#yay sophie one of my favourite people <3

[corvid-language-library]

Hello!! I'm excited to read all about your year on this new blog! :) hope you start your new year nice!

Thanks Sophie! My actual start to the new year was a bit rocky just because I was trying to clear out all my stuff from my house in the UK and I ended up fighting with my ex, my dad and my mum. But I'm discounting all that and counting my start to the new year as from the 2nd.

And it was a great start to the new year! The sky was beautiful as we flew over Estonia and the world below was a winter wonderland. The food on my flights was surprisingly good, and I managed to finish a whole book! Now I'm home in Yamagata and I'm very excited to get back to work and really throw myself into the life I've chosen with no ties to the past; only a whole lot of opportunities in my future :D

I hope you have a great start to your new year too!

#what does the jay say #yay sophie one of my favourite people <3 #fluencylevelfrench

[ladylesso]

thea gushes over kate's "alex vs the school for good" fanfic

i've reread this fanfic twice before it was finished but now it's finished, therefore i will read this beautiful work of art a third time and i have no regrets because this is the best fanfic in the entire fandom and i love kate so let's go (u never asked for it but here it is @pumpkinpaperweight)

i love how alex's close relationship with her parents, especially tedros, is already established within the first scene

alex is so witty and her mind is so sharp i've missed her so much :')

alex ribbin on tedros and agatha laughin as a sign of encouragement is my favorite thing

chapter 3: hooray for teenage angst

I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE FACT THAT TEDROS NAMED HIS DOG CHICKEN THAT IS SUCH A TEDROS THING TO DO

will there be a one shot on the multiple ooty ambassor incidents????? i am Excited

"...and the author of this tale had lost their copy of The School for Good and Evil, and therefore could not remember exactly what the School for Good was meant to look like. They were running entirely off memory, and not doing a bad job, all things considered." KATE AKSKSJDKLFJ

get this: what if the camelot years were just a fever dream and alex vs is canon. what if.

chapter 10: these dogs are still alive for plot devices and comic relief don't @ me

marcy girl chill out

omg dean cromwell vs alex wearing the boys' uniform scene - iconic and sora-approved

oh my god i actually thought sophie stopping thorne was a scene in the actual books instead of in alex vs skdjkdfs

i love kate's adult! sophie - very realistic and in character

chapter 13: HA! GAY!

talib and sora my babies my precious my lovelies

"talib grinned, looking back in the direction of the classroom - sora kept looking at him and missed a step on the stairs" gay

chapter 15: my gran could do better, and she killed a warlock with a cheesecake - I LOVE THE CHAPTER TITLES SO MUCH

alex is so precious why are people being so mean to her :'( sora and i will happily burn them alive

"chaddick and lancelot always smacked her with the butt of the sword to signify a hit, but tedros had tended to sort of half-heartedly shove her off of the mat, unwilling to hurt her" tedros being a good and caring soft dad :')

"alex, what does your dad have?" "low self-esteem?" JESUS ALEX SKDFJLSDJFLJFSLDJ

"alex's temper was utterly uncontrollable, and hort didn't know how he'd forgotten- now it was all rushing back to him in one big, rather traumatic, wave" I'M LAUGHING

omg four year old alex defending her father i'm heart eyes

#i don't like this cromwell bat bring dovey back

"sora's brain was still trying to work out which panic he should prioritise more -the super deadly predators trotting at his feet, or the fact that talib was holding his hand?" Gay

seeing alex cry is like seeing a friend crying - it makes you sad and murderous

"we have been in so many fights.” said alex tiredly. “i wish our author would think of something else. but she won’t, it’s the Trial by Tale next, and that’s all fighting” KATE

chapter 21: EMMA, THEY'RE HOMOSEXUALS

"sora had snatched nadiya’s handkerchief and thrown it to talib like a maid watching her favourite knight" [crying] i would kill a small child for them

sora and alex trying to hide behind each other at the same time is makin me burst into hysterics

oooo sora bout to murder a bitch

sophie acting like an actual dean :')

nadiya's such a queen we stan

june being friends with talib and fondly calling him an idiot is my new religion

alex saying she's the "loser daughter" and me knowing that tedros and agatha are watching her right now hurts. thanks a lot kate

june and thorne???? ship????

omg sora laying it on thick and pretending to be unconscious so talib could carry him sldjsdlkfjdslf

SORA COMPLIMENTING TALIB ON HOW BEAUTIFUL HE LOOKS IN FRONT OF THEIR CLASSMATES

"my darling angel prince" that's Gay "sora fiddled with talib's collar" GAYYYYY

"gentle marital dispute" i adore kate's humor

TALIB PUNCHING THORNE TO PROTECT SORA

"wow,” said sora dreamily.

“he just punched someone in the face, sora,” sighed marcy.

“i’m dying, not blind. that was hot--”

im going to have a heart attack

sora dragging tedros is my new favorite thing

"sora smiled in a very self-satisfied sort of way, almost as if he knew the annoyance he’d caused several hundred miles away" this is sora's true talent

i love how alex breaks the 4th wall

sora: i don't know whether you've noticed, alex, but i can be really rude?

alex: ur not that rude to me

sora: because i thought it might make u cry

:') i love their friendship so much

yes alex! call him out! sora IS emotionally constipated!

omg im curious as to what color alex's fingerglow is

OMG ALEX'S TALENT IS RELATED TO AGATHA'S I LOVE IT

newsflash cromwell! we don't care about ur reputation OR you

alex clutching onto her aunt's arm :'(

awwwwhhh alex w curly hair!! <3

talib is the sweetest boy ever oh my goodness

OH MY GOD HE'S A PISCES OF COURSE KSJFSDJF SOFT BOY

sora is an aquarius HAHA suits him

alex's dramatic entrances are clearly from sophie's influence :')

talib gifting sora roses that's Gay

sora foreshadowing how ros and raiden will get along >:)

sora is a grumpy old man in a 16 year old body but WILL eat his friend's questionably edible birthday cake made for him don’t test him

TALIB AND SORA KISSING QUEEN KATE REALLY DELIVERS

SORA MAKING THE FIRST MOVE I AM SCREECHING I AM GOING TO BITE MY ARM OFF

oh my go d talib don't go ohmygod kate why

OMG ROSALINE POV I'M EXCITED

agatha planning a wrestling match with her and tedros vs cromwell and agatha confirming that the coven have spilled blood over june and will not hesitate to do it again is my favorite thing

if u look closely or if u look at all, ros is clearly a never

tedros: i don't have favorites

agatha: i do. you're my least favorite

tedros: i'm ur husband

agatha: so?

omg alex is tedros' favorite and marcus is agatha's favorite so does that mean ros is sophie's favorite

and now we're in marcus' POV? kate just keeps delivering

omg the famous camelot family scene i've been waiting for is finally coming to fruition

it's official: we stan emi

whenever i hear somebody call agatha the queen of camelot, i get this tight ache of pride in my chest

i love how marcus just looks at his father and tedros knows exactly what he's asking :')

raiden and the twins, marcus and ros? my Body is Ready for ros vs

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SLAMMING THE DOOR OPEN IN THIS FANFIC KSHFDJFSLJLJ

anemone campaigning for a ranking board that says who has the hots for who is something i can get behind

"there was a brief scuffle whilst both tedros and agatha fought to hug alex at the same time, which she didn't look in the least bothered about" ALEX FAMILY TIME YAY <3

alex introducing agatha, her famous mother, to her roommates is one of my favorite things

"alex stuck her tongue out at her and went back to rifling in her mother's cloak pockets for food" if this isn’t me -

alex being a wingwoman to make her mom sign marcy's copy of the tale of sophie and agatha is my favorite thing #1972934794

talib not recoginizing tedros as the king of camelot but as alex's dad :')

THE COLD SHOULDER SMOULDER

i love how ros could tell how much a fashion piece costs and what material it is just by looking at it

"there was a resounding crash, and another blade caught his, halfway" i love how tedros entered into this chapter kate is such a good writer

im lovin these marcus and ros descriptions

"rosalind and marcus looked at each other, then, slowly, back at jimmy. both of them suddenly looked a lot older than they were. raiden wondered how much damage they could do as a team. probably quite a lot" "raiden resisted the urge to squish marcus's cheeks" ROS VS HERE I COME

sophie rushing bc she senses drama is a big mood

omg i love these camelot year references

"...whilst tedros tried to pretend he hadn't just tried to shove agatha behind him, and awkwardly returned Excalibur to its sheath" his instincts :')

people mentioning that alex is a big sister makes me feel warm inside

the image of tedros braiding rosalind's hair gives me heart eyes

OMG GIN MILLS AND THE GOODS REFERENCE HAHA I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE KATE

im glad they're talking about alex and the reverse mogrification incident! i am also Intrigued

wait i thought ros and marcus were 10 years old? but agatha mentions how ros is 13? did i miss something

alex and hester aunt and niece relationship :')

this unspoken understanding between the pendragons is everything bless u kate

"i love it when Evers act like Nevers," emi told her grandsons from under her tree. “it’s good for the liver.”

