Loneliness or Solitude?

Wednesday, Nick left for the US and will not be coming home, Dutch home, until Oct 21st. He is visiting with his family and attending his best friend Ty's wedding. Both of which are very important and he really needed to do. He hasn't been home for over a year. He was really excited and I was happy to see him take a break from work. He never really does that. Unfortunately, because of my work commitments and the cost of flights I was unable to make the trip. So, I will be holding it down here for 11-days, on my own. Well Pumpkin, Gizmo, Maggie and me.

I know that many people embrace alone time and some have even said I must be happy to have a little time to myself when I told them I was flying solo. To be honest, I've always been a person who preferred the company of others and have avoided being on my own. So after some self reflection I have realized that it isn't that I'm not self reliant or that I need others to take care of me, if anything I like to feel independent and pride myself on being an independent lady. But rather I think it is that I don't like to feel lonely. I don't like the feeling of missing out on something and I don't always like being in my own head for too long. I think that often we can get stuck on the feeling of loneliness but I was thinking what if we used the word solitude instead of lonely. Language, has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone and it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone. So I've decided that these 11-days of flying solo will be filled with solitude and not loneliness. I have decided to embrace this time on my own. To do some things I want to do. Run, paint, learn to knit, cook a new recipe, girls night. Of course I will miss Nick and he never prevents me from doing the things I want but when he is here I will bounce things off of him instead of thinking them through on my own. It isn't always fair that I don't filter things or that I make him do my thinking for me. It is wonderful that I get to think about only myself and what I want to do and what I want to eat and that I get to work on thinking through things on my own. 
I feel like Macauley Caulkin in Home Alone when he realizes his whole family is gone. I'm kind of excited!!!! I'm sure by the end of the 11-days I will be wishing for Nick to come back just like he wished for his family to reappear :) Now I'm excited for Christmas!!!!!!

Canadian Girl in Maastricht: Take 2, Year Two!

Well, my one year anniversary of living in the Netherlands has come and gone and Nick and I are still holding it down Dutch style. I know it has been a while but life has been crazy. Maastricht is continuing to treat us well and the adventure continues! Nick is applying for jobs as they come up and I am working part time at Maastricht University. I was offered a contract for 20-hours a week with UM SPORT and I am doing special projects as they come up.  Which has proven to be more frequent then I originally thought :) I have my little business that I am doing on the side, a few patients each week and I am teaching Yoga and Bodyshape classes at Zenden as well. It is nice to have regular work and the flexibility to continue to study Osteopathy. I have two courses this year in May and June and my third year exam on my birthday :(

That should be good luck, right??!?!?!

I was really busy in the spring of this last year with a pilot programme I developed for employee health at the University as well as settling in after the move and just life in general and decided to take my last two courses and exam this year instead. I am still loving my osteo and I have developed a love of studying holistic nutrition as well. One of my most favourite things to do on the weekends is to try recipes and take instagram photos....my sister Leigh says this is weird but hey she above all people should know, I am weird!

My cats are thriving over here (still a crazy cat lady) and I feel like I am in a better place "psychologically" then I was when I first got here. I have come to realize that it is ok to miss home, it is ok to miss my old life but that this moment is pretty good too! With a clear mind I hope to get even more out of this European adventure.

Nick's birthday is coming up this Sunday and we have planned a trip to Tongeren, Belgium to the antique markets. Nick loves that show "American Pickers" so we will be North American Picking in Tongeren. Tongeren is the oldest city in Belgium so I am looking forward to a day filled with history and cool antiques. A Belgian beer with lunch sounds pretty good as well. There is a small antique market held here in Maastricht every Saturday, when the weather permits, by the train station. Nick loves to "wheel and deal" and has made some neat purchases. We will have to see what transport of these items back to North America entails. Hopefully, it isn't too crazy because we love collecting memories this way.

An antique coffee grinder. My grandpa always had one and my mom loves them. Notice the Al Cappuchino art work in the back ground. The artist was making them and selling them in the city centre. He lives in Maastricht.
Yes, I actually let Nick put this up!

This is red delft instead of the usual blue and Amstel is a very common beer here.

A WWII plate. Notice the horse stomping on the nazi symbol and the American flag on the right hand side. Nick had to have this and blew the days 20 euro budget on it :) He got home and checked it out online. It was valued at 30. We would be kicking butt on American Pickers!

