Disappointment...

One totally awesome thing about me being in Switzerland in this specific year is the fact that the Euro 2008 (Europe's biggest Soccer/Football tournament) is taking place in the city I live in this year. The thing that sucks is it's practically impossible to get a ticket unless you want to sell your first born baby...and i don't have any of those so I'm gonna have to miss out on the live action :(
BUT...at least it's possible to sit outside the stadium and watch on the big screens...for much cheaper...but it's still not the same...

Procrastinator to the Max...

Forgive me for not posting sooner...but i'm kinda busy...haha...but seriously...my trip so far has been amazing.

First few days in Switzerland were a blur...meeting tons of new people...going on picnics...I've already been to Italy as well...Florence and Milan to be exact...Florence takes my pic out of those two...my travel buddy and i ended up sleeping in a train station for 4 hours on that trip as well. oh and how can i forget almost getting squished by the train door as it was leaving. The train was super full and no one was moving to let me in...we ran from door to door and no one was budging and then the train started moving without me in it...and Gabi was already in...my life seriously flashed before my eyes in that moment...i forced myself in somehow...and then after laughing my head off for a minute i looked around...and there was TONS of room...those jackasses were just too lazy to move over a bit more! seriously!...anyways...italy was cool...i saw the Uffizi museum...the one with Botticelli's The Birth of Venus...and some Michealangelo etc...pretty cool stuff...and we biked around for a while...on one of those cool bikes with the basket in front...we ate gelato everyday, SCRUMPTIOUS!! and yes, the coffee is great too, even if i'm not a coffee drinker really...

the family i'm nannying for is great...the parents are super nice, the mom is a slight perfectionist, but in a good way i guess haha...the dad is funny and not a jerk which i was afraid of...but nope he's awesome too...the boys are funny...rambuncious (spell?) and slightly hyper and they get whatever they want but still good boys...and quite easy to take care of...

my cooking skills are being tested at times, which was much needed so that's an added perk. I made a cake yesterday for the first time..AND the icing...and it was quite successful...and then i had to make it again for one of the boys at school...and they all loved it...

so overall things are wonderful so far...i will post some pictures of all the highlights so far...the first 5 are just out and about Geneva, Interlaken and Nyon Switzerland...and then the last 5 are from Milan and Florence Italy...

So Close...

i'm leaving in less than a week...for switzerland...and it's SUPER FREAKY...but SUPER AWESOME!!! :D

Breaks my Heart...

In the past day or two there have been a couple situations where people have been dicussing the topics of "Is God Real" and "Creation or Evolution." (Both have been on Facebook). I don't neccessarily mind these discussions...except for the fact that there are those that are SO closed minded and are SO solid in the belief that God is fake and that Evolution is fact...for me this gets so frustrating because no matter what...there is no convincing them...

and for me it's such an easy answer...my faith comes SO simply and easily...and i'm extremely thankful for that...i don't understand how someone can say they've never experienced God and they don't believe that there is any trace of His power ANYWHERE...for me, even the complexity of a baby forming in the womb or just the beauty of the Earth is enough to show me that...I wish people realized that when they even feel the emotion of love or compassion or something of that nature that God has a hand in that!!

i know that no one will be able to see or feel God's love without the Holy Spirit's work within them...but sometimes i wish what i said, or a fellow Christian said, would be enough sometimes...it would be a lot less frustrating and depressing...

And it breaks my heart to know that it will take the worst experience imaginable for some to finally understand what they missed out on during their life on earth...

A Couple Things...

...i went to sleep before midnight for the first time in AT LEAST a year the other day...I still felt like crap after...

...i'm getting nervous about my mp3 player because it's taking so long to arrive...

...i ran over a rabbit yesterday on the Anthony Henday Highway...my jaw dropped it was so gross...first time running over something :(...it was unavoidable...

...i will buy a tall mocha frappucino with extra whip today...

*UPDATE*
...my mp3 player arrived in good health...meaning it works like a CHARM!!! :D...i'm so happy with it! i didn't think technology could ever make me this happy...

...kinda sick but yesterday, as i was walking to my car, i saw remainings of the rabbit i ran over hanging from my undercarriage...i shivered and immedietely went to the car wash...35 minute wait and all...

...that frappicino was great...i love it when i order extra whip and they put it in a grande cup just to fit it all...

Zip the Lips...

Road Rage is never cool...

i work with someone that has a severe case of the R R. What do you do when they are in a blind blow-up, running their mouth, cursing everyone around them never thinking that they were the one's at fault in the first place?...

there's only so much i can take of this...especially since i'm driving with this person alll the time...so my strategy for now is to zip my lips...and maybe he'll get the hint that he's acting like a poop!

or maybe i should tell him to read my blog...

should it BE this hard!

I thought that i was living in a time where technology was just the be all and end all...well not in Canada apparently...

