Happy Australia Day!

So it's Australia Day back at home and being in Canada we don't get to celebrate like we usually would - with a lot of drinks, sausage sizzle, trip to the beach or a creek and our friends and family close. We both also have to work so no huge celebrations are on the cards for us.

I thought it would be nice to share some of our Aussie favourites with our new Canadian friends so made some Lamingtons to take to work. I've put the recipe below these are the tits!

The lamingtons I made, took so damn long!

AUSSIE LAMINGTONS

Cake
125g butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk

Icing

3 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups desiccated coconut

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a square cake pan.Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may curdle).

Step 2

Sift half the flour over butter mixture. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside overnight.

Step 3

Make icing: Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add butter and boiling water. Stir until smooth.

Step 4

Cut cake into 15 pieces. Place coconut in a dish. Using a fork, dip 1 piece of cake in icing. Shake off excess. Toss in coconut. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray. Repeat with remaining cake, icing and coconut. Stand for 2 hours to set.

We also managed to find a bottle of Bundaberg Rum at the local liquor store for less than what you pay at Dan Murphys in Australia.

We were soooo excited when we found this - D wanted Aussie beer but this was better!

What Australia Day would be complete without the foreign owned Kraft Vegemite on sandwiches?? I've been eating this stuff (like most Aussies) since I can remember. Theres home video of me sitting in a highchair with barely any teeth munging down on this stuff on toast - I LOVE it! So, I also made some to take to work and surprisingly, the Canadians didn't hate it - but I don't think they're gonna go out and buy a jar for themselves either...

The iconic Vegemite

I didn't expect to miss Australia so much or so soon, but as every day passes me by I am grateful to be here in Canada, living out the dream that D & I had for for so long. I think tonight we will watch one of our favourite Australian movies, The Castle - it always has us in stitches :)

The List

For those of you who know me well you know I am pretty organised. I wouldn't say my house is the cleanest or my drawers are the tidiest but I do like to plan out things in great detail. I almost always have a back up plan and go to great lengths to analyse any possible situations or outcomes based on my decisions. I am a thinker, an analyser and a total stress head, so it's only natural that after the initial shock of living in a new country I would develop a list of things I would like to experience while here.

D & I are in the midst of figuring out our plans for the future - ie when will we go back to Australia, what will we do there, where will we live etc. This has obviously been brought on by my constant need to know what my next step is - it hasn't always been in the right direction either, I am constantly side stepping but despite feeling like I was standing still for a long time I like to think I haven't gone backwards many times.

Anyhow, back to the point, I am a planner by nature and I like to have a clear picture in my mind of what is on the cards for me. I'm not saying one or two years in Canada will give me all the answers that 26 years in Australia couldn't give me, but I see this as a good opportunity to see and do as much as I can in a short amount of time. This list isn't Canada exclusive and it's not in order... I might also add more things as I think of them but this is the list so far (a few things have already been completed)...


My List

• Get a job - I don't care what I do as long as i'm working to pay for the experiences I want to have.
• Rent a place by ourselves - after living at home for over 2 years we are ready for independence.
• Obtain drivers license and get a car - I'm trying to find a way around surrendering our Aussie licences but we definitely want a car to explore our surroundings.
• Learn a new skill/hobby to take home with me - I don't really have any interests other than organising holidays which are temporary highs followed by long drawn out lows of reality. I'm very fickle and set out with good intentions but find it hard to stick to anything (apart from D) I'd love to find a passion.
• See an NHL game (ice hockey) - I just wanna see some body-checks and hot men with no teeth!
• Experience dog sledding - I miss my dog (otherwise knows as my son) so much I can't explain it. I would love to spend some time with the sled dogs of Canada - even though I will probably cry...
• Go to the Calgary Stampede - When we live 15 mins from Calgary this would be a stupid thing to leave off the list, after all it's described as 'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth'.
• See Banff & Jasper NP - 2 of the most famous parks in the world it would be a crime to come to Canada & not go there, especially since they are both in Alberta.
• Photograph the Northern Lights - I'm not sure what our chances are of this as it isn't something I can control (drives me NUTS BTW) and we are quite far south in terms of where the Aurora Borealis is usually visible, but who knows we may get lucky here, or take a drive further North but who knows what the weather will be doing.
• Dig for fossils in Drumheller - it's a dinosaur graveyard, can't get much cooler than that.
• See a real prairie sunset - I mean no mountains, no hills, just flat as far as the eye can see in every direction, don't care where just wanna see it!
• View Mt McKinley in Denali NP - D & I have a slight obsession with National Parks and mountains, I would love to see the highest peak on the continent in one of the true wildernesses left on Earth - Alaska, but apparently constant cloud cover makes this difficult, we will see!
• Encounter a bear or a moose or both in the wild - Again not something I can control... D has seen both and i'm jealous.
• Go to the East Coast of Canada & USA inc Niagara Falls - Both times we have been to the states, and now living in Canada we are on/near the west coast. While we are here I would LOVE to see the other side of the continent.
• Visit Vancouver & Victoria - My old boss said that Victoria (not the Aussie version) is one of the most amazing places he had ever been. For someone as well traveled as he was that is saying something, so I wanna go see what all the fuss is about.
• Witness the geothermal wonders of Yellowstone NP - for YEARS D and I have been dreaming of going to the world's first national park, and unfortunately it has always been just out of reach due to it's remoteness and the fact it's frozen solid for over 6 months of the year. We now live a 10 hr drive from there and we are GOING to visit!
• Spend a Canadian winter somewhere in Mexico - Apparently this is the thing to do to escape the severe cold, i'm so there :)
• Be content and live in the moment - sounds easy but for a person like me who is never satisfied and lives in the future this is probably the hardest one of the whole list

