christmastime

wellll i haven't been on here for a while. it's just because i've been so so busy. but it's been nice.
christmas was yesterday, which was just lovely, thank you lord baby jesus. :)
and it was nice to get to spend time with my brother, even if it was for only the short time of six days. it kind of sucks, because he bought me mario kart for wii, and it was soo fun! spencer, me, jake, mary and martin all got into it, and we had such a blast! its too bad he had to leave so soon into the holidays, because i feel like we wouldn't have done a single thing except for play that game.
i love my family. we have so much fun together. we played this game called Quelf, which is basically the ultimate drinking game. its a board game, and you land on colors, and you pick up a card corresponding to that color, then do whats on the card. its. so fun! we were killing ourselves laughing, and just having a good old fashioned holiday family time!
on christmas eve, jake's family was having their christmas dinner, so i got two this year. it was lovely :).

i think that christmas is my favourite holiday. there is so much family, and so much love going around. people do get negative, which is annoying and really lame, and i think a lot of people just need to perk up and remember what the season is all about.
i don't get another day off until at least new years, so i enjoyed yesterday while i could.
and, i think that is all i had to say about that subject.

lav yew.

fish taco friday

I love fish tacos. A lot. I actually love any form of taco's. Which includes, but is not limited to, fish, shredded chicken, ground beef, hard shell, soft shell, with cheese, without, or in salad form.

I made myself tuna fish tacos today. they were delicious. and i will now post a picture of a taco for your pure pleasure and enjoyment.

because these things will change.

change.

 i always knew that i never liked it, i'm actually quite bad with dealing with change. awful, really. 

which is why i don't understand why it feels like i've changed, yet nobody else has, and i'm not okay with it. 

i mean, you'd think that i'd like it, knowing that i have everything i had before i left. but nope. i'm actually quite annoyed with it. i just don't understand why nothing else has changed. why nobody else has changed. i mean, we graduated, too, so didn't you grow up a bit after that? i guess not...

i know, i shouldn't be so hard on people. i've experience a lot the past few months, and i can't expect everyone to understand how that feels. 

but i'm sick of people.

really, its true, thats how it is.

i'm not okay with everything going back to the exact same way that it was before i left. seriously. 

grow up a bit.

mature a bit.

talk to me a bit. 

share your feelings a bit.

just...a little bit of change???

that would be nice.

i know, this was a whole rant that was useless, because i can't expect people to change, when nothing in their life has. but still. 

i just want to run away to somewhere and travel for long long looonnnggg amounts of time. that would be nice.

thank you and goodnight.

CHRISTMAS!

so, on thursday, i had to take my mommy to work at 8:15 in the morning.
after that, i did about 85% of my christmas shopping. and i only spent $87.
im really proud of myself.

and i think thats all i have to say.
im so excited for christmas.
i love it.

YAY

how its been

Well, I have been home for exactly one week.
It feels as if I never left, almost. which is weird, and I don't like. I miss it. I miss travelling, I miss Jake, I almost miss living out of a backpack. I want to go back. Or to some place completely new. It's just weird and frustrating coming back to a place that hasn't changed at all since I left, except for the snow, and the hospital is built up more. It's beautiful in Vernon, it snowed a lot last night actually, and my mom and I woke up to a snowman in our front yard, courtesy of my daddy. It was a nice way to wake up, and if we were still in Europe, we wouldn't have gotten that view.
There definitely is something to be said for being home, thats for sure. Sleeping in my own bed, being able to make my own food, eating with my family. It's all lovely. And just that sense of relief, of being home, being in a place where you're comfortable.
I haven't exactly had normal sleeping patterns since I got back. My first morning I woke up at 4:00 am, and couldn't get back to sleep. So I woke up and did the dishes, and got ready for a big day...of not really anything. The next morning was a bit better, 5:30. And progressively I have been learning to regulate my sleeping pattern.
I've had a lot of really fun days with my family. I went and saw Kal put on Fiddler on the Roof, which was very good. I saw the Powerhouse performance of Grease, which was also really cool! I got to go out for coffee with Christine, and am slowly making plans with other friends.
I feel bad, I've been a total homebody as of late, but looking back, I've only been home a week. I started working again, and applied at a couple places hoping to get another job. I'm so far in debt it's ridiculous. Well, not so far in debt. But farther than I'd like to be.
Anyways, here's a picture of my daddy's snowman.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

home.

so...i'm home.
its weird. our flights were all fine, kind of.
the flight from amsterdam to dublin was fine, as was dublin to chicago. aer lingus is a really good airline. on the dublin to chicago there were the tv's in the back of the seats, with games, tv shows, movies, radio, all that. and we got a full meal as well as a snack, and they kept coming through with coffee, tea, and water for you. so that was nice! it went by super fast, and because we were flying into the sun, like, backwards in time kinda thing. so it was easier to stay awake, as well.
and then...we switched airlines.
from chicago to vancouver we were travelling with United Airlines, and we were supposed to leave at 8:18 pm. we ended up boarding the plane around 8:40. cool. the flight was super crowded, and there was someone sitting in the aisle seat, and i felt sick, and every time i got up to use the washroom she had to get out too.  i was so hungry to the point of nauseousness, so that was balls. luckily jake had bought teddy graham's at the airport, so we could snack on those. every now and then i could fall asleep, but not enough to really make an impact on how i was feeling.
we got out of the security area at midnight, and luckily spencer and victoria had checked the flights and knew we were going to get in late, so they were there waiting for us. and it was nice, because they had rented a zipcar, so we didnt have to use public transit to get back to their house.
we got back about 1, and in bed by 1:15. jake was able to sleep right until seven, when i woke him up, but i had been kind of tossing and turning, looking at the clock at 4:15, 5:30 and 6:30.
anyways, we were able to get tim horton's for breakfast (!) and it was delicious! we were able to find our way  to the airport, and everything went extremely smoothly from there on in. we got to kelowna earlier than originally scheduled, which is pretty amazing for a vancouver flight in december. and our parents were there waiting, my mommy had flowers,, and her and anna cried.
it was just lovely. :)
so we're home now, and it just feels so bizarre. i love my home, my shower, my parents. its a very great feeling, dont get me wrong. but it's just so different. so....small town.
i think i like it?
anyways, im super tired and half jet lagged.
so...
off for now!!

--t

its snowing in my wooden shoes.

its snowing in holland!
and i feel bad, because im so excited to go home to the snow..but its so cold here that im just really bitter.
plus we don't have proper winter attire with us, so i feel its reasonable that i dislike it in this setting.
goood. now that thats settled.
we got into amsterdam yesterday, and found our hostel and everything.
its actually ridic how much pot there is here. in all of the souvenir shops, they totally play it up. pot leaf ashtrays, lighters, flavoured rolling papers, there is everything.
as well as cool souvenirs. i bought myself a hoodie today. because of the snow. i wanted to be warm. and i liked the hoodie. :) but am now officially broke.... ugh.

i cant believe that we leave tomorrow morning. honestly, its crazy.
i wouldnt say its gone by too fast, but..it doesnt feel likeenough time.
its just been so amazing to see all that we have seen, i would love to continue it and explore more. but...its over now. like, there is no more 'oh well maybe we can make time to go here'. now we have to go home.
im really just hoping i wont freeze to death once we get there.

also, we have these two pothead brothers in our room from melbourne...and...last night, one of them got up in the middle of the night, and started peeing on some guys clothes...
the guy woke up and said 'what are you doing?'
and the guy said 'just takin a wee, man.'
and thats all.
very interesting city.

its actually a shame, though, becasue its so beautiful, but most tourists only care about the pot and the red light district, and they dont really get a chance to see how pretty this city actually is. all of the brick houses on the canals are just so lovely, but people are too busy doing drugs to care.

honestly, my hadns are so cold i cannot type.

xoxo

--t

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY MCCLELLAN!

ITS JENNY MCCLELLAN'S BIRTHDAY!
SHE'S 18 TODAY!

HURRAY FOR JENNNAYYYYYY!

the land of wooden shoes and windmills.

we are officially in holland! and have been since saturday night! we are slowly learning dutch! and by that i mean Oog, Dood, Niet Nu, and Dank u. which, respectively, mean Eye, Dead, Not Now, and Thank you. yes, we are basically bilingual.
we went to Jakes relative Wendy's 27th birthday on sunday, which was freezing cold and outside, but we met a lot of his extended family, which was quite nice.
then yesterday we went up to Leeuwarden (i think thats how it is spelled) to look for Sophia Ruiter! she goes to the same university as jakes...cousin. and so we went up there and called her and went to her class and she wasn't there...but still, it was a very lovely small town! i really liked it!
and then we went out for lunch and i had a sammich. it was vair good.
then today we went to Jakes family farm, located in Huissen. it has a barn and a brick cottage and is cute and perfect for old people. i liked it, also.
then thats it.
and tomorrow we have no plans, we might go to amsterdam for the day, but we just arent sure yet.

im so excited to come home. and i know i shouldnt be, because this is the trip of a lifetime, but still, i just want to wear clothes that i havent seen in the past two months. ugh. im so sick of my wardrobe i have taken it upon myself to create new cute outfits for when i get home. its that bad.
im excited to see snow and be able to dress appropriately for it, not wear a tank top, longsleeve, hoodie, and rainjacket all piled on top of each other for any hope of warmth.
i know that i'll be travelling again, hopefully somewhat soon, so i think thats why im so okay with going home. because i know i will be out and about again soon.

ps its actually so nice to have homecooked meals again. i made breakfast the other day, and it was just divine! it was a piece of toast with an egg and cheese. and i loved every second of it. and WE HAVE FRUIT! jakes family has mandarin oranges and kiwis and bananas!
and they buy real cheese! and like, even MORE real than at home! THEY BUY IT IN THE ROUND!! yaahhh! its absolutely delish.