I was TRYING to order that mp3 player i was talking about down there...but Canada is behind the times and doesn't have it yet...are you kidding me!? It's supposed to get here sometime in spring...well guess what Best Buy...i don't HAVE until then...i want one now!...haha...(i'm not usually an impatient person). I'm slightly embarassed by this actually...it's almost as if us Canucks were on a different planet...all the stereotypes seem to be true in this case...

I phoned around to a few different online stores that carry the Zune player i so desire...and NONE of them ship to Canada...i guess all those businesses couldn't be bothered to pay for all those dogsleds delivering the product to my igloo...and it would be even more difficult with the minus 80 Celsius and 10 feet of snow...and i guess we don't have paved roads either...or running water for that matter...who am i kidding...it's wishful thinking to have mainstream music at all...i can hardly get an AM radio station up here!!!...

well anyways...I ended up resulting to eBay much to my mom's dismay...(she has trust issues)...it turns out middle aged guys living in their parents basement don't have any problem selling and delivering to us crazy Canadians...

on a more cheery side note: i think i found my font of choice...

Technologic...

I've been setting my sights on this mp3 player for a couple weeks now...(I've never been one for Ipods)...BUT....the only thing keeping me from actually purchasing it is the fact that i most likely have to order it off the internet and get it shipped. This freaks me out slightly. Ordering things off the internet has never been an appealing perk for me. I know people that RAVE about internet purchasing...but it just seems so risky! like what if i order this little guy and it comes and it's BROKEN! That would totally suck! AND getting things shipped always means shipping fees and shipping delays and that's super annoying...

But even with all those hold-backs...i think i will go through with it...sigh

it BETTER get here before i leave for Switzerland...(shakes fist at screen)

Just Rembered!

Ok so...i had a dream last night that was just silly...i don't usually remember them...but this one was kinda awesome, in a lame kind of way...
I think it pretty much started with me meeting the Spice Girls...and they were getting ready for their tour and stuff...i was part of thier crew or something...and we were on a bus or something and I remember one of Sporty Spices solo songs was playing in there, and she demanded it be turned off...this is understandable (don't we all hate the sound of our own voice)...and then i reassured her that it was an awesome song (that was/is truth, no lie there)...and then they did some shows and whatever and they were going through big crowds of screaming fans...and i remember there was another group that dressed up LIKE them to revert the crowd away from the real thing...and for some reason the fake group was all guys crossdressing haha...and then time lapsed and some how I think i was PART of the spice girls all of a sudden...and i was living with a friend of mine that i haven't seen in like two years (her name is Marci, we played soccer together)...and i was like ok I'm going to switzerland in a couple months...and she was like "Nadine you can't!...the Spice Girls are doing so good with you a part of them!" and she showed me pictures of our success...and i was all torn and crying and i couldn't decide between the Spice Girls and Switzerland...and through all of this i was looking in a mirror, and my body was covered in new tatoos...which actually didn't look too bad!...and i magically had an awesome body haha...(at this point, my brain was waking up and i was realizing i was dreaming)...and then there were more tears...and then it was done...WHAT THE H! dreams are strange/great!!!
it's funny too cause i swear i haven't been thinking about the spice girls in that great of detail!...

...not in the last week or two anyways...

Big Plans!

Where: I'm going to live in Geneva, Switzerland for a year!

What: Living with a family taking care of their 2 boys (pretty much nannying)...All money earned goes towards travelling Europe!

Why: Now or Never...I've been wanting to go for a looong time and why not while I'm still young...sometimes being spontanious makes for the best experiences :D

When: I'll be leaving mid April-ish...

Who: obvious? I will be by myself though, except for the first couple weeks when a friend of mine will be showing me the ropes as i'll be taking her place...

and on a completely different topic...Happy 25th Birthday Derek my brother!

Big Bubbles...

There's nothing like a pack of Hubba Bubba gum to bring me back to the good ole days...Nope...not swing sets...not jean cut off shorts...not those colourful ponchos. Gum was the one thing that never failed...everytime i went grocery shopping with the mom, i had to snag me either a Bubbalicious...or the Hub. Usually the Watermelon flavour or Strawberry. To this day, gum get's me...It doesn't matter that it lasts for just five minutes...or that there's only five pieces per pack so i hesitate to share...or that it makes your jaw click...it's all about the tender luscious first few chews and the huge ass bubbles you can blow with it!!! Shout out to Lacey for giving me 4 packs of deliciousness for Christmas!! :D

Magical Fingertips...

