There are two questions I get asked every single time I’m talking to someone here in the Netherlands and tell them I’m from Canada… Do you find it very different here compared to where you come from? Which do you like better?
After almost 11 years living in another country, it still amazes me how deeply I still love Canada. Especially the east coast. Nova Scotia is my home, Cape Breton Island holds a piece of my heart and is part of who I am like only another Caper could truly understand… I’m not at all homesick [...]
Our other expat friends gathered together at our house for dinner on Christmas Day The hardest part about life as an expat is missing your family and friends, I don’t think there is an expat out there who can argue that… and in the age of Twitter, Facebook, and instant messengers, it’s impossible to isolate [...]
We all know I’m terrible for taking long, agonizing walks down Memory Lane, right? Well… I’m at it again! Out of the blue a few days ago I started humming the theme song to The Littlest Hobo. When I told my husband about it he had never heard of the show so I started singing [...]
I just got back from dropping my mother off at the airport. I’m a bit down and I miss her already but I’ve learned over the years that if I let myself wallow I can sometimes not drag myself back out, so I try to keep myself occupied until it passes. When I got home [...]
OK, about 42,000 people have tagged me on Facebook to do this ‘25 things’ meme, so I’m gonna do it here and not tag anyone. If you read this and want to do it yourself, by all means – meme your little heart out. Since I’ve been in winter hibernation and feeling a little Fuck [...]
Last night I crawled into bed and heaved a big sigh. Our new bed is so comfy and with the fleece sheets on in the winter it’s like crawling into a cloud. I was tired, it was almost 1am which is pretty late for us but not unusual lately since Xander has been working from [...]
shoppers and crystal tree by wvs Every day I visit the website daily dose of imagery because I have serious photo envy, and because I like to torture myself by looking at photos of Toronto and getting homesick. Yesterday he posted this photo of one of the big shopping centers in downtown Toronto at x-mas. [...]
Holy crap, can you believe it?!! I remember when I started the countdown on my header, it was 68 days until Christmas and now it’s here! This is where Xander and I will spend Christmas Eve – in front of the tree, behind our laptops, just the way we like it! Ok, I’m sure I’d [...]
A while back I saw that Zhu had a post called Pay it Forward. I first thought of the movie by that name, but it turned out she was taking part in the same sort of thing only over blogs. Here is how it was described: the exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness [...]
Today while I was in town I took this photo of the Christmas decorations in the city center. Everywhere I turn there are people complaining about Christmas decorations and items being out already, but I honestly couldn’t be happier about it. I think here in the Netherlands we are slightly early as well because we [...]
If you had asked me a month ago if I had any space in my house I would have laughed. Between me, the pets, my husband and all our furniture I felt like we were completely crowded. I SO wish I felt that way again right now. My parents left this morning and if I’m [...]
Oh my god I can’t believe I’m finally saying this, but my parents will be here NEXT WEEK!! We’ve been counting this down for months and it’s almost here. Mom and Dad hugs, Canadian goodies, all my favorite people together again in one room!! I’m excited! I’m freaking out! I know most other expat women [...]
Today Xander had to go in to the office for a few minutes. He is on a new project with the government in Dordrecht and the first day he was there he went to hunt and gather for lunch. He phoned me telling me that there was a quilt shop around the corner, and a [...]
I think I have abandonment issues because I had a really weird dream last night with a common theme as of late. I dreamed, yet again, that I was back in Canada. I was in my hometown, driving around seeing and doing all the things I miss. It’s all in bits and pieces now but [...]
Last night I had the strangest dream, and I blame this photo which I first saw on my friend Gail’s blog. In my dream I was with my husband walking up some random street in Toronto. All along the street people were playing games like basketball and all those dart throwing, ball chucking games that [...]
Thuis means home in Dutch. It’s been a while since I did some before and after shots of some of the renovations we’ve done so far. So I thought I’d play catch up. Our most recent is the dining room, this is how it’s looked over the years: This photo was taken sometime in 2000, [...]
Fearless Fourteen
by Janet Evanovich