HOLY CRAP STACEY LAMBERT AND ARIN MORRISONI HOPE YOU READ THIS!
THEY HAVE PESTO CHEESE!
like, legit cheese...infused with pesto.
can you imagine the tastiness of the pasta sauce that could be made so easily with pesto cheese?
HOW FREAKING GOOD DOES THAT SOUND??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!
im rambling now, and its literally because i forgot i was typing. i was planning outfits.

xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

--t

ps. 7 days! (not in the scary phone rings ima kill you way. in the im coming home in seven days way! huzzah!)

in bruges.

HI ALL!
we are in Bruges, Belgium! andd let me tell you, it is absolutely beautiful.
now, though, to backtrack! holla.
soo we left Paris and got to Arras, all was good. we walked and found the tourism centre, all was good. we asked about getting to Vimy Ridge and everything, she said a taxi was easiest, so we were all, dope. and then asked about cheap accommodation. she told us that they had a youth hostel type thing there (!) so she labelled it on a map, and we went there.
well...let me telll you. it was a catholic church/school/accomodations... but it was cheap. it was extremely out of our way, and the night that we did stay there was so scary. i swear it used to be an insane asylum or something. because it was very institutional feeling and SCARY. and it was cold...and scary :( and me and jake couldnt get to sleep because it was just so bizarre. but eventually we did and had a bad sleep.

anyways, after we checked in there (before the bad sleep) we went back to the tourism office and she called us a taxi. the taxi took us out there, and we got one of the canadians working at the memorial to help us figure out when she could pick us up. we got there at 3:30 and it closed at five, which was too bad, but still good enough timing. we got to see the memorial first off, then there was a free tour given of the trenches and tunnels. the tour was really cool, i learned a lot, even jake learned some (once again, who knew he didnt know it all?). The tunnel system used was for transporting goods from the base place 10 km back to the actual soldiers in the front line, and it was cool....we learned a lot, actually, but i probably shouldnt blog it all.

all of the workers up at the memorial site are canadian students who sign up for a four month period. its cool that way, because it is a government job, but gets them out of the country. you DO have to speak french, which is a shame, because spencer, i swear, you would probably really enjoy that job. jake and i both agreed that we could picture you doing it.
uhm...then the taxi picked us up and we went back to scary townsville.
we decided that we didnt want to spend two nights there, seeing as it was not interesting in arras, so we are now in Bruges, which is unexpected but fun.
we went on a night time walking tour, and bruges is actually such a beautiful city. we would stay here longer, but there are no rooms available at the hostel we are staying at :(.
so tomorrow we are off to live with Jakes relatives in holland for a while, which i am very excited about. then off to Amsterdam, then home.
miss you lots!

--t

bonjour, mon amie. pt deux.

well helloooo we are in Paris!!!
neither of us expected to actually like it here, but we really do! its really pretty, and although it is very cold today,  we had lovely weather yesterday! we went on a walking tour yesterday, and that pretty much took us everywhere.
in paris there is one massive skyscraper, and you can go up to the top of it (for a price, of course) and see all of paris. we decided to do that, because then we'd actually get the eiffel tower in our view, and not be in the eiffel tower. so we went up and got this lovely view of this massively sprawling city. after the skyscraper was built, they made a law that no buildings could be bigger than it, because they hated it so much. so you just see this city that sprawls out forever, and then the eiffel tower!  it was a really cool view. all of their blocks are triangles...and you really notice it from up above.
once we got down, the sun was starting to set. so we walked to the eiffel tower. it was so pretty at night! once it gets dark, every half an hour or so they do a light show! so its lit up at night all over, then suddenly BOOM it goes crazy wth lights! so pretty!
i didnt expect to be blown away by it, but i really really was.
we went up to the Montmartre district today...and...I SAW MOULIN ROUGEEEE!!!!!!!! not the show, but the building where the show is....the cheapest tickets to the show were 80€...roughly $110...and we dont have that...but it wasstill cool.
the Montmartre district is the artsy district. van gogh, picasso, and i believe monet all lived there. Amelie was filmed there mostly. and its your typical 'Paris' area. very lovely :)
you should be jealous. i am jealous of myself.

--t

break dance, not hearts.

woooo wooooo!
we are successfully in COLOGNE.  or Köln, if your German. or Koeln, if your german, but cant find the ö on your keyboard.

anyways its really cool. you get out of the trainstation and the cathedral is RIGHT THERE. (ps martin, i also heard it was older than the o'keefe ranch...and laughed so hard when i read that).
anywwho that was really sweet. we got in last night and it was all cold and rainy, and we did our laundry. then got döner kebaps from a very delicious place down the road..
um....then today we woke up and went for a walk. we went to the cathedral, and there was a service happening, as it is Sunday...and we felt bad being tourists in a church that was being used so we left. we were going to walk up the 509 steps of the tower, but decided...that it was a better idea to go across the river to the lookout tower with an elevator.
so we did. we walked across the main bridge, and its really cute, because couples put locks on the fence part of the bridge, to show they're love for each other and stuff, and it was covered in locks. and i think that its a common wedding gift or something, because a LOT of them were engraved with dates, and it was just so beautiful. and one of them, there were two green locks, each with a name, locked to a fence, also locked together with a mini red lock, which had a date, and then a little heart key chain was attatched. it was actually adorable.
then we got across the river and went to the lookout tower. Köln is a very pretty city, and not built up very much. the highest point is pretty much the cathedral. on the river, the houses and restaurants look a lot like seaside towns. the buildings are very  narrow and tall.
after that we went to the...wait for it...CHOCOLATE MUSEUM!!!!!!! AH and it was just as amazing as it sounds! it was so much fun! and you walk in and buy your ticket, and they hand you a chocolate! and its an actual museum, about the history of cocoa and all that stuff, and even brings awareness to cocoa farmers who are being taken advantage of. did you know that 75% of cocoa farmers never taste chocolate?? so sad.
theres even a little rainforest area  that you walk in and its all rainforesty and it has the climate adjusted to what is needed to grow cocoa beans. really cool.
then, you walk into this room, andthere are all these machines, and it is how they go from cocoa beans to chocolate bars. a lot like willy wonka, except not colorfully painted. and then you walk farther, and theres this massive chocolate fountain, and a lady handing out chocolate fountain samples.
*Mary and Martin, your chocolate fountain was put to shame by this one. and Spencer...youd have gone insane. like, the first time we went to marble slab, times five.*
then keep walking, and a machine showing the melted chocolate being put into molds, and then wrapped, by chocolatiers!!!!
at the very end of the tour there was a cafe, that looked hella expensive, and a chocolate store...
so we bought a bunch of lindt chocolates. and ate them.

---t

I want an iPhone and money.

Hello all!
So, since my last beer filled blog rant, we have been a very busy couple of bavarians!! We went to Dachau concentration camp memorial, which was very informative, very powerful, and of course, very very sad. It is the only camp that was used throughout the whole of the third Reich (1933-1945), and we were able to see what bunkers looked like as hitlers reign transformed. We were also able to go into the gas chambers. Technically theyare not allowed to say they were ever used at Dachau, because they have no evidence of them using them for mass killings. They were, however, sId to have been tested, mosst likely on single prisoners at a time. It was very very eery to be in the actual showers.
On a more lively note, the next day we took a day trip to Augsburg! We went to see the cathedral, which is supposed to have the oldest stained glass windows in the world. We did see a cathedral, but didn't see stained glass, so we don't know if it was the right one. It was old though! And the town of Augsburg is just lovely.
Today we took a tour of Neuschwanstein castle, which is the original Disney castle! It was much younger than it looks, being built around 1880, never finished though. It wAs really interesting to learn about how it came about, and King Ludwig II.
Tomorrow we are off to Cologne for a couple of days, then off to Paris!!

