tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308128152024-03-07T02:11:28.093-05:00The Best of What's AroundTurns out it's not where, but who you're with that really matters.Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-83341242570168246792009-12-19T13:54:00.006-05:002009-12-19T14:47:21.168-05:002009 in review...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I think I just blew your minds.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">That's right. It's Rachel. Nearly a full year since my last update. I am sure many of you thought you would never hear from this blog again. But I am back with a vengeance.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">So, given that it has been 348 days since I last blogged, I figure the best thing to do is to look at my new years resolutions list from last January and see what I have accomplished. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">1</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Passing my genetic counselling board exams - both the Canadian and the American exams and actually sticking to my study schedule for the above mentioned board exams</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Mission accomplished! I started studying for these exams in January 2009 and wrote the American exam in September and the Canadian in November. Some of you may be shaking your heads as to why a person needs to study for 8 months for an exam. Unfortunately, when I was in university, I found that the only study-method that truly worked for me was a super time intensive method of making cue card quizzes. At the end of it all, I had 427 5x7 full of genetic concepts and 200 cue cards, each representing a different genetic disease that I went through many, many times. Excessive? Probably. But I passed, so I am happy with the way I studied. I should never have to write another exam again!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">2.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Run a 10 km.</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">HAHAHAHAHA. Fail. Seriously. Studying took up so much time in 2009 that I stopped going to the gym in April and haven't been back. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">3. Become more aware of "world issues" - lofty goal: yes. But I would like to be at least somewhat informed regarding some of the major international strife.</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Again. Failure. I think the problem with this is that I don't even know where to go to get good information. I don't know what to believe, so I don't try. Maybe I still need to work on this.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">4. Have an article that I have written approved for publication.</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Well...almost. I am just waiting on my co-author to write a paragraph and then we are sending it off to the a journal. I am hoping that it will be sent in the first week of January, so I almost made this goal. I did, however, present another poster, so that is one more thing for the old CV.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">5. Become competent at keeping in touch with friends who aren't in Montreal (so...the majority of my friends :P).</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hmmm...yes and no. I am making an effort to randomly cold call some friends, but this is a hard thing to find the time for. When I do have a free hour and decide to sit down and call someone, there is no guarantee that they are home and/or available to talk. I am going to keep trying with this.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">So, really. The only thing off my list I truly accomplished in 2009 was passing my exams. But that was really the final chapter in my education as a genetic counsellor. I am a CGC (certified genetic counsellor) and a CCGC (Canadian certified genetic counsellor) and that was what my 2009 was all about. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But 2009 didn't only involve studying. We went a lot of places and had a lot of great visitors. Stay tuned...a second blog post may actually be out before the end of 2009!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;">"Its why I am - unlikely to agree. Why I am - climbin out of my money tree. Why I am - still here dancin with the GrooGrux King" - </span>DMB</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', 'MS Sans Serif', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Geneva, Lucida, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#111111;"><br /></span></div>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-4581391893888503342009-01-05T20:51:00.004-05:002009-01-05T21:26:43.691-05:00A new year with new experiences...So, I have decided to take a page from <a href="http://lifeofchelle.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-2009.html">Chelle</a>'s book and copy her post regarding the many things she did for the first time in 2008 and outline my goals for 2009.<br /><br />Yes, I am one of the those people who make new year's resolutions. I love a list, and what better to list than things I hope to accomplish in the next year! These would include:<br /><ul><li>Passing my genetic counselling board exams - both the Canadian and the American exams;</li><li>Actually sticking to my study schedule for the above mentioned board exams;</li><li>Run a 10 km;</li><li>Become more aware of "world issues" - lofty goal: yes. But I would like to be at least somewhat informed regarding some of the major international strife;</li><li>Have an article that I have written approved for publication;</li><li>Become competent at keeping in touch with friends who aren't in Montreal (so...the majority of my friends :P).<br /></li></ul>I think I can handle six goals in the next year. We'll see.<br /><br />And what about 2008? Well, overall it was a strange year. I did a lot of great things, but I fear that living long distance from Jeff seemed to trump the good times of 2008. Thank goodness that is over with. Here is a list of fabulous things I did for the first time last year:<br /><ul><li>Graduated from a Masters program (whoot!)</li><li>Began my first job as a genetic counsellor (whoot whoot!)<br /></li><li>Went to Marseille, France</li><li>Went to LA</li><li>Went to a Disneyland in North America and went to the Blue Bayou restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (I have always wanted to do that!)<br /></li><li>Wakeboarded, cliff jumped and rope swung into a lake (see last post)<br /></li><li>Road a zip line</li><li>Lived with a roommate for longer than six weeks<br /></li><li>Presented a poster and a platform presentation at two different conferences outside of Canada<br /></li><li>Learned how to knit actual accessories, such as scarves (as opposed to the Barbie blankets I knit in Brownies)</li></ul>That is my 2008 in review. I hope that I manage even more firsts in 2009! I also hope that you, my friendly reader, have a marvelous year. <br /><br />You should leave a comment and let me know one of your firsts from 2008 and one of your goals for 2009. C'mon - don't be lazy :)<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"To change the world, start with one step. However small, the first step is hardest of all." </span>- DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-41369976710432466472008-09-07T12:48:00.003-04:002008-09-07T13:38:01.955-04:00The long weekend of firsts...Overall, I found that this was a strange summer for me - I was away from the lake and from my husband. I was lucky enough to spend both May and August long weekends in Saskatchewan at the cabin, and Jeff was here for July long. Not bad, all things considered.<br /><br />But September long was going to be different. I was going to be alone and in the city (cringe). My friend Danna was kind enough to invite me (or, I may have invited myself) to her cottage at<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashwakamak_Lake"> Lake Kashwakamak</a> for the weekend. We were accompanied by her awesome co-worker Sherri, as well as her dad (who is also pretty swell).<br /><br />I had a fabulous time. As many of you are aware, my cabin is located in a townsite, so it is different than the typical lake experience. Lake Kashwakamak reminded me of Lac La Ronge. This was more like Jeff's lake experience: boating, relaxing, more boating, etc.<br /><br />I didn't do a lot of water sports growing up so I am not a pro-star at them. It took me ten tries to get up on the wakeboard. You should feel bad for the people in the boat who were waiting their turn. I finally figured it out though (on day 3) and enjoyed myself until I face-planted into the lake. Felt great.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2823659178_d31d0d260f.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2823659178_d31d0d260f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2820481526_ba74d367ca.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2820481526_ba74d367ca.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Danna was so much more graceful than I.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2820484740_633f282eb9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2820484740_633f282eb9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We all managed to get up on skis. This only took me four attempts. Not bad...only everyone else got up the first time. I am so skilled.<br /><br />Danna is awesome, again.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/2819657335_f91316974b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/2819657335_f91316974b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Don't mock my awesome skills :P<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2820501026_c3da57146f.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2820501026_c3da57146f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sherri just looks so darn happy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2820502498_061e8c5901.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2820502498_061e8c5901.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We also did some tubing: singles and doubles. Who bailed on the doubles tubing? This guy!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/2820497226_77f2d1c61f.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/2820497226_77f2d1c61f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2819651301_d3e3769ceb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2819651301_d3e3769ceb.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I also did a few more things for the first time during this trip. I drove a boat (forgot to put it in neutral when I was done), I rope swung into the lake (bruised my palm. seriously) and I cliff jumped into the lake.<br /><br />The cliff jumping was an adventure. You see, I have this fear of "low heights". I am not necessarily freaked out by being in a plane, but put me on a ladder or, well, a cliff, and I am not a happy girl. So on day 2, myself and Mike (a friend of Danna's) decided we were going to give it a shot.<br /><br />There goes Mike.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2820505778_5ca8399857.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2820505778_5ca8399857.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And wait for it...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2820509132_1ae25f7f73.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2820509132_1ae25f7f73.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Wait for it...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/2819672885_36fc56a8bf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/2819672885_36fc56a8bf.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Ya, no. I climbed down. I couldn't do it.<br /><br />The next day, we go back out there and this time Sherri, Mike, Graham (Danna's friend Andrea's boyfriend) and I climbed the cliff.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/2823664658_26cfdb6bf5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/2823664658_26cfdb6bf5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Sherri jumps...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2819680213_ecfa75ac08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2819680213_ecfa75ac08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Graham jumps....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2820523674_939d6fee90_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2820523674_939d6fee90_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Both boys jump...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2819684539_b4d68da406.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2819684539_b4d68da406.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />and....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2819688819_ab1062fefd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2819688819_ab1062fefd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />and...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2819686619_13191d3cd6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2819686619_13191d3cd6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />and eventually...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2819690649_0129495b5f_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2819690649_0129495b5f_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I finally did it! It only took me around 30 minutes to get up the nerve to do it. And what motivated me, you ask? Well, the song "Crash" by Dave Matthews Band was playing from the boat. Ya, that's right. I would do anything if you add a little Dave.<br /><br />So overall, it was a fantastic weekend. We had great food (a turkey one night and a roast the other!) and an honorable mention goes to Andrea for making the best s'mores I have ever had; she is a s'mores pro-star.<br /><br />I can't wait to go again next year :)<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"You wear nothing, but you wear it so well" - </span>DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-54548954699346684862008-07-07T21:29:00.006-04:002008-07-08T07:48:10.579-04:00Mini post regarding mini blog...Hey guys. What's up? You may be wondering "Rachel, where are your blog posts about Europe". Or you may not be wondering that. You may have totally forgotten that I went there or that I promised to write about it. And now I have reminded you. Damn.