EMI KNOWS ROS IS A NEVER SHE CALLED IT

oh alex u sweet darling child of course sora and talib are boyfriends even thorne could see it

this alex and thorne thing? gotta say,,,,,, i see the ship possibilities

SORA YOU EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED BUFFOON JUST TALK TO YOUR BOYFRIEND TALIB OH MY GOD

omg the everboys sitting in the beautification lesson im excited

emma,,,,... darling,,,,.........,,, they're Gay

i support alex's plan to look hot for the snow ball and single-handedly destroy the buffet

i love how tyler and marcy are in the squad now :')

anemone: WHO

talib: i'm not telling u!

anemone: WHICH GIRL

talib: not a - not a. uh, girl

anemone: I RESPECT THAT ALSO

tyler, nadiya, and marcy quietly discussing alex's type LKSDJFLSJFK

sora im bout to body slam u talk to ur bf u idiot donkey don't be like teenage tedros and agatha

"akiyama sora is a dead man," muttered nadiya" i bow to one (1) queen

SORA'S GAY PANIC

chapter 29: fellas is it gay to protect roses from winter damage

"poor thing,” she added as an afterthought. alex was forcibly reminded of her aunt’s 100% Evil status"

i love these scenes with sophie <3

"er. it's okay, professor," said sora's mouth. alex for the love of christ help me you useless git, said sora's eyes"

FINALLY SORA YOUR TWO BRAIN CELLS KISSED AND EXPERIENCED COMMON SENSE

alex saying marcy has horrible taste in men but swearing to take tyler's kidneys if he doesn't go for marcy - true friendship

AWWWWHHHHHH ALEX CAME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THE EVERGIRLS WHO DON'T WANT DATES TO GO TO THE SNOW BALL WITH ANEMONE <333333

anemone just said the f word is this legal

the amount of times i've screamed over sora nd talib is too much to count - sometimes in excitement and sometimes in pain

"he was cut off when talib seized his collar and kissed him, much harder than sora had kissed him the first time" my lungs are exploding

ANEMONE IS ME I AM ANEMONE

"sora exercised all the curse words he knew in her native language. alex grinned. "you sound like ros. except ros knows more words" oh??????????

i've smiled more reading chapter 29 than i have this whole year

sora: weren't u listening to the announcement yesterday

alex: who was doing the announcing?

sora: pollux

alex: nope

love that tedros deemed his wedding outfit a Sacred Object

i love how tedros and rosalind bond over fashion

alex has a daily ritual of high-fiving the statue of king arthur, her grandfather. i love her.

omg tedros adopting a pseudo father figure role over tyler love that

i said love so many times but i can't help it this fic is just too good

it's official: sora is alex's partner in crime

so just to catch up, the squad consists of alex, nadiya, sora, talib, tyler, marcy, and june - and out of this chaos rises a mom friend: nadi

i never knew how much i wanted to see the teachers gossiping until i got it

of course agatha never hired a nanny for her children she loves them too much to ever not raise them herself >:((((((

magazine with a pic of talib: major hottie alert!

sora: finally, some high-end journalism

kate ur mind is amazing

omg i love this curses! the musical plot point im excited

ros? as the queen of camelot? Sign Me Up

SORA ND ALEX WROTE THE SCRIPT KSJFSDLJFSLD HERE WE GO

alex is drawing a six pack on her stomach with a pen to prepare for her role as tedros somebody please help me my lungs have ruptured 

title reference on a crop top!! impressive!!

"MORE PANACHE !" sophie bellowed at the stage" did soman write this or did u kate

is marcus on the autism spectrum???? it would be great if he was

"alex said a quick prayer to rosalind, patron saint of spinning half-truths to people and getting away with it"

im grinning so hard at agatha possibly dying of laughter during alex's rendition of curses! the musical

"tedros made a sound like an animal in pain and sank down so low in his seat that he was barely visible. agatha burst into hysterical cackles, reminding ros, not for the first time, that she had been raised by an actual witch" "'tedros' and 'hort' had a rap battle that ended up getting too personal and devolved into a fistfight" AGATHA AND I ARE BOTH GOING TO DIE

"she turned around, saw tedros stood behind her, and screamed. tedros held up the programme, open on the page which said rewritten by akiyama sora and alex pendragon. alex screamed louder."

i adore the news' headlines

what's on the school master's mind??????????

omg is it about marcus and ros??

YES IT IS SKFDSJFL

chinhae is ros' friend and both of their names were circled in red bc the school master has a plan for them. whoaaaaaa

"slowly, she turned back to look up at the school master's tower. and got the distinct feeling someone was meeting her gaze" chills

finished 1:06 AM june 14, 2020

#this is so LONG sorry!!! #but i just love alex vs so much #i don't read fanfics at all so this is all yall are gonna get #i mean besides kate's fanfics ofc #alex vs #sge fanfic #kate #thea reads

[iseleylaura]

3, 7, and 13 (if you’re okay with it) from the ask game?

you’ve chosen two of my favourite numbers 👀👀 (not for the ask game specifically, just numbers in general lol)

let’s see — I’ll take my time answering these since I have nothing better to do atm!

3🌼Are there any fictional characters you relate to/identify with?

Why of course; this is primarily a fanart blog after all ;)

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug): Marinette gets SUPER socially awkward, especially around people she finds attractive or is crushing on. If I see an attractive person in public, it’s all over. I guarantee I will make the interaction the most awkward thing. ALSO she is a seamstress! I love sewing, especially cosplay costumes

Sherlock Holmes (BBC Sherlock): Poor bean is just socially and emotionally repressed to the point where he thinks everyone just hates him so he acts aloof as a façade of self-confidence (uhh haha me??). This is how I’ve been like my whole life irl (Internet-me is v different from actual-me). He’s not the best with empathy, and he uses logical reasoning 99% of the time — which is what I innately do too. Both he and I have had to learn how to be compassionate through the very few people we’ve trusted enough to get close. Selfish and unyielding; can’t be bothered to pretend to be interested in something. HATES small talk. Will be rude if necessary. Needy and clingy af from those they want attention from. We also have a hard time recognizing social cues and get very absorbed in our work when we’re passionate about something. Deep down, we’re both just touch-starved biology nerds.

Sophie Hatter (Howl’s Moving Castle): she sees herself as plain/vanilla, which is something that I’ve been told I am irl multiple times and subsequently, believe too. Basically I’m waiting for my Howl to show up and be like ‘nah bby ily.’ She also gets petty aggressive when things aren’t clean and is definitely a ‘if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself’ kind of person, which — same. She doesn’t suffer fools lightly, and neither do I. BUT she secretly loves to dote on the people she loves, even if they are high maintenance

707 aka Luciel aka Seven aka Saeyoung Choi (Mystic Messenger): Is literally just vibing and memeing all day bro. He has an eccentric sense of humor, which isn’t quite ‘lol rawr xD’ but LIKE it’s the contemporary version of it that only the people of tumblr.com can truly comprehend. He is definitely a geek/weeb and introverted af, but can be loud and outgoing when he wants to be (me me me me). Doesn’t give a FUCK about gender — let’s horde all the styles, fem today, masc tomorrow. I wish he were real, because we’d get along so well. Honestly — he’s my fictional soulmate, and I can’t complain about it, because at least he exists in one form, real or not. :’))

Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club): Is perpetually unimpressed by the caveats of corny rich people. Is easily won over by the promise of good food. Literally so self conscious of her own behaviour in situations that she cannot tell if someone is flirting with her or being genuinely pleasant. Like Sophie, she doesn’t suffer fools lightly — which again, I do not either lmfao. EASILY EMBARRASSED. BOTH LIVING IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF MORTIFICATION. We’re both also academically inclined/rational thinkers, though Haruhi is probably most certainly going to be more financially successful as a lawyer than I’ll ever be making my crafts :))))

Merlin (BBC Merlin): Moody introvert, good with hands, falls in love with the sunshine extrovert type (oh, me?). Ends up doing the entire group project, is never rewarded individually for it. Feels constantly overwhelmed with the burden of existing and feels like no one will ever truly understand or know their true motives/feelings. Has a lot of secrets/thoughts they’d never voice aloud for fear of rejection (or being #cancelled). Feels really lonely a lot of the time, but has friends that enjoy his company. LOVES animals; considers animals easier to get along with than humans — hard agree. Also, dragons — aspec represent.

7🌼Describe your aesthetic in emojis.

✨🌿👒🐇🦔🍄🌞🍓♥️

13🌼What is your home situation like?

It’s stable, and has always been relatively. I know I am very privileged in that way, especially with my parents always having been together. I have siblings. I live in a house. I have a degree. I have resources that allow me to pursue my hobbies. We’ve always been middle class people.

However, the recession from 2008 ish basically signaled the downfall of the industry that both my parents worked for. Since then, my mom has only worked on yearly basis, and it’s never guaranteed if she’ll be hired again after each year. My dad, after a decade long period of laying off people, is somehow one of the surviving staff members at his work, and will likely finally get laid off by the end of the year bc of the pandemic (and the inevitable death of the industry, as mentioned above).

For me personally, I’ve been unimployed since last August. Mainly, this is bc I was in college until last December when I graduated. Since the new year, I’ve literally just been at home doing personal projects since I can’t get a job since I graduated literally when the pandemic started.

Also, I realized that I don’t want a job related to what I majored in (lmfao so cliche). I honestly feel very lost as to how to progress with my life because while I have specific things I want to do and become and accomplish, I feel like the odds of them ever happening is very slim. I know in my heart that I need to do something creatively fulfilling, but it’s really hard to make any sort of living with your art or Etsy or YouTube channel or whatever.

So basically I’ve declared 2020 a dud year; and I’m desperately hoping that I can find a job/career/sense of purpose in 2021 :’))))

Sorry for the long response, but I enjoyed thinking these things through for all of the internet to see yay.

thank you for your asks!💞

#asks #ask game #about me #questions #fictional characters #fandom #fiction #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #sophie hatter #howls moving castle #sherlock #sherlock bbc #merlin #merlin bbc #haruhi fujioka #ouran high school host club #text #personal #aesthetics #emoji #707 #mysme #mystic messenger #seven #mysmes seven #mysme saeyoung #saeyoung choi #luciel #mm seven

[picopond]

picopond ranks all 22 studio ghibli feature films 🌲

i’ve watched all the studio ghibli films! yay! thanks netflix + covid-19! because i’m a film student, i thought i’d rank them + give them a little review, so uuuuh enjoy:) and tell me ur fave! and ur least fave! and whatever!