My thoughts about Canada thus far...

I'd call myself fairly well travelled. I've visited a few countries to this point and feel I have a good understanding of how others in our world live. The reason I wanted to do this working holiday is because I had a lot of questions rolling around in my head and in my heart that would have remained unanswered had I not done it. I left not knowing whether I would return to Australia because of all the things I was feeling at the time. I was discontent, feeling the pressure of my age/position in life & responsibilities that come with it - mortgage, kids, career etc. As discussed in previous posts i'm a small town girl, but i'd hate to think that I was small or narrow minded. I wasn't ready for any of those things at that point and I wanted to see what was out there in the world that I could be missing out on..

As it turns out, you can take the girl out of Australia but you can't take Australia out of the girl. Since living abroad I have been filled with an amazing sense of Aussie pride that didn't exist before. Anytime I see or hear something Australian I get chills and smile. I get so excited about it. I know it's dumb but I can't help it!

I've now been in Canada for 3 months - not long at all, and although that definitely does NOT make me an expert by any means on the inner workings of this country I have come up with a list of VERY SUPERFICIAL loves and loathes as compared to my Australian experience thus far.... i'm sure there will be many items to add to this list further down the track.



LOVES

• The people - sure there are dropkicks wherever you go but this is one stereotype that rings true, Canadians are extremely polite, friendly and helpful people
• The snow - ok so i'm getting over this one as the long winter (that started in OCTOBER) drags on but there is no denying there is something very romantic about the snow and cool air filling your lungs
• The adventure - I LOVE seeing new places and meeting new people but I am a bit of a loner and homebody. I'm hoping this experience broadens my horizon
• The scenery - it's a gorgeous country that I can't wait to see more of. Being 1 1/2 hours from Banff is a dream and I still can't believe we are here
• The low low prices - EVERYTHING is cheaper than Australia!

LOATHES

• The lack of savoury pies - seriously people how hard is it to replace that apple or cherry filling with some chicken, chilli and mango-oh-go i've done it, i'm literally salivating. God I miss the good old Aussie pie!
• Idiot drivers - yeah I know, we get these in Australia too but they're usually Japanese tourists... Sorry i'm being a bit racist there... I meant Asians hehe. The drivers here can't park to save their lives and think it's appropriate to do 150km/h in icy conditions and poor visibility in their mega lifted pick up trucks. Slow down dickheads!
• The cold - minus 30? Seriously!
• Missing my friends and family - this is a no brainer but it's the biggn'. I miss my dog, I miss my mum, dad, sister, brother and all my friends. Wish I could have packed them all in my suitcase and brought them with me, it would make this amazing experience so much better than it already is!

O Canada... our home and something land...

Our first white Christmas & new year

Last Christmas I was with my whole family in a holiday house at Rainbow Beach. It was hot, loud and I had a great time. We had never all gone away together for the holidays and it's something I hope we do again in the future. This year Christmas was a different experience entirely. We went from being one room away from my family to an ocean and then some apart. It was so quiet and cold.... -20 celcius to be exact.

