love is better than coffee

Last week was my week from hell (and I know for many others, it was a week of tragedy). I had felt like I was hit with the gusts of a thousand plagues; I had the flu, a cough, a cold, the whole works. The one day that I did go outside last week was to go to do a small bit of Christmas shopping and mail out my Christmas cards; and it was on that day that I was reminded of the goodness in people, that infectious Christmas spirit (this was the day before the shooting in Newtown, which dampened my spirits, and my condolences go out to all those affected). 

But from the girl who randomly complimented my coat as I was getting off the bus and she was getting on, to the nice salespeople at Chapters and Starbucks, to the lady at the post office who took off tax, to the bus driver who said, "Hello! How are you doing today?" I had a genuine smile on my face, and was also a little resentful that I was homebound most of the time and couldn't go out and see that Christmas spirit more often. I was also missing The Boy, my friends, and my sister like crazy (my sister can't come here for Christmas anymore, but I will come visit you, don't you worry! And umm, Christmas Eve Skype date, please?). 

And then it all came to a head on Sunday morning. I had slept in and my parents were already out, and I found myself starving since I usually don't sleep in until 11:30am. I ate brunch and realized that I wasn't chewing properly and it was hard to drink. I went upstairs to brush my teeth and realized that I couldn't move the left side of my face. I tried to smile at myself in the mirror and my smile was coming out crooked. I couldn't properly close or wink my left eye, and it felt like I had been shot up with Novocaine  It was paralyzed. And I was terrified. The first thing I did was call The Boy at work, who started going through all the options and told me to get my parents to come home right away. 

As soon as my parents came through the door I cried out, "I can't move the left side of my face!" and we immediately went to the hospital; by some stroke of luck, I was in and out of there in half an hour and the nurses and doctors were so incredibly kind. Aside from my food poisoning/dehydration in Hungary a year and a half ago, I hadn't had to be admitted into a Canadian hospital since I was born.

Fortunately, it's not a stroke. I have something called Bell's palsy, which is the inflammation of nerves causing temporarily paralysis in the face, usually either brought on by a cold or because it runs in the family (in this case, both, since my grandma had it once). I was put onto steroids and have an ointment for my left eye that gives me blurry vision but allows my eye to not dry out, and it should be back to normal in two weeks or so. But it was such a frightening feeling, not knowing what was going on, not being able to voluntarily move my face which normally is so expressive. On the other hand, I know it could have been much, much worse. 

It's really been in these last few days that I've realized that love is better than coffee. From the outpourings of well wishes from best friends and blog friends, to the random surprises from The Boy who gave me flowers and a bag of candy to make me feel better, to the little things like my mom making me breakfast and showering me with hugs ... when scary things happen, as scary as they may be, love is one of the best things to respond with. It might not make the scary thing go away, but it eases the pain. 

To end this wall of text, I hope that you've been having an AMAZING December so far, full of great times with family and friends. Since I'm most likely going to be homebound on and off for the next couple of weeks, I'll definitely try to post more often. For now, here's other things that brightened my otherwise dismal week:

(1) Mail! My new favourite shirt from Kym @ herro hachi, and Christmas cards from Tasha and my sister. Thank you so much ladies :) 

(2) Watching a pretty sunset on my one evening out of my house. 

(3) A get-well soon package from The Boy with flowers, strawberry kiwi juice, and chocolate.

Now to brighten up this post:

What's made your December bright?

And what's better than coffee (or your favourite indulgence) for you?

gone fishin'

Sometimes you just need to getaway - even if it's just for a day. Escape from the hectic life that is either thrust upon us or that we make for ourselves and take time to relax. On Wednesday I was able to have a little getaway by going fishing! (In a way, it's like my Wednesday wish came true.)

Before I met The Boy, my experiences with fishing were looking at the dismantled fishing rod, net, and box that my dad kept in the basement but seldom used. Now, I think of it as a perfect mini-escape: you spend the day sitting by the water, looking at the clouds, enjoying the sun, and it doesn't really matter if you catch a fish or not. But it doesn't hurt, either, since I caught 8 fish myself! (Whoo-hoo, pro fisher-woman here.) That day was definitely one of my simple smiles of this week.

