Lazy Days...

Christmas has come and gone, and I find myself with mixed emotions as 2008 comes to an end. What a year. I'm determined to enjoy 2009 to the fullest, despite being home, back in the routine.

Christmas was a quiet day this year. We woke up, opened a few presents, but for the most part our trip to Mexico takes the place of gifts this year. That was fine with me, it was just good to be home for Christmas, and have a white Christmas.. neither of which I've experienced since 2005.

Nothing too eventful happened during the rest of my days off... a lot of lazy days, and boring nights. Today was no exception. I was very lazy, but I had the company of a good friend and we spent the day watching movies and listening to music in my bed. I was perfectly content to just let the world pass by for a day, lying in my amazing warm bed.

Things are going well, for the first time in awhile. I'm happy with where my life is right now, despite the lack of travel, beaches, and parties. I think I need a break to appreciate it all again.

5 days later...

This just in: The Neon has started!

Will it start again tomorrow? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Winter Driving Gets the Best of Us...

My stupid little red Neon is STILL not working. This is the longest fight we've ever had, and I don't know that things will ever be the same again. This isn't the first time that I've had problems with my car. I'm going to admit, I've started to explore my options. Perhaps a new car is in my future?

Anyways, seeing as how my car is out of commision, my friend Carley was kind enough to offer to drive me to work this morning. She arrived to pick me up and we set off for Sylvan. It was snowing but the roads seemed to be in okay condition. Or so we thought. Somehow, on the highway we hit a patch of ice and found the car swerving from lane to to lane, before doing a 360 degree turn and sliding into the ditch in the median. THANK GOD there were no cars in the other lane, or things could have been pretty bad. We were a shaken up a bit, but relieved that we were okay, that we'd just missed a semi truck that zoomed by seconds later, that we had cleared the guard rail by about 4 feet. And then we realized that we were stuck. I called work to let them know that I'd definately be late, and we sat in the middle of the highway wondering what to do next.

About 10 minutes later, a good samaritan pulled up in his truck and helped us back into the highway. He is our hero today. We drove very slow the rest of the way, and eventually I made it to work. I've been listening to the radio all day, and there have been many accidents and the ditches are lined with vehicles. Slow down, things are messy out there!!

Summer... Only 185 more days.

Another Year Gone...

Here goes... I realize that there are still 2 weeks left of 2008, and who knows what could happen. Maybe some huge event will change my life before then. But assuming that won't happen, here is my top 10 list of 2008. I'm the luckiest girl alive.

