Jem Moment : Macarons And Permanent Residency

”Twas a weekend of good things from afar.

Michiel was in Toronto for the weekend on business and I told him I expected some macarons when he came back, if that was at all possible πŸ˜‰

He came back and didn’t disappoint, having pistachio and chocolate flavours from two different stores πŸ˜πŸ’•πŸ›

They were quickly tested and enjoyed and also compared to our favourites from Tout.

We decided we liked the flavour of The Dessert Room ones and the texture from the Caniche Bakery .

So together, they were pretty much perfectπŸ˜‰

 

Also, during his weekend away, Michiel became a permanent resident of Canada! πŸ˜„πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦πŸŽ‰ Continue reading “Jem Moment : Macarons And Permanent Residency”

Meeting Mothers WishesπŸ“

Thursday March 9th –

Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep in for some reason, so I tried to catch up on blogging while the other two slept.

I began hearing noises from their rooms and I couldn’t leave my morning, coffee-less, any longer (we have a loud coffee grinder so I didn’t want to wake them) so some was brewed and soon shared with them β˜•οΈβ˜•οΈβ˜•οΈ

Mom and I had #AlphaGetToKnowMe prompts to catch up on writing/illustrating so our morning/afternoon was spent with a fair bit of that.
For those of you who aren’t sure what that means, check out my ‘Instagram’ or wait for a later post explaining it better ☺️

I ALMOST napped, but I didn’t… so I’m considering nap rehab I guess πŸ˜‹
Instead I made lunch for Mom and I and Mike had some leftovers.

My new favourite way to cook Gnocchi, fried, joined by some canned sauce with a few other random stuff things thrown in πŸ‘ŒπŸ»πŸ΄

Mike left to go do some things and I began making a large pot of soup, having fridge and freezer ingredients to start using up as much as possible before we leave for South Africa.

Farmers sausage from Canada was fried up and ALMOST thrown into the pot but after a warning from Mother about a slightly off smell, it was tasted… and thrown out 😏
Farmers sausage pack #2 was thawed and fried and found to be much better tasting πŸ˜¬πŸ‘ŒπŸ» Continue reading “Meeting Mothers WishesπŸ“”

A Few Moments, Not All Jems…

Sooo for starters, Mike got his work/travel visa for Canada approved, within all of 10 days!
Meaning he can now work in Canada until his official papers come through! 😁

Shoutout to Randy Hoback, MP of Prince Albert, whose office helped us with many questions, super quickly, professionally and politely.
Setting us on the right track much faster then any previous attempts to get some government/paperwork questions answered.

Non happy moment, putting Fiji up for adoption.

It made me feel like an awful human, giving up my loved little buddy to someone he doesn’t know and then leaving him confused and abandoned in his little cat mind…

The Jem bit of it though, Mikes cousin asked about taking him and after many questions (from both sides😜) she was accepted as his new mother and deemed an acceptable personπŸ˜‹πŸ’•
Fiji was taken to his new home yesterday.

His new mom was a darling and after visiting with her for a while, we left with a sympathetic note and box of macaroons in hand.

 Her idea of easing sadness was by giving food and I think THAT, tells a lot about the good inside of her πŸ˜‚πŸ‘ŒπŸ»πŸ’•

The Comfort Of Camaraderie

Tuesday Jan 24th –


We left the apartment around 10:00 am and headed to Amsterdam to pick up some macaroons from our beloved ‘Tout Patisserie’. 😍

Also to pick up Zoe πŸ˜‰β€πŸ›©πŸ‘­

She arrived safely, on time and with all her luggage, so you could say it was a good start to our day 😊

Until literally, not even 20 minutes later when we drove to a parking lot, walked a couple of meters and her phone was lost/stolen 😜😬

We quickly backtracked and asked the nearby stores if a phone had been handed in but no luck.
It was an eventful first few moments together…perhaps not for the best reasons but still 😏

We took her into Amsterdam and went to ‘The Lobby’, a restaurant we had taken all of our previous guests. Continue reading “The Comfort Of Camaraderie”

ο»ΏTime Is Messing With My Noggin

Thursday Aug 11th – Friday Aug 12th

 

(I won’t be separating these two days due to time change messing with my noggin.)

 

Goodbye day πŸ˜”

I didn’t fly until 3:00 pm so it was at least a decent flight time and the morning wasn’t rushed.

Mom helped me pack, because who wouldn’t get a helping hand when filling a suitcase if it’s available? 😏


Travel necessities : Blanket, notebook and pen, cash kept in my handy dandy coin purse, headphones and jewellery close to my heart πŸ˜πŸ’•πŸ““πŸ–‹πŸ’Έ 

I technically didn’t need the carry on for packing space but I needed it in the event that we travel somewhere and do require a carry on sized piece of luggage.
The solution? Fill with salt and vinegar chips 😎

Mom made Dad and I pancakes and bacon for a brunch before we left for the airport.
I drowned a stack of those in cherry syrup and savoured every bite πŸ’πŸ˜Š

Goodbye time came… I don’t know if 8 weeks has ever felt so fast.
The summer spent at home was a good one.
Full of family time, sunshine, love and laughter β˜€πŸ’•πŸ‘«πŸ‘«πŸ‘«πŸ‘«πŸ‘­πŸ‘«πŸ’•β˜€οΈ

Goodbyes don’t get easier.
I know that from having said them multiple times to Pro and the girls (Josh too;) but I now know it personally as well.
No need to go on and on about how many tears were shed and hugs shared but it’s sufficient to say, many 😁

As I said on an Instagram post, ‘How Lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard – Winnie the Pooh’, and that is very true.
I feel so blessed to have grown up with the family I did and I’m already counting the days until I see them again.

As far as travelling goes, my flights and baggage were all surprisingly on time.
I think it’s the first time I’ve ever had a whole travel experience without some small form of delay, mishap, missing luggage or grouchy airport staff.
Speaking of airport staff, it’s getting bad when you recognize some of the people working in the airport…you know you’ve traveled to much wheeeen 😏
(Of course you have the all on time, swell flights when your headed back to real life and not on the way to the actual fun bits 😜)

I had a three hour stop over in Minneapolis  and no stop there is complete without eating at chick-Fil-A and getting a caffeine helper 😁


 It was then a 7.5 hour flight to Amsterdam, where the hubster greeted me with roses and macaroons.

Not an awful way to be welcomed back into Holland πŸ˜˜πŸ’•

I attempted to stay awake during the one hour drive back to John and Inge’s but I don’t know why, it was a futile attempt since I hadn’t slept a wink since 6:30 am, Thursday morning 😜

Once at the house I went to stretch out on the bed and that’s where I stayed until… I don’t really know until when.
It all gets foggy about what was done, when and I think the most accurate thing to say would be that I slept a fair bit, or was trying to sleep when I wasn’t yet asleep 😁

3:00 am: Hunger and jet-lag strike.
Thank goodness for the muffins Mike has bought that morning incase I’d felt like breakfast and also good thing that I HADN’T felt like breakfast 😜

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