Taking some time to jump around; t-shirt from here. 

      

We were nearby Hewitt's Dairy Bar so decided to stop in
for a treat of the raspberry sherbet variety.

     

A family had a property right on the lake we were fishing on
so we got to see their paddleboat and airplane in action.

    

My first fish of the day (that we threw back in).

Even though the rainclouds have finally found us in southern Ontario, I'm going to make the most of it by visiting one of my best friends this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend!

What's your simple smile of the week?

P.S. Thanks so much for the warm welcome back! (:

a look at may

A month's absence either means (a) I've been having a busy but awesome month; (b) I've been too lazy to update; or (c) a combination of both. I'll admit, it's been (c): the last few weeks have been full of amazing memories and getting way too much water in my ear from swimming, and also full of much needed downtime after finally finishing my "career" as a student. Now, I'm just unemployed (but looking!). The job market is slim pickings, but when my mama was away in B.C. for two weeks (more on that later), I applied to six school boards and might be even thinking of going to England(!!!) next year if teaching in Ontario doesn't work out. 

After a couple of weeks of all this though, I noticed that I have missed this blog and all the incredible people that I get to interact with and talk to, and I definitely want to revive this space here (and after this post, my next on the priority list is changing this look up a bit!). 

For now, here's a look at what I've been up to in May! I have been absolutely horrible and not catching up on you but please let me know what you've been up to in May, and what you're looking forward to in June!

this may...

We completely owned a claw machine at a carnival ...

... marveled at all the goodies available inside food trucks during an event before deciding on a chicken burrito, wood-fired pizza, and a Beavertail, which was delicieux ...

... fed my addiction for caffeine with 1/2-price frapps before seeing The Lucky One (Zac Efron, you have grown up well) ...

... celebrated birthdays & didn't get the memo of pulling a Zoolander face in a photo ...

... took a road trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a chicken breast panini with goat cheese(!), and mouth-watering and completely satisfying gelato ...

... but mostly, we went there to celebrate four years together! :) 

The day was full of happy moments, even when a bird pooped on me (at least it didn't poop on my gelato), and it reminded me of how happy I am to have this man in my life!

And last, but not least ...

This little prince was born! See my sister's announcement here about it :) Not only do I have a gorgeous niece, but now I have an adorable nephew whom I can't wait to meet! I just want to pinch his little cheeks. My mom went to visit for two weeks to help out and see the little guy for the first time which meant, for the first time ever, me and my dad living alone in the same house - and though there were times where we wanted to rip each other's heads off, we got along for the most part (and that's a good thing). 

I hope your May has been chock-full of great times & good moments!

What was your favourite part of May? 

What are you looking forward to in June?

I'm off to go camping for the weekend for The Boy's birthday, but I'll update soon! :) 

that's amore

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to say, I really do love the weekends. Especially the long ones. Easter seemed to come and go in a flash, leaving behind great memories of having a bash/"ta ta for now" party for my friend as she goes to Africa for a month, having The Boy come over for Easter dinner with accordion in hand (and my dad playing a few awesome tunes) and a bunny coming to watch us in the backyard, and going out for coffee with one of my best friends at one of the only places open on an Easter Sunday: McDonald's.

This past weekend I embraced my inner zebra with a striped top (that I had just bought a couple of hours earlier) for a wildlife-themed birthday party where I had way too many jaggerbombs but had a blast dancing the night away. 

So before I get into what I really wanted to talk about, here's a little peak at what I've been up to the last couple of weeks (and, um, where the heck did April go?!): 

Admiring Nature: The top row are from my walks back from the gym, and the bottoms two are from a camp we went to as a field trip for the grade 5s. One student said they should "tear the forest down and build a shopping mall" which almost made me weep for humanity, so instead I looked at the lake.

Simple Smiles: In the form of a "congratulations" card from my students on my evaluation day from my faculty advisor (I received a perfect score!), Second Cup for a caffeine fix, a surprise gift from Taiwan in the shape of Taiwan from my dear friend, and pizza ... because pizza is the best.

Easter Weekend!

Rawr! Yes, most of my friends are Asian.