Ta for now
--t

i heart germany

we went to this german brewhouse restaurant typething tonight, and, seeing as we were in bavaria, it was very bavarian.
the waitresses were dressed in lederhosen dresses, and they sold your drinks by the half litre...and me and jake had two beers! and they only sold the beers there, because it was a brewhouse!! it was actually so fun. i couldnt stop smiling. there was a nice old man from munich beside us who we talked to. the tables were laid out as big tables, and you sat with a bunch of people you didnt know. we met him. and he was friendly. and i spoke so much german to him!! im so proud of myself. :D

munich doesnt seem to have as much to do as berlin did, but there are a few tours which we are excited to take, such as the concentration camp Dachau, and Neuschwanstein, the pretty castle.
um..thats about it for now. :) our hostel is nice, but i didnt sleep at all last night thanks to a snoring man. he honestly snored louder than anything ive ever heard. it was ridiculous. you may think i am overexaggerating, as i have had a litre of beer, but no.

this main was like a chainsaw.
sooo no sleep happened for me.
but other than that, it seems nice :)

--t

ho hum.

well well wellll!!!
yesterday we went out to Wolfsburg to visit the Autostadt! which is where volkswagons factory is and their little volkswagon city! it was actually really cool. you get into it via this walking bridge (you can also drive in...but we didnt...) and then your in this big building where you buy tickets and stuff. which were kind of expensive. but it had like, three restaurants and a shop inside. then you could walk out and Volkswagen,  Lambourghini, Audi, Seat, and Skoda pavillions, which were just buildings which had the cars inside. the Lambourghini pavillion was weird. you walked in, and there was this orange lambo on the wall, and then it was just a bunch of really loud engine sounds and some b.a. music, and weird lights and smoke...then the wall turned around for a bit, then it came back in...and thats all it was.
all the other ones were actual showcases of their cars and stuff.
there was also a Premium Clubhouse, which only had one car in it, but it was a Bugatti and painted witha mirror paint. it was sooo very nice. i liked it..
and then they had a museum and a place to buy cars, as well as the two towers which each hold 400 cars, and there are car elevators, and they distribute 500-600 a day. it was cool to watch the elevators go up and down with the cars. you could also tour the factory, but not on weekends, which we didnt know, so we couldnt tour it.
there was also a terrain driving course which, if you made a reservation, you could get a car and go all over these different terrains, like stairs and mud and water and stuff...jake wanted to but we didnt have a reservation. hah.
then today, we went to Topography of Terror, which is the site of the old Gestapo and SS headquarters. its just their foundations, which were dug up a while after the war. it was kind of cool, because it was also located right next to a large strip of the berlin wall, so it was interesting to see how the different hard times in berlin's life were so close to each other...ya know?
we also did the Reichstag today, which was really pretty. its their main parliament building, but on the top they have this big dome which you can go up for free to visit. theres also an audio guide with it, and so it tells you about all of the city on the outside of the dome, and what goes on inside. in the middle of the dome, you can look down and see the parliament doing its sessions. we were there at night, and berlin is super pretty at night.
tomorrow we move onto munich, and its going to be a bit sad to leave berlin, we've both really enjoyed our times here.

also i bought a faux fur hat today. :D

--t

the death of one person is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.

oh hayy berlin. im really loving you!
we've been having so much fun here so far, we've already booked an extra couple of nights, because we've just been having wayy to much to see!
we've been on three walking tours already. a general, free one, that just kind of took us to a few places, a cold war tour, which was kind of interesting, but i feel like the tour guide wasnt the greatest, and we went on a third reich tour today, which was very good.
i really enjoy learning about the cold war, and as there are parts of the berlin wall still up, its easy and interesting, and its all everywhere. as well as reminents of the second world war, there are a lot of memorials to the deaths of the millions of people. berlin, and germany in general, is very good at admitting their wrongs, and helping people learn from their mistakes in history. there is a jewish war memorial, as well as a holocaust musem right under it, that was completed in may 2005, and its right in the middle of the city. its all just so interesting to learn about, and i think even jake is learning things (who knew he didnt know it all...;) )
erhmm..yeah.
we've seen the brandenburg gate, the big tv tower (ha. the architecht died like, a year after it was built..so they call it his last erection...teehee), the reichstag (although we havent been in it yet) and a bunch of other things. there is seriously so much to see here, its insane. also, because they just did daylight savings, its getting dark super super fast, and so its getting dark out at like 430, and its really throwing us off...
uhm, what else...
thats all for now.

xxoxoxoox\
gossipgirl

VERY IMPORTANT; PLEASE READ!!

I really want a Chow Chow or a Samoyed dog.
please google to see pictures.

they are adorable and fluffy and i want to love them.
that is all.

hollaaa

heyyy sooo, convincing didnt end up working...not even for me...i think im convinced that we saw a lot of prague, and did a lot of exploring, so we are indeed moving on tomorrow, to berlin! dont worry though, its all good :)
so yesterday we went walking and explored old town (prague is like, divided into sections; old town, lesser town, jewish town, and then some different residential areas) and it was very pretty. theres this big Old town square, and its just a big touristy area but very pretty, with lots of old buildings and churches and stuff. we went over the river, and there was a bunch of boat tours, and we ended up going on one of those. it was really nice, actually, quite cheap and a great way to see a lot of the rivery parts of prague.
after that we went up to Prague Castle. its up this MASSIVE hill, and theres all these restaurants everywhere. and here, Hot Wine is all the rage. its warm and spiced and its just like apple cider...with wine in it. so i tried some, and i can understand why people enjoy it. i don't know if i would try it again...but...it was still kind of cool.
the castle itself was absolutely gorgeous. we didnt go in, im pretty sure you had to pay an entrance fee, but we walked around it. its mostly gothic architecture, and its so...haunting looking. very fitting for halloween :)
after we left, we walked over this bridge, and below it was this walking path area filled with trees which, as it was fall and changing colours, was beautiful. we didnt go down, but we walked along the edge, and it was marvelous. we just explored and explored and explored.
today we just spent all of our time walking around and exploring some more, and it was really fun. it was a really nice day out, weatherwise. it wasn't sunny, it was quite cloudy actually, but it was warmer weather than it has felt in a while. i didnt even need a jacket! i wore a cardigan and a scarf and gloves and was a perfect temperature.. and i wore pants. with leggings underneath...so my bottom half was very comfortable and warm...
yayy!
tomorrow we are off to berlin, and because jake and i both really like germany already, i wouldnt be surprised if we stayed there longer than our four night expected stay. we are pretty sure we arent going to Copenhagen anymore, seeing as the hostels there are extremely mediocre ratings for quite a high price, so we're probably going to give ourselves more time in Germany, and possibly go into Belgium to explore Brussels or Brugge.
so, thats what is happening in our lives right now.
also, jake is covered in bugbites and we dont know why. we are assuming bedbugs, but now that we're out of vienna, im fine...so maybe his clothes carried them with him?
uhh ohhh.
love you all :)

--t

martin is a very funny person in my life. LOVE YOU UNCLE MARTIN :)

this post is not an ode to martin niedballa...i just needed everyone to know that he is making me smile by his funny and very wise comments. thank you :)

okay, sooo our second day in vienna we went to the big wheel in vienna (its like the london eye but in vienna and super old and cooler...) and it turns out its in an amusement park... heh...heh...
sooo the amusement park was free to get into, only you had to pay for the rides. and because it was like the last week it was open in the season, it was basically dead. sooo we went on a ferris wheel and played on the bumper cars with some little kids, and got to go kart race!!! we got candy, too.
then, we went on the big wheel, and got to see all of vienna, which was a beautiful view. i really loved it, wish we could've spent more time there, though
then after that we went to find the Imperial Palace, but couldn't, and found a movie theater, soo...we went to watch The Social Network.. it was so good. and the theater had super comfy seats...and super cheap concession...just expensive ticket prices...tsk tsk. ;)
anyweez. we are now in prague and i am trying very hard to convince jake to stay here longer, because i decided i want to stay here longer than 3 nights...soo...
come on guys, convince with me!!

and thats all for now, but thank you for your time.

xoxo
gossip girl.

slow down, you're doing fine.

Yayy we are in Vienna!!! It's chilly Palmer outside, but I like it! It's falltime and so here are leaves everywhere and it's all orangey and gold and yellow and so freaking pretty!! We went to the Danube tower yesterday, which is like... A pathetic version of the Calgary or cn tower... The one that spins on top. May e they both do. Anyways, it was cool, you could see like all of Vienna from it. Gorgeous.

We then went to the UN building and did a tour!! It was really cool, there were only three of us, we were all canadian! The other guy was from Victoria! It was awesome. Did you know hat the um helps poor countries attach satellites onto rich countries so they can be sen out for cheap? Yep the UN does everything.
I really like it here, it's clean and pretty and i can speak german.

Last night in our hostel, I woke up to someone talking loudly, the. Hearing 'theres a naked guy in our room!' and I guess some drunk naked guy came in and tried to lay with one of the girls in my room...and it was funny to me.

Not to her though....she almostfainted.