<br /><br />Unfortunately (or fortunately) for you, this is not a blog post about Europe. This is a post about my "mini blog". Yes, I have succumbed to the dark side...Twitter.<br /><br />Half of my readers already know what Twitter is and are already subscribed to me. The other half probably don't want anything to do with this new-ish nerdy internet tool. What it is ? It is mini updates about what is going on in my life at any given moment - in 140 characters or less.<br /><br />"Why do I really want to know what you are doing at any given moment in the day", you ask. Well, I do some pretty awesome stuff. And my life is thrilling. Or not. But I find that it helps me be connected to those who are far away from me.<br /><br />You can update from your computer or cell phone. That means that any craziness I come across on the streets of Montreal, you can read about in real time and not three months later when I finally get around to blogging about it.<br /><br />So are you interested? I bet you are! Go to www.twitter.com for more information and if you are interested in "following" me, search for Rachel Vanneste. We can be twitter friends!<br /><br />I, however, cannot condone the use of the term "tweet". Yes, that is what it is called when you send an update. I refuse to tweet. Period.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 255);">"If I follow along, does it mean I belong?</span>" - Blue man group with Dave Matthews</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-46125143724480981202008-06-18T22:10:00.004-04:002008-06-18T23:00:09.606-04:00EMPAG awesomeness...Prior to my trip to Barcelona this spring, I had previously visited this city in March 2000. It was strange and fun to come back to the city. There were a number of times where I would suddenly come upon a street and a memory from when I was 19 years old would come rushing back.<br /><br />So having visited the city before, I didn't feel the need to be a hard core tourist. I felt that I could enjoy the conference, go visit some of my favourite sites and, most importantly, gorge on sangria and tapas. Glorious.<br /><br />So the main reason that I went to Spain was to go to the European Meeting of Psychosocial Aspects of Genetics, which was apart of the European Society of Human Genetics Conference. It was a pretty decent conference and it was really interesting to see how the genetics services in other countries compare to those Canada/US. The main reason that I went to this conference was to present my poster for my Masters project.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/2561530990_d3a7cd7cab_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/2561530990_d3a7cd7cab_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yes, I totally matched it on purpose. I planned my outfit weeks in advance. I am a planner.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2561531948_44f37cf006_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2561531948_44f37cf006_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>There was also a congress party that was organized by the conference. It was fun - the food was great and the drinks were free-poured. It isn't easy getting up for 8:30 am talks after a night of half-cup malibus the night before.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2561596888_8b0a2506b8_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2561596888_8b0a2506b8_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Hey" you say. "Who is that blond girl?" Well, that is Meghan and she is a GC out of Halifax. We arranged to be roommates via email before having met each other. Luckily, we got along quite well (which is thankful considering our twin beds were pushed together every night that we returned to our hotel room). We got along fabulously and had similar senses of humor, as illustrated in the pic below. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/rachel-and-her-cans-766615.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/rachel-and-her-cans-766613.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yes, we are doing the shopping cart and yes, we are looking at our cans. Honestly, I do not believe that the photo was choreographed. I would like to think that she is (almost) as dorky as I am!<br /><br />This photo doesn't quite capture the awesomeness that is a hundreds of geneticists (researchers, MDs), grad students, genetic counsellors and other famous people dancing to the best Spanish Cover band singing songs from the 80s. I have never quite seen people rock out like they did there. It was too awesome to describe. So I won't.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2561597722_96b7d8db62_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2561597722_96b7d8db62_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So that was the conference. Three cheers for learning! I will follow-up with another post detailing the fantastic-ness of Barcelona in general.<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span class="txt_1" style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"Hani Hani, come and dance for me, underneath the moonlight. Hani Hani come and dance for me"- </span>DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-15102018517075794942008-06-10T21:50:00.004-04:002008-06-11T06:45:02.681-04:00Por favor, hable inglés..It has been a long time since I didn't understand the language of the city/country I was visiting. I almost forgot what it was like to not understand anything that is going on around you (and it made me empathize with Jeff a bit :P ).<br /><br />I went to Barcelona, Spain for five days. It was my second visit to the city and I quite liked it - the city is nice, the food is good and the people are very helpful (and understanding). Thank goodness for that. Within ten minutes of entering the country, I ran into trouble with the language.<br /><br />I am on the train from Marseille to Barcelona. I, being the planner that I am, bought my train ticket in Canada before I left to ensure that I had a way to the conference. I got the ticket on sale, which was awesome. Go me, the bargain shopper.<br /><br />When we cross the France-Spain border, someone comes around and checks our tickets. I whip mine out, expecting no problem; however, instead I hear:<br /><br />"blah blah blah (in Spanish)".<br /><br />"Perdón" I reply - having no idea what the man is saying to me.<br /><br />"Ticket. You need euro-rail pass for ticket".<br /><br />It is at this point that I start to panic. I do not have a euro-rail pass - this is the ticket that Travel Cuts sold me. They told me they had a sale on. I try to explain to the train man that I don't have a pass, this was all that was sold to me, please don't kick me off the train. At this point, some nice man starts acting as a translator and the end result is me paying 22 euros. Oh well, paying money was better than getting kicked off the train.<br /><br />So, that was my first few minutes in Spain. My first <span style="font-style: italic;">morning</span> in Spain, I also ran into trouble with the language. You see, in Europe, they don't have what I consider normal coffee. And I, being lactose intolerance, am not going to have a "café con leche". So I walk to a coffee shop at 9:30 am and look at the menu trying to find the closest thing to a regular coffee. I see café Colombian and café Brasilian. To me, these seemed like brewed coffees so I went for it. I order a café Brasil.<br /><br />I watch the woman make me a coffee and then I start to panic. Oh. My. God. Did she just put liquor in the coffee? It is 9:30 am! What did I just order? Can I run away? She comes to me with the coffee and tries to charge me 4 euro for it and I knew the café Brasil was only 1,50 euros. I say "no. café Brasil". Apparently this second attempt at saying Brasil was better than the first because she understands me and makes me the coffee. Unfortunately, it is not a normal coffee but is the strongest cup of espresso I have ever had. I went with it.<br /><br />So good times with the language, and Spanish being a language that I can somewhat get by in because it is so closely related to French. I am sure you can only imagine how well I did when I was in Japan a few years ago.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> But sometimes this thick confusion grows until I cannot bear it at all" </span>- DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-83320360852880335862008-05-31T16:11:00.002-04:002008-05-31T16:18:54.524-04:00Vive la France...Oh France, it has been awhile. This is my third time visiting this country and it holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first international destination that I visited at the tender age of 16 - it was my first taste of international travelling independence. I returned at the age of 19 when I backpacked around Western Europe with my friend Cole. <br /><br />Now, at 27, I have returned and found that much is the same. <br /><br />There is dog shit everywhere. I know that this is a stereotype of French cities, but with good reason. It is quite gross how people don't pick up after their dogs. I had a near-miss with my suitcase - how gross would that have been.<br /><br />Everyone smokes. I had forgotten how many people smoke here. Even in Quebec where there are quite a few more smokers in comparison to the rest of Canada, it still doesn't compare to this. Luckily, they recently went smoke free in many public places. Awesome. <br /><br />Cars park on the sidewalk. I had forgotten about this and it brings me joy when I see it. I think it is hilarious. It defeats the purpose of a sidewalk as pedestrians have to walk on the road. <br /><br />Boobs. They love their naked ladies here. Boobs cover posters, billboards and tv shoes - they are everywhere. And it is normal. We, in North America, are extremely prudish in comparison to our European counterparts.<br /><br />So, my first two days in Europe weren't too bad. It was nice to start in a country where I at least speak the language. I will write a blog post about the city of Marseille when I get back. In the meantime, I will do small little posts about the type of trouble I manage to get into while here; which, after 3 days, is more than you would think.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">" But, Belle, je ne comprends pas francais, so you'll have to speak to me some other way. " </span>- Jack Johnson</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-47378466021404556062008-05-27T22:49:00.003-04:002008-05-27T23:09:58.542-04:00One week down...I have officially worked for six whole days and so far so good. It is strange to think that I am now officially in my "work until I can retire" phase of life. Let the 35 year count-down begin!<br /><br />I will be honest - on that first day, the French kind of broke my brain. I had just gotten home from SK and was all of a sudden immersed in the French health care system. But it has gotten easier in the last week, so I imagine it can only get easier still. <br /><br />I am working in a very busy prenatal clinic. As a student, the most patients I saw in any given week was 8. However, in this clinic, I will be seeing around 18 per week. It is a huge increase in the case load, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I work with really great people who understand that I am a fresh graduate and are allowing me to pick up the load slowly, however, the other two counsellors go on holidays in mid-June and I have to be able to take the reigns.<br /><br />And so far, Jeff and I are coping well with the distance. I think it helps that I was home for three weeks before I started work. He'll be here for two weeks in June, as well. Awesome. <br /><br />So that is my brief update from my first week. I worked so hard in the last week that I feel I need a 1.5 week vacation. I am headed to Barcelona, Spain for a conference - should be great and I get to present a poster. I will tell you how that trip goes when I get back.<br /><br />I also want to thank everyone who have dropped me a line with a kins message in the past few weeks - I have fabulous friends and you have been such great support. I truly appreciate it. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">" Sing and dance i play for you tonight, the thrill of it all. Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes but i work it out.</span>" - DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-3830480030558931782008-05-14T12:15:00.004-04:002008-05-14T13:33:37.365-04:00Capital City...So, back when I was a student (whoot), I spent a month in Ottawa. I was doing a rotation at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). I had a good time during the rotation but I had an even better time with the wonderful friends who allowed me to stay with them.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2255637577_a4488a51e1_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2255637577_a4488a51e1_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Tracy and Chris were great hosts and allowed me to stay with them for a month. Their house is awesome and their company is even better.<br /><br />I tried a bunch of things for the first time while I was there: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BB%9F">Pho</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayman_Raving_Rabbids">Rayman Raving Rabbids</a> and snowshoeing! I quite enjoyed snowshoeing and it was actually more of a work out than I expected. It was a nice day so we took a picnic lunch with us. We had originally planned to hike to a cabin, but 10 km was more than we expected and we just sat in the snow and enjoyed our wine, brie, baguette and grapes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2247241041_a686ef210b_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2247241041_a686ef210b_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2283/2247243365_4766ae867d_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2283/2247243365_4766ae867d_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/2248035754_6371fb6a9d_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/2248035754_6371fb6a9d_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2333/2247245881_77863c5e43_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2333/2247245881_77863c5e43_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2001/2248042072_b5854e73cd_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2001/2248042072_b5854e73cd_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />During the month of February in Ottawa, the Winterlude festival is on. There are plenty of fun winter activities to partake in during Winterlude. Ice sculptures to look at and snow mazes to go through - what isn't there to do at a winter festival?