Another Relaxing Weekend

It's Sunday night and Nick and I are just relaxing and watching the Olympics. Another relaxing weekend, just the two of us. This past week was pretty eventful so I was happy to just chill out. Last Friday we went to the Frape, a little local watering hole that Nick has become obsessed with. He loves to try new beers and Peter the owner is an awesome 'ol guy'. Nick always orders cheese with mustard and Bitterbolen. The atmosphere is pretty cool but after the weekend, usually by Monday evening, Nick starts talking about going again and by the time Friday arrives he can barely contain his excitement. For those who know Nick you know that super excited means he says in a relaxed voice with a big smile - I am looking forward to going to the Frape. He doesn't really get super excited the way I do.
This past Friday we went with friends - Imre, Silvie, JW, Ben and Mandy. Nick tried the Dark Damn Nation and LOVED it! His other favorite beer is the Black Albert. I really think it's largely because of the names that Nick orders these beers. On Saturday we went to our friends Richard and Laura's wedding party. It was a great evening and I was sorry we had to leave early so I could teach the next morning.
This week was an emotional one with one of my closest friends, Laura, heading home to Canada on Thursday :( I sure will miss her! Good news is I will be heading home for a visit in two weeks and maybe I will see her when I'm there. I am really looking forward to my visit. I haven't seen my dad in over a year. Time sure has passed quickly. I am looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, sisters Char and Leigh, my nephews, my friends and their BABIES... so many babies...there is a lot to do. I hope I am able to fit it all in and still find some time to relax.

This fall I will be working at UM Sport - Maastricht University. I will be teaching classes, working in the gym, leading the strength and conditioning section and helping out with various other projects. I will continue with my Osteopathy and developing and growing my therapy business. There are so many things to look forward to. I am excited for the upcoming year and to discover what the future holds. Last night Nick and I sat out on our balcony that overlooks a beautiful church and said how lucky we are. Had we never moved here we would have never known about this place or have introduced so many of our friends to it --- I am amazed at the number of visitors we have had! This year I plan to savour every minute. I know when we move back to North America it's going to be full speed ahead so I plan to enjoy while I can. I am loving my new ipad and instagram. Check out some of the pictures I have taken. Maggie has been my muse. She is such a little ham :) Maggie misses Canada too. She loves sitting in my Hockey Canada bag.

Ladies of Leisure Living Large

My friend Laura has recently wrapped up her post doctoral fellowship at the University and we regularly joke about being "ladies of leisure". Laura has kept herself  busy with planning her wedding, her move back to Canada at the end of the month and writing her book. She is preparing to go back to school in the fall to the Naturopathic College in Toronto. She is so smart - she will be a Dr, Dr when she is done :) and more importantly she is awesome because she is going after her dreams.
I keep myself busy as well - teaching, studying, writing, cooking and yes taking care of Pumpkin, Gizmo and Maggie. We joke but on more then one occasion I have caught myself making comments about not doing anything or enough, not contributing to the world and my job being a stay at home mom for our cats. I catch myself under valuing my contribution to the world. Shame on me!
Since I've moved to the Netherlands something is different. Obviously my surroundings, but also something within me. I don't know what it is exactly but something in me has changed. I can't quite put my finger on it but I have noticed I have a harder time opening up to people. A harder time sharing my thoughts. It's almost like an uncomfortable feeling of heartbreak that I don't want to burden others with or perhaps, on a sub-conscious level I think that if I share it, it makes this whole thing real. Am I grieving the death of my former workaholic self, an identity I strived so hard to achieve, or is it the fear that my previous life was as good as it was going to get?!?!?! I call bull-shit on that!
Of course I share my thoughts, concerns and questions with Nick but not so freely with others. I'm getting brave and I have decided to share it with you. I'm doing a whole lot more observing and am reluctant to jump into things as I would have so easily in the past. Maybe this is me growing up and choosing to spend my time on things that I truly love as opposed to having my schedule reflect a more, is better philosophy. Maybe this is me protecting my heart. Fate stepped in and forced this change upon me: be it fate, destiny, a higher power...change came. After much reflection, I think this is a positive thing. I am more protective of myself, my time and my focus on doing and being the best at the things I really love. Honoring my authentic self! Whatever it is, it's different. With challenges come change and this is definitely a change I was not expecting. 
Today, I made a list of my goals for the upcoming year and I am really excited about pursuing my dream of becoming an Osteopath. I will be working part time and teaching classes which will be the perfect balance for my study schedule. Without the universe stepping in and relocating us here I don't know if I would have made the change on my own. Focusing on these goals is so important to achieving what I want. Keep your dreams big and your beliefs in your dreams even bigger. A wise person once said;


There are two kinds of people:  Those who say, “I will believe it when I see it.” And those who say,“To see it, I know I must believe it.”  