Anyways, Vienna is nice and were off to Prague tomorrow!
Ttfn

--t

everybodys dancing in the moonlight.,

we're in florence now.
there's really not much thats exciting here, we've been super bored, actually.
and i know, im in italy and complaining, but whutevs...
we're going to see the statue of david today...which is pretty cool...
and...um...there was a thunderstorm here last night and it was really loud...

last night was a lot of fun though because in the reception room theres this big couch and a flatscreen tv and night at the musem 2 was on, so we watched the end of that, and then I love you beth cooper was on, and it was all in english, and it just felt so nice, because all the tv shows and stuff have been in french/spanish/italian and we cantunderstand it so there was like, five of us just sitting there all cozy while it rained, watchinig i love you beth cooper...
it was nice...and....
thats it.
its rainy and gross here.
we're going to vienna tomorrow night...
k love you bye.

dear peggy and alan price:
please check your emails.

love your only daughter that you have.

fun days!

okay, so yesterday, jake and i went to pompei!! it was super fun and so interesting.
we hopped on a train, and then it took us to pompei, and all along the road there were fun vendors selling pizza and fresh orange juice and everything.
we got into the actual site of pompei, and got our ticket, and were looking over the view and this american lady asks us "hey, can i ask you something?....what is this town all about?"

and she was serious...
so we told her, without laughing...it was super awkward. who does that?? WHY DOES SHE GO THERE?
friggin.
but it was amusing.
anyways, we walked all around, and saw all the fun things (read...bodies) that were there.
because the ash fell on them, and i think it hardened or something, then all of the bodies decomposed and were gone, so there were cavities in the ash. when it was excavated, they filled the cavaties with plaster, and so the bodies looked exactly like they did when the people died. (im sorry this sounds super morbid, it was just so friggin cool.) and so theres one and the person looks like they are crying or praying, and some are crawiling, and there is a doggy. :(
we walked around some bathhouses and you can see into all of the houses as well, and some of them, the flooring was still intact, and it was very small tiles, and some of them had like, tile pictures on the floor.
and then the walls were painted and everything. it was all just so interesting and so cool to actually be there!

and then today we went to Capri.
holy freaking crap.
it was the most beautiful place i have ever been ever in my life ever.
its this island, so we had to take a ferry, and we got there, and its this luscious mountain with all these gorgeous white mediterranean looking houses just like, going everywhere! along the harbour/bay there are restaurants and shops (holy expensive...).
you then take a cable car up to the upper level of capri, where people live and shop and stuff, and its just so pretty. it was a beautiful sunny day as well, so we got some sun!
we walked around for a little while and saw stuff (prada, jimmy choos, roberto cavalli...)
and then went to find the chairlift.
the chairlift (seggiovia) goes from anacapri (a town thats basically capri but technically its own municipality and is just up the hill from capri) to the very tip top of the island.
so we get to anacapri and its right there.
and its just like a ski chairlift, except it only seats one person.
and we paid and got on and it was so amazingly beautiful!
you could see all of capri, across the ocean to naples, and it was a sunny day and just so amazing.
when we got to the top there was a bar/restaurant thing that was super expensive, but it had a patio to sit at, as well as a bunch of viewing points where you can take pictures and stuff. so we bought a water and just sat in the italian sun for a while...yeah, its tough...
anyways, the way down was a tad more difficult...it was just so steep. and even though the chairlift doesnt go fast...it was very scary.
mom, there is no way i would ever wish this upon you.
i thought on the way up "oh, mom could totally do this, its not that bad"
but on the way down i was so scared and ugh. please dont try this, mother. ever.
go to capri, but dont go to the top. its not worth it for you!

anyways, we got to the bottom, had a bite to eat, then went back down to the harbour.
that was pretty much it, except, it was longer while we were there.
ALSO at the harbour we wanted gelato, so we looked for some that looked good, and this guy had slushies outside his restaurant, and he seemed like a nice guy, but we didnt want his slushies...so he's like "you wanna ice cream? we gotta homemade ice cream!" so...we went in and he had about a jillion flavours, and it looked delicous, and was a tad expensive, and we bought it....
and it was worth every penny.
they have these ice cream bars called Magnum Gold, and theres a double caramel one, and they made that into a gelato, so i got a scoop of that, and a scoop of Ferrero Rocher.
and jake got Kiwi (yes...kiwi...and he liked it) and a scoop of mango.

once we got back to naples we started walking back to the hostel, and saw this Caffe Mexico, which we heard had really good espresso..so we went in and got cappucino's...even though it was like 6:00 pm... heh....good luck sleeping tonightt!
so all in all it was a super expensive, super fun day, with beautiful weather and a possible tan (YUUSSS)

seriously though, my ultimate vacation spot is now Capri.
and i looked into it...and hotels there aren't cheap...

love you all lots!
--t

this is mafia territory.

SUP IM IN NAPLES!!
its really cute here, and only slightly sketchy and dirty!
I actualy really like it though.
our hostel is called Giovanni's, and hes this super nice italian guy that loves naples. we got in and for like, an hour, he showed us on this map all of the things we should do and see and how to get to the cool places and everything.
one of the most famous pizzerias in italy (Gino Sorbillo's) is right down the street, and the guy who started it, totes invented the calzone!!! we went there last night with some really nice australian friends that we made here, and it was absolutely freaking delicious. i think im obsessed, and we'll probalby go again tonight.
he freaking invented the freaking calzone.
today me and jake just walked down to the harbour, and went into this fortress thats right on the ocean, and just explored for a while.
in about five minutes we're going to this underground tour of like, old naples...i think
anyways it soundsjust so cool.
naples is really beautiful, and only kind of sketchy.
giovanni showed us on the map where mafia territory was, so we're going to avoid that area for a bit probs.
tomorrow we plan on pompeii, which should be very cool to see.
we decided that we arent going to do greece, because its quite expensive, and when we go, we want to have time to island hop and enjoy it all, and probably go there in the summer ish time when the weather is really nice.
its a good thing, too, because it gives us more time in italy and germany, which we really wanted and kind of needed.
we cant figure out where to stay in venice, because all of the hostels are awkward/expensive/ gross...sooo.....we're not too sure where we stand on that front yet.

other than that, my lungs are killing me, so im hoping that the more halls i have, the better i will get.
i really like italy.
and pizza.
mmmm...

okay, love you all!!
xoxo

--t

I heart rome

I SAW THE FREAKING POPE!!!!!!!
we went to the vatican and were there for part of mass!!! And it was the pope!!! I have video and everyhing!!!!! Yaaa!!!
I love rome so much.
Dear hailee sellars: i feel compelled to tell you this after your last message to jake about diners drive ins aand dives... There is gelato everywhere. We are literally having it every single day. Its so good. So good.

For everyone else, we went on a waalking tour yesterday, and it was really cool. The dude waas from iowa. We went to the pantheon, the colloseum, walked all over, pretty much. Theres just so much interesting and badass history here.
And, although i am ashamed to admit it, i havent seen Gladiator, so it was super interesting to me, because i apretty much knew nothing.
Also, in the middke of the city, there all are these ruins, and a long time ago there waaas this rat proble,, so kind brout in all these kitties from egypt to get rid of the rats...but then they hads like 10000 kitties and didnt know what to do. So...they just left them. But now there is all these cats, so in these ruins a lot of the kitties live thewre, and theres this cat shelter that got started up to feed all of them and give them shots and stuff, and if you want you can adopt a feral roman cat!! I definately thought about it...
Also, before mussolinis reign, there wasnt a lot of the roman ruins that were nice in the cit, but mussolini waas a major factor in restoring them and finding all. These roman ruins, an d he even recreeated the circus maximus, which is where all the chariot races were. Niw its just a park, but its the thought that counts.
Thanks mussolini, you did soe good!!
Uhm..tomorrow we are going back to the vatican (we dsecided to stay an extra day, because we love it so much) and going. To see all of the museums, and the sistene chapel and stuff.
Also, i bought a lovely italian pashmena scarf!!! Its a lovely peach colour. It was probably made in china...but..its the thought that counts!!

Well, im off for now, gotta go explore rome!!!

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox wish you all were here!!!

--t

When in Rome...

Hiii everyone who decided my last blog wasn't comment worthy... I'm slightly pissed...

But wharves, I'm in Rome!!!!!!! I love ig here already!! Our hostel rents out ipads... And we had Italian pizza, and I am soo getting this massive plate of Pasta at some point!!! Ya ya ya!!!! It's dally nice here and we are going on a walking tour of rome in about an hour, and we get to see the colloseum and pantheon and everything cool like that!! I am so excited!
The weather here isn't that great, but I'm still soo pumped that we are here!! In Italy!!!!! Yay!
We are hopefully going to the Vatican tomorrow, so well say hi to the pope for all of you.

And thats about it.

Xoxo
--t

i sat on the brown stool, because we both just went poo.

HIII again.
we are in madrid, still.
holy efffff im so tired of it. its not exceptionally nice and the weather has been quite poor. it is also kind of sad it isnt on the ocean.
but today the weather was nice and we went to Parque del Retiro and it was absolutely looovely! the weather, the park, the greenery, all so amazing.
these little kids came up to us though, and i didnt undertstand, i thought they just wanted a signature, but then i saw they wanted money for this Blind and Deaf foundation, and they kept telling me 20€! and i got flustered and gave it to themm...
and im really pissed off about it becasue i didnt want to and didnt understand but they pestered me and i was so confused.
so im never letting my guard down and never talking to strangers again.
frick.
im getting upset about it all over again.

anyways, tomorrow is our last day here, finally!
we´re heading off to barcelona again, to catch a train to milan, to catch a train to rome, where we are staying for 3 nights. we planned on staying in milan, but all of the hostel reviews had so many comments about bedbugs, and it was just getting ridiculous trying to find a place to stay. so we´ll probably spend a couple hours there looking around and stuff, then just head off to rome!!!!
also, we were all spanish today and had churros with chocolate sauce at breakfast!!!!
and tonight i think we are going to a flamenco show!!!!!! A REAL, FREAKING LIVE FLAMENCO SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ahhhh im so excited, i really hope we can.
uhm, so i think thats pretty much it.

we took a walking tour with this guy who was super cool. his name was pablo and he was originally from Buenos Aires and then moved here and he speaks english and spanish and he loves it here and madrid has like, a kind of relatively cool history, the way he explained it. so that made our stay a bit nicer, as well.
uhm, yeah.
but if you ever go to spain, id recommend madrid for a maximum of two nights...
and then go to barcelona and valencia.
i love you all, and im sorry to say, am NOT missing you :)
well, i kind of am, but not in a homesick way, at all!
so thats a plus.