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2255639143_2bf285b370_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2255639143_2bf285b370_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/2255644823_9bbbe113a0_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/2255644823_9bbbe113a0_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2256446226_36404eefa8_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2256446226_36404eefa8_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2154/2256444810_46ee7344cd_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2154/2256444810_46ee7344cd_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/2255650851_29fb104ea8_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/2255650851_29fb104ea8_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2023/2255656155_21ca8c98ee_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2023/2255656155_21ca8c98ee_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>While I was in Ottawa, I also got to do the quintessential Canadian winter activity: I skated on the Ottawa Canal. I hadn't skated in years but I didn't do too badly. I only fell roughly six times.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/2491973819_5549691772_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/2491973819_5549691772_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2109/2254630477_f5d9b55534_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2109/2254630477_f5d9b55534_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Seriously, like I really wanted to see that sign.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2491973919_f922ed4c89_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2491973919_f922ed4c89_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I also dog sat their dog while they were away for the weekend. Lola is a cute dog with a lot of personality. She <span style="font-style: italic;">demands </span>to be loved. She will whine for hours if you don't love her. She is needy, but makes up for it by loving you.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2308179905_2f23ecbb89_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2308179905_2f23ecbb89_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I had a good time in Ottawa, but I was also excited for it to come to an end, as Jeff was coming back out East after eight weeks apart. At the time, eight weeks felt like sooo long, but now with us being separated full time, I am sure in hindsight, this will have felt like a piece of cake.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> I love you oh so well, like a kid loves candy and fresh snow" - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">DMB</span></span><br /></span></span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-87188613295897003792008-05-09T11:41:00.004-04:002008-05-09T13:38:22.373-04:00New York, New York....So, a few months ago (October) Jeff and I and our friends Tracy and Chris went to New York for Thanksgiving. We had a fabulous time, aside from a <a href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/archive/2007_10_01_archive.html">few errors in judgment</a>. You may have also read <a href="http://jeffrey.vanneste.ca/blog/2007/10/14/the-trip-to-new-york-city/">Jeff's version of the trip</a> which is his more condensed version of the trip.<br /><br />Luckily for us, New York is only a six hour drive from Montreal. Awesome. We drive out Friday morning and we get to our apartment in...Harlem. Yes, we stayed in Harlem. Apparently in the last few years it has be rejuvenated and is not the same place that movies and tv of the 80s and 90s have told us to fear.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/1536404769_25d43c7be9_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/1536404769_25d43c7be9_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Our first day saw us walking around and taking in some of the sights and shopping at Macy's. I am not someone who typically <span style="font-style: italic;">loves </span>a big city but everything they say about New York is true. It has this amazing energy and you can't help but fall in love with it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2125/1536882203_7881c215e6_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 732px; height: 202px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2125/1536882203_7881c215e6_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Jeff took this awesome panoramic photo. I think he did an awesome job with it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1536532661_bfc1debb93_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1536532661_bfc1debb93_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We sorted out how to use their subway system. Montreal has 4 lines - New York has 26. So it was a bit more complex than I am used to. And there were rats. Actual rats in the subway. Disgusting.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/1537407904_d3dd831e79_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/1537407904_d3dd831e79_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/1537411618_c323c8db85_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/1537411618_c323c8db85_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2310/1536451953_22c21f4340_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2310/1536451953_22c21f4340_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>That night, we had 11 pm reservations at a nice Italian place. 11 pm reservations. I basically had to eat supper to tide me over until supper. The food was good and Jeff ate black spaghetti.<br /><br />Day two had us going to Central Park. We only got to stay there for a couple of hours and I wish we had more time to spend there - it was gorgeous. If I lived in New York, I think I would be at the park quite frequently.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/1536617699_708d9a2d4b_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/1536617699_708d9a2d4b_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/1536621147_94c47077bb_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/1536621147_94c47077bb_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/1536637189_cbf4a12aa3_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/1536637189_cbf4a12aa3_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/1537516584_fff8a22600_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/1537516584_fff8a22600_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After the park, we headed to Time Square and <s>enjoyed</s> ate a vendor hot dog. It was not as good as I expected. Considering the amount of times I've seen people order them on TV, I expected them to be awesome. They were menh.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/1537546142_ec8c54ca9a_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/1537546142_ec8c54ca9a_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/1536685479_d2427f15ab_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/1536685479_d2427f15ab_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After the hot dogs, we went to "Rent" the musical. It was quite good - I really enjoyed it. I am not too sure how many of you know much about the story, I didn't when I went, but it involves themes such as poverty, AIDS and homosexuality. There was this older couple who sat in front of us and I think it would be an understatement to say that they did NOT enjoy the show. I think that made me love it more.<br /><br />That evening, we had hoped to clubbing but I am cheap and there was really no way I was going to pay 300$ for bottle service (minimum 2 bottles) with only four of us. Instead we went to a nice little lounge-y place and drank martinis for a few hours.<br /><br />The next day, we did a two hour harbour cruise around the island of Manhattan. It was alright but ate up a huge part of our day. It was nice to see the statue of liberty and some of the other sights without having to actually go to them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/1536816743_bf3a463c50_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/1536816743_bf3a463c50_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2168/1537672910_d693bf1578_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2168/1537672910_d693bf1578_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/1537711540_ed29a240f8_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/1537711540_ed29a240f8_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/1536828855_445d2f336d_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/1536828855_445d2f336d_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/1537719622_a45ec44c1b_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/1537719622_a45ec44c1b_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We also did some "shopping" on 5th Ave. Tracy and I pretended that we could afford Tiffany's jewelry and Jeff was in his element in the Apple Store. We also hit up one of the world's largest toy stores - FAO Schwartz.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2309/1536692479_717aa9288e_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2309/1536692479_717aa9288e_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I caught the golden snitch!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2279/1536726407_9e9af44298_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2279/1536726407_9e9af44298_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Jeff being sorted into Slytherin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2417/1537594752_9a54b596c3_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2417/1537594752_9a54b596c3_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>On our last day there, Jeff and I went to the Empire State Building. It was foggy, which was awesome for us because that meant no line ups. When we got up there, you could actually see around 2 miles around, which, for us was totally worth not having to wait in line.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2399/1536727852_5d20f9b09f_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2399/1536727852_5d20f9b09f_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/1536789676_8472faa374_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/1536789676_8472faa374_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2417/1536827280_c9a4e7f521_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2417/1536827280_c9a4e7f521_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After the view, we went to the Met - the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a huge museum and required more time than we could give it. Well, at least I did. Jeff's goal was to get through the whole thing in an hour and a half and although he may not have sat and contemplated any of the displays, he saw everything.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2381/1536845910_98f96f851e_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2381/1536845910_98f96f851e_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/1536019431_8c49821f31_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/1536019431_8c49821f31_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/1537177572_86678c73cb_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/1537177572_86678c73cb_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My favourite statue in the museum:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/1537003050_6ba48a74a3_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/1537003050_6ba48a74a3_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We also went to the Natural History Museum. I enjoyed this one more than the others and would have liked to spend more time here. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to spend as Jeff and I had a night bus to catch (Tracy and Chris were going on a tour of the wineries of the region...not fair).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/1537206202_95ad8e218f_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/1537206202_95ad8e218f_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2188/1537224682_3302f58372_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2188/1537224682_3302f58372_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So, overall, we had a great time. Tracy and Chris were great travel companions and New York is an amazing city. I hope to get back there once more before I leave Montreal next May.<br /><br />And with this post, I believe that I have no more posts from 2007 left to do! It's about time I entered the year 2008.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">" Could I have been a parking lot attendant? Could I have been a millionaire up there on fifth Avenue? Oh could I have been lost late at night somewhere in Central Park? Could I have been </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">a mistake? Well could I have been anyone other than me?" </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">- DMB</span></span></span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-44904481319871260682008-04-26T23:07:00.003-04:002008-05-09T13:41:31.960-04:00Master of Science...Can you believe it?! I am finally done my Masters degree. It has only been 20 months since I started the degree, but I feel I have come a long way since Feb 1999 when I first heard about genetic counselling. Nine years later, here I am.