And some silly pics :)

And while I spent half the Saturday in supreme hangover mode, it was Saturday night that brought along the most thoughts ... we spent the evening at another couple's house and got onto a conversation about how we hope that, when we're our parents age (45+), we'll still be in love as when we are now. I look at my parents, who still have such affection for each other after all these years, and hope I'll be the same way. 

While one friend remarked that he would always treat his lady as a princess and give her everything she wants, it got me to thinking about the way I love, and the way I want to be loved. 

When I think about my relationship with The Boy, he treats me with that chivalry from ages past and I am so grateful for that. But when it really comes down to it, I cherish our relationship because we try to treat each other as equals. My feelings for him go deep; I need to give him the love he needs, and I hope he needs and wants to give me the love that I need. I never want to have him suffer to make me happy, just like he shouldn't expect me to suffer hardships to make him happy. If that makes any sense. 

In essence, it's about those small gestures. I'm all about the simple smiles, and while flowers and chocolates and diamonds may be nice, I cherish those smaller things that can be done on a daily basis, almost effortlessly. A squeeze of a hand, a post-it note or text message to say "I love you", cooking a favourite meal. That's the way I love. 

Lately I keep hearing about the 5 Love Languages, so I took the test, and lo and behold, it's physical touch. So, if we ever meet in real life, prepare for a tight hug to show you I care. But it also goes beyond that; I'm not the perfect girlfriend or perfect friend, but I try my best to show someone that I'm willing to go the extra mile for them, because, as L'Oreal puts it, they're worth it. And I am so grateful to have their love in my life.

What's the way you love?

How do you want to be loved? 

Hope you're not having a case of the Mondays/Tuesdays like I am,

and hope there's sunshine wherever you are right now!

those little surprises

It might seem obvious that surprises are unexpected, but I find unexpected surprises to be the best kind of surprise. Whether it's a week of gorgeous weather that shows up and makes it feel like summer, or a package that comes in the mail, or one of those days where time feels like it's just stopped, or being pleasantly surprised that The Hunger Games lived up to your expectations. 

So even though that unexpected week of warmth was followed by getting snow and a cold (thanks, grade 5 students, for still coming to school when you're coughing your lungs out), I enjoyed that week getting to wear skirts and sandals, looking for flowers, and eating sundaes with The Boy. And when my feet ached from wearing those sandals I haven't worn in nearly a year, another unexpected surprise came in the form of a package from Kat, full of things from The Body Shop to pamper my feet with. Thank you so much, lady! 

Other unexpected surprises: getting a package from Krissy with a ring that just screams computer nerd and a lovely necklace that I can't wait to wear in the summer, having a live band listen to my request and play "Benny and the Jets" in a pub with teacher college friends, hearing that my cousin in Poland is engaged (my first Polish wedding, maybe?), being surprised every time one of my grade 5 students says, "You're a really fun and good teacher!" even when I'm teaching math, and surprised at my motivation to actually go to the gym.

Tonight I'm probably going to try to relax with a cuppa tea and a few episodes of Flower Boy Ramen Shop, continue with some graphics designing and web-brainstorming, lesson plan, and then get ready for tomorrow! 

'Til then, here's what I've been up lately in picture-form. 

But wait! Here's the winner of the Starbucks gift card + random bag of goodies:

Katy from twentyfourcarat.net! Congrats! (And visit her blog if you haven't yet!)

Exploring the jungles of a greenhouse and admiring the flowers.

On a walk down by the bay :)

Seeing how many glasses we can stack on top of each other on a wild Friday night ;)

Embracing my inner Katniss and my ticket stub from Tuesday night.

Another unexpected caffeine-related surprise & my new ring! :)

What's an unexpected surprise you've had recently?

P.S. If you like postcards, prepare yourself for a postcard-filled April!

Hope you've had a great weekend so far! :)

march-ing forward

Days are getting warmer, the sunshine is lasting longer, and my hair has become a little shorter ... feels like spring is in the air! It's so strange to me that we're already one-quarter of the way through 2012, but the nice breeze and bright skies prove to be a great distraction from those "where has the year gone?!" thoughts. 

