Well, tomorrow I fly to Amsterdam. There's a myriad of thoughts and feelings that go along with the increasingly real sense of the adventure to come. Today I left my grandparent's house (after setting them up with skype and a webcam). I had such a great time, and am so glad I got to spend that time with them. My cousin Corina is putting me up for the night in her cute (even if close) coachhouse quarters. Every time I stay in TO I get a new perspective of it. ...

It's been a busy few days, again. Thursday Grandma, Grandpa and I went raspberry picking in the morning. It was such a fun morning on the farm, running around, sitting in the grass and munching on some berries. As my Grandma says, they don't weigh you when you leave. I later made a lovely raspberry peach pie with finely chopped candied ginger scattered throughout. As amazing as the pie was, the highlight of the last few days has to have been our trip up to Owen ...

The last few days have been busier than I'd hoped. Much of the visiting family left yesterday and today in typical mass exodus fashion. Today was the hardest though. Mom left to go back to Victoria. As much as I've been planning all this, it still seems difficult to get it all to sink in. Now it seems the trip has begun. Yesterday the family went over to St. James for a visit to the farm market and outlet mall. An odd combination of shopping experiences i...

Somehow it seems like a week has already passed here....that either speaks to the amount of fun being had, or the number of family that have been pouring through my grandparent's house. But let's start at the beginning: Wed July 7th Last full day in Victoria, with desperate hopes that my passport would come soon. Well, after a long struggle with the Italian Consulate (give them at least 6-8 weeks to process your Visa regardless of what they say), I got notice...