Ladies of Leisure Living Large in Ireland :)

MIA...Ibiza, Visitors, Anniversary and Birthday...

The last month has been busy to say the least. I was busy and I was all up in my brain trying to figure things out. Sorry that I have been MIA. Did you miss me?????
My sister Leigh came to visit to keep me company while Nick was in San Francisco for our 1-year anniversary :( We really should have chosen a different weekend to get married because ACSM is always going to conflict and I know who wins that war every time. I understood that he had to be there and he spoiled me to make up for it. I got a sweet ipad with a pink cover!!! He knows me well.
It was wonderful to spend time with Leigh and she made my anniversary more then special. Thank you, thank you thank you doll!!!!! She came to Maastricht and we spent two days visiting with Nick, touring the city, going for runs and hanging out with my friends.


I am so lucky to have had my mom and sister Charlotte come visit and then Leigh. The ladies in my life are too good to me :)


It was Sunday when Nick left for San Francisco for his conference and Leigh and I spent the day hanging out and then caught the train to the Amsterdam airport. Our flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona was easy but we had a 13-hour wait over until we flew to Ibiza in the morning. Being the wild women that we are we decided to take a shuttle to La Rambla and pull an all night'r; eating tapas, drinking beer and dancing the night away, before our early morning flight. What a crazy night!!! Leigh is a party machine. Needless to say when we arrived in Ibiza we didn't need much convincing to slip into our bathing suits and sleep for the afternoon by the pool. I realized right away that this was a place where the culture is for women to tan topless. I never realized how shy I was about this. I am very comfortable with the human body and am not offended by others but exposing my chest was just not going to happen. I thought about how liberating this could be but never gathered the gumption to go for it. These bad boys have never seen the sun and I wasn't about to start now. Ibiza was beautiful and our hotel, Ibiza Corso, was spectacular. Not in the same was as some of the lush tropical vacation spots I've been to but in an arid and authentic/ lived in kind of way. There was a fantastic DJ who would come and spin by the pool in the afternoon and it was perfection.
We had a wonderful three days of lounging by the pool, walking the beach, exploring old Ibiza, marathon hikes, crazy workouts, amazing food and LIO! LIO was the coolest restaurant/ bar that I have ever been to. This place was better then all of Vegas. The food was AMAZING and the atmosphere was like nothing I have ever experienced. There was a cabaret show throughout the evening and the people watching was insane. These could not have been real people. If you go to Ibiza I cannot stress more how much you need to go to this place. AMAZE-balls!!!!!! Leigh and I celebrated my 1-year anniversary at a quaint little authentic italian trattoria on the water with a glass of champagne and a delicious dessert. I missed Nick with all my heart but felt very lucky to have a sister who came across the world to spend it with me :) We spent one night in Amsterdam where we stayed at the Pulitzer and had a room service picnic watching the Matrix. Not what we had planned but it turned out to be perfect. That bed was unreal and the couple next door sounded like they really enjoyed it as well ;)
After our trip, lots of deep sister talks and five days of total relaxation I came home to settle back in for a few days before Nick came home. When Nick arrived home we had some serious discussions about the future and we finally came to the decision that I would be staying here with him. I contacted my boss, Debbie, at McMaster to let her know I would not be back in August. It was a really tough decision but I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I shed a few tears but then tried to smile because it was amazing while it lasted. There is nothing left to do but move forward now and not look back. Scary!!!! I mean EXCITING!!!!
To top it all off I celebrated my 31st Birthday on June 19th. I'm getting old...but man I look good :) ahahhaha

Laura, Pettie, Dalai!