<br /><br />So as far as I can tell, my formal education is complete. So what now? Work...job...career. I had hoped that something might be available in Saskatchewan when I was done, but unfortunately there is not. So, plan B. I was offered, and have accepted, a one-year position here in Montreal. It is a prenatal position (meaning I would be offering my genetic counselling services to pregnant women/couples) working in the (mostly) French children's hospital. I am looking forward to doing what I love, but won't lie and say I am not nervous about the French. I am not really concerned with my ability to counsel patients in French, I am more concerned with the day to day functionings of an office in French. I am hoping that after a couple of months I will feel more comfortable.<br /><br />The downside of accepting a job in Montreal is that Jeff had to return to Saskatoon and we will be living apart for a year. Yes, it sucks but if the next year goes as fast as the last, it is doable.<br /><br />I haven't received an official start date for the job, so I decided that I should come home to Saskatoon for a visit. That's right - look for me from April 29th to May 9th in SK! Also, now that I have a bit more free time on my hands, I plan to update this thing a bit more - I have a few adventures left to write about (and a European adventure coming up at the end of the month ...)<br /><br />So, cheers to the McGill program who accepted me, to the teachers/supervisors who taught me to do this fabulous job and to my classmates who were beside me, supporting me, the whole time. <br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">" These years have passed us by so fast, it seems like we never got the chance to realize how good life really was, and let the moment last. And it feels like it was only yesterday, when we walked into this place and said I can't wait till I get out of here. And now as we walk down this aisle with four years all rolled up in a scroll, you can't help but think 'Hey, Where did the time go'" -</span> DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-74636510611404364752008-02-02T00:00:00.000-05:002008-05-14T13:33:11.776-04:00Save a life.This is a quick public service announcement. <br /><br />Cancer sucks.<br /><br />My <a href="http://lifeofchelle.blogspot.com/">friend</a>'s friend has been battling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leukemia">leukemia </a>for a few years. I don't know her very well, but I have had the pleasure of meeting her twice: once in Boston and once in Japan. She is one of the those people who seems to be fantastic at everything she tries, but you can't hate her for it because she is so nice and genuine. (I think that Jeff may have been a bit smitten with her...)<br /><br />Any ways, her leukemia has just relapsed. There isn't a current match in the bone marrow registry for her. I don't really think that anyone who reads this blog is a match for her (what would the odds of that be) but you could be a match for someone who needs your help. <br /><br />The process of donating to the bone marrow registry is easier (and less painful) than you think.<br /><br />1) Go to the <a href="http://www.onematch.com/">www.onematch.com </a>website run by Canadian blood services.<br />2) You have to read a bit about bone marrow donation and then you take a quiz!<br />3) Fill out the online application form.<br />4) Canadian Blood Services will contact you so that you can come and give a sample.<br />5) You give one vial of blood.<br /><br />That is it. If you are a match for someone, they will contact/find you. Chances are you may never be needed. Or, you could help save someone's life.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Save me Mr stranger, if you please. Save me, save me, stranger, if you please."</span> - DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-50961547376192678182008-01-20T14:24:00.000-05:002008-05-09T13:41:31.963-04:00Won't you be my neighbor...Oh <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers">Mr Rogers</a>...Although you were slightly creepy in your pastel cardigans and your shoe tying, you taught us some valuable lessons. I think some of my neighbors must have watched your show.<br /><br />Oh, our neighbors. We have some good neighbors and we have some not so good neighbors. Our not so good neighbors include the people who live above us and either do weights or move furniture at 12:30 am almost every night. There are the neighbors down the hall whose dog barks constantly. Jeff loves working from home :P . We also had a neighbor who would play the same piano song every night, and every night she would screw the song up and bang on the keys.<br /><br />We also have fabulous neighbors. The people below us are great people. They are the janitors of the building and are the people we have to go to pay rent and they are the relay person between us and the landlord. They are a great family and seem to really like Jeff and I. They look after our place when we are away. Last Christmas, as soon as they heard people walking around above them, they came to make sure it was me and not a shady character.<br /><br />They know that I am here alone for two months and that Jeff isn't coming back until March. I think they feel badly for me as they keep bringing me food. Last week, they brought me two pieces of lasagna and an interesting roll thing. Today, they brought me a full dinner with salad, spring rolls and shepherd's pie. They even brought me the bottle of salad dressing to use! It is like they know that Jeff does most of the housework and they think I may starve.<br /><br />I really like these neighbors. I don't think anyone else in the building gets food deliveries. There is, however, one thing that is a notch against them...<br /><br />...karaoke. They play karaoke party and get stuck on one song and sing it over and over, really loudly. <a href="http://lifeofchelle.blogspot.com/">Chelle </a>can contest to this as they got in the summer when she was living here. They were stuck on "all by myself" for quite awhile. As I write this, they are playing. I don't mind it; I think it is kind of funny. Jeff is not as easy going about the karaoke. It is actually funny to watch Jeff get worked into a frenzy when they are karaokeing.<br /><br />I am thankful that there are still good neighbors out there. I thought the days of knowing your neighbor were over, but maybe not. The fact that they are down there when I am up here alone is comforting.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Too good to be real, smell of something cooking!" </span>- DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-27701183067083655532008-01-11T23:35:00.000-05:002008-05-09T13:41:31.965-04:00I wear skorts...For those of you who don't know, I play squash in the Montreal interclub squash league for McGill. I am not very good, but they needed another woman to fill a position in their D-league. I figured that there would be very few expectations for me to win so I decided to join. I haven't done too poorly this year; my record is currently 3-1.<br /><br />I had a game this Wednesday and it was a bit different. The scene is this: <a title="Monteal's nicest raquet club" href="http://www.clubatwater.ca/" id="ay0j">Monteal's nicest raquet club</a>. It was gorgeous - I have never been a club like this. The change rooms were insane; there were little vanities so that you could reapply your makeup and do your hair, nice plush chairs in which to relax, mouth wash, hairspray and other amenities available. This is not your average university gym. There are a couple of bars and lounges and it was in the cutest building ever. The only problem I had with it was it's dress code: all players must wear all white. <br /><br />Seriously. In order to play one evening of squash, I had to go out and buy an all white outfit. What regular-sweating person wears white gym clothes. So my quest for finding white gym clothes began. Do you know how hard it is to find white shorts in January? Impossible. I searched 6 stores until I found a white <a title="skort" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=skort" id="p8f.">skort</a>. Ya, that is right. I had to wear a skort. A white, somewhat frilly skort. It was quite cute, but I am not really the type of person who plays sports in a dress. It feels too girly for me. Because I am cheap, I leave the tags on the skort. Don't judge me! I am a poor grad student and can't justify spending 30$ on a skort I will wear once, even if I wore it and sweat in it for an hour. Ya, I am disgusting, whatever.<br /><br />So I needed to find a white top to go with my frilly white skort. Thankfully, my friend Stephanie had a white shirt for me. Now, I totally am very thankful for her lending me the shirt, however, I don't think this was a shirt my mother would call white. It was more of an off-white (and there may have been a small purple berry stain on it). It was not the same colour white as my skort. So my white skort, my off-white shirt...what else can I wear? I know! A black sports bra and navy socks. I looked like the most out of place player there.<br /><br />So I feel like an impostor in my outfit, but it's all about the attitude. I pretend like I belong there. I think I failed. I figure I am going to get my ass kicked. Who pays crazy membership fees to play squash if they aren't going to be super awesome? My opponent arrives and she is really nice but she is totally a hot mom. Maybe late 30s and completely decked out in the cutest white lulu lemon outfit ever. I don't think my body has or will ever look as good as her's...I think I <s>hate her</s> totally respect her dedication to maintaining her MILF-like body.<br /><br />The first game she beats me 9-2. I hate losing and I feel that this game is going to be over quickly. But wait...I come back to win the next two games 9-1 and 9-4. Go me! I only have to win one more game and victory is all mine. But it has only been two weeks since Christmas and my Christmas goodies and liquor are still clogging my system - I am not in peak physical condition. I lose the fourth game 9-0. I couldn't move anymore. Now we are tied 2-2 and I am not a good loser. I am determined to win this game and send mommy packing. The game starts - she is up 2-0 before I get the serve back. I tie the game up 2-2 but in the tying point I jump to hit a ball and twist my ankle. Smooth. So now I am a sweaty, out of shape, skort and off-white shirt wearing gimp. Awesome. I walk it off (cause I am tough) and go on to win the game. Victory is mine!<br /><br />So another win for me! Three more games to go this season. Hopefully the store Winners will take my sweating skort back...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"Hike up your skort a little more, and show your world to me" -</span> DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-82516376654165589512007-12-30T15:13:00.000-05:002008-05-09T13:38:22.374-04:00The highlights of 2007...part 3...With two days left of 2007, I may actually finish this post. Go me! Actually, I am going to be honest; I won't completely finish as I am going to do a separate New York post. There is too much goodness in New York to not give it its own post.<br /><br />After Toronto, Jeff and I finished the drive back to Montreal. We settled back in the apartment. This was much less stressful than it was last year because all we had do to was move in; we didn't have to stress out and find furniture and sort out our lives.<br /><br />A few weeks after we got back, Jeff's parents came for a visit. It was nice to see them and we got to show them around Montreal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1459574071/" title="DSC_1476 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/1459574071_3c2cf4d758.jpg" alt="DSC_1476" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1459540809/" title="DSC_1632 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/1459540809_eabd9404d7.jpg" alt="DSC_1632" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1465333546/" title="DSC_1790 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/1465333546_ae78152aa2.jpg" alt="DSC_1790" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />For Thanksgiving long weekend, Jeff and I went to New York with our friends Tracy and Chris. I am going to make a full post about this so here is a teaser; Jeff mugging me in Central Park:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1536577665/" title="Mugging by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/1536577665_5365e43cf8.jpg" alt="Mugging" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We went to Tracy and Chris's place in Ottawa for Halloween. It was a good time; they are a lot of fun to hang out with. We also went to their place in March. They are good people to visit. We also went to a burger restaurant that has dozens and dozens of different types of burgers. They were tasty and I had a burger with Macaroni and Cheese on it. You know I loved it :)<br /><br />Jeff is a hippie!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1795613274/" title="My weak 70s outfit by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/1795613274_66bf6243ef.jpg" alt="My weak 70s outfit" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />I am a hussy!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1795611512/" title="Rachel in authentic 70s gear by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2407/1795611512_5e1dffdefc.jpg" alt="Rachel in authentic 70s gear" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />Tracy and Chris are discotastic!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1794769705/" title="Tracy and Chris in their 70s gear by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/1794769705_16253a000a.jpg" alt="Tracy and Chris in their 70s gear" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />After Halloween, we had a two weeks off from visitors and places to go. I had a conference in Vancouver, so flew to BC for five days. The conference was fantastic and I got to visit with Lise, Erik and Cole again. We even go to go to the CFL Western Finals - Lions against Roughriders. As you all know, SK won :P<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/CAGC-girls-766351.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/CAGC-girls-766346.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/CAGC-Steph-741201.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/CAGC-Steph-741197.