-20 celcius, unseasonably cold for the area apparently

Despite the fact we were in the throws of winter with snow, ice, lights, carols ie a 'real' Chrristmas, it didn't feel like Christmas at all. We managed to get a discount tree to out up which helped in creating some kind of spirit but it was hard to get excited with just the two of us. We didn't have enough money for presents so stuck the ice skates and hockey sticks we bought a week prior underneath to try and bulk it up a bit. My dad sent us a hamper which we also stuck under there for more fullness.

Our tree - stupid apartment block wouldn't allow real one due to fire hazard

I was determined to really experience what a white Christmas was all about though. We made goofy Christmas cards to send back to our family and friends in Australia, something we have never done before but it was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Our personalised Christmas cards

Funny Canadian stereotype sayings inside

After skyping our family back in Australia on Christmas eve (their Christmas day) we walked down to the Airdire Festival of Lights. This is an annual event held in one of the larger parks in town where they decorate with thousands of twinkle lights, have outdoor ice skating on the pond, hot chocolate, Santa and even the polar express. It was a really cold night so my eyelashes froze and I couldn't feel my forehead after a while but we had fun. It was so romantic being out in the cold night surrounded by snow, I went home feeling all warm and fuzzy.

This poece of wood belongs to Airdie

Enjoying the cold - notice frozen eyelashes

The polar express, D wouldn't let me ride it

Random bear that tapped me on the shoulder for a photo

Pretty scene all lit up

Real Christmas trees everywhere

We spent Christmas day eating, lazing about and watching all the seasonal movies we could. Itw as a beautiful sunny day outside but we both agreed at -20 it was too cold to go anywhere. We had roast chicken, ham, potato bake, sweet potato & marshmallow casserole for lunch followed by candy cane ice cream and rumballs for dessert. We drank sparkling apple juice out of mason jars and hot chocolate using our bear coasters. All in all we shared a good day together.

The ham D ate all to himself

Sweet potato & marshmallow casserole was soooo yum. Never heard of it before but apparently it's a favourite here

I make these rumballs every Christmas without fail. Family favourite. Ironically they contain no rum

The next day we got geared up nice and early to head out to the ritual of the Boxing Day sales at Crossiron Mills - the shopping centre containing Bass Pro. I have NEVER seen a shopping centre so crowded even at home. There were lineups around the corners for some of the stores and you literally could not move in some places. We got some fairly good bargains but it took almost all day and we were exhausted by the time we got home.

We had another day off before going back to wor so went ice skating on the pond, only a 10 min walk from our house. Love it so much, just wish i was better at it, fell over a couple of times.



The ice skates we bought from Canadian Tire

Enjoying the ice

For new years we went to dinner with our friends K&L at my new favourite restaurant Swiss Chalet. The hands down do the BEST chicken and gravy sandwich with chips... drool! I had already had a few drinks by that stage so dinner wa a bit of a blur but we then headed to the park for the fireworks show. For a small town they were actually really good and went for ages... there were no public toilets around and I needed to pee so despite my reluctance to, I went in the snow behind a tree. My bum froze but I peed in the snow before D hehehe.

After a few too many at New Years with K&L

To end the night we headed to the local pub where they had a glow party and we sang and danced and drank the night away. The last song they played for the year was by The Black Eyed Peas and actually one we used to sing to our dog, Charles at home. It made me sad for a moment but before long we were counting down to 2013... Happy New Year!

Another job for me.... and that makes three!

So up until now I've had the job at the Science Centre which I left cause we were moving, and then the job at The Body Shop which I left cause I hated. I'm pretty well known as a 'job slut' whereby I only stay at one place for around a year and then move on. The longest I have ever stayed in one job was 2 1/2 years, and it nearly KILLED me, but now on the other side i'd go back there in a heartbeat and actually really miss the work and the people.

Anyway back to the point we had just moved into our new place and it wasn't fair to D to be doing all the work plus overtime and me doing nothing. Not just that but it wasn't fair to me either because I didn't come all the way to Canada to be a stay at home housewife which is what I was turning into. Well.... that and Kim Kardashians most avid watcher with the new recording device on the TV I was watching her TV show re-runs from the moment I woke to the moment D walked through the door.