After weeks of group projects and assignments, I can officially say I am no longer a student! All that's left is a good six more weeks of my second teaching block with grade 5s (who are err, very chatty to say the least) and some hopefully positive evaluations and I will officially be a teacher. Except for the whole having a job part. But, still. I'm on my way! 

I finally got a break this week for some much-needed me time combined with The-Boy-and-I time and some catch up time with friends. I joined the local gym (my first time at a gym in two years) and am actually enjoying the aches and sores of my muscles as a greeting in the morning. I helped my friend do some retail therapy and adored all the shirts that have bicycles and bird patterns all over it. I baked a cake and enjoyed the beach with The Boy along with a mini-Star Wars marathon that brought out the geeky sides of us. 

And ... I am now hooked to Draw Something. Just wish I had the skillz to draw. 

Here's what I've been up to this March:

Top: Catching up with my best friends over an amazing meal;
Bottom: Celebrating no more classes with my friends from teachers college.

A Star Wars night complete with a cake we made and lemoncello (yum).

Bipolar Ontario weather = going to the beach with some Haribo!

Went from my hair draping down my back to grazing my shoulders ... feels so good!

(P.S. Yes, I like that pink sweater. A LOT.) 

Retail therapy in the form of a one-piece for the gym  pool & a sailor shirt.

And getting back into the design groove with a header for Kat!

It's been a pretty good month so far, and with the weather getting warmer I'm getting so excited to get out of the house, wear my Toms instead of boots, eat some ice cream (wait, I did that during winter anyway), and make my last few weeks of practice teaching stress-free. 

And on Sunday I'm celebrating 4 years of knowing The Boy aka our met-a-versary (we met on March 18th on the city bus!) with a little outing worthy of spring weather ... going to a greenhouse haha :) 

Here are my goals for the start of spring: 
(1) Get through my block with a smile and make the days enjoyable.
(2) Get my rear end to the gym at least 3 days a week, but aim for 4.
(3) Come back from the gym and blog before lesson planning. 
(4) Go on spontaneous dates and outings.
(5) Call my sister more.
(6) Get back into graphics/web design on a more regular basis.
(7) See The Hunger Games as many times as possible haha. 

What are your goals for the next couple of months? 

Starbucks gift card winner will be announced in the next blog!

(So enter if you haven't yet!)

Hope you've had a great March so far!

And wish Tiara a happy birthday if you haven't yet!

the best of 2011

The year of 2011 was definitely full of those "BIG" moments for me. I traveled to B.C. to see my sister getting married, I traveled to Europe for a month in August, and was accepted into teacher's college, my next step towards my hopefully full-time career. But of course, there were also those little moments that made the transitions between those big milestones memorable and kept me smiling in a year plagued by illness (food poisoning and being ill for a month? Yeah, definitely not planning on doing those again anytime soon). 

Around this time last year I posted my 'year of 2010' review, and it's honestly amazing that two of my 'small' dreams (getting into teacher's college and Europe) came true. My dreams for next year? Go to Vancouver again to see my new niece or nephew and my family, hopefully graduating successfully from teacher's college and finding a job (pretty please?) and keep up the happiness with me and The Boy and my friends and family. As for my resolutions? That's for next post ;) 

What was your most memorable part of 2011?

What are you looking forward to next year?

And everyone wish the lovely Kathy at vodka and soda a Happy Birthday! :)
Now, it's time for a recap - backwards!

DECEMBER has tugged at my heartstrings; I had to say bye to my amazing grade 8 classroom, but am finally on a deserved two-week break and I've already gotten to catch up with my closest friends in the form of an Ugly Christmas Party (we're rocking 'em above) and getting to spend more time with The Boy and my family in the form of Christmas dinners and movie nights. I honestly don't want to go back to classes. And we finally got snow, whoopah!

And November-January are found under the cut! :)

Read more »

simple smiles #48

I can't believe it's less than two week 'til Christmas! While the weather isn't cooperating, we're going to put up the Christmas tree tomorrow and I'm going to buckle down tonight and watch some 'holiday' movies - I'm not a huge classic holiday film person (mainly because I don't own any) so I'll most likely be watching Love, Actually and Beauty and the Beast (a lot of it is set in winter, hence the holiday-ness haha). 