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/Lise-and-I-roughriders-792998.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/Lise-and-I-roughriders-792995.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At the end of November, my parents came for a visit and I went to Quebec City with them. It was nice to be able to show them around Quebec and Montreal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/PB240024-752815.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/PB240024-752314.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/PB250034-785659.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/PB250034-785179.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />After my parents left, I finished up the last two weeks of my semester. It was a chaotic, busy two weeks but I managed to finish my semester without a major break down. I am 3/4 of the way through! I am still really enjoying it and can't wait to do it for a living.<br /><br />Jeff and I, as most of you know, came back to Saskatoon for Christmas. It is a fabulous three week holiday that I really needed.<br /><br />2007 was a good time and a great year. I hope that your 2007 was awesome and that your 2008 is better.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Don't beat your head, dry your eyes,let the love in here. There are bad times, but that's ok, just look for love in it. Don't burn the day, away."</span> - DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-72138780629147022592007-12-26T14:41:00.000-05:002008-05-09T13:39:41.081-04:00The highlights of 2007...part 2...<div style="text-align: left;">So the first half of the year was eventful. I had a great time on both coasts. After my stint in BC, I came back to Saskatoon for a week and went up to Waskesiu for two months to work my ninth year for Parks Canada. Once upon a time I was the youngest person in a kiosk, now...not so much. The lake was good and I hung out with some fabulous friends.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/jae-and-i-spruce-river-highlands-765282.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/jae-and-i-spruce-river-highlands-765258.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/monica-and-i-704444.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/monica-and-i-704441.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/me-on-kinows-742116.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/uploaded_images/me-on-kinows-742082.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We had a busy summer of weddings. Yay to the newlyweds: Steve and Nicole, Chris and Crystal and Dale and April!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/931341460/" title="just married by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1298/931341460_6988b3fd14.jpg" alt="just married" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1089600325/" title="The first dance by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1105/1089600325_d031ded593.jpg" alt="The first dance" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1240778393/" title="DSC_0365 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1196/1240778393_a908085483.jpg" alt="DSC_0365" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />After 8 weeks at the lake, Jeff and I began our trek back to Montreal. Unlike our<a href="http://rachel.vanneste.ca/archive/2007_04_01_archive.html"> last trip </a>through American customs, Jeff managed not to piss off the custom's agent. We made a short stop in Niagra Falls. You only need to make a brief stop here; the falls are nice but this is the most touristy place in Canada.<br /><br />The American Falls:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314453017/" title="The American Falls by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1111/1314453017_ce43e45fd3.jpg" alt="The American Falls" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The Canadian Falls!:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1315341620/" title="The Canadian Niagara Falls by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1308/1315341620_8a4948f241.jpg" alt="The Canadian Niagara Falls" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314472681/" title="DSC_0645 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1298/1314472681_f7b4231c2f.jpg" alt="DSC_0645" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Jeff and I went on a boat ride near the falls. It was wet.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314432071/" title="Jeff looks wet. by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1421/1314432071_5cb7e3897d.jpg" alt="Jeff looks wet." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314449635/" title="IMG_4393 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1032/1314449635_cd3aca5f26.jpg" alt="IMG_4393" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />After Niagra, we went to Toronto and visited with our friends Chris and Kaeleigh. We had a great time with them but unfortunately, we have no pictures to actually prove that we were with them. Here are some of the highlights of our trip to Toronto (which should have also had its own blog post but you know how good I am at that).<br /><br />Casa Loma:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314057331/" title="So pretty. by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/1314057331_33767787dc.jpg" alt="So pretty." height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314042977/" title="My man in shining armour by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1159/1314042977_3249c89cac.jpg" alt="My man in shining armour" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />Royal Ontario Museum:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1315099898/" title="DSC_0823 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1138/1315099898_1151aceb00.jpg" alt="DSC_0823" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1315107382/" title="DSC_0827 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1290/1315107382_2b21565d04.jpg" alt="DSC_0827" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I am scared of a jaguar:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314240283/" title="DSC_0838 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1029/1314240283_9c5857faec.jpg" alt="DSC_0838" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Jeff is scared of an aardvark:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314242457/" title="DSC_0839 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1313/1314242457_ae99759836.jpg" alt="DSC_0839" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I am a crustacean!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314248319/" title="DSC_0844 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/1314248319_b988e57415.jpg" alt="DSC_0844" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />CN Tower:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314155411/" title="I am a tower! by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1150/1314155411_fdc8eb6749.jpg" alt="I am a tower!" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />Jeff sitting on the glass floor. I think I hyperventilated:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314183445/" title="DSC_0794 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1115/1314183445_704cf5d158.jpg" alt="DSC_0794" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Me standing on the glass floor. I think I had a panic attack:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314186589/" title="I'm not scared... by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1123/1314186589_fd44b9dd64.jpg" alt="I'm not scared..." height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />We went to the Toronto Zoo with the <a href="http://hellocire.livejournal.com/">Colin</a> and <a href="http://www.livinginthegray.com/">Shannon</a> Bendell and their kids. I love the zoo!<br /></div></div><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314628777/" title="I seem to be missing a key zoo accessory by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1227/1314628777_582a1ec19a.jpg" alt="I seem to be missing a key zoo accessory" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314632671/" title="Rachel the elephant! by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1257/1314632671_1bac86d5db.jpg" alt="Rachel the elephant!" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1314761779/" title="Untitled by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/1314761779_ba1702785a.jpg" alt="" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/1315575868/" title="I'm the king of the castle... by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1060/1315575868_c342a07776.jpg" alt="I'm the king of the castle..." height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I think I am going to stop this post here. Turns out we did a lot of things in the last year. By the end of 2007, I will finish part 3!<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"But now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen. Monkey see, monkey do." </span>- DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-37263816913600338192007-12-23T13:48:00.000-05:002008-05-09T13:42:03.696-04:00The highlights of 2007...part 1...Look at me update my blog! Go Rachel! Yes, it has been awhile but I had a chaotic semester. Let me give you some of the highlights of my year. Some of the things on this list may actually get their own blog post, but I figure this is the best that I can do right now.<br /><br />January 2007 started with me going back to Montreal after Christmas. 2nd semester began again and I immersed myself in my schooling. I did find some time to do some fun things: Carnaval d'hiver, snow tubing, and go to Cabane a sucre.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/380084907/" title="Rachel and the castle by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/380084907_6b491c4508.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Rachel and the castle" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/380103936/" title="All 5 of us at the by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/380103936_c135560d95_b.jpg" alt="All 5 of us at the" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/410876891/" title="PICT0025 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/410876891_e399462168_b.jpg" alt="PICT0025" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/410878525/" title="PICT0041 by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/410878525_bbb25ca292_b.jpg" alt="PICT0041" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442409344/" title="Syrup everywhere by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/442409344_5df00eddbb_b.jpg" alt="Syrup everywhere" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442415539/" title="Rachel enjoying a donut by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/442415539_cdfb20faef_b.jpg" alt="Rachel enjoying a donut" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />In April, Michelle came to Montreal for a visit. We had a fabulous time and we spent Easter weekend in Boston. It is pretty awesome that we live in a city where the closest fun big cities aren't Calgary and Edmonton, but are Boston and New York.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453369248/" title="Trying to jump at the same time by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453369248_2dd89ec757_b.jpg" alt="Trying to jump at the same time" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453385305/" title="They didn't know our names by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/453385305_9f49871cdf_b.jpg" alt="They didn't know our names" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Around the same time that Michelle was in Montreal, some of Jeff's friends were in town for a visit. Sean, Andrews and Sean/Stubbs all made their appearance in Montreal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/462404906/" title="Brazil underwear by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/462404906_3a626e5537.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Brazil underwear" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/462408857/" title="Everyone in old Montreal by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/462408857_5f483e129f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Everyone in old Montreal" /></a><br /><br />At the end of April, we drove back to Saskatchewan. I am stealing this quote from my friend <a href="http://www.livinginthegray.com/">Shannon's</a> blog. She stole it from the author Yan Martel. This is how I felt when we drove back to the prairies after a year out East:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“If you’ve never been, the south of Saskatchewan is so flat the horizon is perceptibly round. Above you, during the day, lords an immense dome of sky so empty it feels like a fullness, with clouds the size of mountains, the sun but a small disk, and a depth of colour that is often chalk blue, oh so chalk blue. At night this reassuring curtain of blue is pulled away and you realize where you really are: at infinity’s doorstep. A plain is what a mountain aims to be: the closest you can come to being in outer space while yet having your feet on this planet.<br /><br />The language of the plain is the wind. It carries sweetness and fragrance, the wealth of the earth. It is a soothsayer, herald of storm and change of season. And the wind speaks. When you walk in a plain, gusts of words blow through your head, words that have travelled over the surface of the planet. “<br />- Yann Martel, Self</span><br /><br />It was so nice to come home. I do love the prairies.<br /><br />After I got home, I took a plane to Victoria, where I spent a month working in the Victoria General Hospital. This is a beautiful city and I had a great time there working and spending time with family. Lise and Erik came up from Vancouver and spent the May long weekend with me. We went to Saltspring Island, which was also quite cute.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508673036/" title="Webster family by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/508673036_5a1cf43ec4_b.jpg" alt="Webster family" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508705105/" title="Bear hug! by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/508705105_f315699759_b.jpg" alt="Bear hug!" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508718603/" title="Entrance to Butchart Gardens by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/217/508718603_a9fcd162cd_b.jpg" alt="Entrance to Butchart Gardens" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/756239921/" title="Thetis Lake by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/756239921_e3230a2a35_b.jpg" alt="Thetis Lake" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />After my month in Victoria, I went to Vancouver to visit with Lise, Erik and Cole for a week. I also got to visit with some friends that I met in Australia back in 2001. It is always awesome to see old friends.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/757442182/" title="Dessert in the park by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1095/757442182_cd99f0ac0f_o.jpg" alt="Dessert in the park" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/756573957/" title="Good friends. by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1415/756573957_ffab42f877_o.jpg" alt="Good friends." height="450" width="600" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/756346655/" title="Such good friends. by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1068/756346655_96bed4d3e8_b.jpg" alt="Such good friends." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />That was the first half of my 2007. There were many events that warranted their own blog post (me going to visit my friends in Vancouver) but, as I proved with my honeymoon post, I am not awesome at staying up to date. The remainder of 2007 will follow soon...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain. We're climbing two by two, to be sure these days continue" - DMB</span></span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-82101759191609950962007-10-10T19:01:00.000-04:002008-05-09T13:38:22.375-04:00I hug other men…<p class="MsoNormal">I will be writing a long blog post soon about my whole trip to New York City with our friends Tracy and Chris, but I feel as if I should just put this story out there.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am a loser.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let me set the scene: I am in the New York Natural History Museum. It is pretty cool and I am enjoying myself.<span style=""> </span>We are in an exhibit for mythical creatures. Jeff wanders away to look at something while I am reading an information board about unicorns.<span style=""> </span>I believe that Jeff walks back to me.<span style=""> </span>Without looking at who is standing next to me, I go to put my arms around the guy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is not Jeff.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tracy watched the whole thing go down and she was wondering what the hell I was doing.<span style=""> </span>Imagine how the poor guy felt.<span style=""> </span>A random girl tries to molest him while he is enjoying an exhibit about mermaids and dragons.<span style=""> </span>Jeff comes up and asks what I am doing.<span style=""> </span>They aren’t even wearing similar clothes.<span style=""> </span>They didn’t look alike.<span style=""> </span>They both make fun of me though, and deservedly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do you think I will learn from this?<span style=""> </span>Doubtful.<span style=""> </span>Sadly, this is not the first time I have hugged a random stranger by mistake.<span style=""> </span>I am a distinct memory of hugging a stranger, again, while on vacation, thinking that she was my mother.<span style=""> </span>Ten years down the line I may accidentally hug some random child thinking that they are my own.<span style=""> </span>I don’t think I will learn from this mistake.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">“<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Oh stay right here, so I can catch your smile, it's good. Stranger in a crowded room, what did you say? Oh baby”-</span>DMB</span></p>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-43515732171070036612007-08-17T19:04:00.001-04:002008-05-09T13:33:13.208-04:00Finally...It's been a year in the making but I am finally finishing up my honeymoon post! To all you nay-sayers who indicated that I wouldn't be finished before the one year anniversary of our trip, moo hahaha!<br /><br />So where did I leave off? We said goodbye to Sean and left Halifax. Again, thanks to Parks Canada, we had free entry into <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/kejimkujik/index_E.asp" id="wup5" title="Kejimkujik National Park">Kejimkujik National Park</a>. It took me forever to learn how to say that properly. Any ways, we went on a nice six kilometer hike through the Hemlocks and Hardwoods. This trail had 300 year old trees, which were quite big (well, at least when compared to Saskatchewan trees). Here is a few glorious tree pictures.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231800905/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1555" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/90/231800905_eb459ad6cc.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Jeff is a tree hugger.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231807174/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1571" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/90/231807174_55c08e2b76.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231808062/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1575" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/231808062_36291e06cc.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />Guess why Jeff liked the following picture. Could it be the boob shaped knot near the top? No, he is much too mature for that.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231810739/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1584" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/231810739_c7bdecca5f.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231811808/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1588" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/88/231811808_d36a6db44d.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />I took this picture because Jeff can't tell that it is more than one colour. Haha, I mock his disability :P<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231798158/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1536" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/231798158_7e86b430fd.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And as a recurring theme of our honeymoon, here is another waterfall! You'd think that because we like them so much, we would have gone to Niagra Falls, the honeymoon capital of the world, but no.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231816245/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/85/231816245_f921780290.jpg" alt="IMG_1602" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />We camped over night in the park. And by camp, I mean we slept in the back of the RAV4 and watched TV shows on the laptop. If only all camping were like that. Screw setting up a tent!<br /><br />The following day we left the park and went to the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct. It is a couple hours drive from the actual park and protects part of Nova Scotia's cost. There is not much to do here except one hike. It was a good hike and I enjoyed the adjunct.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231785954/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/88/231785954_6fc282bdc9.jpg" alt="IMG_1614" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231788360/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/79/231788360_cd519167b8.jpg" alt="IMG_1656" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Jeff's obsession with taking pictures of birds. You know he is going to turn into an old man who spends his time bird-watching. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231791326/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/231791326_94b9b6e843.jpg" alt="IMG_1697" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Sick!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231785268/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/97/231785268_89947ef704.jpg" alt="IMG_1607" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Yay Sea lions!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231793070/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/95/231793070_26cdbdf652.jpg" alt="IMG_1720" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231794671/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/97/231794671_3a61048253.jpg" alt="IMG_1741" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Yay love!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231793661/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/80/231793661_407fc126ae.jpg" alt="IMG_1733" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />He is a climbing machine. I think he almost hurt himself...true story.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231795518/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/231795518_0932543d1f.jpg" alt="IMG_1750" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />It's been so long that I don't even recall where we slept that night. The following day we took the ferry from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia across to Maine and drove back to Montreal through the States. We didn't take any pictures. We had driven over 4000 km in the last three weeks. We were tired. Thank God I am done the honeymoon. Now I can blog about more recent events, such as the past summer! <br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"<span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 255);">What do you remember, before the sea was rough and the sky was grey. Oh but not today, not today, cuz it's a good good time tonight" </span>- </span>DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-30110290606193690652007-07-17T15:45:00.000-04:002008-05-09T13:42:03.697-04:00Victoria day in Victoria...<p>So, as many of you know, I spent four weeks in Victoria doing an external rotation for my Masters degree. I spent four weeks at the Victoria General Hospital and the time went by pretty fast. I lived with family while I was there and got to visit a whole bunch of extended relatives. I also got to visit with Lise and Erik who came up from Vancouver. Here is a summary (in pictures) of my time in Victoria.<br /><br />Family:<br /><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508673036/"><img height="375" alt="Webster family" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/508673036_5a1cf43ec4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />I got to stay with my cousin-once-removed and her family. It was good times. They took care of me, fed me and toured me around a lot. I also have a some great-aunts and uncles that I rarely get to see. It was nice spending time with everyone.<br /><br />Friends:<br /><br />Erik and Lise came up and spent the Victoria day long weekend with me (Victoria day <i>in </i>Victoria!). We toured around downtown Victoria and the inner harbour. We also went to the Craigdocch castle. Good times being tourists.<br /><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508704463/"><img height="375" alt="We are mooses!" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/508704463_65c5f70544.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508678516/"><img height="500" alt="True love" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/508678516_92b2c6797a.jpg" width="375" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508710725/"><img height="375" alt="Craigdarroch Castle" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/508710725_06cd4b5470.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508708819/"><img height="500" alt="I think it is a salamander" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/508708819_052a497769.jpg" width="375" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508706614/"><img height="375" alt="Japanese Gardens" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/508706614_5fa26b1c69.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508739817/"><img height="375" alt="Erik and the donkey" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/508739817_8d27a67565.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508741041/"><img height="375" alt="Lise on Mount Douglas" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/508741041_f085363e2a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We also went to Salt Spring Island. It is a Gulf Island and their claim to fame is having all these studios that sell food and goods that are made on the island. We had a good time touring around the island and I spent some money that I didn't have. I bought some fabulous blackberry port which tasted like blackberry pie...with a kick. Fantastic! </p><p></p><p><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508689480/"><img height="375" alt="An even prettier view!" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/508689480_d43ea0cde5.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508711927/"><img height="375" alt="A winery" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/196/508711927_1e55a66734.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508716287/"><img height="500" alt="A cool stump" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/508716287_7dfddea52c.jpg" width="375" /></a> </p><p><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/508713385/"><img height="375" alt="In honour of Jeffrey..." src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/219/508713385_7124442bfa.