[gif credit]

22. when marnie was there (2014) this movie had me cradled in its arms until the end when i jumped out and hastily scooted my butt far, far away. i’m not sure if it was lost in translation, but it became very.... incestuous very suddenly. and therefore lost me.

21. the cat returns (2002) i enjoyed the story, i just felt the execution was very, very bland. also i would marry a cat prince idgaf.

20. tales from earthsea (2006) i was so lost i had to look up the plot half way through. also didn’t really get the dragon thing. 

19. ocean waves (1993) just a quick note - wikipedia states this was a television film and not feature, but i’m including it cause i watched it so !!! anyway, a more realstic ghibli film! i enjoyed the story and the characters, but that’s about it!

18. porco rosso (1992) a very fun film! also very underrated, which is a shame. the story was silly yet not comedic, and i liked the added touch of ~secrecy~. i know this is pretty low in my rankings, but i would watch it again! 

17. only yesterday (1991) again - very low in my rankings but it had quite an effect on me. i am a very sentimental person, so it’s no surprise. it felt very ahead of its time and i appreciated that.

16. my neighbours the yamadas (1999) i enjoyed the layout of this film, the characters and the animation a lot. another fun film, and i know it’s a favourite among a lot of people, but not for me. sorry!

15. pom poko (1994) i actually put off watching this for a while. i’m not very interested in animal-centered films, but this was surprisingly pleasant! we don’t have raccoons here, but maybe our possums have magic and live among us?

14. nausicaä: valley of the wind (1984) the first studio ghibli movie ever made ! it has a strong, smart female lead AND an adorable fox squirrel! yet, why is it so underrated? because it is so old? do not let that scare you. it has everything your favourite ghibli movie has. 

13. castle in the sky (1986) this one is a weird one for me, but i still enjoyed it. i’m not sure how old sheeta and pazu were, but it was weird. oh, but the castle reminded me of skyloft!

12. princess monoke (1997) can u believe movies like this exist and people still wanna fuck with nature? also i just found out gillian anderson voiced moro and i need a moment.

11. grave of the fireflies (1988) a...refreshing take on a war movie, but also i feel empty inside. so often we see in films the conflict, but never the effect on the people whose lives are being "fought" for. this film shows you that very effect. a similar movie worth watching that isn’t ghibli but i enjoyed is ‘in this corner of the world’. 

10. my neighbour totoro (1988) a favourite among many! very sweet and easy to watch, though i did watch it back in february and am struggling to remember the storyline... so sadly not very memorable for me? 

9. the tale of the princess kaguya (2013) really enjoyed the animation and characters in this one. reminded me of that time sokkas girlfriend turned into the moon. depressing and magical, it didn't fail to captivate me.

8. kiki’s delivery service (1989) i was very excited to watch this! unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations, but it was still a very sweet and enjoyable film nevertheless. 

7. from up on poppy hill (2011) my tutor says to put your protagonists through the absolute worst thing possible... and they sure as hell did in this one. it made me VERY NERVOUS FOR A MOMENT. and surely there are better ways to trial people. but all’s well that ends well, thankfully!

6. the secret world of arriety (2010) made me wish i was a tiny person living in a handsome boys yard. 

5. ponyo (2008) this film is pure happiness! incredibly adorable! and sosuke has a peaky blinders haircut!

4. the wind rises (2013) based on the life of jiro horikoshi, there’s a LOT of aeroplane talk but it’s all so fucking BEAUTIFUL.

3. spirited away (2001) i almost didn’t rank it so high just out of spite - i know it’s a favourite among many, many people. unfortunately for me, it was the first studio ghibli film i watched...in year 7 english. to study. and then i decided to study it last year for uni! so naturally i put off rewatching it until i had seen everything else... and yes. i get it now. with a charming storyline, a strong, young female lead and a good dose of platonic love, you cannot help but be engrossed by the warmth this film radiates.

2. whisper of the heart (1995) sigh. i watched this almost two weeks ago and i am still thinking about it. this film is a lot deeper than it appears to be - at least for me, cause i saw my younger self in shizuku. it’s a very sweet coming of age film with a gentle touch of falling in love. i don’t know how anyone could not enjoy it.

1. howls moving castle (2004) i’ll be honest - i almost wanted to tie whisper of the heart and this. but i made myself pick, and howls moving castle won. because i love magic! i love sophies idgaf attitude! i love calcifer and markl and turnip head and howl! every single frame of this movie is enchanting. i smile even thinking abt it. if i had to pick one movie to watch for the rest of my life, this would honestly be it. and i like a hell of a lot of movies.

yay! i hope one day i can make films that are magical and warm and nostalgic like studio ghibli’s stuff! thank u for reading this! here’s my letterboxd for more reviews!

#mini film reviews #studio ghibli

[prettywordsyouleft]

Get to know more Tag

Tagged by: @tanithrea​ - thank you sweetie, I adore you endlessly! <3

rules: tag 10 followers you want to get to know better

starsign:

Gemini 

put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 4 songs:

Steal Your Heart - Monsta X

Zombie Party - SPEED

Remember  - 9 Muses

Knock Knock - MXM

grab the nearest book, turn to page 23, what is line17:

"There was a lot of time for thinking, because” (Bessie duly left to be married and Sophie was mostly alone in the shop.) - Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (my favourite book)

have you ever had a song or poem written about you?

Nope but recently @eau-de-liz​ wrote a cute as hell Leo fiction just for me and that’s worth mentioning lol.

when was the last time you played air guitar?

Uhhh, I wanna say sometime this year, but not really an air guitarist lol.

what’s a sound you hate?

People eating / ASMR / basically everything people do because I have misophonia. 

a sound you love?

My horse nickering when she sees me... it’s always so soft and endearing (and of course aimed at getting food). 

do you believe in ghosts?

Completely. I’ve had many encounters with spirits and have a huge respect for that realm. 

Do you believe in aliens?

I mean the universe is so big, I’m not going to discredit their existence but have no understanding either, so I’m pretty neutral on this topic. 

do you drive? if so, have you ever crashed?

I do, and I’ve backed into a parked car as a learner driver when it the road was too slick. Last year I was rear-ended twice in the space of about a month due to ignorant drivers - one on her phone, the other dropped nuts in her lap, distracted drivers are the worst. I now have a panic disorder when sitting at a set of lights or when cars come up behind me too fast. Yay (:

do you like the smell of gasoline

Because I have hyper-sensitivity as well (go me), the smell is uber strong. Sometimes I like it, others I cannot stand it. 

what was the last movie you saw?

A Star is Born - was pretty decent, but wasn’t prepared for the ending and came away pretty triggered by it. 

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had

Haaaa, you know how I write a lot of clumsy characters? That’s me IRL! The worst injury I’ve had is I shattered my right leg in a freak horse riding accident (I wrote a Mark fiction called Accidents Happen based off of it). I became part bionic with a metal rod put in and I couldn’t walk for 8 months. Great news though, I was back up on my horse 2 months after that lol. Otherwise hundreds of sprains, a genetically dodgy right knee that has thus weakened my ankle in that same leg so basically partially disabled, and cysts in my left wrist from bracing myself from all the falls my knee makes me have on a regular basis when it gives way (: I’m always told I need to live in one of them bubble ball things... probably find a way to hurt myself in there too, sigh. 

do you have an obsession right now?

Writing fanfic. Ever since I broke free of my 2 year writers block, all I wanna do is write. My work as an artist has even suffered because I’d rather use my creativity to write stories, not paint dolls lol. And obviously, kpop and kdramas are a constant obsession of mine.

are in a relationship?

Sure, I’m dating plenty of idols through my writing. Lol kidding. I’ll be forever single because I’m too old and set in my ways XD I hear you have to go outside your home to meet people these days too... who knew!

Tagging the following people to try this challenge: @mark-tuan-and-namjoon-lover​ @nyx-goddess-of-choas​ @baekhyunbitz​ @smut-wars​ @notsosubtlekpop​ @monicaexol​ @squeallyeel22​ @trickytrickster27​ @xkpopobsessedx​ @katdefbeom​ and anyone else who wants to do it!

#pwyl; tagged

[warrenmike]

1. How long have you been a fan of Outlander?

oh dear lord i don’t even know. i read the first book on my way back from a nyc trip before i lived here in june of 2015 and then by the time july rolled around i’d read the first four books and had watched season one, so i guess it’s been three years?

2. Have you read the books? If so, which ones?

yes, all of the main books twice and i’m on a re-read via audiobook. i started to listen to the lord john audiobook but the narrator is different and i don’t like it as much.

3. Which is your favourite secondary character?

i have too many but i love john gray and i also love ian murray with all my heart.

4. What is your least favourite storyline?

anything involving sexual assault being used to move the plot (aka all of it) but mostly everything that happens when claire gets taken by the browns and i really hope they decide to leave that out.

5. Favourite episode(s)?

i don’t know if i have a favorite episode now that i think about it... :| 

6. The episode(s) you skip?

i fast forward anything with frank in it.

7. Be honest, how many times have you watched “The Wedding?”

well i’ve marathoned the show like eight times so

8. Finish the sentence: Frank Randall is _________.

dead ;) 

9. What’s your Outlander watching ritual?

the first season i binged it all in one go. the second season i watched the day after it came out as soon as i could find a torrent. the third season i would stay up til 3 AM to watch it. this season i’m not quite sure what i’ll do.