When you're sick for almost a whole month straight, looking at those simple moments that make you smile can make all the difference, because if it weren't for them you would probably spend the whole time in bed, feeling like a zombie. Or feeling sorry for yourself because you haven't gotten any better (which is so counter-productive and just makes you feel worse). I am so grateful for those around me who make each day better. Here are those simple smiles that have been filling up my life lately.

The "Get Well Soon" Package: The Boy came over the other week and said he'd bring me some kind of 'get well soon' package; I did the same thing for him last winter when he was sick a lot due to school stress - except my package was full of Fisherman's Friend and tissues :P The first thing I heard when he hugged me hello was rustling, and for a second I thought they were chips (and since I rarely have 'em, I thought "oooh!"). The chips were actually a bouquet of roses, along with a package of candy and strawberry-kiwi wine (my new favourite). It's probably one of the best packages ever, and was so spontaneous and random and ... ahh, just warmed my heart right up :)

The Grade 8s: It seems a cruel thing, to let you enter into a classroom on random dates in September-October, let you spend four weeks straight with a class, and then take you out completely. I became so attached to my associate teacher and my students during my first teaching block, and it really solidified my love for teaching, that I was dreading my last week with them. While things sprung up here and there that surprised me (i.e., hormones), they were such an amazing group of students. 

So when it came to my last day, I prepared an art lesson for them as kind of my 'last message' to them and advice as they move on to high school and bigger and better things. The quote is from Martin Luther King, Jr:  "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." Since I did rotary with both grade 8 classes, I got to know 58 students and gave them each a letter of the alphabet that they had to design using typography skills and putting in their own personality. It was supposed to happen during the last two periods of the day, complete with Christmas music and treats. 

Turns out, they had a surprise for me earlier on in the day. I went downstairs to heat up my hot cocoa and when I came back upstairs, the other grade 8 teacher said, "You can't come in this classroom, I'll come get you, though" (since both classes were in one room). I could hear them shouting out the 12 Days of Christmas and was a bit bitter that I couldn't join in with them ... and decided to mark instead lol. 

Eventually they came to get me and as I entered the room they shouted, "WE'LL MISS YOU!" and enveloped me with a huge group hug and tons of gifts ... they spoiled me rotten (I'm now reading the final book in The Hunger Games thanks to my associate teacher who remembered that that was the only one I hadn't read yet) and were such an unbelievable first class to have. 

On the left is a 'thank you' card from one student who asked me what my favourite cartoons were (I confessed they were Pokemon and Sailor Moon haha) and gave me this card with Pikachu in it. On the right is the 'staircase' part of the quote that the students designed. They made my day, my week, and my whole teachers college experience unforgettable. 

The Celebrations: That same night, I got together with a group of classmates to celebrate, and since I'm a bit of a hermit when it comes to that, it was a fun night out :) But even better than that was finding out that me and my best friends that I've known since high school would get together this month to do our annual Secret Santa. As time goes on it seems to become harder and harder to meet up with those you care about, even though you still do care. And that only gets worse because time seems to fly by faster as you get older. I am so stoked to get to celebrate with them next week and finally have all five of us reunited!

The Christmas Spirit: While the snow keeps saying 'hello' and then disappearing abruptly, my neighbourhood is surrounded with lights (though it's no Candy Cane Lane from New Girl - something that I need to marathon with my sister when we meet up again). My Christmas cards are all sent out and there's just those little things that keep popping up - like not minding the Christmas decorations and music when you're out shopping at a surprisingly quiet time in the mall, or using manipulatives in our math class to make a Christmas tree.

And to complete the Christmas mood, I'm making one of my caffeinated mixes (which I haven't done in a while) and making it holiday-oriented; I'll be blasting it tomorrow when I put up the tree and expect a download up by this upcoming Tuesday! 

Now, I have to ask:

What's your remedy to get better when you're sick?

'Cause I need it haha.

And what are your plans for this weekend?

