Ha. Wow!

Oh hey there! It's me. That person that used to blog pretty regularly and then I gave up. (And I've been meaning to get this post up for a few months now so...ya. Go me.)

Honestly...what did I even talk about? Did I have interesting things happening then? Because I sure as heck don't have anything exciting going on now.
Don't get me wrong, life is still alright. But it's like that NIN song...everyday is exactly the same! Though sometimes that's not necessarily a bad thing. For now, it's better than a lot of horrible things happening instead ;)

Anyways, I guess it's been long enough since I updated you all that I actually do have a few things I could mention.

First off, I will say again, I am on Instagram (and snapchat) more regularly. So if you love me, and want little tokens from time to time...that's the place to be, just saying ;)
I will also warn...you will see a lot of selfies, cats, food, and yoga poses. Just the way it ended up!
(@_trudles_)

Alright! Let's jump into this!

- fun fact (maybe) - Scott and I have owned our house for over 2 years now! Seems kind of crazy! We're still loving our community, and it's fun seeing how much it's developed since we've lived here (the community, not our house) ;)
If you missed it, or just want a refresher...you can see the virtual tour here. You're welcome. ;)

- work - for a year now, I've been working as a barista at Starbucks. It has been good to me and I've made some delightful friends! Anyone have a favourite Starbie drink??
People are certainly going nutso over the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte.

- yoga - just recently renewed my yoga pass and have been regularly practicing. It feels great to be back and I have definitely missed it.
I've had the same Lululemon 'The Mat' for 2.5 years now, and it's pretty worn out. Almost time for a new one!

- foods and such - lately, I have been loving a few places around Calgary...
1. Costa Vida (Mexican)
2. Coco Brooks (pizza)
3. Frozen Yogurt - from anywhere!
OH! 4. Movie Theatre popcorn - from the nearest theatre :D

And a couple seasonal picks...
1. Pumpkin Spice Tea from Tim Horton's (2 cream, 1 sugar ☺️)
2. Pumpkin Scones from Co-op
3. Not quite seasonal, but remember the smile cookies from Tim Hortons?? They're back! But only for a couple more days!! Do your duty, eat a cookie! (And maybe try a tea while you're there ;) - yes, caffeine free!)

Well, I think I'll leave it off here for now.

How's life? 
You into any seasonal goodies? 

Love you too.

xo T

A much needed update...

Oh Lordy!
Many a month have gone by. Woops!

Well, as some of you have been asking and I have been horrible at getting back to you, I figured I should get an update of sorts up!

I was a bit busy for a time...updating my resume, applying around and going to interviews.
At least it paid off, because a few weeks ago now, I landed myself a position with Papa Chocolat which is Bernard Callebaut's new start up (for those of you who didn't know).
So that has been going quite well! I feel like I've been working there for ages because of how busy it has been for Easter *.* But we all made it through. I've even had experience working at the Farmer's Markets (which is a whole different ball game).

Scott has been working with his brother while trying to find a job in his field. So I suppose that's going alright as well!

Besides that, life has been pretty regular for us!

The winter here has seemed ridiculously lengthy and I am MORE than ready for Spring/Summer. Maybe a trip to Texas is in order ;) (I wish...)

Speaking of Texas...lately I've been missing some of my sisters that are across the world! You guys know who you are...it's been a long time!
My dad is also kind of in poor health lately so I'm always sending positive thoughts his way...love you Dad!

Other than all this, just hanging out I suppose!
We've gotten to spend a decent amount of time with Benson and Kate-Lynn lately. It's been fun!
I've also been missing some fairly long time friends Ben and Frances (and May)...come home already!

Oh! I've also tried slurpee with soft serve ice cream swirled in.  Oh my goodness *.* so good!

My precious Subaru is now 6 months old and had to get her first oil change...still enjoying her for sure!

We have also gone to see Divergent and the new Muppets Movie.
Both were just kind of meh to me.
Divergent the book was much better (of course), so the movie was just okay to me.

I've been hanging out on Instagram a lot lately! So you can find me...@_trudles_
I've even started using hashtags...so ridiculous...

And yes, that's really it.

So how's it going out there?
What's new with you?

Hope all is well!

Love you too.

xo T

Hawaii #2 Thoughts and a few more pictures

Remember how we went to Hawaii?

No?
Well then, go read the last recap!

But today I'm just going to share a few more pictures and thoughts on the trip and such.
Here goes!

 Some of the view from Diamond Head....

 A...different view?

 ...with us in there!

What's this strange looking creature?

Oh! A Scott! :D

 This bird trekked all the way up as well. 

Who the bird?

You the bird!

 Little old me! Scott was chatting with our tour guide.

(Who was a pretty cool dude)

 I thought these little white flowers were so cute!

 At the airport...sad to leave Hawaii...

(We were Lei'd AGAIN before leaving our hotel{ok, actually I got 2})

I kept laughing at Scott's faces. I was more sad then I looked...

View in the air. Below all this is Ocean...lots and lots of Ocean.

So that's that! I didn't share all of my pictures...but a majority of them! 

I've also realized I have an obscene amount of pictures on my iPhone. We're talking like 2,000. 