okay, bye!

blech.

okay, calm down. we're going to paris, just later in the trip.
we're in Madrid right now, seeing as we couldnt get any tickets to Valencia. but soon! SO SOON.
by that i mean, the day after tomorrow.
Madrid has been awkward. we could only book last night and tomorrow night in the hostels, cause they're all booked up tonight, so we had to find a hotel (which i am at now, and is a four star hotel, and it was super cheap, and it is so nice, and i kind of love it...)
but its been so gross and rainy since we got here, like pouring rain today, and the hotels website said it was close to the airport, so we took a taxi, and judging by the size of my wallet afterwards, it wasn't so close.
i want to get to valencia, and i want it to be sunny, and i want to lie on a beach. yes.
we tried planning out greece, but its awkward to get to. cause we either haveto take a LOOONNNGGG train ride there, for like, next to nothing moneywise, or spend WAY more money than wanted/needed on plane tickets/ferry tickets.
sooo...i really do hope we'll get there, because it seems like we have a lot of time left for long train rides, but who knows. maybe we'll go up to Norway and watch a hockey game or something instead ;)

Barcelona was lovely. our hostel, the town, the sights, everything. just lovely.
we went on another hop on hop off bus tour there, and the only thing we hopped off to do was the zoo!
so we went to the zoo.
also, peacocks are native to spain, apparently, so they just kind of hang out, around zoos, like pigeons.
also, PEACOCKS ARE JUST AS ATTRACTED TO FOOD AS ANY OTHER BIRD, EXCEPT THEY ARE MASSIVE AND WILL PROBABLY KILL YOU FOR IT..
not that i was scared or anything...ughhh.

ehm...yes. the bus tour was really cool.
if any of you have been watching how i met your mother (as we are) you know how in the last episode Ted's lecture was on Gouidi's unfinished chapel??? yeah, dont mean to brag, but we were there. we saw it.
it was actually really cool and beautiful. since he died, its been being built at a pace of however much money they get through donations. they also offer tours, and the ticket money from the tours goes towards it being finished. its totally massive already, too, and just gorgeous. if you want to google it, please feel free, i just have no idea what it is called or how to actually spell his name. Try Gouidi...if not Goidi?possibly Guidi? i think the last one mighhhtt be your best chance. then just type Unfinished Chapel afterwards. OR YOU COULD TRY 'unfinished chapel-barcelona' and i bet it would come up.
holllaaaa.
its honestly pouring rain and is so cold. i could literally see my breath.
and i thought spain was warm...weird.
i really want to go to greece.
but after Valencia, italy is next. so hopefully its nice there, we're going further south, into the southern parts of italy, like...some cities in the south...
friggin im sorry, i don't know italian geography.

this is mostly me rambling because im bored...
i think we're going to TGIFRIDAYS tonight...
yayyy...





k bye.

--t

The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.

heyy all! so it has been a while, it seems, as we were in Normandy, in small towns, where there is little to no wifi available, and no internet cafe. but now that i am in BARCELONA, SPAIN!!!! there is an internet cafe that i have made very available to myself.
Bayeux was very very cool, we went to Juno Beach and the museum there, and we also went to one of the war cemetaries there! it was very emotional and cool, we found a George Sellars from Sheffield who we are assuming is related to Jake in some way, which is very exciting.
after bayeux, we were all, oh lets go to paris.
then we got on the train and looked at some of the hostel prices and decided...nah, lets go to spain.
so that is why we are here. the weather is sooo nice and sunny and hot and everyone is speaking spanish and its so great to relatively know a language and be able to speak it in common travellers conversation.
thanks, ge4!!! but seriously, it does kind of remind me of nica, except like...rich...
anyways, SPENCER PRICE.
just so you know, i had mcdonalds again.... dammit.
and MOM AND DAD.
send me spencers home phone??? thanks :) i miss you guys and hope your thanksgiving is super fun and love and such of the like.
STACEY LAMBERT i really miss you.
i miss your voice and your face and you being near me.
TAYLOR SMITH...i found a grave that was T. Smith. i took a picture of you beside it. they were canadian too...miss you.
and...last but not least, everyone else who is ´making nightly love to my blog´, thank you, i miss you and love you.
IM IN SPAIN AND ITS SUNNY AND HOT AND WARM AND I CAN WEAR SHORTS AND A TANK TOP AND FLIP FLOPS.
i kind of had to rub it in everyones faces, just because im so freaking excited.
ya ya ya
also, we took an overnight train from paris to barcelona, and in paris there were army guys with assault rifles just walking around.
and in train stations, seeing pigeons is excessively common.
i frigging hate birds, and they were getting so near to me.
ùhm, this morning, when we were getting in, we were right at the south of france, looking right into the mediterranean, with the sun this BRIGHT ORANGE colour, and it was so beautiful. i love sunrises. and yeah, it just made me feel really reassured and loved and im happy now :)
spanish keyboards are very different than canadian ones.
all my love,
--t

Bonjour, mes petit Amis

Hi I'm in France.
The ferry ride was really nice, a bit rocky last night when we were trying to get to sleep, but we're on an ocean...so it's expected...
It totally felt like the suite life on deck though. Like there were all the hotel rooms, three movie theaters, bars and pubs and restaurants and cafes. Looovedd it. We watched get Jim to the Greek and ate a bunch of junk food and that didn't feel so well as the sea was rocking to sleep...but...you know.
Were in France now, and it's nice. That's kind of a lie though, we got into Caen And all we have seen is the train station and the road next to it. Turns out, nobody speaks English here, and I kind of had a panic attack... So we just got a hotel that was right across the road. Cause it's nihttime and stuff...
This is boring. I'm sorry.
Ta for now.


--t

Beagoraaahhhhh and such

Well hello from Dublin again!! When I last left you we were going on a city tour. Well, we did that. It was actually really cool and interesting. We got off at the national Irish museum that was actually really not very interesting. They did have these bog bodies though, which were human remains that were found completely preserved by peat and stuff... Weird and gross but cool. It was around 530, so moat of the cool museums and stuff were closed. We saw the outside of the Guinness storehouse though!! Haha we could e gone in if we were a bit earlier, but Alack and alas, we weren't. Also, for those of you in mrs maakells English lit class, do you remember Jonathan swift???? He wrote gullivers travels and the modest proposal? Well, turns out he's Irish and from Dublin. Near the end of his life he typing he was going insane so he donated a bunch of money to go to an insane asylum out in the countryside so crazy peoples screams wouldn't be heArd by city folk. Anyways, his body was dug upbNd examined a while later, and it turned of he just had some ear disease...sucks.
Today we did a south coast tour of Ireland, where we got to see the ocean and coastaltowns and ended up at this fancy castle with fancygardens. We saw sinead oconnors house!! It was in a really pretty seaside town. Just divine.
Tomorrow we are off to France. To Normandy, more specifically. But we can't figure out how to get around without renting a car... But well figure something out.
Ta for now

--t

i apologize, this is going to be a very boring entry.

well, after flying in (late) and searching for a very long time in the dark, we found our hostel.
thank you nerdy german tourists!
anyways, we got in to our hostel last night and it was very comfortable, but its right in the city center, so its very noisy, as buses are constantly running.
oh well, a cheap place to stay is a cheap place to stay.
we went walking around today and haven't really seen much, mostly just walked up one road...but it was a lovely road. with a cool Spire, and a memorial gardens with a pond in the shape of a cross. beautiful, just beautiful. so thats what we've been up to today...
we're probably going to go on a hop on- hop off bus tour right after i finish this, though. and go all over dublin, seeing the guinness storehouses and stuff like that.
tomorrow we're thinking about doing an all over ireland tour, which sounds very cool, but quite expensive, so we're still on the fence about that. as well, it leaves at 7 am. and i just hadn't planned on being up that early for a very long time....so...i guess we'll see? yeah. lets go with that.
i like ireland so far, everyone is very pleasant.
like canadians...with accents.
quaint.

anyways, ta for now.

--t

Alton Towers

so yesterday, jake's kind of cousin and his wife took us to this place called Alton Towers. its this theme park thats built on the grounds of an old castle type thing, and the castle is there still, too. anyways,there was this stupidly scary ride called Oblivion which i did not go on, thank goodness, but Garreth and Jake did. it was a roller coaster and it took them very slowly up this massive hill, then kind of stopped right as they were w=about to plunge over this completely vertical drop. like, completely vertical. into a black hole. literally. WHO DOES THAT???? it looked so ridiculously scary im so glad i didnt go on it.
i did, however, go on FIVE OTHER ROLLER COASTERS!!!!!!!!!!! i dont do roller coasters, and i went on five of them! real ones!!! fast ones, plunging ones, upside down ones, lying down ones. ahh yes, i did them all by myself :) not really, cause i sat with jake the whole time. but kind of..

anyways, google Alton Towers. I went on Rita, Thirteen, Air, Nemesis, and Sonic Spinball. so if you can find those, like videos or anything, be proud of me. ahh yes.

we are off to ireland tonight, and im really quite nervous about it...so lets just hope it goes well!

also, i really wanted to try a Chomp, which is some kind of chocolate bar caitlin and lisa told bme about, but i couldnt find them ANYWHERE. soo we asked Garreth and emma,and they took us to a convenient store, and they didnt have them. but they found Curly Wurlys, which i guess are the same kind of. and they were so delicious. it was just chocolate with toffee in it..but it was just sooo good. and apparently im getting to try a Chomp today! yayayayayaaaaa!!!!!
miss you all :)

--t

holla from sheffield

hi guys :)
so kind of awkward...we got to sheffield train station without talking to jakes famjam, and then we called and they were like 'oh...um...we're leaving for the weekend. but come to our house anyways and well figure it out'...and we were like...kay... but then it all worked out and we had a lovely weekend and met lots of jakes lovely british and child-filled family and went to Chatsworth (gerry, i hope you're reading this. if not, hailee or anna, if you're reading this, can you tell gerry we went to chatsworth?? k thanks) and it wwas so cool. it was this big old castle manor type thing with these massive grounds and gorgeously kept gardens and it was so regal and there were portriats of all the royalty (dukes and duchesses) and their fancy dogs that they kept..yeahh that was a bit odd. anyways the grounds were so nice!! i loooved them, and...decided i want to live in a castle.
and then...tomorrow i guess we are going to an amusement park..with rides...and im stressing a little bit over this situation...oh well..see how it goes.

thenon tuesday we're going to ireland.and it was a very long and complicated situation of how we were going to get there, and we finally figured it out and stuff, so hopefully all goes well. ugh, stressful. frickin.
and then ont he first we are off to france! huzzahhhh! lets hear it for baguettes, berets, and the beautiful.