I got a massage today...much needed. I have one question though...is it normal to feel a little nautious and headache-ish afterwards? Maybe its' cause my therapist was concentrating on my neck area. (By the way, my therapist is very very good y'all...she's my bud Andrea. She's very young, but makes up for it with those magical fingertips haha...). It's funny that, no matter how much it hurts to get all those knots grinded and squished, the idea of getting a massage is so dreamy and inviting. Every time I'm in the middle of the near torture on the massage table...I think to myself, "I am not coming back for a REALLY long time..." But there I am a couple months later, getting all giddy and pumped up to get another massage. Oh and FYI...always remember to shower before you get one...you don't want to be one of those people that massage therapists tell gross horror stories about...;D

Missing Out

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays to celebrate...as it is for most of you I'm sure. BUT the thing that sucks is that I always end up having to work...I know i'm being kind of a whiner (I'm a good complainer), but it seriously makes me a little depressed. I don't think I've had a 'workless" thanksgiving for a few years now. Although I'm very thankful that I have a job I enjoy, I still can't help day dreaming about the good home made supper, home made dessert, and of COURSE the awesome company that I'm missing out on. This get's me thinking about how thankful I am for an extended family that i absolutely love. I know some people that have families that are kind of broken and they don't get along and there's lots of animosity...not with the Woudstra's! I do thank God for that...There's nothing better than goofing off with the cousins' for hours at a time :D...I hope there's still some time after my shift tonight to catch them before they leave...maybe we'll watch the Oilers game!

Concerts Concerts Concerts...

Edmonton right now is seriously in it's prime for big name concerts. I've been lucky enough to go to Jann Arden (big in Canada), Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, (Tegan and Sara on Tuesday if you can consider them big at all), and NOW....Billy Joel...I just bought tickets yesterday and i'm sooooooooooo pumped! Billy is like a major icon in the music biz...and i'm so happy i'm able to (sort of) afford this ticket! Especially considering those other shows broke my bank slightly...My good bud Kirstyn and I are going together...and we got tickets slightly behind the stage...i'm not too too sure what to think about this...we chose these seats because we will be WAY closer to the stage itself compared to the other tickets that were available. Have any of you ever been to a concert where you sat behind the stage??? Tell me how it was if you have...I'm so PUMPED though, regardless :D

Summer Love

This summer has probably been the best summer of my life so far...First i went houseboating and met some really sweet new friends and had the best vacation EVER! here are some classic pics...

THEN! as i've mentioned in a previous post...i was in my cousin abbie's wedding...my bud sally requested some full length dress shots...so here are some of my faves...

AND THEN...it was the super sweet Canadian Reformed soccer tournament in Chilliwack! there's nothing better than hanging out with awesome people, making more new friends, AND playing the best sport ever too! here's a couple gooders...

Andrea and I had a sweeeet road trip (with the BEST mix CD's known to man)...Our team didn't end up doing the best as we lost to the green team there...but it's cute cause we're all friends enough still to take a picture together after :D

Best Summer EVA!

Peep!

So I've realized that i suck at posting...when I compare myself to some of my other peeps...they seem to have so much cool slash funny stuff to talk about! I don't think I could ever dedicate a whole post to Star Trek or my Neighbors. Although i do always make room for fake naked pictures. The whole point of this post is to strictly give people something new to read since I've been sucking at blogging lately.

oh and if you want a quick laugh phone this number...669-5270

Oh Dear...

They were such a hit on facebook...so I decided to flaunt them even more...

This wasn't planned at all, (well maybe the one with Kirstyn was a teensy bit)...but it was seriously fluke. I was on the couch and i burst out laughing because Kate looked BUCK naked...it's situations like this I'm glad i lugged my Dinosaur camera around...

Abbie's Wedding

07/07/07 proved to be an awesome day for my cousin and all of us involved in the wedding. I was a bridesmaid along with abbie's sisters and it was more fun than i thought it would be. We all looked superb and got tons of compliments...that's always a good feeling...and i didn't fall walking down the isle which is a plus :D The groomsmen were super fun and we all got along great...we even went to McDonalds for a pit stop and got some photos in there wearing our Mc Bibs haha...all in all a happy day and the only freaky part of the day was when my Auntie Audrey forgot the fruit platters and Michele, Dannie and I had to pick them up from Safeway ten minutes before the ceremony! Thanks for that Auntie A haha...it was all good though, there's nothing like recieving a few cat calls running through a parking lot :D

This One's For You Sally!

Hey Sally...long time no see or talk...but I've totally thought about you and have missed you!

What a Sweet Escape!

Ok, sorry about the lame ass title...BUT...Gwen Stefani was the Shit tonight...and i want to let everyone know...I wasn't sure what she was gonna be like live...because i heard her on Ellen a couple months ago...and it wasn't ideal. But this show blew me away...the BEST part was when Gwenners ran around to the back...and then ran up into the crowd and she was RIGHT below us...i mean RIGHT below singing "Cool." It was a gong show trying to get a good picture with a whole bunch of chicks pushing and shoving haha...what an amazing time...

the pics come courtesy of my good bud Cynthia...