Hope it's a great one! :)

switching to the dark side

As I'm typing this, a flurry of snow is breezing by my window (and actually sticking to the ground). It's a pretty sight, especially when you're home sick and coughing up your lungs and you're wrapped up in layers of sweaters and blankets. All I need is some hot cocoa, mmm... it definitely brings me into that 'tis the season kind of mood: so if you'd like to exchange Christmas cards, let me know! You can email me at betterthancoffee[at]gmail.com or just leave a comment with your email and I'll contact you! I'll be sending out all the Christmas cards by December 12th so hopefully they'll get to you on time!

Aside from that, I have a wee bit of a confession to make: I've switched to the dark side. And not because of the cookies. This is actually a product which apparently keeps the doctor away every day if you have it. OK, enough with the vagueness. I finally got an iPod Touch ... my first Apple product ever. I've always shied away from them, only using them at my university for editing videos. But my mp3 player was slowly dying and after spying on all the apps my mom had on hers, I was pretty much convinced it'd be my next mp3 player. I found a sale on Friday for it, and I've already taken a bunch of photos on it :) And I'm hooked on Tap Tap Revenge, Pretty Pet Salon, and Words with Friends. Help me.

Here's a look at my life lately, through photos: 

Saturday was spent taking a good ol' road trip with The Boy for some accordion shopping! He's been eyeing one for a while as his First. Ever. Instrument. (pretty brave choice, huh?) and had a shop in mind and a lady from Kijiji to visit so I decided to join him for some sugar-high, caffeine-induced, accordion-shopping (and learned The Art of Negotiation in the meantime). We were almost considering purchasing the lovely silver one above except the son of the shop gave us a much lower price and then the father came around and upped the price $50 ("Oh yes, we'll set you up with a nice case, too") so we decided to get the lovely one below:

There's my Movember Man holding his new-ish accordion! The lady we got it from was a bit of a crazy cat lady (she had 6 cats and 5 strays she fed) and had a shrine to Elvis in her kitchen (I am not even kidding) but she was really sweet. So far The Boy's still learning the basics but I really want him to learn La Valse d' Amelie from Amelie so hopefully that happens in the next year or two :D

Once we got back to our city we decided to hit up this restaurant we've been eyeing for a while and got the large fish & chips - it was a huge portion and the owner let us sample the country-style fries too, which were pretty darn yummy in my tummy. 

It was also my mama's birthday on Saturday, and so I helped myself to a slice or two of this cake this weekend (which doesn't look so appetizing in that yellow-ish hue but it was delicious). 

Apart from that, my life has been pretty much taken over by teaching a grade 8 class for my teaching block at teacher's college. When I told my students that Dec 9th would be my last day, I was pretty touched that they all looked upset and asked why I couldn't just stay the whole year :) On Monday we had a bunch of errands to run at lunch which my teacher couldn't make it to due to a meeting, so me and the high school co-op student who was volunteering hit up a bunch of stores and got ourselves some bubble tea!

I decided to take today off since I've been hit with illness (AGAIN.) and really needed a day to recuperate. I woke up to an adorable "get well soon" e-card from The Boy and SNOW! It was just light flurries at first but now it's actually sticking and making me all giddy. It'll probably all disappear in a couple of hours but I'm on my pretty long to-do list for today is watching "Elf" (since I've never seen it ... don't judge lol) to get me into that Christmas spirit :)

What are you looking forward to in December?

How has your week been so far?

Can't wait to exchange Christmas cards! :) 

life's a beach

Long weekends are great, aren't they? You get that chance to just unwind for a day or two, reconnect with people, or let you be by yourself and just enjoy the moment. It was Thanksgiving in Canada this past weekend and the weather was perfect - which means that, of course, the rest of this week is going to be cold and rainy (c'est la vie, mais oui!). 

Even though I've been yearning for a hike (and stepping on crunchy leaves) ever since it became autumn, the weather this weekend called for: a beach outing with The Boy. 

Don't mind the dry cuticles ... loved this little "bouquet" he picked for me.

We couldn't decide whether to GO kart or not ...
so we creeped while eating Haribo (the YUMMIEST candy).

Gazing off into the distance ... there's something so tranquil about being by water.

Jumping photo (a.k.a. We're sooooaring, flyyyying photos)!