10. Meeting Jay & Maz...
I met so many amazing people during my journey through Australia, but the 2 that I'll never forget are my cousin Jay, and my best Aussie mate Maz.
I met Maz on Fraser Island. We both worked at Eurong Beach Resort and soon discovered that we shared the same crazy sense of humour.
We became friends almost immediately and spent the next 2 months walking down the beach, venting about our hate for our job and coworkers, and eating.
I've never met somebody with the same love of chocolate as me. It was like meeting the Australian version of myself.
And then there was my cousin Jay... before I'd arrived I didn't even know that she existed. Somehow we got in touch and decided to meet up once I arrived in Brisbane.
It took awhile, but we finally met, and it was as if we'd known eachother our whole lives. We didn't care that we knew nothing about eachother, we were family.
The day after we met, we booked a trip to Fiji together. 3 days later, I moved in with her, and stayed for 2 months.
9. The First Snowfall...
I hate winter, cold, and especially snow. That said, when I went for a road trip to Lake Louise with Ryan and Carley and it started snowing, it was almost magical. The beauty of it overwhelmed me, it was something that I was so used to but hadn't seen in so long. The temperature wasn't too cold, the lake wasn't yet frozen, and we made snow angels with my Australian friend Simone, who was mesmorized by the winter wonderland as well. I felt happy to be Canadian, if only for a day.
8. Karaoke Nights...
It might not seem like a big deal, but 2008 was the first year that I sang karaoke on my own. It was in Cairns, Australia. My new group of friends had nominated me as the group representative, which required me to compete in "Backpacker Idol". I was so nervous, but when it was all said and done, I was so glad I'd done it. After 21 years of being plagued by shyness and self esteem issues, finding the ability to sing in front of a group of people was a huge milestone for me. Not to mention, I won the contest and free drinks for our entire table. Now there's nothing to it. You'll find me every week on stage. I realize how stupid it sounds, but quite honestly, singing "I Will Survive" that night in Cairns may have changed my life..
7. Life in the Tropics...
I moved to Cairns, Australia in January. It's a small town, a bit smaller than Red Deer in Far North Queensland. It's overrun by tourism, but for good reasons. It's a complete tropical oasis. Inland, you'll find mountains covered in World Heritage Rainforest, cascading waterfalls, and on the coast you'll find beaches lined with palm trees, and the amazing Great Barrier Reef. In the summer (January), temperatures average +40. Even at 3 am, it rarely dropped below 30 degrees. I loved every moment of it. I had a great tan, a great routine (Beach, dinner, party, sleep) and I was living my dream.
6. Sailing the Whitsundays...
For 3 days, I lived on a yacht, sailing through the incredible Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef. I slept on the deck, being rocked to sleep by the waves, climbed a mountain for epic views of the islands, saw dolphins, turtles, and a dugong, and lazed on Whitehaven Beach, listed among the top 5 beaches in the world.
5. Fiji...
Before Australia, Fiji seemed like such an exotic destination, I almost wondered if it even existed. I was incredibly lucky and found flights for only $174 each way, and set off for 10 days in paradise. Somewhere between the island hopping, and sunsets, I wondered what I'd done to deserve this. It was a perfect way to end my trip, and top up my tan before returning to the land of snow.
4. Starlight, Starbright....
You can't explain just how bright the stars are on Fraser Island unless you've seen it. You know on movies, when the sky is so lit up that it looks like a painting? It was like that, but better. On the beach, far from lights or civilization, you can clearly see the milky way and millions of stars shining brightly. We were standing there, listening to the crashing waves as the tide came in, staring in awe at the sky. The first night, I counted 5 shooting stars, and the second night, 6. Even I couldn't think of that many wishes..
3. The Best New Years, ever...
My first moments of 2008 were spent in Sydney's Botanical Gardens, overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Surrounded by 20,000 other people, I counted down the final seconds of 2007 and then watched an incredible 15 minute fireworks display. These aren't your ordinary fireworks. I knew at that moment that if this was any indication of how the rest of 2008 would go, I was in for one amazing year. I couldn't have been more right.
2. No Place Like Home...
Coming back home after 12 months is a pretty surreal feeling. When the plane landed in Calgary, and the flight attendant said "If this is home, Welcome Home"... I started crying. There was no holding back. I was home. As hard as leaving Australia was for me, coming home was amazing. It was the little things that made it what it was.... The first glimpse of the prairies and Rocky Mountains as I flew in, seeing Ryan standing there waiting to take me back to Red Deer, that extra large ice cap Ron and Ryan made sure to bring to the airport, the look on my mom's face when I walked up and hugged her... it was an emotional journey back, and definately a VERY close runner up for number one memory of 2008.
1. Freefalling...
NOTHING compares to adrenaline rush of jumping out of a plane at an altitude of 14,000 feet. Not only did I skydive, but I did it over the Great Barrier Reef, and landed on the beach. I've never felt such a high in my life. You feel like you can do anything after you've jumped out of a plane. It was something I never thought I'd do, and now that I've done it, it was maybe the greatest thing I've done in my life, aside from going to Australia in the first place.

Cheers to the best year of my life, and the experiences and people who made it what it was. I can only hope next year will be half as incredible as this one was.
BRING ON 2009!

My Faithful Red Neon...

Let me tell you a bit about my car...

We have a love hate relationship. When I first got my car, I couldn't have been happier.

Sure, it was a little red Neon with 250,000 km on it... but it was MY little red Neon.

3 years later, I still love my car, most of the time. It costs $23 to fill the tank of gas, is small enough to weave in an out of traffic and park with ease, and it puts up with my excessive speeding and frequent road trips.

Then there are the times that I hate my car. Today is one of those times.

I came home Friday after work, and plugged my car in, knowing that the -40 temperatures would cause some issues. I figured, since it was plugged in the entire weekend, it would start. Maybe it would take a few tries, but it would start, right?!

Wrong. We tried starting it several times, tried boosting it, and then pushed it into the warm garage for the night. And yet still, this morning, it wouldn't start.

The battery is brand new, since a few weeks ago the other one failed me.

My car is slowly falling apart, and there is no chance I can afford a new one.

Even worse, I work out of town, so it's not like I have any other way of getting to work.

Please, pray for my Neon, during this time of harsh winter weather. Like car, like owner. Neither of us know how to deal with the cold.

Parties and Frostbite....

Okay, this has gotten ridiculous.

-39 with the windchill.

Minus freaking 39.

I did not sign up for this.

This weekend was full of bitter cold, mixed with vodka, high heels and dresses. Oh yeah, Christmas parties all happen to fall on the coldest weekend of the year.

Fly me Away....

Well this sucks. It's cold out. Like actual, winterish cold. I guess we got off lucky, seeing as how it took until December to get to temperature low enough to make me actually plug my car in...

The one thing that DOES make me happy about this whole miserable winter situation is that Jake is coming home next week. After months of bragging that he'd miss this winter, we had an extremely mild fall, and now he's coming home at the beginning of the freezing temperatures. HA! And then I'll be in Mexico and he'll be stuck in Edmonton, COLD.

I'm not bitter and jealous at all that he is still in Aussie... promise.

I'll be nice as long as he brings me back Ugg Boots and Fruit Tingles.