10. Are you into shipping?

i don’t ship real life people, but if that’s your thing, you do you as long as it’s not causing harm or distress to the people involved. with the characters in the show though? giMME.

11. Do you read Outlander fanfiction? If so, what’s your favourite?

eh occasionally. i haven’t found any that have actually grabbed me.

12. What Outlander merchandise do you own?

i have some of the stuff from torrid from last year, and this year i ordered some as well. i have a necklace with claire’s rings on it (though i took frank’s off because eh). i have a copy of outlander signed by rik rankin, sophie skelton, graham mctavish, gary lewis, lotte verbeek, andrew gower, stephen walters, scott kyle, and gillebride macmillan from outlander con, plus photo ops from the con as well. i have the season one part one dvd from a blind bag i bought at the con. and i have the entertainment weekly magazines from s3 and 4. 

13. Which was your favourite: Rupert or Angus?

i caNNA PICK FAVORITES BETWEN THESE TWO i love them both.

14. True or False: Lt. Jeremy Foster is a delicious cinnamon bun.

true.

15. If you were to attend a “fucking bar-b-que” with Geillis Duncan what would you order?

a hot dog, lightly cooked.

16. What areas of interest has Outlander sparked for you?

scotland. i want to go there SO BADLY but i’m broke and can’t afford it so maybe one day. also a general love of nature? like i just want to go explore woodland hills and valleys and i want to get to oregon as well because nature. 

17. Biggest plot hole in the show?

so like... omitting laura donnelly from s4? that sort of plot hole? jenny neVER SEEING HER NEICE? obviously it wasn’t done on purpose buT WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO

18. Bree and Roger: Yay or Nay?

absoFUCKING LUTELY

19. Which JAMMF habit do you find endearing?

tapping his stiff fingers on anything within reach

20. Finish the sentence: Claire Fraser is _______________.

a badass

21. Marry/Fuck/Kill: Dougal, Black Jack, Geneva.

can we not? dougal scares me, black jack is a horrible person, and geneva is a waste of time

22. If you could change one thing about the show version of Outlander, what would it be?

for them to not have cut the scene with jamie praying for his wife and child. you know, the one where he says “lord that she be safe. she and the child.” evERY NIGHT. IMPORTANT STUFF. 

23. Using one word for each, describe Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3:

thrilling, emotional, reunions

24. What are some of your other favourite shows/movies?

idk man i miss graceland

25. Where are you from?

new york

tagged by: @brianna-mackenzie tagging: you, if you watch outlander

#dash games

[equinoxts2]

10 Questions Meme

I was tagged by @shannonsimsfan​ and @starrsim​ :)

Rules: Always post the rules, answer the questions given to you, then write 10 questions of your own, and tag some friends!

Because I was tagged twice and I tend to ramble on, here’s a cut.

Starr’s Questions:

1) How long have you’ve been playing the sims franchise? No idea... about 13 years? My first Sims game was Bustin’ Out for PS2, then my uncle gave me a copy of TS1 Complete Collection which was promptly installed on my late Mac, Terry. I started playing TS2 when OFB was the newest expansion. So yeah... more than half my life.

2) Do you have a favorite sim? why? I love all my Sims! I’ll admit there are some I’d be more likely to reroll a death ROS for than others, but I’m not naming any names. If I do the others will get me. :P

3) What’s your favorite sims career? I don’t really use careers in my game, since Kulo Seeri isn’t the sort of hood that has them. My Sims do have professions and crafts, and I think the one I enjoy most out of them is the not-quite-school run by Otolo zan-Ave and Markal Go. I haven’t shown it on my blog yet, but basically the two elders summon the village kids to their lot with Simlogical’s meeting controller. They offer lessons on various subjects using Sophie-David’s opportunity objects (usually invisible) but for most of the time the kids just run wild together and make friends, enemies and occasionally childhood sweethearts.

4) What’s your CC weakness? Rugs, paintings, hair, etc? CC in general! My good old external hard drive Trixie contains *checks* 190 GB of hoarded stuff. Most of it I will probably never use, but it’s there in case I ever need any of it. This is a side effect of my hoarder nature and obsession with TS2 and I’m not ashamed of it in the slightest. Fun fact: That same hoarder-obsessive nature applies to dice. I have over 1000. Dicedicedicedice... yay :)

5) What aspect of the game have you not played with, or tried, yet? Businesses, vacation hoods, or university. I’ve been wanting to experiment with them for a while but they fit into Kulo Seeri like a foot into a glove. However, that doesn’t stop me occasionally trying to shoehorn bits in - an in-hood “university” might be a possibility for KS, maybe representing a craft apprenticeship. I will have to test that out.

6) When do you usually play? When I’m awake. No kidding - since I’m unable to work due to a combination of autism, depression, social anxiety, semi-regular bouts of ill health, several debilitating phobias and a distaste for the “cog in the machine” life, I am essentially a professional Simmer.

7) What’s your simming routin? (settle in with a drink and a few hours, keep the game open for days, etc) Play in bursts throughout the day, occasionally taking screen breaks to play board games or dice games or kick ideas around with my mum, or to snooze.

8) Do you talk sims with others outside the simming community? My mum and support workers, yes. My mum is probably the non-Simmer who knows most about the game - when she’s home, she’s my go-to person to bat around ideas for KS.

9) Besides tumblr, how else do you interact with the simming community? Through my story blog on Blogger, and also through Plumb Bob Keep and Garden of Shadows’ forums. I don’t know any other Simmers personally, only through the forums and blogs.

10) Why the sims vs other games? It’s pure escapism for me - it lets me immerse myself in another setting without being too focused on achieving certain objectives (the reason I could never get into computer RPGs and still haven’t completely warmed to TS4). I love being able to customise pretty much everything the game has to offer and create new worlds to explore through the eyes of my Sims.

Shannon’s Questions:

1) When you’re playing, do you have the game music on or off? Sometimes I listen to my own music while I’m building, and my Sims don’t really have stereos, so mostly off. I do have a few disguised/invisible stereos but I don’t use them much, and I have - thanks to a tutorial by @greatcheesecakepersona​ - added my Unofficial Kulo Seeri Playlist to the selection of loading tunes.

2) How long have you been playing your current hood? In one form or another, Kulo Seeri has been around for ten years. I started it in April 2007 as a third rate legacy, and it ended up taking me in all sorts of directions I never expected. It’s currently on Generation 7 and has a lot of in-game history, folklore and dreaming behind it. I love it to bits <3

3) Uh-oh! Your game just exploded: are you going to rebuild or start afresh? Rebuild, of course. I couldn’t imagine being without Kulo Seeri after all this time. Although I’ve rebuilt it what feels like a million times and hate setup and hoodlessness, I’m still too invested in it to let it go.

4) What is your favourite Sims version and why? Sims 2, of course! It’s pure sandbox fun, easy to customise and remove from the default modern setting, lends itself well to a huge variety of playstyles, and IMO it’s got more heart than 3 and 4 put together.

5) What’s an expansion you’d love to see that EA never did for any version of the game? I have to second Shannon’s idea of a prehistoric-style one. I’d also love to see more ways for younger Sims to act out that don’t require modern vehicles or technology.

6) Do you use cheats (apart from building cheats) when you play? Yes, not too often because I enjoy having a challenge, but I do use money cheats (KS doesn’t have money, so I always give them enough to move into their homes) and mood cheats (when I can’t stand to see a struggling family suffer any longer, or I need a Sim to stay awake for a photo opportunity).

7) Do you consider yourself primarily a player, builder or decorator? Or other? Player first, storyteller second, don’t touch Build Mode unless I have to. I’m not bad at building, landscaping or decorating... I just find it tedious and avoid it.

8) Do you play pre-mades, your own sims or a mix? Most of my Sims were born in Kulo Seeri, with a handful of premade Sims (mostly from TS3 hoods) who have moved there over the years. Some of my Sims originate from other players’ games, too.

9) What is your favourite kind of business to run? Or what kind would you like to run, if your game version allowed it? Hmm. Never really done much with businesses, but I’d like to have a small trading post of some sort in Kulo Seeri, once the population reaches the point where it splits into two villages. However, KS culture regards trade as the most unclean occupation, so I’m not sure who’d run it.

10) If you were a sim, what would be your aspiration and lifetime want? Feel free to translate that to your own game version - I only speak TS2! My aspiration is Pleasure/Knowledge, with the Pleasure bit being more “stay at home and play games all day” than “go out clubbing and dating”, and the Knowledge bit being limited to my major obsessions: Sims, dice, notebooks, vintage 90′s My Little Ponies, and Plants vs. Zombies. But my LTW would be "reach golden anniversary” - I am a hopeless romantic despite my asexuality, and I’m fed up of getting close to people (mostly support workers and therapists) and then never seeing them again. I want a long-term partnership like my parents have (over 30 years and counting!) with someone who isn’t a support worker or a therapist or other person who listens to my problems partly because it’s their job.

11)  What do you think Sims 5 will be like? *VT Cynic Powers Activate!* It will probably feel more mechanical and repetitive than TS4, and be more goal-orientated than sandbox play. It will probably also have more online features and in-game ads. The hoods or worlds or towns or whatever they’ll be calling them by then will be harder to customise, be designed for legacy style play with some form of annoying story progression, and feature several familiar TS2 premades warped beyond recognition. Modders will find that game behaviour will be much harder to alter, because EA will want to stop fans adding new features so they can release said features as overpriced add-on packs. It will run on patch levels which will force players to update every five minutes, then sneak little bits of the latest pack’s coding into games that don’t have it installed, so that everyone has to have ALL THE PACKS for it to work correctly. (This was one of my major gripes with TS3 patch levels - and then TS4 topped that by adding new functionality into the stuff packs.)