Ya. I think I need to start clearing that out D;

A few last thoughts...

• We LOVED Hawaii and would absolutely love to go back again and AGAIN! The atmosphere was extremely laid back and it's just beautiful in general. PLUS, we'd love to explore more of O'ahu, see more of the hikes and venture off to the other Islands.
• However, this is also one of the most expensive trips we've ever taken. Hotels, flights, FOOD, activities. Very pricey! Make sure you budget a good amount when you venture here.
• Waikiki (the area where we stayed) is very touristy. It was an extremely convenient location to get shuttles around and explore and go to the beach and such. BUT, because it's tourist central it's VERY busy and likely why it's so expensive in this area. ;)
• I started a small collection of Japanese Good Luck Cat's (want to see????). They're so cute and they were EVERYWHERE! So yes...many cat's. Hopefully lots of luck. Unless they cancel out each others luck. Dang it...
• Their pineapple is delicious. Take advantage of it while there. Trust me.
• If you go during their 'Winter' season (we did), bring an umbrella/water proof jacket (we did not...and I was too cheap to buy anything). It gets fairly rainy (it likely rains some in the Spring as well...just be prepared!)! HOWEVER, rarely did it rain all day and when it does rain...it's usually still quite warm! 
• We did rent a vehicle, but we would recommend NOT renting one. If you stay in Waikiki, most things are in walking distance. If not, there are tons of shuttles to the touristy areas (for good prices), there are cabs flocking EVERYWHERE, and there's also city buses. We only pulled out our rental car about 3 times, which seemed silly to us. It was convenient to be able to have the car available those few times but traffic is also pretty crappy (because Waikiki is so busy). So yes, think about it long and hard before renting! Next time, we would NOT rent a car. 

And yes! I believe that's all I've got to say! If you have any questions or concerns...don't hesitate to ask!

Also, if you've been to Hawaii, share your tips and recommendations for our next trip!

Most importantly, if you're going soon....take us with you??? :3

Hope all is well. 

Love you too. 

xo T

Happy Birthday Scott!

You always try to be positive...

You make me laugh, even with a ridiculous moustache...

You enjoy ice cream cake just as much as me...

I've enjoyed all of our adventures at home and abroad...

Happy Birthday Scott! :D

Hope you've had a great day and have a fantastic year :)!

Love you!

xo T

PS. I'll try to get the second Hawaii recap up soon! (Here's the first recap).

Hawaii recap!

You should've known it would take a bit to get this up...

If you read my last post, you'd know that Scott and I took a little last minute vacation to Hawaii!

So I'm just going to jump right in with a recap post! Hooray!

Alrighty, first off, I will say that we only went to the island, O'ahu. We did want to jump to at least one more island but after doing some research I found there was a LOT to do on this one island. PLUS, we wanted to cut down the costs as much as we could...Hawaii is expensive~!

(Very excited...but also very sleepy *.*)

This is us...early Thursday (30th) morning. Scott's brother (Robert) picked us up to drive us to the airport - Thanks Rob! We left behind the snowy cold city of Calgary, and landed in a slightly less cold city, Denver, Colorado. We only had time to grab a quick snack (Jamba Juice {one of my favorite things in the States!} and McDonalds {we're not ashamed}) and hasten to our soon departing plane to a warmer place.

(Right next to our gate in Denver, I noticed some cute little birds hopping around!)

This flight was LONG...it was very windy, so our Pilot went back and around to avoid the gust. This flight was about 7.5 hrs. But it was all worth it to land at the Honolulu Airport :D

(Even more excited, but also even more exhausted as Hawaii is 3 hours behind as well)

So we went to pick up our rental vehicle, which was a small, silver Jeep (which we got for quite a good deal) and ventured out in search of our hotel - Moana Surfrider.
**Fun fact - actually the first hotel here...built in 1901!**
(I don't have any pictures of the Jeep...or Hotel...)
You'll have to take our word that it was a very nice hotel ;).
So we got to the Moana, and we got Lei-d! :D

(We've been Lei'd!)

(So pretty~)

Soon after this we met up with Scott's parents who were ALSO in Hawaii (but were leaving in the morning unfortunately). So we went our for a delicious dinner (at a burger place) and then wandered around a bit together!

After a few hours (when I was pretty well a walking zombie), we bid our adieus, wished them a safe journey 

home, and went and crashed!
ZzzZ~!
(The King bed was so large and plush and comfy!)

Something I enjoyed most mornings (included at our hotel)... yoga on the beach! So no, there wasn't much sleeping in on my part ;)
It was a lot of fun...but also a LOT different than what I was used to.

(Switching over to point form...day by day will take far too long!)
What we did over the next 8 days....

• Went to Pearl Harbor. Saw (and toured) the USS Missouri (Might Mo) and also went out to the USS Arizona Memorial. Pretty crazy to think about that day and what it would've been like. At the Memorial it was also interesting looking down in the water at a MASSIVE ship sunk below. You can still see bubbles of oil coming up occasionally. We also explored the Museums.
• Took an AWESOME tour up around the North shore of the Island. Included we got to:

            - see a LOT of awesome views
            - see a lot of movement and blow hole sprays from whales!
            - stopped at a Macadamia Nut Outlet to taste all the flavors!
            - see SEA TURTLES. Just laying around in the sand. (No touching allowed)
            - snorkel WITH said turtles (only saw little guys...it was fun following them around!)
            - stopped for some fresh delicious Shrimp! (well, Scott thought so anyways...no seafood for me)
            - stopped at the Dole Plantation to explore and have some scrumptious DoleWhip!