--t

ps. miss you all incredibly and am just getting over a bout of homesickness from last night. :)

hello all!
well, what a productive day in london was had.
it was absolutely disgustingly pouring rain (i loved it) from the time we woke up until about 2, but nonetheless, enjoyment was had. we bussed our way down to the London Eye, and it was so freaking amazing!! £17.99 per person, but still, ridiculous. we got in the bubble with about 10 other people, and got to see how big london really was! we were right across the river from the parliament buildings and big ben, and could see the whole of Thames. which was very extremely dirty, but still, kinda cool.
it was sabout half an hour, and we got sooo high up in the air. uhm, yeah it was cool.

we then walked across one of the bridges to the parliament buildings and just walked around for a while. we went to Trafalgar square and the ministry of defence building and it was really cool.
once we got back across the river, however, jake decided he needed mcdonalds, and although i was not hungry, i ate it as well, and have had a stomach ache ever since :(
i have banned mcdonalds the rest of the trip.
ah well.
still, quite an eventful day, we got a lot of sightseeing in, and a lot of pictures!!!

--t

i think london just got rickrolled...

SO last night we went for a walk, and found the Thames Path, which is a path, right along the Thames River. Which may seem pretty obvious, except its like, right beside our hostel. and it looks at and leads us right to the LONDON BRIDGE!!! AHHHHHHHHHH so exciting!!! like, it was so pretty, i still can hardly believe that we were there. especially right at dusk, it was soo gorgeous.
also, as we were about to walk up the stairs to it, we passed this pub, and there was a some jazz versions of popular songs. as we were walking up it was yellow, by coldplay...and when we walked down, it was Never gonna give you up, by rick astley.
i kid you not.

it was beautiful.

anywhooo today we went to the Imperial War Museum and it was really emotional and lovely, except we were there for far too long, in my opinion. but jake was happy, so i was like, whateva. it was still really cool. there were exhibits from world war 1 to present day, and there was a whole exhibit dedicated to children in WW2. i cried. lots. it was amazing.
we walked back to the hostel from it (bad idea) and it was so far. blech. but we got to see so much of london, it was really cool
also, nobody in london smiles at strangers. i try to smile at people when we pass them and they usually keep there eyes on the ground or pretend they don't see.
and apparently their dogs aren't that outgoing either. i saw a dog in a park, and was like 'puppy! puppyyyy!' and it looked up, and instead of wagging its tail...he ran away.
WHO DOES THAT???

so probably the london eye tomorrow, wish us luck!!!

xoxoxo
--t

LONDON

HI IM IN LONDON!!!
like, where harry potter is. speaking of harry, we came by train into King's Cross Station! LIKE WHERE HARRY POTTER IS!!!
except it was all under construction and looked nothing like the movie, and i was all, wtf...but you could tell the thought was there!!!!!!

yayayayayaaaaaa!!

the hostel we're at is a YHA hostel, and its so much nicer than the one in edinburgh. more like,a  hotel. and i got a full whole nights sleep without waking up!! PRAISE DA LORD.
anddd we have less than 5 minutes on this computer so ill be quick.

it took forever for us to find our hostel, and we got in and our cards werent working, so we coudln't pay! so we looked for an atm, and we got back casue it didnt work, and they were like,w hateva, we'll just take your passports and let you sleep and you can pay in the morning. so we did.
HURRAY!

kay, love you lots!

--t

you're acnes cute.

HI FRIENDS
i have followers now that im not in vernon anymore...ya ya ya ya ya!!!
we're in glasgow now...and its just not as nice as edinburgh at all....its like new york city in the way of cleanliness, and like an extremely religious town in theway that nowhere is open on sundays. not even coffeeshops...EVERYONE WANTS COFFEE ON FREAKING SUNDAY MORNINGS, WHY ARENT THEY TAKING THIS INTO CONSIDERATION????????

also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHOEBIE!! i love you and miss you, babygirl.
also, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO CAITLIN! it was yesterday, and i didnt put it on here.

sooo..we're staying in a hotel here, cause it was cheaper than the hostels, and....its so big and nice...except the bed is hard and the duvet weighs 9375943771 pounds....or 4678945889 kilos. :)
i didnt sleep last night.when we got there i took a nap, and then from 10 at night (local) to 5 in the morning (still local)i was awake.
balls, i tell you. it was balls.
anyways, i was starvingt this morning and ittook foreverto find somewhereto eat so we finaly did and i got scrambled eggs on toast, and the eggs made the toast soggy, with yogurt and fruit...but the yogurt was plain...not vanilla, but PLAIN. who willingly eats that? me...because it was somewhat good.
i like coffee.
and need more of it.

--t.

Trains planes and automobiles.

Gaaaaaahh!!!!!!! So after an excruciatingly long and wonderful day in Edinburgh we had to depart. We had walked the 287 stairs to the top of the scottmonment... Kind of balls but soo rewarding. We walked around for so long and saw solo much. We had lunch at this takeaway place called... I don't remember butit was French. We got Hess burgers with cheese, but it was like, shredded cheese, and it burned and hardened around the edges and was so delicious. For supper we went to his place thAt reminded me exactly of the talkin donkey. Same cause and beliefs, insteAd of being focused on coffee though it was focused on the food, which was amazing. Penne with chorizo in a sun dried tomAto sauce? Yes please!!! We also walked around at nighht on a Saturday, and I keptmy head down but a couple guys said hello to jAke.. We think. Their Scottish was unintelligable. After we checked out we went to Edinburgh castle, which was so beautiful and expensive but worth it!!!!! It was actually amazing, words can't reAlly explain. Were now in Glasgow, and we haven't explored yet. Just slept. :)


--t

IM IN SCOTLAND.

as you read this i am in scotland. edinburgh.

and holy crap its just how you picture it.
although most of the main roads are paved, there are, indeed, cobblestone roads. how happy do you think i am? like...so happy.
also, i have seen four people with tartan on. two of which were kilts.
love it.
uhm...im in an internet cafe thing, and we just came from a really cool scottish tourist shop. and they have all of their cashmere items on sale for 50% off....i almost bought stuff...uh oh...

the flight...was so long. and i slept for some of it, very uncomfortably.

and our hostel beds are very comfortable!! yay yay yayyyy!
alrightt.....bye :)

--t

IM LEAVING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






kbye.

and when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while.

soo i tried to make a vlog, but it wouldn't for the life of me upload onto this....im so sorry. truly, truly i am.

anyways, who cares, im leaving IN TWO FREAKING DAYS. THREE MORE SLEEPS.

yeahh holy cow. 

im all packed, well, my clothes are and thats all that matters.

i need to buy...bandaids. and nail clippers. and ibuprofin.

and then im all done :) :) :) :) :) :) ayayayayyayayaaaaaaaaa

holy bajolie im so excited!!! 

also, have you ever noticed how beautiful street lights look in the rain at night? like when they reflect off the road? its so pretty to me, and i love driving in the rain at night, just so i can see stuff like this. have a good night, think about the rainy streets. its in the little things.

--t

love.

ima get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans.

SOOOO 8 days until we leave.
oh dear.
im soo nervous its kind of ridiculous.
also, i just spelled it 'riduculoud' and i laughed...to myself.

heh...
anyways. yeah. so i started my packing list and a practice packing sesh and im realizing now that i have no idea what kind of clothes i will need and how much to pack and all of that stuff, which is slightly worrysome. also slightly worrysome, we don't have our flights booked home yet. WHOOPSIE. haha. maybe if we put it off long enough i wont have to come home and can find a sweet career in a foreign country. or we'll win the british lottery or something. basically the same thing.

also, a quick congratulations to TAYLOR SMITH FOR GETTING HER FREAKING N!!!!!!! im so proud of you babygirl, and also proud that you have indeed actually been using your license and driving by yourself. and im super duper proud that you went to get your food all by yourself, even going into the restaurant. :) you're coming so far. you'll be ready to move in with me in NO TIME :) hahahaha.
i love you.

also, i was at work this morning, and my whole back started hurting. and...it just definitely hasn't stopped. what is this? like, nine hours. i really hope i'll wake up and it'll be better. :) thats what i'm pulling for.

anyways, prayers for our trip would be lovely. im so excited and will start keeping you guys much more updated, seeing as we're leaving in eight days.
yeyeyeyeyeyeyeeee.