A skipping rock competition turned into me capturing him throwing dozens of rocks into the lake. This was our favourite one :)

Next came Thanksgiving, which has always been a bit of a low-key event for us since most of my family lives in Poland; now with my sister in B.C., it was just me, my parents, and The Boy eating a delicious dinner and then watching Horrible Bosses (which was hilarious). 

Wore a dress from Hungary - and that's it! Hottest Thanksgiving ever :)
And in case you're wondering - it's amaretto almond coffee (delicious).

Just looking back on this weekend makes up for a week of stress from lesson planning and having my first real lesson in front of six chosen grade 8 students, my peers from teachers college, my faculty advisor AND a video camera. To say I was stressed was an understatement ... and since the school we're at doesn't have a proper heating or cooling system, I was sweating buckets. I decided to do a lesson on homophones and homographs and it actually went pretty well :)

Now that's it done, I know I still have so much to improve on, but my classmates were so encouraging so instead of coming home and having a breakdown I turned on the kettle, boiled some water, and made a coffee/hot chocolate/Nutella concoction. Pretty good way to relax, methinks.

This weekend I'm celebrating mine and The Boy's friends getting engaged over drinks, having a youth group meeting (complete with owl cupcakes, need I say more), and err ... homework. 'Tis a thrilling life for me.

What are you up to this weekend?

If you haven't yet, make sure to join the "what a hoot!" giveaway!

the autumn lull

There's amazing things about this season - the leaves changing colours, the pumpkin spice lattes and hot chocolate, season premieres every week, putting on cozy clothes, not having to worry about breaking into a sweat three minutes after leaving your door, the smells of cinnamon and apple pie. 

But I find that every time September rolls around, I hit a lull ... that lull where I barely take any photos (compared to the spring and summer), feel tired at 6P.M. because the sun goes down earlier, and any plans to enjoy the fall weather - be it a fair or a hike - either gets ruined by rain or the to-do list that is slowly taking over my life. 

September is ending, though, and I've resolved to make October a month to enjoy by making New Season/Month's Resolutions. Take my camera out more; bake lots when it's miserable outside; take time to spend outdoors or indoors, solo or with friends; and, blog more. About the everyday things, not just recaps. And to restart that, I'm adopting a little blog challenge I first saw from Leesh from After 'I Do' - it's a ten day you challenge (though it'll probably span over twenty days hehe).

one picture of yourself

This photo was taken a little over a month ago in The Boy's hometown in Hungary. It might just seem like a silly photo of a girl riding a bike through a village, but it means so much more to me (that whole picture is worth a thousand words thing definitely applies here). Earlier that day, I was hospitalized from dehydration due to food poisoning. It was a scary thing for me, since (thankfully) I'm not too used to being in a hospital. The Boy was right there with me translating everything to the doctors and staying there as I got examined time and time again, had an ultrasound done to make sure my stomach and kidneys were OK, and sat next to me as I had water put into my body via a tube.

When we got back to his grandparents' house, his grandmother came by with mashed potatoes and bread while I watched Chasing Liberty on my laptop (cheesy movies, and Matthew Goode, definitely cheer me up) while The Boy went off again to the main part of town to get me medicine. 

That evening, I was up for going outside to get fresh air, and we decided to head off to his uncle's house (that had Internet connection) with a bike ride. I was honestly so thankful that I was feeling better, that the food poisoning didn't lead to something incredibly horrible, and was just stoked to be able to go on a bike. When The Boy took this photo, I was euphoric. And it reminds me that I need to find joy in the simple things all the time.

So, now I have to ask:

What do you do to spruce up your autumn months?

What are you looking forward to most in October?

Hope you have a great weekend!

simple smiles #45

Today was one of those days where you wake up and realize that September is already half-way gone, that the official first day of autumn is coming up even if it felt like it days ago, and that three weeks have gone by without a blog post (sorry for being a stranger!). Lately life has been a combination of these three things:

The year of the planner has begun - I started teachers college a couple of weeks ago which means writing down due dates and "do I really have to do this?" reminders (and keeping all my pens and my glasses in my Harajuku pencil case). It also means having my addiction to coffee triple and encouraged by friends - I got not one, but two reusable coffee mugs and not one, but two coffee cup cozies, including the adorable one above from Leesh as a surprise birthday gift (thank youuuuu)!