I was flipping through the paper and came across a part time receptionist position in town 2 1/2 days a week... Well it was better than nothing so I emailed my resume and got a request for interview almost instantly. It was for a fine furniture company and when I walked through the doors I instantly felt like this was somewhere I not only could work, but wanted to. The people were just all so nice and the boss seemed very impressed by the mere fact I was Australian.

The next day I got the call, yes they wanted me... Wooooo hooo! I started work on the 21st December and although the job itself is tedious at times, it's doing work that I enjoy (ie sitting on facebook and blogging hehe) and I get to wear cute office clothes that make me feel good about myself not hideous oversized unisex uniforms the other places wanted me to wear.

All in all, very happy with the job so far however one problem is that we don't currently have a vehicle and on the days I work there is no bus scheduled so I am relying on lifts from my awesome co-workers (covering my ass if any of them happen upon this blog). One morning the lift fell through and I had to walk 45 mins in -20 while my legs felt as if they were being stabbed at all ankles and my nose may as well have fallen off because I couln't feel it attached to my face!

Hopefully this situation will change in the near future though as D and I have both agreed a car, although expensive, will make our experience here much more enjoyable as we can take small trips on out 3 day weekends together and really explore our new surroundings.

The new place

We moved into apartment 3310 on Towerland Drive in Airdrie on the 1st of December 2012. It was a cold, snowy, gloomy all around miserable day. Being a Saturday D was at work so I packed our things into the rental car and headed over to meet the agent and collect the keys. It was strange feeling knowing that pretty much everything we owned could fit in one small sedan. I met the agent who showed me through the and then left me to begin moving in our stuff. It took a few trips up and down the stairs but before long all of our things were inside, and I was all alone. It was so quiet. After the few months we had enjoyed holidaying in the states constantly on the go with my loud and crazy family then the chaos of driving back and forward to Airdrie every week I was suddenly all alone and overcome with feelings of being lonely, relieved, excited, proud, sad, anxious and terrified all at once. I started to cry. And once I started I couldn't stop. So I pulled out our new comforter, laid down on it next to the window and as I watched the snow fall down I bawled my eyes out all afternoon.

Airdrie is a really nice small town about 15 mins North of Calgary in Alberta. On clear days you can see the rocky mountains. It has all the amenities that are important to us - plenty of shops, public transport, small movie theatre, gym and the Calgary International airport close by. I knew as soon as we would be happy here.

Morning on the Main Street of Airdrie only a few mins walk from our place

Nose Creek runs directly in front of our apartment which is closest to the camera on the 3rd floor

To begin with all we had was some items for cooking & eating plus 2 chairs kindly given to us by one of D's new work friends but that really was it. We had a comforter to sleep on - no mattress and no bed. I won't lie it was a fairly uncomfortable first week but as soon as we had the funds we were borrowing a friends truck and driving to Ikea. We also managed to pick up some items from the local Salvation Army thrift store too.

Our bed is a mattress on the floor but it's comfortable enough and beats sleeping directly on the floor so we're happy with this for now...


Yes, we're sleeping Japanese style

D's bedside table - LACK from Ikea $12.99 SOLD!

With all the snow outside we really did need a bit of life inside

My bedside LACKing a soda and candy for once, not often it looks nice like this

We both love the bathroom, probably because of the cool treescape shower curtain and Marty the Moose we bought in Banff NP. This is the only animal head that will ever grace my walls!

I'm having at least 3 baths a week LOVING the bath... plus showers on the other days hehe

This bath tray from Ikea makes facebooking in the bath a breeze

The living room has been tough to make look 'full'. For a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment it is very spacious. And because we don't have a table & chairs or coffee table it feels fairly empty sometimes. Putting an orange throw on the floor fills in some of that space and adds a pop of colour. No way we could afford a rug so we've made do!

Small inexpensive decorations - I made the bear coasters from felt and the owl from a used toilet roll

The wall that reminds us of home and all the awesome people we are privileged to call our family & friends

The living room, the couch is ugly but comfy and the cute armchair makes up for it.

Luckily for us the rentals here come with a fridge so that's an expense we haven't had to bear. There is also a laundry room on site so no expensive washer or dryer either yahoo!

We love this fun reference to deliverance. I smile every time I open the fridge

The stove is HUGE compared to standard ones in Australia, the rest of the kitchen is fairly standard though

He got the job.... now what do we do?

