Christmas in the Cape

So although I don't have any interesting post, I've decided to try to use this as a journal too in order to keep in touch with my Canadian friends back home. Thank you to everyone who has requested a new post - nice to hear that some are reading my blog!

Dylan and I had a fantastic trip home for the holidays!
We travelled between Halifax, Sydney and Poulamon quite a bit and got to spend alot of time with friends and family! The trip wasn't long enough, but of course, we were tired of living out of a suitcase for almost 3 weeks. The only person I didn't get to see was my friend Angela and her new baby, Roman - sorry about that Ang - it was part of the plan, just didn't pan out!

It was funny to get off the plane on Dec 20th and see the snow....it really was like walking into a winter wonderland! While we were there, we had about 5 snow storms and flurries almost everyday.
This picture is a new favorite of mine - Big J (my Dad) on his tractor! Now, Dad's tractor is his favorite toy - plowing snow in the winter, bushhoggin in the summer! The minute that he sees one snowflake, his eyes glaze over and he has one thing on his mind - must start up the tractor - haha! I love ya, Dad!

We had a great time in Poulamon sliding and building a snowman with Dylan's family. It was one of my favorite days - so nice to be spending time outdoors and doing something that I haven't done in years with the Boudreau's! This picture is of the final product!

It was a funny feeling coming back to Belgium, I really felt like I was coming home. Home is where you lay your head - and this is the only apartment that is mine at this point in time, so was good to get here with my own stuff (or lack of my own stuff since I only really have clothes here). I must say that I do miss a real bed and the SuperStore and all the other conveniences of being home - but at the same time, I'm happy to continue this adventure!

As many of you know, Dylan had to go back to Canada 2 days after we got back to Brussels because he lost his Uncle Stan. Stan had a great holiday with his family and he will be missed. It was great that we both got to spend time with him while we were home - we will both remember him dearly.

Dylan was gone for 10 days and I was on my own in this big city. It was fine to be on my own since Brussels is familiar to me now, but there were a few moments where I was lost on what to do to keep myself busy! Dylan returned on Saturday and we had a few days relaxing before he went back to work. The toughest thing about travelling across the ocean (besides sitting in an airplane for 6 hours) is adjusting to the time difference - last night was the first night we both slept through the night. It is so hard to adjust - even though it is only 5 hrs, it feels like you lost days of sleep.

Yesterday, we booked a trip to Barcelona for a long weekend in February. We are both really looking forward to this trip as it is one place that many people have told us we ' have to go '! It will be much warmer there than Belgium, so will be nice to wear sandals and not have to carry an umbrella with us everytime we leave the house!
Many people asked while we were home - where else do we want to go before heading back? The list is continuously expanding, but we definatley want to go to Florence, Italy (Aunt Fonnie's favorite spot), Germany (Frankfurt or Berlin), Barcelona was the top spot, and I would like to see Madrid and/or somewhere in Greece. None of these places are too far. I said to someone the other day that going to Germany is like going to Moncton - it is that close! Hopefully our travel plans will come into place soon!

We are hoping to get away somewhere this weekend - but have no idea where! The cheap tickets are non existant for this weekend, so we are going to play it by ear and hopefully get away on Saturday for a night. If all else fails, we'll go to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is such a beautiful city with it's canals and architecture - it has a small town feel to it even though it is quite a large city. It is a perfect getaway! Amsterdam is known for it's partying and sex scene, but in truth, it is a calming place (not because of the drugs) where people don't seem to be in a rush for anything. It is a place where you can walk around and people watch and have a good time doing nothing - maybe that is exactly what we need!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and brought in 2008 exactly how you wanted - I did!