(random Rooster outside the Macadamia Nut Outlet...though there were actually stray Roosters EVERYWHERE!)

(China Man's Hat!)

(Our creative pictures with it are on Scott's camera...)

(My favorite picture from the trip :D)

(Sea turtle! Sorry...it won't center...)

Oh man this is getting long! Let's get going and then wrap it up!

• Went to the Paradise Cove Luau which was a BLAST! Great times, great food! Scott was a part of the show in a grass skirt. It was funny :D I got some fresh coconut water :3
• Went on a hike up Diamond Head. Not too difficult or long but really beautiful views! It was SO busy! Sometimes it was irritating to be stuck behind people, but overall it was really nice!
• Went to Leonard's Bakery for some Malasada's! Portuguese donuts...SO GOOD! (And also some other yummy treats...)
• Polynesian Cultural Center! Such a good time! They have 6 little villages representing the Polynesian Islands and their unique cultures. Great dancing and information! It was also so funny, we were laughing a ton! Especially in Samoa and Tonga :D PS. It's crazy how fast some people can climb a coconut tree...seriously!
• Spent a lot of time exploring and walking around - A LOT!
• Obviously spent a bit of time walking along and relaxing on the beach :)
• Went to Farmer's Markets A LOT! The fruit (especially pineapple and papaya) is SO GOOD! I ate so much fruit while there! (Needlesstosay, my tongue was covered in sores...)
• Also ate lots of delicious food and ice cream of course!

That pretty well sums the trip up! I'll share a few more random pictures and also thoughts in another post :)

It was sad to leave, but we were also missing our 2 little fuzzballs back at home. Thanks Paige for house/cat sitting! And also thanks to Cody and Paige for picking us up :D (PS. Congratulations on getting engaged!!)

And you know what was awesome....our luggage wasn't even overweight coming home! :D

HOORAY!

And that's a wrap for today. Too many words and pictures... *.*

Love you too. 

xo T

Eat chocolates!

Happy Valentines Day to you!

Any special plans? ;)

Us?

Not so much. We don't really do Valentines Day. We may have to watch Gladiator again soon ;)

As per tradition! (2012, 2013)

Tonight we'll actually be hanging out with Ben and Frances (who had a baby by the way! Congratulations!).  :D

So on Facebook a few weeks ago, you may have noticed I was poking around about Hawaii and such. 

Well...

...Scott and I planned a last minute vacation! We were gone for 9 days and just got back this past Sunday!

It was delightful!

I've been meaning to get up a vacation recap, but as per Trudy style...that'll take just a bit longer ;)

Keep your eyes peeled, and again...Happy Valentines Day!

Get some chocolates, watch a good movie and cuddle up with some kittens orrrrrr do what makes you happy!

Ciao.

Love you too. 

xo T

2013 at a (long...ish) Glance

(I've been meaning to get this out for about...16 days now but I kept putting it off).
It takes quite a while! And it's also fairly lengthy...lots of pictures!

Well, 2013 is officially over. Seems like just yesterday that it was beginning!

Here's what happened with us throughout the year...

...I left behind my old blog and started anew here!

...Georgey got fixed. 

...I've eaten a lot of ice cream...especially during DQ sales...

...Scott and I left behind our first little apartment together and bought a new house!

(Virtual tour)

...I completed a 30 day hot yoga challenge and I've still been loving it ever since!

(Google images)

...I realized I love TOMS, so comfy!

...I had a spider haunting my vehicle...

...we added another fuzzy cutie to the family! Bruce!

...we went to Texas! Fun times!

...we celebrated our one year anniversary!

...I completed a survey so you could get to know a bit more about me!

...little Brucey got fixed. I remembered how horrible drugged up cone headed kittens are...

(cute yes...but mainly horribly irritating...)

...I test drove a bunch of vehicles, but eventually decided upon a shiny new Subaru!

(about a week later, I ended up with a big ol' crack in the windshield...)

...I did some thinking, and decided to go back to school!

...some Smile Cookies from Tim Horton's were enjoyed!

...I started and finished all the Jane Austen books...and I also decided to withdraw from school (not necessarily related...but they were in the same post).

...I got some color put in my hair for the first time! Purple! 

(Sorry, it's more difficult to see in pictures...)

...cookies were baked! Quite a few cookies...

(mmmm~!)

...Christmastime was nice to see both sides of the family :)

(Had some good times with Hettie while she was here).

(Our "family photo")

And that pretty well sums up our year (give or take a few things here and there)!

The biggest things would probably be... buying a house, buying a new vehicle, and my decisions with school (and a couple things not blog worthy). 

What're your big memories from 2013??

What're you looking forward to in 2014?

Thanks for sticking with me!

Love you too. 

xo T