Check out this wicked awesome care package we got from Scott’s mum in Australia!

Savoys (similar to Ritz but way crunchier/better), BBQ Shapes, various minty things, choc ripple cookies biscuits, Flake, Wizz Fizz (haven’t tried this yet!), Freddo frogs, Fruity Tingles, Chomp, and some Aussie socks!

It made Scott very very happy. He is rationing everything, heehee.

We may have to send Scott over with an empty suitcase just for Savoys. Australia really has better crackers biscuits.

P.S. How does it make sense to have the same word for a cracker AND a cookie??!

Mondays and Tuesdays are very long days at school for me. Unfortunately I was unable to get credit for chemistry because my chem 101 course was SEVEN YEARS AGO. The cut-off is five years, even though the course we have to take here is very very basic. Anyway there are only 7 (out of 15) of us who still have to take chem and that means we have the full 30 hours of class a week as opposed to 26 with less homework.

Between yesterday and today I had:

  • 2 hours of anatomy and physiology lecture
  • 2 hours chem lab
  • 2 hours of nuclear physics
  • 2 hours of radiopharmaceuticals
  • 2 hours of microbiology
  • a chem midterm (which I already got back, I am pleased)
  • 1 hour of chemistry lecture
  • 1 hour of medical terminology (and got another midterm back, quite pleased)
  • and 1 hour of technical math

Needless to say I am pooped. But still 2 assignments, 2 labs, and 2 midterms to work on and study for. Sigh.

Christmas vacation is going to feel so good. We get a full three weeks off. And it’s official: I’m going to Ottawa from Dec 27th to Jan 5th!! Unfortunately Scott won’t be coming with me, since 1) he can’t get the time off work 2) it’s too much money and 3) he gets to go to Australia in February.

I’m a bit bummed I’m going to miss the New Years Day polar bear swim!!! Natasha, maybe we should do it at your house??? jk we would actually get frozen.

This weekend was the UBC Apple Festival. We had a really good time last year, so both Scott and I were quite excited to go again this year. We brought along a friend of mine (one of my classmates) this time and all three of us had lots of fun.

We tasted a million kinds of apples. My favourites were Jonamac, Fiesta (which apparently I liked last year too!), Honeycrisp, and Lord Lambourne. Both Scott’s and Gill’s favourites were totally different than mine, and each others. All apples really do have different tastes, textures, and juiciness. It’s really neat to try so many at the same time. I prefer softer, juicy and not overly sweet, while Scott likes crunchy and very sweet.

Actually we all liked Lord Lambourne, but that one wasn’t available for sale!

Scott entered an apple peeling contest.

I ate the whole peel except this tiny strip, so Scott used it for a disguise.

Scott and Gill shared a piece of apple pie.

And we took a corny photo (that I love).

We all bought one bag of apples. Jonamac for me, Senshu for Scott, and Aurora Golden Gala for Gill.

It really was a great Saturday morning. Unfortunately the rest of the weekend is filled with homework. Back to studying now…

me and my turkey

Our Thanksgiving party ended up being a big success! Lots of fun!

Do you like my homemade sushi apron??

lotsa food

I overcooked the turkey a bit (was so worried about it being safe!) but everyone said it was still good. We put bacon on the top! All 12 of us ate through most of the 13 lbs, except for one tupperware of bits of meat that I pulled off later for sandwiches and a bunch of lunch packs that I sent home with some people. My stuffing got devoured, mmm it was so good. It was a savoury fruit stuffing with apples and cranberries, and vegetarian so Scott could eat it too. We also had two kinds of mashed potatoes (one with mascarpone and crab!),  roasted vegetables and squashes, bread, cheese, beans, salads, 50 million desserts and lots of wine. Probably more that I am forgetting!

I’m pretty impressed that we had such a big dinner with the supplies we had. We had to share knives and Stew had to eat out of a tupperware container though, haha. And Scott had to perch on the back of the couch. I loved how it all went though, with everyone just digging into the food and lots of laughter.

post-turkey pre-dessert coma

haha why does Rosemarie look so disgusted?

After dinner we played a few games of Wits and Wagers and drank more wine. Then the night ended with the boys playing Street Fighter and girls playing Carcassonne, and then one final late night Carcassonne game with Scott since Lauren would be leaving in the morning.

Took me ages to fall asleep. Too much adrenaline after all the hosting and all the fun!

A+ Thanksgiving 2011. Hope yours was amazing as well!!

I am excited! Since a lot of our friends here are not actually from Vancouver and won’t be going home for Thanksgiving we decided to have a potluck Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I think 11 people are coming! I am making a turkey (with bacon!) and everyone else is bringing other bits and pieces. Mmmmm it’s going to be goooood.

It’s my first time making a turkey but we bought one of those oven bag thingies so I think it’ll be pretty easy.

Lauren has been staying with us this weekend. Yesterday we went to the Vancouver Aquarium, which was awesome. I liked the dolphin that kept spitting his food into the air and catching it, and the otter that was doing some kind of backwards wavy swimming.

They also had a sloth!

We also went out for sushi for dinner (ironic?) and then to a friends goodbye party. All in all a very fun day.

Party-times today and then tomorrow I have to do mega homework. Boooooooooooooooo.