--t.

blahh

it's always going to get better.
but what about the one timethat it won't get better, right?
like, fight, make up, fight, make up, fight....don't ever make up.
it didn't get better, it got worse, it ended.
things end. and usually before they end, they get worse. it's either sad, because you know its over, or its anger, because you know it's going to end and you don't want it to.
it's kind of frustrating. and by kind of i mean a lot of frustrating.
sure you can hope it's not the end of things, but how will you know, until after its over?

now, on a lighter note, we booked our flights. we're now flying into edinburgh scotland on september 15th!
which is very exciting, and definitely a change compared to what we had planned out.

and on a LIGHTER note than that.
im watching the jersey shore aftershow...and wtf is this ronnie and sammie business? they look almost 30...but act 13? that about right? yeah?
like...if you had them on facebook...would they clog your thread with going from single to in a relationship to its complicated?
would they have a valid anniversary on facebook?
oh, im so glad i don't worry about these things.

and now, a few thoughts from a very funny person who i've never personally met, but seemed to stumbleupon.

http://www.bangitout.com/articles/viewarticle.php?a=2874

also, stacey, i love you and miss you already. you're going to do so amazing at queens, and everyone will love you. if not...take your shirt off? that'll help.
xoxo.

--t

FACK FACK FACK.
well...i guess life throws you curveballs....ugh. that sucks so bad.
sooo i guess we might not get to go to europe on our scheduled time.
like, it may be very awkward and i'll have to tell my boss again because i don't facking know what to do.

im so scared to tell her :'(
and im so frustrated about this situation :(

dammit. i guess you can only rely on yourself.
and jesus.
:)

--t.

born from a boombox.

as you've noticed, i've made some changes to my blog.
such as, the name.
anyways, i watched step up 3d, and loved it
so its now bfabb, which stands for born from a boombox.
yeah, im a dancer, not a big deal or anything. :)
also, 20 days till i leave for europe!!!!
im so excitedd!!!
less than three weeks until i can stop working and just be relaxed and not have to worry.

nothing has happened of significance. i literally haven't had a day off in over three weeks now. and im feeling the strain. its my bedtime, im getting grumpy all the time.
oh well. i'll try and be positive for the trip :)

i just want to get out of here.

--t

this is a battle, and its your final, last call.

soooo 35 days until i leave for europe, and thats whats up.

we've been looking at medical insurance, and we got our eurorail passes in the mail.

thanks, UPS.

and, i've just been working lots and lots and lots. i haven't gotten very many days off, its either one job or the other, so i think next paycheck will be nice.

hopefully...

ehhh whateva.

also, stacey comes home in 3 days!! hurrah! im so excited.

and thats about it.

also, here's a little rant i feel like ranting about.

its not always my fault. 'im just kidding' and 'its just a joke' seem to be your catchphrases, and they're obviously not true. if you are kidding, its not funny. and you seem to realize it wont be, but still somehow find ways to put the blame on me. its not always my fault, i just wanted you to know. you mess up most of the time. im sorry i cant read your mind, im sorry you can't read mine. is that my fault, too? that i can't read your mind? probably. but whatever.

keep telling me it'll get better.

make me believe it.

--t.

Vlogs from Van pt 2 &3

Vlogs from Vancouver July 8th-11th

blame it on the rock and roll.

I GOT MY EURORAIL TICKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i got a 2 month consecutive youth pass which goes in like 21 countries (not Scotland and England though)

it was just under $1000, which i feel is pretty legit for two months.

blahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

as well, I get discounts on ferries and such of the like because of the pass I'm getting.

Jake and I are also getting London Passes as well as their Travel pass. the travel pass is for public transit in London, and the London pass gets you into like 70 different attractions around London for free, as well as discounts on a whole whack of other ones, which is pretty awesome.

its 46 days until we leave.

which is stupidly close.

and I'm ridiculously excited.

soooo, be excited for me?

kay, good.

t.

planning.

well, last night, after work, me and jake went to cold stone creamery.

and then stayed up until 3 in the morning planning our europe trip.

it. was. awesooooooooooooommmmeeeeeeee.

except we got, oh, maybe three countries done.

i think we're going far too in depth with this.

i mean, we're really only going to be there for three months, we aren't going to be able to see everything, right? right.

so i mean, we can't go into such large amounts of detail.

im hoping that once we get there, people will say, oh you have to see this, and then we'll go see this or that and everything.

but still, im a planner, so i AM enjoying planning things on corkboard.

also, how do you like my new layout?

good?

yeahhhh me too.

--t

its a beautiful world; we're all here.

soooo almost a month later i am blogging.

i got another job, at planet beach.

its a contempo spa. tanning beds, spray tan booths, this steamroom/sauna pod thing, an infrared massager, some facial stuff, some teeth whitening stuff, you know, da ussssual. so i have been working nonstop and making mad scrilla (not so much.)

but...it is now summer.

and i am really learning who the friends are that you wanna keep around. like, you know the ones that you actually want to be friends with in 10 years or so down the line? yeah. the real ones.

also realizing that so many people aren't that.

also, how come all throughout high school i barely had to deal with any drama, and now that im out, even if it is just barely, its when the drama starts?

seriously children? seriously?

ah well. soon i'll be out of here, and when i get back everyone else will be gone for good.

thankkkkkkk goooodnesss.

also, my parents have taken a liking to just leaving every five seconds. also by that i mean every weekend.

it started with the nakusp music festival last week, which they were gone thursday- monday night. then we were all working and i never saw them.

now they are in vancouver (friday night- sunday night) then a nice week off for them.

and then soon as friday hits, BAM.

they gonna be in nelson. then nakusp. then camping.

for a whole week.

and then im basically gone to europe, sooooo goodbye parents?

i miss you.

so pathetic, im going to live at home forever, i swear.

but on the bright side, there's a toga party coming up!!!

TOGA TOGA TOGAAAA.

where i will get slightlyy sloshed and may or may not finally tell people i don't like them.

huzzzahhh!

anyways, i must be getting back to my summer.

soon this blog will turn into a travel blog, during whilst you can all read about my exciting adventures to neverneverland.

not actually there. but pretty much everywhere else.

YAYYYYY!!!

-t.

blahhhhgspot.

gahh so i am having an emo day.

one of those things where all the little things build up and make you want to punch someone and something in the face.

hard.

bahh.

my phone is such a pissoff and i can't delete anything and so all of my texts look like drunk texts and i don't feel good about myself and there are those girls, you know the girls, that you're friends with that get everything? everyone likes them, everyone thinks they're amazing and everything and its just like. FUCKING PAY ATTENTION TO ME FOR A SECOND PLEASE. holyy such an annoying thing.

everybody's pestering me to do stuff and its like...dude.

its the first week of summer vacation. let me just escape from you for a while. i need my me time. does nobody else need that? do people feel the need to constantly be surrounded by people all the time? cause i dont! at all. i like being alone sometimes. i just need to back out and be like..hode up. back up off me. but no, people don't understand that sometimes i just want to lie outside at HOME. not at the beach where there is bird shit and children screaming and dirty water. i want to lie outside on my deck, where there is little to no bird shit, swim in my clean pool, and have almost silence.

yes, that sounds just lovely.

silence.

and when you have those days where everythings breaking, you just lose it? the cord to my laptop was under it. and i couldn't move it for some reason. so i screamed at it....

loudly...

oh dear.

at least ranting here is making me feel a LOT better about things. :)

mica had her concert last night. ryan, phoebie, stacey, arin and taylor and i all went. we were all bawling when she finished. it was such a beautiful song.

i love you mica and will miss you terribly. don't forget me when you're famous.

brooke's birthday is on saturdayyy and so friday night its her birfday partyy! im SO EXCITED. i think that after this week i'll be able to be in summer mode and go to the beach and stuff. which is quite nice.

im planning out europe as we speak, also.

like, i have a map that i am drawing stars on for where we want to go. red stars for both of us, yellow for just me, blue for just him.

really though, im down for anywhere.

i just want to get out of dodge.

