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I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday.

I’ve still been sneezing all week… stupid trees. Kate thinks I might be allergic to birch because there is a big birch tree right outside our bedroom window and birches have a lot of pollen. I googled birch allergies and all sorts of frightening articles came up about “oral allergy symptom” where people with pollen allergies also develop sensitivities to lots of fruits and vegetables. UGH. I noticed today that my mouth felt more itchy after eating an apple. I will continue my study for the next little while.

Work has been a little bit crazy the past few days. As we get further and further along in my program the more we are expected to do on our own. The other day they had a staff meeting and me and the other student had to keep scanning while they were talking. AHH!! (We could easily go and grab a tech if we needed one, btw). Sometimes I feel like I am doing quite well and sometimes I feel like I suck. I have noooo idea really. I wish I could fast forward until September and just find out if I get hired anywhere or not. GAH.

Ever since I got back from Fiji I have been following a weight lifting plan from a book I got from the library. I lift 3 to 4 times a week and that’s it! I love it. The rush you get from being able to lift a heavier weight than the day before and the physical changes you can see in your body are very addicting. My plan is to stick with this all spring/summer and then by next skeleton season I will be much more capable.

Dad and Kate’s visit to Vancouver was very nice. Very short, but I will take what I can get! We rented a car so we could bring them to and from the airport and we met up with Winnie and ate delicious sushi. That and sleeping and them washing off 2 weeks of Fiji sweat pretty much encompassed their whole visit, haha. They should definitely come back.

This coming weekend should be a good one. We will get to hang out with Janine tomorrow, and go to the Fan Expo and the Canadian Video Game Awards on Saturday. I finally get to have my neck ultrasound (apparently I have an enlarged thyroid), and I don’t have too much homework. WOOHOO!

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My calendar for the next couple months just went from empty to exciting. I’ve got some great events coming up in Vancouver that I am really looking forward to.

1. Canadian Video Game Awards – April 20th, 2013 – Vancouver Convention Centre

Scott and I are lucky enough to get to attend as VIP again, thanks to Janine (my roommate from way back in first year of university). And this time she will actually be there!! This is more fun for Scott but I am also looking forward to the free wine, cool demos, and Canadian B-list (C-list?) celebrities.

2. Eat! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival – May 24th to 26th, 2013 – BC Place

Eat! Vancouver is back!!! This was one of my favourite events I have been to EVER! It only costs $14 if you buy your ticket online and is totally worth it. Last year Rosemarie and I ate so much we had to waddle home. We ate more than 50 samples! LOL.

There will be tons of vendor booths giving out free samples and if you still have room in your stomach you can buy appetizer-sized plates of food from local Vancouver restaurants for a couple dollars each. There will be a wine, beer and spirits tasting area, and this year there will also be a special area dedicated to gluten-free food. If you want to take a break from stuffing your face you can watch demonstrations and seminars by Food Network celebrities and chefs!

And when you leave you get a goodie bag filled with more samples and lots of coupons! If you love food, you really should go to this festival. (BTW, my spiel is a little long for this one because this year I get to attend as press! Go blog go!)

3. The Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting – June 8th to 12th, 2013 – Vancouver Convention Centre

This last one is a bit nerdy. The Society of Nuclear Medicine is the American professional association for nuclear medicine techs and doctors. Every year they have a big conference and this year we are so lucky because it is in Vancouver! AND students get to attend for free!! I think it will be along the same lines as the Society for Neuroscience conference I got to attend in 2007 and that means lots of posters, vendor booths, talks, and other science-y delights. It will be really interesting to see how far the rest of the world has taken nuclear medicine because Canada is actually very behind in it in a lot of ways. I am excited!

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GAHHHHH I hate trees so much.

I am having a bad allergy day. My eyes feel so scratchy and bad. :( My whole face is itchy, including my eyeballs and inside my mouth. Whyyyy.

Allergies are just the dumbest things ever.

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TADA! Here is the long awaited DOUBLE daily dinners post: Los Angeles and Fiji edition. Thanks for waiting! I hope you enjoy this post, there’s lots of new stuff and I chatted a bit.

Favourite Recipe #6: kokoda, duhhhh. I will try and make it this week I think.

Favourite Recipe #7: rorou. I doubt I would be able to make this at home though! Rose should try it at her apartment. :)

march 8th, 2013 – breakfast buffet (at Ayres Hotel in El Segundo, California)

This is actually a lie. We had popcorn for dinner at the basketball game but I didn’t want to show you a picture of that (again) so I took a picture of my breakfast at the hotel the next morning.

march 9th, 2013 – tree hugger sandwich for me and seafood skewers and broccoli for scott (at Sloopy’s Beach Cafe in Manhattan Beach, California)

march 10th, 2013 – in-n-out animal style burgers and fries and pink lemonade (near LAX, California)

(LOTS) more pictures after the jump…

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Oh my goodness catching up on blogging is taking AGES. Good thing I don’t have much school work to do this weekend! I’m almost done though, I’ve finished my Fiji recaps and my next (DOUBLE) daily dinners post is almost finished and ready to post on Monday morning. Hooray!

Today I thought I’d just tie up a few loose ends and get completely caught up.

My overall impressions of Fiji are AWESOME. I LOVED my trip and I’m so grateful that I got to see and do so much. I feel like I got quite a decent picture of Fiji since I got to see it from so many different viewpoints: as a tourist, as an international student, as a local etc etc. It was great having Rosemarie to show me around and introduce me to her friends from Fiji and all over the place.

Fiji is a little more expensive than South East Asia but it’s also so much less stressful because (almost) no one tries to scam you! It seems that Fijians are very honest people. I found the prices to be generally fair and there were no tricks. I’m sure there are exceptions to this but really I didn’t have any problems. It is also handy that there is no language barrier.

One thing about travelling in Fiji though is that you have to be pretty willing to eat whatever is made for you. At a lot of the resorts you don’t get any choices and your dinner will just be brought out for you already served up on a plate. This is pretty much my favourite way to dine, so I was happy, haha. But if you’re a bit picky you might go a little hungry and I would pack some extra snacks.

I would totally return to Fiji. It’s really not too far from Australia so I’m quite confident we will return some day.

It was also soooooooooooo nice to spend so much sister-time with Rosemarie. She was fairly busy with school while I was there but we still managed to squeeze in a lot of visits. YAY! And then the family reunion at the end of the trip??! Even better! (It would have been perfect if Scott could have come too. :()

Oh kokoda, how I love you. I ate this FOUR times in Fiji. The first was homemade by Rosemarie. Then we ate it together for lunch at Beachouse. Then it was available for lunch at Octopus Resort, where my gushing convinced EVERYONE at the table to try it as well. And then finally they had it at my last meal (lunch) in Fiji on Robinson Crusoe Island. I WAS SO HAPPY.

I read 8.5 books on my Kindle on my trip. KINDLES ARE AWESOME. I read Hopeless, Safe Haven, The Silver Linings Playbook, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Power of Habit, Warm Bodies: A Novel, White Teeth, The New Rules of Lifting for Women, and half of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (no insignificant feat!).

I went to Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles again on the way home and they were sold out of cookie butter AGAIN! I seriously almost cried. I am cookie butter cursed, I swear.

Since I’ve been home I’ve just been at school mostly. I’m back at the gym too following a new weight lifting plan that I’m very excited about. And we had a games night the other night with Lesley. I don’t have very much school work so this weekend has been nice and relaxing. I am so so so close to finished school!!! (5 more weeks of classes/clinical, then 3 months of clinical over the summer…. at SURREY!! my first choice!!!). Then DONE!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!