Thursday my friends Laura, Andrew and I went on a great adventure. There was; lattes, kiwi's, dribblers, smiles, grapevines, loving kindness, underwear flags, irish jigs, popcicles, and smiles from ear to ear.
We went to see the Dalai Lama! Our adventure started with a 9:30am meeting at coffeelovers so Laura and I could cafinate in preparation for the big day. We took our lattes to go and made our way to the train station to make our way to Huy, Belgium. Laura and I are hard core planners but we through caution to the wind and only planned things on a minor level ;) We hopped on the train in Maastricht and when we arrived in Liege we choreographed a flash mob dance routine including grapevines, jigs and shuffles. A few New Zealanders heard us speaking English on the platform and introduced themselves, Henry and ????? Laura help me out! They were on their way to see the Dalai Lama as well. If you think of every stereotype possible about kiwi's it was embodied in these two characters. We only needed to strap sheep to their backs :) Conversation lead to them asking how old we were and when we said "thirty" they both said "wow, that's old...and quickly followed up with you don't look that old". That's a good thing, right? When we got to Huy we saw signs to catch a shuttle bus to take us to the temple the Dalai Lama was blessing and where he would be making his talk on "Loving Kindness". We had a bit of time so we followed the Kiwi's until they found a group of 4-girls and started kissing. They told us we had to kiss them too because it is not polite not to kiss people in this culture. I thought that we should take this opportunity to do our own thing, Laura agreed and Andrew was quickly convinced, we didn't want the rest of the trip to go "cock up". The kiwi's introduced me to this term. Thanks Henry and ?????
It was a really hot day (26+ degrees) and for some reason Andrew decided to wear his thermal underwear. As we made our way to the bus Andrew thought it would be the smartest choice to remove his thermal underwear or risk hyperthermia. He ran off to the bathroom and shortly after the bus pulled up to the curb. Laura and I stood in the door of the bus hoping to buy time for Andrew. It was a close call but we made it. When they dropped us off at the entrance to the grounds and we had to walk through the surrounding community and across beautiful parks to find a spot on the grass in front of where the Dalai Lama would be speaking. We found a great spot in the shade and grabbed some lunch. Andrew decided to do some exploring and said he would wave his underwear, as a flag when he found something cool. Then he actually did it! Oh, Andrew! The Dalai Lama was amazing when he spoke. He was funny, happy, smiling and his message was simple. He spoke about all of us being human beings. No one better or more important then anyone else. He spoke about many of the positive things that different religious groups have done for their fellow man. He said that no religion is above another but that we must focus on the future, confidence, the education of children about morals and ethics and the power of taking action in conjunction with prayer. I thought he was wonderful!!! At the end their was a question period and I think the most memorable thing he said for me was when he was asked if he remembers his previous life and where he would like to be born again. He said "...sometimes I don't remember yesterday...and he would like to be born where he can be of service to his fellow man". It was brilliant because it was simple and he made himself very relatable. I really appreciated the experience.
We decided to walk back to the train instead of taking the buses. We weren't sure of the way back but Laura's "spidy" senses kicked in, I hadn't even loaned her my costume :) We got the best popsicles ever and caught the train home. The dribbler made an appearance at the train station...no further comment and we shared an amaze-balls ride home :) Thank you to my wonderful friends and for this perfect adventure!

I'm Obsessed with TED Talks

After the first few days of being ill and being confined to my bed I started to get stir crazy. I had watched every episode of the Kardashians and Fashion Police and felt like I had almost no viable brain cells left. With my last few surviving brain cells I thought to myself - I should be learning and engaging what is left of my sickness ravaged self. Did I mention I am a huge wimp when I get sick???? I didn't feel like reading my text books, they are so heavy and I couldn't muster the strength to hold them up, so I decided I should check out some TED talks and see if there was anything of interest. In the past some friends had posted lectures or said I had to watch one they had seen but I never really got into it. Good thing, because once I got started, I couldn't stop! I watched TED talks for the better part of a day. One right after the other. I laughed, I cried, I said "you're right" and "I never thought of it that way" out loud by myself. Can you say weirdo!?!!?! I blame it on the fever :) I watched talks about politics, about the environment, about life, about cancer, about feminism. The topics were diverse, engaging, some profound and some really hit home. I couldn't get over how much great information is out there; inspiration, motivation, education, different perspectives and talks that tugged on my heart strings. I thought to myself - this freedom of information is so wonderful. I would never have had the opportunity to hear these original lectures or to see these speakers if not for TED. I love you TED talks! Please see attached a few of my favorite TED Talks. These are three that really spoke to me at this time in my life. I hope you enjoy them too :)

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler.html