....rant over, time for bed. :)

As for writing questions and tagging other Simmers, that is one area where I fall down, so I’ll leave it there. But thanks again to Shannon & Starr for the tags!

#meme #sims meme #rambly post

[princesstuttu]

Top five anime women?

Ooooo nice time to scream about my favs. I tried to pick one girl per series to spice things up and talk about a lot of things I love. On a side note I havent watched any new anime in forever and after my master rewatch of FMA I’d like to start something new so please send me your recs! 

1. Lan Fan is everything I want to be in life. She is so strong and takes no shit. Cut off her own fucking arm just to beat wrath are you joking me that’s so badass. What a character. On a more serious note, if theres one character archetype that grabs me its martyrs. I wouldn’t say Lan Fan is strictly speaking a martyr but she is just so devoted to her goals, ambitions and her country that she’s literally ready to die for it at any second. I have a lot of respect for people like that, and to see it written in a young female warrior who takes no crap and can hold her own makes my heart so happy. 

2. Ahiru Arima is also everything I want to be. She is so kind and so relentlessly positive despite quite literally going through hell and back. She is loyal to a fault and so incredibly brave. Like I said, everything I want to be. Also one thing I love about her is that her ending isnt perfectly happy. She has to make due in a lot of ways and I think that speaks to the reality of what it means to be human in a lot of ways. Her journey as a character is so brilliantly written and I feel that it is one of the most comprehensive analyses of what it means to make a sacrifice that I have ever seen. 

3. Sakura Haruno but everything with her is very complicated. If Lan Fan and Ahiru are who I want to be, then Sakura, in many respects, is who I am. I see a lot of myself, particularly my younger self in her, especially in regards to making very dumb decisions involving boys. That all being said, I have trouble calling her a fav because her character development was absolutely trashed with the ending so. I don’t know. I loved who she was and how she grew. Where she ended up actually terrifies me. So I guess she’s a favourite more for her potential if anything else. That all being said, chapter 700 can suck my ass Sakura is the head doctor of the village and would never have any child of Sasuke Uchiha’s (unless shes the surrogate for him and naruto but thats different). 

4. Tohru Honda. Listen. I fucking love Fruits Basket. I could be on my death bed and if you mentioned the scene where shes hugging Kyo in the rain it would literally revive me. The anime was one of the first starting ones I ever watched so it has a very special place in my heart. That being said, I do think the manga is a million times better and a billion times more heartbreaking. Yay angst! Anyway Tohru is a gem and very precious to me. 

5. Sophie Hatter. I live for Howls Moving Castle it invented modern romance. Also Sophie is so damn amusing to watch. Like she’s so fascinating because on one hand she doesn’t give two shits if shes old and wrinkly and has to pretend to be Howl’s mom. But at the same time, she does because she’s got all these issues involving self image so deeply compressed within herself she doesn’t even know where to begin with how to deal with them. I also love her dynamic with Howl and how they just get each other, not just in a romantic sense but how as people they bring out the best in each other. Sophie exists as a fantastic dynamic character who gets a complete story arc, kicks some ass, and gets a hot wizard boyfriend with a magic castle by the end of the story. Im not saying those are my literal goals but... 

Wow that turned into a way longer meta than I meant it to. Hope this was somewhat insightful or at least interesting. This was a super great question! Thanks!

Ask Me My Top 5 Anything!

#megan has mail #megan rambles #ask meme #snowywhofadesinthechaos

[deefiregirl]

So I got tagged by @thequeerregretableteenyears which is pretty swinky swanky It's answer 20 questions and tag 20 people but I don't know 20 people so imma go with tagging no one yay Name: Sophie Nickname: Prancey or Pra (Prancer at Christmas) Birth month: April Height: Hahahaihavenoclue. Last time I checked I was 155cm I think, I wasn't really paying attention, I was just bored and measuring myself with a 30cm ruler Hair: Naturally curly, long, brown hair, but I straighten it because why not Nationality: English Orientation: Bi Myers-Briggs Type: INFP Hogwarts House: Gryffindor Fave Food: Noodles, frozen fruit and cookie dough ice cream (also probably actual cookie dough I just haven't tried it yet) Fave Books: Do Fairy Tail and The Seven Deadly Sins count? Favorite scent: I don't know what it actually smells like but there's this smell that reminds me of when I used to spend most of my time playing on my DS in summer, surrounded by my family Fave animals: Wolves or dogs, actually no it's Exceeds Fave Beverages: Apple and mango J2O, mango and passion fruit fruit cooler from Costa, and orange juice and this bitter lemon thing my mum gets mixed together Hours of sleep: Approximately a grand total of 1 Favorite fictional characters: Aahhh please don't make me list them all I have too many. Here's a few in no particular order: Pidge Gunderson, Lucy Heartfilia, Chat Noir, Meliodas, Dil, Ash, Yukine, Quicksilver (the DC one), Deadpool, Peter Quill, Soul Eater, my Sim Matt, Sans, Sailor Jupiter, my Typhlosion (my first ever Pokemon), Jake Peralta, Bernadette Rostenkowski, Ron Weasley, Genos, Ryuko Matoi, Dean Winchester, Eeyore, Toad, Ezio Auditore, Darkiplier, Po (the tellytubbie), Marceline, the Michelin Man, etc Number of blankets you sleep with: One blanket and my All Time Low flag and bandana, because they kinda count even through they're super thin and basically do nothing Dream trip: Japan road trip with @lunacat Blog Created: August I think 3 or 4 years ago Number of followers: almost 300 Omg that's only 19 questions I think I'm gonna die if I don't do 20 so here's another one Favourite quote right now at this very moment because let's face it, my brain hates me: "I'M A LEG" Hahahahahahaha I'm supposed to tag people? Hehe um I'm pretty sure I said I'd tag no one but I'm tagging @lunacat woop have fun

#tagged #I have to many favourite fictional characters #I feel like I didn't put enough in #now I'm regretting not adding more #I'm gonna add more #I added more #kill me

[mama-orion]

mango. foxes. procrastinating.

Woo @brilliantorinsane we rock the 5′3″! ! !

Rules: Answer the 20 questions, and tag 20 amazing followers that you’d like to get to know better. (Guys I just can’t do 20, I’m terrible at these. But please feel free to join in and tag me.)

Name: Jade

Nicknames: When I honest-to-god-you’d-never-know-it-now hiked the Appalachian Trail 17 years ago, my trail name was Orion. I would have been named that if I’d been born a boy. Shaved head and bean-pole thin, people often assumed I was a boy on that caper.

Zodiac sign: Aries

Height: 5′3″

Orientation: Straight. I like small, effeminate hobbity guys and find tomboyish girls incredibly cute. I feel boylike inside, don’t identify much with culturally feminine things. That might imply some fluidity in me, or just be the kind of straight female I am. I’m too comfortable/happy in my relationship to dwell on it very much.

Ethnicity: American. Pale. Lots of curly hair.

Favourite Fruit: yay there’s an ou in there! ((twitterpated)) K. Focus. Mango.

I’m adding: Some favourite words: Twitterpated. Petrichor. Sublimation. Sussurus. Puddle. Portico. Amble.

Favourite Season: um spring? little trickly streams burrowing out of the snow and that intoxicating smell that makes everyone silly

Favourite Book Series: A Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula K LeGuin and His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman and no I won’t pick between them.

Favorite Flower: ((aw where’d the ou go?)) ones growing in the ground.  Or the yellow coltsfoot that grow in profusion along the driveway that my little son picks in handfuls for me every spring.

Favorite Scent: ((ou I miss you)) ground coffee; woodsmoke in a sweater; cinnamon and apples

Favorite Color: a sort of periwinkly blue

Favorite Animal: cats, maybe foxes

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Cocoa: tea for stamina, coffee for warp speed

Average Sleep Hours: maybe 6. 8 feels luxurious

Favorite Fictional Characters: Sparrowhawk, Lyra Silvertongue, Holmes/Watson in all incarnations, Willow, Sebastian Balthazar Bux, Gandalf forever, Neil Gaiman’s Death, Sophie from Howl’s

Number of Blankets You Sleep With: 2, neither of which I made, which is a little sad. I’m the daughter of an amazing seamstress and have 1/10th her ability, but I always made my own blankets full of crazy colors that inevitably fall apart. The addition of the boyo to my life and his general effluvium led to more frequent launderings which destroy handmade blankets. Caved and got machine-made ones. I think it impacts the dreams. One is incredibly kitten-soft fuzzy, though...

Dream Trip: Japan, with the hubs and the boyo

Blog Created: sometime last fall - only found Sherlock last summer. The smittening was hardcore. I’ve never fandom’d before... What a relief to find so many like-minds and incredibly clever, courageous, creative humans. I’m so happy to be writing a story many of you enjoy. Really. Just wow.

Number of Followers: 48, which is sweet and baffling for one so new

tagging, but ignore if this isn’t your thing. I am blatantly procrastinating right now:  @e--q @ineedhugz @sherlockisnolongeravailable @clace-morgenstern-herondale71 @whereimwritingfrom here’s another to bug you with!

#personal #questions

[whatupwiththelists]

List Christmas Letter 2018

Dearest Family & Friends,

I’m going to cut right to the chase. YES. I managed to hold down a job at the same place for more than a year. I’m still with Kijiji. Feel free to keep reading if you wish, but honestly that little nugget of information is by far the highlight of the letter. Like... by far.  

