days with the dogs, so it was a busy place! Victor, of course, was the main focus (my aunts love babies and hadn't seen him before), so he was plenty spoiled while there :)

Anyway, on the second day there my sister, grandmother, Victor and I went to the Village historique acadien, about 45 mins down the shore on the Acadian coast. It's a really interesting place where they re-create acadian homes and farms from the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s. There were people in each house, in character, ready to talk to you about life as it was back then, using the tools and actually working as if they were back in the old days. The characters speak in old acadian french (which is the french I speak mostly), there was a tavern, school, church, several different kinds of houses, farm animals everywhere, it was just a really cool place. My grandmother is acadian (she actually grew up about 10 mins away from where the village was located), so it's also part of my culture and heritage, so I was really happy to go.

Here are a few pictures from the trip (I just love old stuff like this, so much of it I would have in my house today!)  [You can see the rest of the pics on my Flickr.]

         

On the way out I was telling my sister Daphné how that, despite the hardships these people must have gone through, in a way their lives were better than ours, because they had to work for their own survival; they made their own food, clothing, housing, everything, and because of that, they didn't have time to be bored or depressed or restless or any of the other issues people face today. They have a program at the village where kids can go and spend a day in traditional dress, working and pretending to be living in those times, I wish I had gone when I was a kid! (My cousins have gone 3 or 4 times and they love it.)  Visiting there inspired me to try and live more simply (but it's hard!)

It was also really nice because I used to spend a lot of time 'downshore' at my nanny's cottage, playing on the beach, so it made me all nostalgic to drive along the shore again, it's so beautiful there!

I'm still working on my friggin' A Week in the Life post (Blogger has been pissing me off to no end lately), so I'll try to get it up later this week, I'm about 4-5 posts behind, hopefully this week I'll be able to get them all up!

Until then,

G.

PS-If you want to know more about the Acadians and their Deportation from the Maritimes (I assume most Americans don't know much about them; they are the original  'Cajuns' from Louisiana), you can find more information here.

Ok, this is truly pathetic, but I FINALLY got around to editing some pictures from my Italy/Croatia trip...that I took 9 months ago!!  It's really sad, but once I got home I was in full pregnancy/baby mode, so editing pictures was pretty far down on my list of things to do.  But now that I (somewhat) have more time, I'm working on editing a bunch of shots to put in some sort of album, and it's been really nice to look through them all again, it really was a great trip (despite being terribly sick/tired from being 10-11 weeks pregnant and it being about 35C every day).

(I posted a few pics way back in September, so I won't re-post those, but there are way more waiting to be edited, so I figured I'd share.)

As I mentioned before, I've been using the Pioneer Woman's Action Sets, which are absolutely awesome, I love them so much (and depend on them way too much too!)  Dan downloaded a book on Photoshop for me, I really must get started on it.  Does anyone know of any good [free] Photoshop tutorials online?

Ok, here we go.  First off, some shots from the 3 days we spent in Rome (photos taken at the Vatican, Coloseum, Forum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and a few other spots) :

(This last photo was actually chosen for an online travel app, when people look up "Spanish Steps", my photo comes up.  Kinda cool.)

Anyway, I'll share more in the coming weeks as I work on them (I'm mostly done the Italy shots, I still need to do the Croatia shots though.)

Today we're taking the winter tires off the car (ha!), doing groceries, and I'm hopefully going to go to the scrapbook store to get some supplies for my Week in the Life album.

Have a happy Tuesday!

G.

I'm back!!

I just got back from Italy yesterday afternoon, and I must say that despite an awesome and amazing trip, I am SO glad to be home!!

pics to come soon...

stories to come soon...

regular blogging to (hopefully) return soon...

and some (not so secret) news to share...

Hope you all had a wonderful 2 weeks while I was away! Anything exciting happen? :)

This is what I'm being tempted with...

(from Jelena's Facebook, a picture of somewhere in Croatia)

Oh my freakin' goodness.
And it's snowing here today....
August cannot come fast enough.

G.

Ps-Thoughts on being 26 coming up later today...

Christmas '08 in a Flash

So Christmas is over for another year, and this year it went by just as quickly, if not more so, than previous years. I had 5 days off but for some reason it didn't feel that long and I wished I had taken a few extra days to just relax at home, but alas that's not the way I saw it back when I booked my time off, so now I'm paying the price.

Anyway, Christmas for the Flynns went something like this:

On the 23rd we drove to Fredericton with little Shimi in tow. Now, for most of the trip she was a really good little kitten, barely meowing or picking up much fuss, but there were a few instances where I think she realized what was really going on and she had this terrified look on her face:

Oddly though, after about 5 mins, she calmed down (or was distracted...funny how they are like children that way), and she back to sitting on Dan's knee, grabbing some coffee at Tim's.

I won't get into how she behaved during the entire trip, but needless to say that cats are not easy to travel with. The worst part is that as soon as we got in the car to head home she turned back into her old cuddly super sweet self, which just made me even more angry, ha. Oh pets.

Anyway, so we spent the night in Fredericton and on Christmas Eve morning headed to McAdam to spend Christmas with Dan's brother Trev and his family, which was different since most Christmases have been spent at the in-law's places, but it was a nice change:

Church, good food, relaxing in the country. Lovely.

I also did alot of baby cuddling with this little (well, not so little) guy, Hayden.

But how couldn't I, look how cute he is!

Then it was Christmas morning. This year my oldest nephew Sean was old enough to start to understand it all, and it was alot of fun seeing him opening all his presents. Dan's dad and brother came out too, which was nice, lots of family around.

He must take after his Matante Geneviève :)

Hayden loving his new toy, a Glow worm.

Christmas Day we had 2 turkey dinners, one in McAdam and one in the evening with Dan's mom and Nan, then opened presents, which was nice and low-key in itself.

[insert picture of Fredericton Christmas here]

On Boxing Day it was off to my family's place in Sussex:

Most of the time spent there was going for long wintry walks with my mom and the dogs, hanging out with my sister, eating eating (and more eating) and relaxing. We opened gifts and had a ham supper on the 27th, it was very very good.

In summary...

-I ate waaaaay too much

-I didn't get alot of presents, and I really liked it that way

-I love going for walks with my mom, it's my favourite thing to do in Sussex

-My nephews are adorable

-Most didn't-know-I-needed-it-but-am-so-glad-I-got-it gift: An external harddrive for my pictures (thanks Trev!)

-Traditions and family are the most important part of Christmas, but making new traditions is fun too

-My sister makes an awesome pasta salad

-I'm getting a fake tree next year (maybe 2 small ones)

-Snow on Christmas Eve is magical, it just is

-Best how-did-you-know?! gift: Warm Amber Body Butter (thanks Nan!)

-While I love little towns, sometimes they are TOO little

-There are old friendships I realized that I would like to explore a bit more in the upcoming year

-Most practical gift: 2 sets of sheets (thanks John and Mama!)

-I can't wait to move home

-I miss Anna

-I'm making more hand-made gifts and crafts next Christmas, it was so fun this year!

-Taking pictures in the snow is hard

-Best present to myself: A new camera lens (buying January!)

-Always take a day or 2 more vacation than you think you need; you'll need it!

-Low-key Christmases are the best

Happy New Year to all, may 2009 be wonderful, light and full of dreams.