October 21st, 2013

So it has been a while since I wrote but things have been pretty busy with school and midterms and my international semester.

First of all, Happy belated Thanksgiving. I hope everyone was stuffed with turkey just like I was. I actually got 3 Thanksgivings this year! The first was at my parents place in Stony Plain. We had a full house with both Ashley's and my boyfriends there, as well as Shannon's family and Jeff's dad. My second Thanksgiving was in Medicine Hat, Loring's church has a turkey diner the week before so we went to that. Third was with Loring's family and that was a full house as well. I adore his family and I think they are absolutely wonderful! I definitely got my fill of Turkey!

Speaking of Loring, today is our 6 months. I can't believe it's gone by so fast!

Halloween is the end of next week and I am making my costume this year. I will be going as Merida from Disney's Brave and I'm super excited about it. We have girls in the sorority going as all 11 official Disney Princesses this year!

Last, but certainly not least (and what you've all been waiting for), details on my International Semester in January. I have met with Gizelle, the International Programs Director, and we have filled out the applications and all the paper work. I still have a meeting with risk and safety but it's basically up to me now. I should be arriving in Belgium on January 20th (to give me a few days to adjust to the time difference). My pre-semester French course begins on January 23rd. Actually classes start mid-February and run until mid-June. The last day of the exam period is June 28th. So I will be booking my flight home for June 29th (not sure when my exams are so I'll plan for one on the last day). I am applying for a travel scholarship so hopefully that will lighten the purse strings a little. I've also decided on a more expensive apartment while over there that I think will be worth it in the long-run. I had two options for apartments.

Option 1:
$450.00 CDN/month. I get a bed and a desk. It is 10km away from all my classes (on a different campus) and amenities such as bathroom and kitchen are shared by the whole floor. There is a bus from Residence to my campus but it does cost extra (I think $600/semester)

Option 2:
$850.00 CDN/month. It is a fully furnished studio apartment right across the street from my campus in Downtown Liege. Private bathroom & kitchen. TV & WiFi already in the room. The building also has a Game room, laundry, concierge, and a rooftop terrace.

October 1st, 2013

So I had a pretty fantastic weekend. My family and I had an "Early Thanksgiving" and it was wonderful.

I drove back up to Stony Plain Wednesday after classes so that was a long day. Friday morning I took my Advanced Road Test and passed with flying colours so I now have my full license!!! I am so happy and it is a huge relief to have that out of the way. Mom took me to the Pioneer Teahouse for lunch to celebrate. Unfortunately, I have a canker sore under my tongue so it made eating difficult. But everything I managed to eat was delicious.

Loring drove up for the weekend which was wonderful. He had never been to a Farmer's Market!! So obviously, being the wonderful girfriend that I am, I dragged him to both of the Farmer's Markets in Stony Plain. Then we drove to Ellerslie Rugby Park because his cousin's team was playing the Championships there on Saturday. They won the Championships by the way, against the undefeated team in the league no less. Loring got to see the whole family in festivities mode as well, which must have been entertaining. We picked up my Grandma, and while I was busy running around trying to help my mom get everything ready, they were having interesting conversations. She's obviously taken a liking to him, which is a very good thing! After supper he drove home (got in around Midnight).

Monday I drove back to Lethbridge, went straight to class, then home to study because today (Tuesday) I had my first midterm of the semester in Marketing. Going in I felt okay, and it turns out I studied the right materials because I felt confident on every answer. Tomorrow is my Finance midterm so hopefully that one goes as smoothly as this one.

I have one other giant piece of news. I received an email this morning from the International Programs Office and I have been accepted to partake in my international semester to Liege, Belgium!!!!! I'm super excited so now I have a bunch of paperwork and stuff to get through but I'm officially going to Europe for Spring Semester this year!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!