I’m not sure I agree with your decision to continue reading, but I will respect it. Here we go…

I should also note that some of you may not have received a letter last year. We decided to try something new to determine our mailing list. We took all of the names of our closest friends and family (all of you) and then we simply didn’t write a letter. In hindsight, the fact that you may not have received a letter probably has less to do with the mailing list and more to do with our lack of writing it. Hmmm. We may need to reflect on this more. On the plus side, the fact that you’re reading this, is an indication that a letter was in fact written for 2018. Further to being written, it must have also been shared with you in some way. Magical!

So what’s new with us? 2 years of awesomeness!!! That’s what!

We’re still happy and healthy. Physically that is. Mentally we’re a mess, but if you’re on this mailing list you know us well enough that this info won’t surprise you.

Lucy is still at TELUS. For another few days at least. She moved from the Koodo team in 2017 to become a superstar at TELUS. There she created a very successful design system and was flown to Vancouver these past couple of summers to be on a panel with brands like Google, Twitter  and Shopify to talk about their success. Speaking of Shopify, she’s starting to work there in January. She did such a great job creating TELUS’ design system, that Shopify asked her to help them with their new marketing design system. It’s a great opportunity, but in truth, she’s moving so that she’s working closer to me (literally 300m away). There is also the added perk of catered breakfasts AND lunches. Guess who’s visiting her at work twice a day, every day?? (it’s me).

She was also in Vancouver for a half marathon last summer. She amazes me. With almost no training she wasn’t far off her best time. Running a half marathon cold at 41 years old (note that awesome rhyme)… an interesting choice but she completed it, and after an afternoon nap she was as good as new. I joined her in Vancouver as well to celebrate our anniversary. We had a blast exploring Stanley Park, The Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain (yes, we did the Grind), and Whistler/Blackcomb. We really had a great time. Where were the kids you ask? All we know is that they weren’t with us and we’ll leave it at that.

For me, seeing Lucy run the half marathon last year,  inspired me to get into running this year. I decided that I wanted to run a fast 10k (under 40 minutes). I was excited to finish a MEC 10k in 39:17 and 2 weeks later I ran a 19:11 5k which was also a personal best. Sorry if these numbers mean nothing to you, but for runners, our numbers define us :) In 2019 I’ve set some bigger goals. I’ll be running 2 full marathons (one in Ottawa in May and the other in Toronto in October) and I’m going to try and finish one in less than 3 hours. It’s a lofty goal that I’ve been considering for literally 15 years. Age isn’t on my side, but wisdom and a healthy dose of enthusiasm is. Lucy thinks I’m obsessed. Guess there could be worse obsessions...

As mentioned, I’m still with Kijiji. If you use Kijiji and like some of the things that have happened over the past few years, it was probably me. If not, well, best not to talk about it. For those of you in the UK, I know a few of the Gumtree Product Managers so if you’re upset about anything please let me know. I’d love to give them a hard time. I also need to state that I’m just a little bit famous at eBay Classifieds. The CEO of eBay visited the Kijiji office and I gave him a demo of our new homepage. Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it an article was written, I was quoted as it being a career highlight on the eBay internal blog even though I wasn’t even interviewed, and a picture of me pointing at my screen turned into a bit of a phenomenon. Branded Jerememe, “Jeremy Pointing” is now my claim to fame.

Our side gig (Me in a Nutshell) we launched 2 years ago is now fully on life support. We have seen slow and steady growth. The problem, is that it’s really, really slow. For those of you who can't remember what its was about from our christmas letter 2 years ago.. you're essentially looking at it. Our family page was built using the product. Me in a Nutshell (meinanutshell.com) is still kicking and we’re hopeful that at some point somebody famous will create a page to give us the kick start we need. Wishful thinking, but unfortunately at this point, wishful thinking is our best marketing plan ;)

I’m going to talk about kids now so feel free to skip to the end...

Sophie turned 6 this summer but she’s still super cute despite her old age. She dresses herself every day and, holy smoke, she’s creative. Some of her outfits are really quite amazing. Who knew you could have that many patterns & colours at the same time?

She was in gymnastics last year with Cadence, but both girls have decided to take a pause and focus on ice skating. They’re in lessons every Saturday and all the kids love it… well at least for now. Stay tuned.

She also learned to ride her bike this summer and is a superstar on 2 wheels. My job as a father is officially done now that all 3 kids can ride a bike. I may come back part time to help the kids with their running form, but at this point Lucy has been advised not to expect any significant help from me moving forward. Mic drop.

Cadence is still very much into drawing, painting, and anything crafty. Especially slime! Sigh. She’s addicted to making slime.  We have no shortage of slime supplies and little containers with slime scattered throughout the house. Green slime, blue slime, we have every slime you could possibly imagine. Seriously, if you need slime please call me. If you can get it out of the carpet/clothes/hair/teeth, it’s all yours.

My personal favourite “Cadence craft” has turned into a bit of a tradition. Every holiday she will lead the family to create window art. It started off as some quick sketches, then focused on Taylor Swift, but since halloween, the quality of the art has become quite impressive. Thanksgiving followed and we now have a wonderful xmas scene on our front window.

For those of you who caught that Taylor Swift reference above, yeah… she’s obsessed. Lucy took the girls to a concert this past summer and since then Taylor is practically a member of our family. Without her knowing of course... Which makes it a little creepy, but whatever. I’m not sure if it’s Taylor inspired, but Cadence has also taken to Black. She loves all colours, as long as it’s black. Every now and then you’ll see her wearing a colour accent, but for the most part, she’s black, on black, on black… on black (with pet hair covering 90% of her wardrobe).

Jayden is 12! Almost a teen :( He continues to do better in school but this year we’re back to a teacher that doesn’t have as much patience with him. He’s a great kid but fitting him into the school system is still a challenge. That said, he’s making great progress and we believe if we can get him through highschool without the system breaking him, he’ll be successful. He’s a super smart kid.

He’s also a curious fellow. He’s often found taking his Nerf guns apart to see how they work. Our Christmas project last year was to convert his battery powered guns from 6V to 8.4V. More power! Yay YouTube! This year he was a NERF superpower and feared by his friends [evil laugh]. He also builds some pretty impressive guns with lego. Normally I don’t like to talk about his interest in guns, but his lego creations are really quite amazing. With removable magazines, a safety switch, and chambering mechanism, it’s quite the piece of engineering.

He also got really good on his scooter. He wasn’t enjoying karate, so we decided to let him focus on his scooter. It was a good decision. He’s learned so much over the past 2 years. Seeing him is really quite impressive. He’s learned several tricks including a tail whip, 180, 360 and many more. He’s not into it as much anymore, but I loved that he found something so motivating. Now he’s focused on parkour. With this new focus, he’s getting more into running with dad and weights to help him jump around easier. He, and the girls, have also found a love for skating. Jayden, has found yet another medium to jump around and do tricks. He has great technique and has been progressing very well. Seeing all of the teachers drool over the potential to have a gifted MALE who’s interested in figure skating is really quite funny. I wouldn’t be surprised if all 3 kids continue on with skating as one of their sporty passions. They’re all having a wonderful time.

Most exciting with Jayden is that he continues to play the piano. He’s been focused on a few core songs this year and we’re excited to see his progress. We recently bought him a synthesizer and are excited to see him get his music into Garage Band and eventually upload his creations to SoundCloud. He’s composed his own music using other peoples sound clips, but now he has the ability to create music entirely by himself. He’s good. Like, really good. I can’t wait to start listening to his songs.

This year we celebrated Sophie’s 6th birthday in Barcelona. Our first family trip over an ocean. It was also a nice celebration of our 15 year wedding anniversary. We had a blast. Starting in Barcelona, we spent a few days enjoying the city and seeing the sights. From there we rented a Jag SUV and headed up the coast toward France. On our 7 day road trip we saw some amazing places and had a wonderful time. It’s truly a spectacular part of the world and we are already trying to figure out how to get back. I think Lucy plans to retire there with, or without me :(

We also have a new addition to the family! Arctica joined our family earlier this year in May and she’s been wonderful for us. Were not exactly sure how she got here… and one day we had a dog.  We had a weekend of panic thinking what have we done? but we are truly happy we kept her. The kids love her to death and Lucy & I find ourselves more active and excited to get out and walk. She’s really a sweetheart and SOOOOOOO fast. My goodness when she wants to run she can move. She’s also a very good guard dog. If you’ve visited our house… you know. Sorry, she’s just really protective. It’s the shepherd in her.

Our neighborhood is still fantastic. We’ve seen some great neighbours leave, but we’ve also had some amazing people join. We continue the annual Easter egg hunt on our lawn, Canada celebrations, birthday parties, post Santa Claus parade after party and a whole ton more of neighborhood gatherings. We love every minute with them. Each year we are so thankful to have found such a great community. Our neighbors are known to bring us goodies, watch our kids, shovel our driveway and generally just put up with us. We are so thankful to have these wonderful people surrounding us.

Life is still hectic and crazy for Lucy and I but we still manage to find some time to do the things we love to do. We hope you have a joyful start to 2019!

Wishing you health and happiness for 2019

xox

The Lists

[thelastcetra]

Shipping Tag

I got tagged by @jimtheviking yay! It’s been a century since I did a tag!

1. Your ultimate OTP: I have a lot. But because it’s the earliest, it’s Sakura and Shaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura. Their dynamic shaped what I like in couples in fiction. They respected each other’s skills and they started off as rivals but then Shaoran accepted Sakura is the superior magic user and became something like a lituenant of her and I love love love how cute they are.

Also Celes and Locke of course.

And Edgar and me.

2. A ship you’ll always love: Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle. I will always love them. Forever. Also Yuna and Tidus.