We were sitting at Safeway when D got the call. Because we hadn't been here that long and hadn't had the chance to make any friends to give out our number we knew it was more than likely for a job. He answered and a smily instantly grew on his face. Then he gave me a thumbs up. He had gotten the job in Airdrie. Now came the hard part, how the hell were we going to make this work?

After some thought we decided it wouldn't be smart to move to Airdrie for a job that D hadn't even started yet - what if he hated it? What if it didn't work out? There were too many what ifs to simply close our eyes and jump in. So we decided to hire a car and drive down for the first weekend staying in a cheap hotel to see how it went and then make a more informed decidion based on that experience. Someone (ie me) stupidly booked what must have been the smallest car in the fleet - a Fiat 500 that barely fit me and D in let alone a suitcase in the back. The weather was terrible and only getting worse so we knew if was going to be a pretty tense drive south in our cardboard box. We couldn't actually get a hotel in Airdrie so we stayed at one of the Calgary airport hotels which added about 30 mins onto the drive. D and I both know what a long commute is like, we both went in opposite directions 45 mins each way to get to our jobs in Australia so I knew as soon as we arrived at the hotel living in Calgary was not going to be an option if D did in fact want this job... it would have to be Airdrie.

The drive to Calgary and back became a weekly event

D woke up and got himself off to work in the dark that first day and I sat like a worrying mother all day waiting for him to come home anxious about how he was going. I was so proud of him and hoped he had a good day. He did. When he came home that night he couldn't have been happier with how the day went - he wanted the job and he wanted to live in Airdrie. I agreed and set out to find a place to live. 

D after his first day of work - yep thats the shoebox for a car we rented

Calgary night sky

Halloween was during that first week and back in St Albert so I used some things I had around the house to create possibly the worlds worst cat outfit but considering how huge Halloween is in Canada and how little it's celebrated in Australia I didn't want to miss out. D of course opted out of dressing up and even contemplated buying a BB gun to shoot the kids with but I wouldn't allow it. It was a fun night giving out candy to the kids, and even fun-ner when I discovered there was plenty left over for me as well as mega discounts on bulk lots of it in all the stores.... yummm!

Me as a cat for Halloween - immediately regretted the thongs

Meeeooowww i'm poor

Over the next few days I researched rentals over the internet and made appointments to view. I thought we would be lucky and get one starting in November but unfortunately there wasn't anything available until December which was still 5 or so weeks away. We jumped on it as we didn't want to miss out and potentially have to wait until January. Our application was approved straight away and we spent the next month hiring a car, driving to Airdire and staying in a hotel for the working week then driving back to St Albert for the rest of the week. We felt like gypsy's most of the time and we were haemorrhaging money (thank god for our credit card) but we didn't have a choice. Luckily the petrol was a damn site cheaper than Australia!

Compared to our price of $1.50+ p/l in Australia this is awesome but I  have seen it cheaper since this photo  as well

D had 1 day off one weekend while we were staying in Calgary and we took the opportunity to visit the Calgary Tower to get a birdseye view of the city and the rocky mountains to the west. Calgary was quiet that day as it was a Sunday but it's definitely a nice city I hoped to spend more time in.

Calgary tower from the ground

A weird feeling standing on glass with nothing between your feet and the ground below

Calgary with the rocky mountains in the background

All the while I had still been looking for work and ended up landing a job at The Body Shop about 10 mins drive out of town. I started 2 weeks before we were due to move. I loved the girls there however the job itself was hideous. One day I stood out the front of the store with a lame wheel to try and entice potential customers to spin for 6 hours straight. I decided the weekend we moved that I couldn't do it anymore and I quit. D has always been very supportive when it comes to my reluctance to work... It's not that I don't want to work, it's that I have no idea what I want to do and it constantly leads to my depression in the workplace. So it was 2 jobs down and a move ahead.

By the end of the month we had been driving back and fourth we were well and truly ready for a place of our own. It had been fantastic to stay with D's relatives and get to know them better and so wonderful of them to open their home to us but it was time to stand on our own feet for once. The feeling was that the last month had all been about work, and we were ready for some fun...

We booked a greyhound bus to take us to Airdrie instead of a car that last week which cost us a whole $2 per ticket (I got in early and snagged a sale fare). Before long we were here. Airdire, Alberta... a place until a month ago we had never heard of was our new home.