And in my downtime, I focus on those simple smiles: enjoying the scent of a creamy pumpkin candle, sweatin' to Just Dance (I am awesome at "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go") and going to Starbucks as often as I can. Yessir.

When my mind isn't being bombarded with theories and practices of teaching, I find my mind wandering ... to Europe. I'm not gonna lie, there's mornings where I wake up and wish I was back at The Boy's grandparents' house, listening to roosters nearby and actually enjoying waking up at 7 in the morning. 

I miss the Danube, I miss the food, I miss the architecture. But I guess my simple smile was that I even got to go on that vacation ... and that I took a ton of photos :)

Since I can't be back in Europe whenever I please (if only!), I try to make the most of where I'm at in Ontario through:

This month has been all about catch-up and I love it - going out for dinner and Starbucks dates, random shopping excursions, laughing at ridiculous Pictionary drawings (I drew 'plastic surgery' as a girl with huge boobs and a guy standing over her holding a scalpel ... the guesses were hilarious, and just proves that I'm a horrible artist), and taking 'class photos' with a big group of people. Oh, and enjoying a delicious breakfast at 1:00 PM which included crepes, french toast, and a bucket of fruit on top (delicious).

All of those are simple smiles, but one major one is: The Boy is actually enjoying fandoms I love. He came over last Thursday for the premiere of The Vampire Diaries (ahh the last scene broke my heart) and so far we've watched the first two Harry Potter films; he hasn't read the books, but it's a start (as long as he stops calling him Harry Pothead). 

Tonight I'm off to see Drive with Ryan Gosling (we were initially going to see The Lion King 3D but figured we should probably go see a movie we haven't seen before ... and that will have older people in the theatre lol). How're you enjoying the week?

Oooh, extra simple smile: forgetting to make coffee this morning, realizing how tired I am for class (which ran from 8:00am-5:00pm today) and then having my cohort group bring in STARBUCKS for the entire class. It was amazing.

What's your simple smile of the week so far?

And what's your favourite thing about autumn?

(Or spring, if that's the season coming up for you!)

P.S. Giveaway coming soon; hopefully it'll be a hoot!

where to begin...

Yesterday, I returned home from a month-long amazing trip to Europe. To say it was flawflee would be a bit of a lie, but experiences like food poisoning from a sketchy hot dog stand in Transylvania complete with a trip to a Hungarian hospital for an infusion where your boyfriend is translating everything just makes me love The Boy even more ... and want to avoid hot dogs with a passion for at least a good six months! Honestly though, it was an incredible month I will never be able to forget and will definitely recap over the next month :)

Today, it's my 23rd birthday! My twenty-second year was pretty darn awesome so here's hoping my next year is just the same but better! It'll be a jetlagged one for sure, though I already have a Starbucks gift card (I didn't see a single Starbucks in Hungary, felt so weird!) from my sister to stay awake when I go out for dinner tonight with girlfriends and then spend the night with The Boy. But the celebrations and parties can't go on all night, because ...

Tomorrow, I start teachers college. It won't be official classes, but the first two days are mandatory and full of orientation and meeting with your group and it's definitely a bit nervewracking. I know a bunch of people (including The Boy) who are going to the same college, just with different classes, so at least I'll have someone to share lunch with. Seems weird to get right into the busy with things but that's life, right-o?

For now, here's a brief glimpse into how I spent the month of August ...

I kissed a boy in front of a fountain ...

And kissed some fountains in my spare time, too.

Took some leaps in front of Heroes Square ...

And then just relaxed at a spa (Szechenyi Spa in Budapest).

Took a ferry across the Danube almost every day in The Boy's hometown ...

And also took a cruise along the Danube bend to Esztergom.

 Gave some speeches when I was in the mood to enormous crowds (cough cough) ...

But most of the time, just enjoyed cobblestone roads with an amazing travel partner.

How's your month been? I'm going to have to start playing catch-up on everyone's lives since I've been so out of the loop and my apologies for being so MIA but ... I am so grateful that I was able to spend a month in Europe and am looking forward to the next great adventure :)

I've missed you all!

Hope your September is full of great things, too :)