3. Your current obsession: I’ve also been rewatching FMA:B and RIGHT? Royai is love.

4. A ship you never thought you’d like: Lightning and Hope from Final Fantasy XIII. I was weirded out by people who were shipping them in the first game because Hope was underage. But then I became obsessed in the third game when they were both 500+ years old and Hope became an adult and he was the leader of the humanity and then ROSE HEAIRED PHANTOM and I’m dead again.

5. A ship you liked but don’t anymore: Hmm... Vanille and Hope. Oh my poor sweet summer heteronormative child self. It’s not that I dislike the ship, it’s that VANILLE’S GAAAAAY! AND FANG AND VANILLE ARE THE BEST!

6. A ship you think should be canon: OH GOD. I was waiting for this question.  Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield from Resident Evil. I can write them as answers to every question here because ever since I played the Resident Evil games years ago I AM OBSESSED WITH THEM. Every waking hour of my life they are in the background of my thoughts. They are the Royai of the game world but because they are not written by Arakawa, I am thirsty for all the good shit.

7. A canon ship you hate: I don’t hate stuff either but fuck Romanoff/Banner indeed. Makes zero sense.

8. A ship you’ve shipped for years: Hmm something different. Anything Final Fantasy.  Cloud and Aerith!

9. A ship everyone loves but you don’t care about: Hmm... HMMM. Can’t really thing of one but maybe Snow and Serah? I love my babies but I don’t really have strong feelings about them.

10. Favourite rare-pair: I know we are three people and a shoelace but Kefka and Celes. BUT! In an alternate universe where their ages are closer. And of course pre-madness Kefka. And it is just pure angst that’s not meant to last. I just love the tragedy of them being the only two people who know what the other went through but it cost Kefka his sanity whilst it didn’t happen to Celes. I just like thinking about it even though I don’t headcanon it? Something like that.

And since I am always lazy forever I’m tagging everyone who’s interested! Don’t forget to tag me! Yay!

#tags

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

EuroTrip 2016

Friday March 11, 2016:

         Yay for trips! I was pretty pumped about this trip as I had only been to Europe once and that was over ten years ago. For this trip, I was teaming up with my aunt who is a retired teacher and had been  going on trips with EF Tours for years. Accompanying us was one of her ex students’ siblings who was excited to head to Europe with us. I decided that it was much easier to just park and fly my car (which is magical). I flew and met them in Montreal before boarding the longer flight to Frankfurt. I am all about sleeping on planes normally, however this plane ride was not the best as I was sitting beside someone who thought that sharing my seat was ok. Even with the squish-y ness and turbulence, it was a decent flight and we arrived first things on Saturday Morning.

Saturday March 12, 2016            It took us a while to find our lovely guide Nik. He was to be our guide for the whole trip however, he had to wait around the airport for the group joining us from Vancouver. We hopped in a bus and got on with the 2 ish hour drive to Rothenberg. Of course we got to drive a bit on the Autobahn (which in a van wasn’t nearly as cool as I had thought) and through lights that went from red to yellow and then green which I found so strange. We arrive in the quant town of Gattsattal where we were staying for the night. We unpacked our bags and headed into town to see the historical, medieval town. Rothenberg is known as Germany’s Fairy Tale Dream town and is located on a plateau just over the Tauber river. We checked out many of the picturesque sites including the Gallos Gate, Town Wall (which is elevated around the city and has a walkway almost the whole way around the town), St. James Church, The Christmas Museum (which was magical), Historical Vaults of the 30 years war and of course Plonlein. Plonlein is the classic photo of Rotherberg and is seen in many books and post cards. We really enjoyed wandering around the small, adorable town. We enjoyed greek food (random) at the Taverna Marathon and Schnaeballen- which is a delicious dessert along with coffee before making our way back to our hotel. We met up with the group from Vancouver and had an amazing traditional German dinner of Spätzle and beef. We were all super tired and jet lagged so we went to bed early to get ready for Munich!

Sunday March 13th, 2016             Rise and shine was early this am! We grabbed a very European breakfast of buns, meat and cheese before hoping on the bus for the 2ish hour drive , south to Dachau. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany. It was said to be a “work camp” originally where political prisoners were to be housed as early as 1933. It is believed that over 25,000 prisoners died from illness or suicide and over 32,000 were killed. The camp saw as many as 200,000 prisoners. We did a walking tour of the property which was very challenging to see. There was also a 20 minute video in the museum that was very graphic. The museum houses memorials, barracks as well as the old gas chamber and crematorium. The various religious memorials are visited by thousands of people each year as well.            After the enlightening visit to Dachau, we made our way to Munich.  Munich is the third most populous city in Germany (behind Berlin and Hamburg of course) and is know for its beautiful, century old buildings and of course Octoberfest. We started our day in Munich by wandering around the stunning English Gardens. The first thing we saw were people surfing on an arm of the Isar River at one of the entrances of the Gardens. It was magical! It was so cold but they have one area where the river makes a 1 metre wave that many locals come and surf  on. I was freezing just watching them! As we wandered around the English Garden, we learned more about it’s history (how it used to be hunting ground for the royal family until the late 18th century when it was opened to the public).  We visited the Theatiner Church where there was a large pre St. Patrick’s day Festival going on. We caught a glimps of City Hall as well as the Cathedral Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche). This Cathedral is a landmark in the city and is known as the symbol of the Bavarian Capitol. It stands at 99m tall which makes it the tallest building in the city centre and has the infamous “Devil’s Footstep”. We wandered around the city square (Middlespaz) and had a small lunch as we wandered. Unfortunately, much of the shops and more touristy things were closed as it was Sunday.  One super cool thing that we did see in the Marienplatz was the Glockenspiel (google it, it’s cool). We did manage to check out the three known “Tours” as well as the magical Hopfbrauhaus. While we didn’t stop in for a beer, we did enjoy all of the excitement and festivities inside.  We had a lovely dinner at franziskaner in der au, just outside the city centre of sauerkraut type salad, pork and pasta before heading back to the econtel for the night.

Monday March 14th, 2016              I was super excited about the plan for today! We were driving to Neuschwanstein Castle! Neuschwanstein is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace approx. 1.6 km walk uphill in the village of Hohenschwangau. The castle was designed by King ludwig the second. He had designed it and lived in another castle (Holschwangow) on the property while it was being built (for almost 13 years). King Ludwig was a complex man who enjoyed Wagner (which was listened to Valkyrie on the way to the castle), literature and fine woodwork. There are various stories of his bizarre behaviour, “different” interests (homosexual tendencies which were not accepted at that time) among other things. He was declared insane and admitted to a hospital where he was found dead in the river only 2 days after admission. He had gone for a walk with his doctor and was found in knee deep water, with no water in his lungs. His death was rather mysterious and unfortunate, as he never go to see his masterpiece of a castle fully built. The castle itself sees 1.5 million visitors a day. It is massive and magical- especially the Throne room with its 2000 lb chandelier made out of fake gem stones and 1.5 million stone floor that illustrates plant and animal life. The walls and ceilings are also very interesting with paintings of Jesus and 6 canonized kings. The tour itself wasn’t anything to write home about and was not overly informative. It was definitely a magical place to visit and the views in and around the castle were worth the steep hike.

             After the castle, we watched Sophie School (great movie) as we headed back into Munich for a guided bus tour of the city by our guide Barbara. She gave us the background of the city (which I won’t bore you with but is quite interesting as Munich is considered a “young” city for Europe and much of it was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt). We drove past many important/interesting landmarks including the House of Kunz Art (german art that Hilter built), many universities (which are free in Germany) including the one that Sophie School went to, the Olympic Park (of the 1972 Olympics) and many other iconic streets/parks. Munich is a very fast growing city becauose of its high quality of living. There are many parks, lakes and mountains in the area along with lots of jobs which means the cost of living is increasing by approx. 5-10% each year. It is much cheaper to rent than to buy in the city and there are many young families living in 900 sq. feet and paying approx. 1500-2000 euro a month (crazy!). We stopped at one of my favourite places of the trip and that was the Nyphenburg Palace. Again, I won’t bore you with the details but it was the summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. It is now a series of museums and has beautiful grounds to wander and explore. We had dinner at a former monastery turned Brewery called the Augustine. We had a very traditional dinner of beet, bratwurst and potato salad with their home made apple fritter for dessert. We continued the tour of Munich after dinner by seeing the Hofbrauhaus at night along with the Opera House that was one of the first in the 17th Century. The Opera House has been rebuilt multiple times after varies fires/wars and features approximately 300 shows per year.   We headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before another exciting day!

Tuesday March 15th, 2016            Today we would be driving through 3 different countries! We left Germany and passed through the Town of Garmish. Garmish is small town, much older than Munich on the trade route known for its ski hills and Winter Games. We headed through Germany and made our way into Austria. We learned that there are not borders in Europe which is pretty neat. Everyone in the EU may come and go as they please and may live/work whenever they would like.  We were heading into Innsbruck for the afternoon. Austria itself, is known for its delicious meat. Austria is home to approximately 8.4 million people and its main industry is tourism (24 million a year approximately) but its scenery is like none other. 60% of the country is covered in mountains who’s peaks are almost 4000m high. The biggest palace in Europe can also be found in Austria- in Innsbruck and was home to the Royal Family (who’s monarchy ended in 1918). We spent a few hours exploring Innsbruck. We visited much of the old town (which is quite small) and saw some tourist landmarks such as the Golden Roof House built by Maximilian, The Innsbruck city tower, and of course, the Swarovski Flag Ship Store. We saw many old, medieval type buildings along with some beautiful churches. Other than the beautiful mountains, St. Jacob’s church was my favourite building- it had a beautiful marble alter with large lit up cross and massive black organ. We hopped back in the bus and took the Brenner Pass through the amazing alps. The Brenner pas was originally used by the tribes men many years ago and is still known as an important trade route between Austria and Italy. It was a magical drive through the mountains with many old castles and places to stay. We made our way south to our hotel which was just outside of Venice near Treviso. The hotel (Park hotel villa fiorita) was so tacky and Italian- I just loved it!! We got settled into our rooms (where we would be staying for two nights) and then made our way down to the dining room for a traditional dinner. The dining room was very Roman inspired with beautiful (but strange) paintings all over the walls. Our dinner of pasta, turkey, veggies and apple crumble was delicious! I was super excited to hit the hay this night as Venice was one of the cities I was most excited to visit.