--t

holllllaaa

so since i have last talked to you, i had my dance recital. which went so freaking well and was so freaking emotional. it's our last year dancing, all the grads, sooo we were sad.

then, i graduated!!!! holy ballsack it was so much fun! my brother and his gf surprised me by coming when they said they werent! we had pictures in the park, then the ceremony then we all went out for supper at this divine little italian place :) it was soo nice. then we went to the school and walked around in our dresses, then had the first dance with your parent slash someone you care about kind of...thing. then we danced our faces off. then we had our supergraddd wooooooo.

the theme was masquerade! which wasn't really prominent in the decorations or activities but still! they started the night out with some fire dancers. like, a troup of people who danced with fire. it was so cool. in the big gym they had the big bouncy things all set up, then they had an arcade room with rented arcade games. then there was a magician there all night just doin some tricks. you know, the usual. up in the grad lounge there was the casino. which was four blackjack tables and a crown and anchor game. it was actually so addicting, im nervous to turn 19 and play with real money...hmmm.

in the cafeteria there was like, so damn much food. there was a party subway sub, panago pizzas, sushi, fruit and dip, veggies and dip, crazy bread and crazy sauce, pop, chips, chicken wings, and a candy table. where you just put a bunch of candy in a paper bag and had a candy bag. it was so freaking sweet. then at the end of the night the hypnotist came, and it was so freaking funny. i laughed so hard, for so long. it was gorgeous.

it was sweet, i got so many presents that i didn't really think i'd get.

like my grandma gave me a pair of earrings that belonged to my great grandma and are absolutely stunning. my aunt gave me a necklace made with beads that grandmothers in africa painted, marty's family gave me a makeup case, purse, and big mirror (sounds weird, but im so okay with it.) and hailey got me some looseleaf tea and this AWESOME travel mug! its glass, and then you sip through a strainer, so you can have looseleaf tea in it and don't have to be awkwardly sipping plants. :) just divine.

it was such a great weekend! after supergrad a few of us went to emilys for breakfast, and it was such a nice way to finish it off. when i woke up in the morning it was so sunny and i just hung out by the pool all day with my family. it was actually just so freaking great.

im so excited for summer.

so. excited.

lets hope i can get into a better mood about some things, though...

--t

theres so many pregnant people.

holy cow

seriously. there are so many people who are preggo!

like, i know 14 people who are either too young or were not wanting to have a baby...that are.

so maybe theres something in the water. because this is just getting ridiculous.

seriously, young ones.

use protection, it's what its there for.

listen to the sex ed lessons.

its what its there for.

NOW PUT ON A CONDOM.

hiiiiyeeee.

sooo today, i decided that it would be a prime day for me to go and talk to travel agents.

so i did.

i went down to uniglobe, and girl was all, hayy, i'll send you an email with the deets. and i was all, hayy, back. and then i went downtown to marlin travel, and the lady there was super helpful and went into details about almost everything and made me feel like her child. so i felt well protected. anywho, prices for roundtrip right now are about 1000-1300 dollahs, so, its all basically the same. but they both told me that prices fluxuate a LOT. and alison (at marlin) told me i could probably wait until like, july. which i can do. soo we're probably going to save up more money, then figure it out. also, when you buy super close to the date, airlines are just trying to put cheeks in seats, so it'll be dirt cheap. so we might do that too. but i haven't told jake that. heh. surprissseee.

and then, i went home, and my parents went down to the poolroom, and pulled out this massive backpack from like ten years back. and its in like perfect condition, is a beautiful size, hooks a sleeping bag onto it, and i think may be perfect for when we go. :)

my only concern now is packing. because i want like, one nice outfit for if we go to a nice dinner somewhere. cause i don't want to be extreme grubbin. but i have to pack casual and light enough that it doesn't hurt my back and can go places. so this may be a concern.

i WILL figure this out though.

hoorahh.

also, yesterday, i applied for sign language up at the college.

sooo, hopefully that means i can take it and get into SFU for fall 2011.

hopefully...

alas.

but soon this will become a beautiful travel blog!!!

ahhh lovee it.

travel blogs from all over europe. hurrah!!

--t.

no one ever said it would be so hard.

okay so my birthday was abso-freakin-lutely perfect. Jasmine made me a cake and we had presents and cake and chips in geology :) she bought me these super cool face towel things that are the size of tums and you put in water and then they turn into a face cloth. soo cool. :) and lip chaps and eye shadow and lots of fun things :)

after school jake picked me up with a cupcake from chickies and he tried to light a candle in it and it was adorable :) then we went back to my house and i got his presents :) which were great and for europe and im super excited for europe :)

and then we had a family dinner at maharoba and it was in this super cute back room thing and the food was amazing. :) mary and martin got me a pedicure and my mommy and daddy bought me a video camera!!! im sooo excited. gahhh.

anyweez. since then, its been super blah. jake and i have been fighting lots. like, lots. and i feel like most of our fights are perfectly normal reasons to be mad. he doesn't...

jakdfjbahkhbkaklejhkalhfk.

whatever, i'll just bottle in all my emotions from now on. im sure thats super healthy for me....

but at least its freaking finally nice and sunny out!!

and i can get tanned and happy from the sheer amounts of vitamin D going into my skin :)

thank goodness.

well, on this beautiful sunny day, i must be off to work.

holllaaaa.

--t

birthday suits.

SUIT UP.

its mah birthday tomorrow.

kay bye.

lately.

oh hellooo again!

how art though??

well, i am pretty good. i think.

i had a very long dance rehearsal today, and realized that some of my costumes look stupid as balls. i also realized that pantyhose are such a ripoff because i paid 8 bucks for a pair that was supposed to fit me according to the sizing chart, and didn't at all, and ripped as soon as i put them on. kay cool.

also, it's my birthday soon :) on tuesday.

i'll be 18. it's been such a great 18 years that i've had. im really blessed :)

also, i'm starting to worry. of course. what else is new. i'm just worried because i feel like i've always been very clingy with jake. like i love talking to him all the time and being with him all the time and even if i'm sick and super tired i wanna be with him still.

and then last night, i was sick and tired and sleepy, i just went to bed. without a fight for him staying over or anything.

and i know thats stupid, cause i mean, it's almost been two years since we started dating, and i really should be at that not clingy point anymore, and i hope thats what it is, but what if its something else? like i know its not...but...gahhh.

and it's super busy time right now, like every june. it's everyone's grads, its my birthday, it's dance show and many rehearsals, and it's my grad. but i know that in a month it'll all be over and good and i wont be stressed anymore. but especially because i am pmsing like a psychowoman, its really really weighing on me.

but i know it'll get better as soon as school is done (forever!) and the sun starts shining :)

sooo, i think thats all, but i really don't know.

my neighbors are smoking pot right now.

i can smell it cause my windows open...

but im too lazy to close it.

kay now im done.

--t

let's tell them all.

Let's take the train to anywhere

I wanna feel the wind in my hair with you.

Let's tell them all, that soon they'll know

How very wrong they were to think we'd never go,

And if you tell me yours I'll tell you mine

And we will clean the cobwebs out of one anothers minds.

Don't ever say you've tried to leave me in this life

Don't ever say you've tried for the last time.

We'll get a house where the trees hang low and pretty little flowers

On our window sill will grow

We'll make friends with the milk man and the butcher Mr. Timms

Will give us discounts when he can,

And if you tell me yours I'll tell you mine,

And we will clean the cobwebs out of one anothers minds.

Don't ever say you've tried to leave me in this life

Don't ever say you've tried for the last time

Don't ever say you've tried to leave me in this life

Don't ever say you've tried to leave me in this life

Don't ever say you've tried for the last time...

wake uppp

well, before i went to sleep last night, i was expecting a text. and waited 15 minutes before i turned my phone off and slept.

when i woke up this morning, all it said was

'you know'.

and i was like...wtf obviously i don't know or else i wouldn't have asked and waited up way later than i had wanted to just to read that.

so thanks for that.

also, i woke up at six this morning to go to the gym, and i was in the WORST MOOD EVER.

partially because of the text, partially because i don't know why....so that was pretty cool too...

on the bright side, im wearing a giant lion on my bright yellow shirt.

dope.

rip, dog.

goodbye, reebok.

rip.

:'(

you've been my puppy for 15 years. i'll miss you.

hello, its been awhile.

well now hellooo its almost been two weeks since i've updated you..

probably because nothing exciting has happened in the past two weeks.

except for grad kidnapping, which went very well, may i add :)

it was pretty fun, and now all we have to do is wait for the boys to kidnap us :)

hollaaaa.

also, grad car wash was on mothers day, and although i got quite burnt, it has turned into a tan. :)

just in time for it to get rainy and cloudy and for me to lose it. yeah.

thats whats up.

yeeuppp.

so although i have been hitting the standup beds, i think i may go for a spray tan...

cause i want to..

yeuuppp.

anndd i think thats it.

OOHHH and phoebie got her tattoo today and i got to go with her and she said it hurt a lot and i like it.

AND jake's sister had her baby and her name is Kairi and she is pretty and i like her. :)

sooo, yes. that has been all thats been up with me.

which is just divine.

and i think its time for my tatttooooooo asap.

also, reebok is getting put down on friday, and im kind of a wreck, and i don't want it to happen, but i know its for the best, and its really sad to me. like, im super broken up about it. but hopefully i can get his pawprint as a tattoo. and i don't care if you think its stupid, i like it, because i've had him since i was a baby.

soo you can just go suck it.

xoxo

gossip girl

what comes next?

I don't know what I've done

Or if I like what I've begun

But something told me to run

And honey you know me it's all or none

There were sounds in my head

Little voices whispering

That I should go and this should end

Oh and I found myself listening

Cause I don't know who I am, who I am without you

All I know is that I should

And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you

All I know is that I should

Cause she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

See I thought love was black and white

That it was wrong or it was right

But you ain't leaving without a fight

And I think I am just as torn inside

Cause I don't know who I am, who I am without you

All I know is that I should

And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you

All I know is that I should

Cause she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

And I won't be far from where you are if ever you should call

You meant more to me than anyone I ever loved at all

But you taught me how to trust myself and so I say to you

This is what I have to do

Cause I dont know who I am, who I am without you

All I know is that I should

And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you

All I know is that I should

Cause she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

Oh, she who dares to stand where I stood