Big News!!!

I have been living in small town Alberta for exactly 7 months 8 days (but who's counting) and I have to admit I have enjoyed a lot of what small town life has to offer. But when it comes down to it, I am a city girl. I love my Starbucks and Mac and being able to see movies that are still in theater. I found a beautiful little city a little further west than where I originally settled and as of June I will officially live there!!! Yes that's right I recieved my transfer and I am moving to Red Deer :)

This is my new home!
I hope to have many more adventures here :) I hope you join me for the ride!

Cheers!
CN

PS Please Comment and Follow! I appreciate all the love ;)

So I think I can DANCE Dance dance...

I know this is far from and entertainment blog, but te one show I feel I can comment on and have a valid artistic opinion of is So You Think You Can Dance! For those of you who don't know I used to dance a lot as a child, and even auditioned for the Canadian version of the show in its first year running :) My SYTYCD co-critic and fellow dance teacher Isabelle danced with finalist Janic Arseneau, and well I had lunch with her before she was famous (not nearly as awesome). So I thought because much of my summer is consumed with beach time, the gym, SYTYCD, and Big Brother I though I would do a weekly run down about the danced and my opinions of the eliminations to go akin with my regular shenanigans. So don't forget to watch along with me and share your thoughts and opinions! What made you cry, and what made you face palm! Cheers and Happy Dancing! CN

Thanks for all the Love!!!

This weekend was the May Long weekend here in Alberta which means sun and camping at the lake... or if your me the Kitchen all to myself for 3 whole days! But before I get into my goings on of the last week I want to thank everyone for reading and following me every week. I just reached 1000 page hits over the weekend from over 10 countries! So thank you for stopping by every week and living a little bit of my life with me.

I had a very very very busy week last week. Mostly because I was on the road trying to get all my out of the office work done before I tool my extra long 5 day long weekend and a very earned break away from the country. Because I was away from the office my diet consisted mostly of Starbucks Passion Iced Tea Lemonade and Sushi

It's a little crazy how much of this I ate this last week working in the nearby "cities"

But spending the week on the road was worth it though when my view was this:

We did have a terrible cold snap about mid week though

But it was in the high 20's the next morning so we can pretend that day never happened. So with such a busy week I was headed to Red Deer in no time and finally had a chance to relax and get a little spoiled.

I love the gym in the building! No excuses here :)

But where I really seemed to enjoy myself this weekend was in the kitchen where summer recipes were on the menu with lots of vino to complement the creations! Pintrest and a bestie married to an Italian (and very willing to share the family secrets) have been huge in extending my kitchen repertoire! Here are just a few of my creations!

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Lasagna inspired by Karrie and Alissa

Fresh Salad!

Fried Chicken!

Yummy!!! (I think this and the Surprise Wine made the weekend though!)

I hope everyone had a beautiful and safe long weekend!

Cheers!

CN

So I guess it's not all bad...

My life in Alberta has been quite the transition. I went from having family members a stones throw away, with weekly if not daily conversations with them and lots of quality time together to having a 3 hour time difference and contact through Birthday and Christmas phone calls only (periodic skype dates if I m lucky). I left the crisp moist ocean air for the frigid Alberta winters, the expansive forests for the flat treeless prairies, LIFE IN THE CITY for life in the country. And yes I will admit that for a bit the only thing that kept me here was the promise I made to my cousin who also left home and taught me that it takes a year to adjust and have everything feel normal. With this wisdom I decided to promise to stick it out a year before considering coming home. And oh am I thankful I didn't run when that first urge struck.

Now I know it has only been a little less than 6 months since I moved, but I am already starting to get into a bit of a routine. I am starting to enjoy certain benefits of living in Alberta like the fact I have been sleeping with the window open since mid April, I have enjoyed 25 degree lunch hours late April, the sun is in the sky and smiling at 5:30 am (I love waking up naturally with the sun!), 40% humidity is extremely humid here so no more frizzy curls or mini straighteners in my purse people and then there is the 5% sales tax and for someone with my love of shoes this is a HUGE deal ;)

My routine is busy by I am starting to think I like love it. I have people I care dearly about, a great group of ladies I work with and I know have my back, my career is challenging and makes me grow a lot every day and feel like I am really making a difference, even though I may not see it today. I have my lovely Christmas family a few towns over who I will miss when I am not so close. I am coming to appreciate my family back home more and more because we really do have something beyond amazing to be proud of. Being away makes me love home more than ever, even though Alberta is feeling more like home every day. I ache for the ocean, cry for the arms of my loved ones and dream of loosing myself in the hustle and bustle of the city, but I know when I go home I will appreciate these things more today than ever.

What I am learning from my time here in Alberta is that making this my new home will never take my love for the coast away (give me fried clams and a hunt for hermit crabs at Aboiteau any day!), it actually deepens it. It makes me want to show off my roots and see people experience the fall colors, spring rains, and summer beaches that I grew up with, and sadly only appreciated once I left. So for everyone back home love what you have around you, it truly is a unique and amazing place to grow and live. For those who have never experienced the Maritimes, I recommend vacationing there this year. You will never experience anything like it anywhere else. We Maritimers are a unique group of people with the best view in the house!


Cheers!
CN

PS I think I will work on a photo blog for next week or the week after. I have been a little slack in the picture taking but if you saw my to do basket at work you would understand why!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day To all the Beautiful Mamma's I love out there and ESPECIALLY my Mum!!! Love you SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

                                     

 Love all you Mammas and hope to one day be an amazing Mum just like you!!!
Cheers!!
CN

Yes I know it's Wednesday!

Ok ok ok I know I am supposed to update you all on the adventures I am having but I need to get out and take some pictures of that I want to talk about first. I PROMISE by the end of the week I will have written something!!! Please don't hate me


Cheers!
CN

Happy Birthday Baby Sister!!

Happy Birthday To You!!!!!

Cheers!

CN

Does this look like the face of a teenager?

As I said earlier Michael is a musician, and I have always loved music, so one would think that an evening at an Open Mic should sound like a very good time... That is unless you look like me almost 30 and carded and questioned in a province where I became legal 10 years ago! I was asked to provide more ID and then scolded about how I should carry more forms of ID on me and letting me in was a one-time-thing.

And what this weekend has taught me is that on the East side of this province I am so old I am barren and on the West side I am in High School. 

Very interesting Alberta... VERY INTERESTING!!

Cheers!

CN