Wednesday March 16th, 2016            As always, breakfast was early (but delicious with the classic euro spread along with pancakes and croissants for the carbs lovers out there) but worth it to hop on the bus to head down to Venice. Nik gave us a brief history lesson on the country (including The Kingdom of Italy being found in 1861, the end of the Monarchy in 1919 along with the Black Chapter that was Moussilini’s take over in the 1922). I really do enjoy learning about all of the history- I make all of these half ass attempts at typing it all out as he is talking and then make short forms that a year later, I don’t understand. Ah well! That is what google is for isn’t it? ANYWAYS. Venice! So exciting. Venice is a unesco World Heritage site but has seen its fair share of destruction and sadness, including floods and plagues (also the starting point of mask where and carnival somehow). Venice is actually made up of 117 small islands  that are separated by many canals and linked by bridges. They are located in the Venetian lagoon which is an enclosed bay that is found between the Po and Piave Rivers. There are approximately 265,000 people that live in Venice, 55,000 who live in the historical city part.  Once we arrived at the port, we took a 20 min boat ride over where we watched a glass blowing demonstration- which is super Venetian. There are about 35 companies in Venice that make glass but only a handful that do it by hand. The glass (Moreno) is beautiful, made out of sand, salt and colours that are created by other minerals.             After the glass blowing demonstration and some shopping (of course), we had a walking tour with our guide Alysio. He explained much more of the cities history and pointed out a few beautiful landmarks. He also took us on a tour of the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) which was very beautiful. It was originally build in the 1300s and then rebuilt in the 1500s. There is a massive, golden staircase because, more was always better in the Venetian world. Each wall had something on it- gold, paint, murals, mosaics etc- no wall caould be empty.  We came out of the Palace in St. Marc’s Square (Piazza San Marco) which is a landmark in the city. It has many restaurants, shops and famous places within the square. We visited St. Marc’s Basilica which is said to actually house the remains of St Marc below the alter. The  Basilica is quite dark but still very beautiful with many old features. We wandered around the city of Venice- getting lost in all the small walkways, canals and bridges. It was magical! We hopped on a gondola as well and took a beautiful ride in and around the city through the canals. We checked out many of the high end shops (all of the designers were found in Piazza San Marco) and also did some bartering for souvenirs and such. The Rialto bridge was sadly under construction, but we still managed to get a few great photos and see some of the stores that can be found on and around the bridge. We stopped for some traditional food (the most amazing pizza, cannoli AND gelati) before grabbing some vino on route to the boat back to the bus.  Dinner was back at the hotel – pasta of course with some veggies, beef and of course rum cake for dessert. My aunt and I wandered around the hotel- they had an interesting Hemingway exhibition and bar in the basemen which was rather odd in my opinion.  The mix of the music/bar seen with the hemingway info lead to some pretty bizarre dreams that night that’s for sure!

Thursday, March 17th, 2017            This morning we headed on the Brenner Pass to Verona- which funny enough cost about $35 since all of the highways in Italy are toll routes. The highways are privately, not state owned so the rate per highway can change which is neat. In Germany, the highways are free, in Switzerland, you pay for a pass each year and in Austria, you can pay for a week, month or year (similar to the 407). I was very excited today because it was 15 degrees and sunny!! We were headed 2 hours from Treviso to Verona which is a very old city, approx. 100 years BC. Verona is heavily fortified, especially around the river and is also a Heritage UNESCO site due to its Roman Empire/Medieval/Renaissance architecture and preserved monuments and squares. One of our first stops was the Arena of Verona (their version of the Coliseum) which is about 80 years older than the Coliseum. (making it almost 1186 years old!!!) At this time, there is only one wing left of it as an earthquake ruined ¾ of it in 1117. We stopped to visit Romeo and Juliet’s house (sadly not the real one) as well as Juliet’s Balcony (which is very popular place to visit). I was very impressed with Verona- it has beautiful landscapes of not only greenery and a beautiful river, but amazing mountains and old, maintained architecture.  We stopped by the market which had amazing fresh fruit, vegetables and sandwiches near the Ponte Pietra. We checked out the Cathedral Di Verona before hopping on the bus to drive from Verona to Switzerland.

        Our drive through the alps was magical! We drove through  Como which is an amazing area (George Clooney has a house there which we saw!) along with Lugano which is very Swiss meets Mediterrean. Of course, Nik gave us our daily history lesson on Switzerland and including some interesting facts. Switzerland, is one of the safest places in the world. All of the entrances can be closed (literally with a bomb to close it physically) if there was any concern for the Swiss’ safety. Since Switzerland is a very “neutral” place, politically, I don’t think they would have many issues.  We heard many interesting folklores and fables about the country during our drive (which I won’t bore you with). We made it to the town of Giswil(population 300) which is just outside of Lucerne. Dinner was soup, salad and a meatloaf-esque burger with traditional fries and gravy (haha) It was an early to bed tonight – other than my early morning wake up call to facetime with the lovely Jess so I wouldn’t miss the Open announcement!

Friday March 18, 2016:          My aunt and I decided to get up a bit early to wander around the quaint town. It was a bit chilly but we enjoyed the rolling hills of the area and the beautiful fresh air. After showers and a basic European breakfast (meat, cheese and bread of course), we hopped on the bus for Lucerne. The first stop with the famous Lion Monument which was created for the Swiss guard who died in 1792 in defence of King Louis XVI, his fine Marie Antoinette and their kids. The Swiss guard is known for their loyalty and this monument is a sign of strength, power and loyalty. The monument is actually much cooler than I had anticipated as it is carved into a larger rock/mountain side. We had plenty of time to wander around the magical mountain city and check out Lake Lucerne which can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. We saw the glacier gardens, Friti Fountain, Chapel Bridge, Water tower and did some hiking on the fortification wall to check out the view from a higher vantage point.  We enjoyed some delicious (and expensive!) Swiss Chocolate and learned about the various historical events that had taken place in the city. We met up with the grup at the Schwanplatz (city centre) and headed back to the hotel for dinner (salad with random curry chicken and ice cream) before settling in for our last day of the tour.

Saturday March 19, 2016:            Today we were going to visit the largest waterfalls in Europe!! I was pretty stoked about this since I expected them to be similar to Niagara Falls. While the Rhine Falls are beautiful (they truly are) they are nothing in Comparison to Niagara Falls. The Rhine Falls go back to the last ice age about 2000 years ago and are 23 meters tall and 150 meters wide and found in the town of Schwafassen. We got some great photos before heading back on the bus to take the drive through the Black Forest. The Black forest got its name from the narrow trees that make is very very dark and brings out lots of legends and myths. The Grimm brothers wrote all of their stories based on the Black Forest and there are many stories about trolls, dwarfs and other mythical creatures. We made our way to the Hofgut Sternen – a family run shop where they make cuckoo-clocks which was actually a lot more interesting than I had thought. We saw one of (if not the) largest cuckoo clocks and then saw an informative demonstration about how the clocks worked. The cuckoo is made out of wood and cotton and is basically the music box, mechanism (from Switzerland) and the cuckoo. They are all the same here in Black Forest except for the design in which there are 120 different types of clocks that all tell a story. I didn’t realize how intricate and different they could all be! We enjoyed some delicious Black Forest Cake before jumping back on the bus to head north to Heidelberg.             Heidelberg is the oldest university town in Germany and the second oldest in all of Europe. It is known for its literature and philosophy along with its castle- Schloss Heidelberg. We went and saw the castle ruins (and saw a random fox on a leash..) while enjoying some pretzels and checking out the worlds largest wine barrel (heaven!). The town was super cute and was filled with old buildings, small streets and even the longest pedestrian walkway in Germany.  Nik told us a lot about the extensive history of the city (the good and the bad) and we stopped into a few other small museums and stores. The one thing I didn’t get to do that I would’ve loved to have tried in the city was the Furnicular (basically a gondola) but the line was super long and we wanted to explore more- ah well! There is always next time!             We made it to the hotel Exelsior around 7 and wandered around it for while. It was very modern from the outside but had many touches of its old charm. The lobby was super cute and inviting. The bathrooms were super retro but really big and fitting for the hotel. We had an amazing buffet dinner of zucchini boats, rice. wedges and schnitzel which was all delicious along with fruit and pudding for dessert. We ended the evening as a big group talking about our favourite part of the trip and then singing Oh Canada which was pretty special. Everyone hugged good bye (and exchanged social media accounts of course) before heading to bed for the flights home.

Sunday March 20th, 2016           Sadly, I was the first one to leave in the am as my flight was the earliest. Originally the company wanted all of us (meaning the three of us) going to Ontario to go to the airport at the same time but that sounded just silly! Nik called me a cab at 0600 and had a great spread for breakfast to go ready for me. The drive to the Frankfurt airport was about 45 with little traffic and I managed to learn a bit more about the area from the cab driver. My flight home was just under 8 hours and was average with plenty of movie options and snacks. All in all, this was a great mini EuroTrip. While I have many other places I would like to visit (and maybe even return to) it gave me a taste of the continent and made me eager to see more! Until next time!