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /></p><p>I did get to see quite a bit of Victoria and the surrounding area. It is a beautiful city and I wouldn't mind living there if I could afford the ridiculous cost of living. Here are just a few more pictures of the fabulous city. </p><p><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/515124971/"><img height="375" alt="Parliament at night." src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/515124971_0b6b8c3042.jpg" width="500" /></a> </p><p><b><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/757056696/"><img height="375" alt="Shawnigan Lake" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1029/757056696_6b3f4dc1e6.jpg" width="500" /></a></b></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><b><b><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/757089474/"><img height="500" alt="Eagle Lake" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1022/757089474_7f1ac58554.jpg" width="375" /></a></b></b></p><p><b><b><b><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/756239921/"><img height="375" alt="Thetis Lake" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/756239921_e3230a2a35.jpg" width="500" /></a> </b></b></b></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>This is a slug. Seriously. I had no idea that slugs could get that big. My mind was blown.</p><p><b><b><b><b><b><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/757069548/"><img height="375" alt="A giant slug!!" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1336/757069548_3b9890b326.jpg" width="500" /></a> </b></b></b></b></b></p><p><b><b><b><b><b></b></b></b></b></b></p><p>Victoria was great. Soon I will right about Vancouver. And when I say soon, I mean in six months :P </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#3366ff;">""Whatcha got, whatcha got in your hand" the father said to son. "I got the whole world here daddy, ’tween my fingers and my thumb. Will you take care of it please, it's the only one.<br />It'd take me a lifetime old man, to undo whatcha done ""</span> - DMB</span><br /></p>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-27509417042994014512007-05-26T17:43:00.001-04:002008-05-09T13:33:13.209-04:00Honeymoon - Day V, VI and VII...I can hear the four of you who regularly read my blog say "Seriously? Seriously? Are you actually going to continue talking about your honeymoon? Its been over nine months since you went and if you haven't gotten through it now, give up". I reply to you "NO!" It may take me a year, but I will finish writing about the honeymoon. It has been long enough since you may have read Jeff's <a href="http://jeffrey.vanneste.ca/blog/2006/09/03/our-honeymoon/" target="_blank" title="condensed version">condensed version</a> of the trip, so I feel that it may feel new to you.<br /><br />So, day five, six and seven were spent in Halifax. We drove from Cape Breton National Park, through the city of Sydney and help move <a href="http://www.seanbartlett.ca/" title="Sean">Sean</a> to Halifax where he got a new job. We went to the Keg that night. I don't remember much except for that they didn't have Keg sauce. What?! Grocery stores carry Keg sauce and yet, the Keg doesn't have Keg sauce. Broken.<br /><br />On day 6, we played tourist. We went to the Halifax Citadel. Blah blah blah, history, blah blah blah, war, blah blah blah. The citadel did stuff and now it is a Canadian National Historic Site.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231718898/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1309" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/231718898_6865063a75.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />You may want to mock these guys for having to wear these outfits, but I am guessing they are getting paid quite a bit of money to look the way they do. Yay government jobs!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231721129/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1323" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/90/231721129_f654a473b6.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231721641/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1326" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/93/231721641_225d061b9a.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231723622/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1341" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/231723622_dfd7bc2c9d.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231724488/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1345" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/231724488_01263e4bb9.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />After the Citadel, we walked around and did more tourist stuff. We went and looked at some of the graves of the Titanic victims - morbid, I know. However, at the graveyard, they used the grave stones and made a pattern of the Titanic's hull.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231725720/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1349" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/84/231725720_131a69d528.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"> I think that this child is no longer unknown - thanks to the power of DNA testing.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231726407/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1350" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/231726407_c0910836c6.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231726986/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1351" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/231726986_f99f044f61.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Afterwards we went to the Halifax Public Gardens. If I remember correctly, it is the oldest public gardens in Canada. I could be wrong<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231727801/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1353" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/231727801_9cc035420f.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231728455/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="IMG_1354" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/90/231728455_b1c525f64c.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />This night, as well as the following night, we stayed at the <a href="http://www.princegeorgehotel.com/the_hotel/hotel_quick_facts.asp" title="Prince George Hotel">Prince George Hotel</a>. I wanted at least part of our honeymoon to be romantic so this was the romantic thing that we did. We had the "Romance Package" and it was pretty awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and wish that we could afford to stay in nice places all the time.<br /><br />On day 7, we went to Peggy's Cove. It is outside of Halifax and is a cute place to visit. It is one of the most photographed places in Canada (or when you see pictures of Canada, this is often among them). Here are some of the photos that we took. Good times.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231733059/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/81/231733059_a931ace9aa.jpg" alt="IMG_1416" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231734978/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/231734978_35a9c64976.jpg" alt="IMG_1423" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231737350/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/231737350_b97af1a137.jpg" alt="IMG_1435" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231737623/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/91/231737623_015ccfa262.jpg" alt="Crushing the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, NS" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231737928/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/93/231737928_055ffd666f.jpg" alt="IMG_1437" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231738872/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/231738872_436a401452.jpg" alt="IMG_1444" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231739576/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/231739576_cc00063f15.jpg" alt="IMG_1462" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231741633/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/231741633_531e24f249.jpg" alt="IMG_1477" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/231745383/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/231745383_a064ba85b9.jpg" alt="IMG_1505" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /> Can you believe it! Three more days of the honeymoon finished. I may be through it all before August.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Oh, Great Light of Love" - </span>DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-22748692270424489892007-05-16T00:27:00.001-04:002008-05-09T13:42:27.598-04:00Boston and Michelle...If you read both mine and Jeff's blog, this may be a re-hash of his entry. I put more pictures so you can at least have pretty things to look at if you have already read the story.<br /><br />Back when I was in Montreal, Michelle came out and visited us for a week. She was going to be there for nine days. I figured that Montreal is great and all, but that is a lot of time in one place. I told her to bring her passport and I would see what I could organize. She arrived late Thursday night and by 7:05 Saturday morning, we were on our way to Boston. As most of you are aware, I am a hard-core planner. When I traveled to Australia, I tried to be spontaneous. After three weeks I think I had an anxiety attack, went into a travel agency and planned the next three months of my trip. After that, I could relax. So I didn't have a lot of time to plan this Boston trip and I was OK with that. The only thing we really had planned in advance was the Blue Man Group, which we bought tickets for before we left.<br /><br />So Saturday morning, we leave and we drive for six hours. The day before, Jeff wanted to buy a GPS so that we could find our way around Boston as well as find our way home from Montreal to Saskatoon. I am thankful that we had it because the freeways in Boston are kinda crazy, especially when I was trained on Circle Drive. After finding our hotel we took the metro to the Science Center.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453388305/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="On the Boston metro" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453388305_52ec0718a5.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The Science Center was alright. We had an hour and a half to cruise around so we didn't spend much time absorbing anything. Here is us learning:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453345531/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Work damn you!" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/453345531_306a7f3127.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453355171/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Ohh look at the escalator" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453355171_3c708e8ee9.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I am a moose!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453350969/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="I'm a moose" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/238/453350969_5200694c72.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Jeff really wanted to see a Star Wars Planetarium show. It sucked. That is all that really needs to be said.<br /><br />After the Science Center, we decided to go on a DUCK tour, which is a land/water tour of the city. I am glad that we did that because I wouldn't have learned that much about the city otherwise. Besides, the tour guide was cute.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453374524/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="One of the duck tour vehicles" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/453374524_1dda7055f4.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453342310/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Some old church" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/453342310_b63fb5bc26.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453343604/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="View from the water" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/453343604_84749c0cb4.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />We than went for supper at the Rock Bottom Grill. This was followed by the Blue Man Group. Their show was great. I thouroughly enjoyed it and was laughing for much of it. I was scared that Jeff wasn't liking it but it turned out that he loved it. You know how hard he is to please...therefore Blue Man Group is awesome! If you are in a city where they have a permanent show, I would go to it.<br /><br />The next day, we decided to do the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/archive/bost/freedom_trail.htm" title="Freedom Trail">Freedom Trail</a> around Boston. It's a 4 km walk through downtown Boston, takes you to most of the major sites of Boston and ends at Bunker Hill Monument. Here are some of the highlights.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453357728/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/453357728_be6ddaf0ff.jpg" alt="The freedom trail that we walked" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Michelle is my stead (and I would be Paul Revere):<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453362894/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Riding a horse statue" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/453362894_6bcd292f3f.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453367057/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="The Webster statue" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453367057_7e669d2322.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453364555/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Where the hell are we?" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/245/453364555_1db0daa778.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453488497/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="At the top of the Bunker hill Monument" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/239/453488497_dce5160697.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453489129/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="At the top of the Bunker hill Monument" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/453489129_7ef680eee5.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453367004/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="No Standing!" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/227/453367004_115e3cbd23.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />We then went to Harvard. We got lost. We didn't really belong at Harvard. Here we are pretending we know where we are going.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453478934/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Trying to be students" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/246/453478934_10c700b048.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453494401/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Rachel in Harvard" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/234/453494401_0d4dc87b98.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453479688/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Rachel in Harvard" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/216/453479688_be8b7fd57a.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We needed to waste some time in the evening because we were picking Michelle's friend at the airport at midnight. So we went to another show called <a href="https://www.shearmadness.com/" title="Shear Madness">Shear Madness</a>. It was a show where the ending is always different as is the longest running non-musical show in the world. It made me laugh a bunch and it was a good filler of time. We then went to Cheers to eat supper. It's gross that while in the States, you have to tell them to cook your burgers well-done. It should just be automatic.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453369698/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Walking to Cheers" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/453369698_d5687cebae.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/453385305/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="They didn't know our names" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/453385305_9f49871cdf.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />We then went to pick up Chelle's friend <a href="http://ericamurray.blogspot.com/" title="Erica">Erica</a> from the airport and we stayed at her house. The next day we met Erica for lunch and went home.<br /><br />Overall, it was a fun trip. We had a good time and saw a nice city. For the rest of the time that Michelle was there, we didn't do anything too exciting. We shopped, visited, toured, ate, had good times. Yay for Michelle's visit.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">"Tables turned again and you my friend, you and I face each other all time and time again. I know it's sometimes hard, but knowing just that we will get along until we're old and gray and huddled up and doubled up we'll sit and laugh of times were hard"-<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">DMB</span></span></span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-18806760813436976032007-04-25T10:52:00.000-04:002008-05-09T13:43:00.783-04:00One year down...Can you believe it? I am (mostly) done the first year of my Masters. I say mostly because I have a four week rotation in Victoria, BC to do, as well as I have to write a project proposal that is due at the end of May. But since Jeff and I are back in Saskatoon after a two day 3000 km drive through Canada and the US, I feel that I am pretty much done first year.<br /><br />Our drive was (mostly) uneventful. Again, I say mostly because we only ran into one road bump. I am never letting my husband speak to customs agents again. <a title="Jeff" href="http://jeffrey.vanneste.ca/blog/2007/04/21/smart-ass/">Jeff</a>, whom we all know and love, is a bit of a smart-ass. I love this quality in him (yay sarcasm) but he doesn't even realize he is doing it...his smart-assness is so innate to his nature. We pull up to US customs. The guy is friendly, we're doing good. He asks us about alcohol, cigarettes, drugs...no, no, no. He asks us about beef. Believe it or not, we have beef. Jeff says "we have sandwich meat". Customs dude replies "Beef?" ...Jeff says in his sarcastic, I think you are dumber than me, voice "It would be beef". Customs dude than goes crazy...he is no longer friendly...yells at Jeff not to be a smart ass and indicates that a simple yes or no would have sufficed. We have to pull over to the side and he radios the other agents that we have beef and that the driver is a smart ass. Great...thanks Jeff. It only takes about five minutes, but I am never letting him drive into the states again.<br /><br />Aside from that event on day one, it was smooth sailing. We arrived around 11:30pm on Sunday night. I honestly don't understand why people don't love driving through the prairies. Sure it is flat...but c'mon! I can see what is coming, I don't have to do much in the way of turning the wheel, and I can watch the Northern Lights dance at my arrival to SK. I missed driving the prairies :).<br /><br />Since I arrived home, I joined Facebook. Big mistake. I didn't need a new Internet addiction, but lucky for me, I got one.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Drive in, drive out, I'm leaving. Drive in, drive out, I'll come back again" </span>- DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-10331118788163284522007-04-19T10:06:00.000-04:002008-05-09T13:34:19.035-04:00Sugar Shackin...It is traditional in Feb-April in Quebec to go to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_house" title="Cabane à Sucre, aka a sugar shack, or sugar house">Cabane à Sucre, aka a sugar shack, or sugar house</a>. It is when the maple trees are harvested of their fantastic sap and maple syrup is made. There are many, many different sugar shacks around the province. The one I went to when I was 15 was more traditional; there was Quebecois music and dancing (yay to wooden spoons!). This one was a bit more modern and they had a dance party for the kids which had a remixed version of the hokie-pokie. Great.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442402641/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/442402641_0d6e5ed622.jpg" alt="Outside the place we ate brunch" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />We went to the cabane à sucre with people from the Genetics department in the McGill Hospital system. It was nice to see my supervisors and the doctors in a more casual atmosphere. The first thing that we got as we arrived were these awesome maple syrup doughnuts. It was hard not to keep going back for more.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442415539/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/442415539_cdfb20faef.jpg" alt="Rachel enjoying a donut" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442395163/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/442395163_31c7646d02.jpg" alt="Still waiting for brunch" height="375" width="500" /></a> <br />We all sit in a huge hall at these big long tables and eat traditional <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442398600/in/set-72157600040976037/" title="(mostly edible)">(mostly edible)</a> food. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442396280/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/442396280_fffeb19086.jpg" alt="The hall filled for brunch" height="375" width="500" /></a> <br />The food was alright, but you don't really go for the breakfast. You go for the syrup. They spread the maple syrup on snow. As the syrup hardens, you take a Popsicle stick and roll it up so that you have syrup on a stick. Tasty.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442408775/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/442408775_9451016756.jpg" alt="Oh, so that's how it's done" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442409344/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/442409344_5df00eddbb.jpg" alt="Syrup everywhere" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />We went for a carriage ride around the érablière and saw buckets full of maple sap.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442405706/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/442405706_36176da432.jpg" alt="More maple trees" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Overall, it was a fun field trip. Something that really only needs to be done once a year. Here is a pic of six of the eight GC girls.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/442410750/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/201/442410750_d0f07fdfe9.jpg" alt="Most of the genetic counselor girls" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:85%;" >"</span><span style="color:#555555;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Sweet sugar lips, Push from the hips, Woman looks just like love" </span>- DMB</span><br /></span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30812815.post-42045604020179125262007-04-15T10:23:00.000-04:002008-05-09T13:43:33.395-04:00Ottawa is fun...Since Jeff and I moved to Montreal, we have gone to visit our friends Tracy and Chris twice. We always have a great time on these trips because Tracy and Chris are adults who know how to treat a guest. They do things such as feed us real food and wine and treat us to a fabulous time. We have tried to emulate them, but we are not nearly as successful.<br /><br />We went to Ottawa for the first time for my birthday (c'mon...you should know that it is Sept 16th). We were still new to Montreal and I wanted to ring in my 26th year with people I knew. We drove there on Friday and they made an awesome supper for us. The following day, I got my first look at Ottawa. We walked around the outside of parliament and downtown. We also did some shopping - yay for spending money. Here we are enjoying downtown Ottawa...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/245913154/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Rachel and Tracy with the statues" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/245913154_7f93f5af21.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/245909764/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="The parliament buildings" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/245909764_ffedad25e0.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/245908966/" title="Photo Sharing"><img alt="Rachel shows the bear how to eat" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/80/245908966_a27f0ef145.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />For dinner we went to a restaurant called the <a href="http://www.empiregrill.com/index.html">Empire Grill.</a> The meal and the drinks were incredible. After dinner, though, we went to a martini bar called (I believe) Helsinki's. They had the best martinis ever, and they were all pervertedly named - it won me over. The following day, we (and by we, I don't mean Jeff) were pretty much to hungover to do anything productive, so we went back home to Montreal.<br /><br />Six months later, Jeff and I return to Ottawa. You may have read about it on Jeff's <a title="blog" href="http://jeffrey.vanneste.ca/blog/2007/03/21/hairspray-in-ottawa/">blog</a>. This time there was less sunshine but even more hospitality. Chris and Tracy had gotten a hot tub. So fabulous. Friday night saw us eat the most fabulous meal and then we went to the hot tub for three hours drinking pitchers of martinis. This was the greatest way to de-stress from my crazy semester at school.<br /><br />The following day, we went and toured the inside of parliament. My dad raves about the library there and so I decided we should go see.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427108320/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/182/427108320_43fd696457.jpg" alt="IMG_2648" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427110190/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/427110190_4ac7a07475.jpg" alt="IMG_2651" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427114613/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/427114613_c92678a48c.jpg" alt="IMG_2658" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />This is the library:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427116540/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/173/427116540_81acbd8ac5.jpg" alt="IMG_2666" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427117507/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/427117507_35cf1b9690.jpg" alt="IMG_2669" height="375" width="500" /></a> <br />I am a unicorn!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427130654/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/427130654_a97aa42f27.jpg" alt="IMG_2698" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Here is me being Terry Fox. Now, I do love Terry Fox. I am not disrespecting him in any way by being his statue. But, as I posed with Terry, a man in a wheel chair rolled by...I felt awkward. I felt I needed to explain that I did indeed love Terry.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyvanneste/427106364/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/427106364_3ba709b441.jpg" alt="IMG_2645" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />That night, we went for supper at <a href="http://www.luxebistro.com/site/index.htm">Luxe Bistro,</a> which was fantastic. Then, the whole reason for the trip, we went to the musical <a title="Hairspray" href="http://www.broadwayacrosscanada.ca/BAA.Public.Web/Pages/News.aspx?isSTH=0&city=Ottawa&storyId=6806">Hairspray</a> ! I had seen the movie when I was younger and I was very excited to see the musical. It was really funny. It was Jeff's first musical and he didn't hate it! Yay! It is being re-made in <a title="movie" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427327/">movie</a> form again and should be out this summer. After the musical, we went for some dessert and went back to the hot tub.<br /><br />Our trips to Ottawa are always fantastic. Next year, I am doing a rotation at the Children's Hospital in Ottawa and will get a whole month of Tracy and Chris. Lucky me (not so much lucky them).<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"Every dog has it's day, every day has it's way of being forgotten - "Mom it's my birthday" would you say (what could you say)" -</span> </span>DMB</span>Rachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16184388084956432506noreply@blogger.com1