Christmas was busier than ever this year. I think that Brent and I had about two and a half weeks of straight Christmas and/or Birthday dinners. Mom’s Christmas party was nice- but a little smaller than usual, especially because of the giant snowstorm that hit Toronto that weekend (December 15-16). Nana, Nono, Terry and Madeline had to take a bus to Toronto to make it! … It seemed like a lot of trouble for all of them, but I was sure happy to see them all. :) Rob, Cindy, John and a few friends also came!
The next day we had to go to Etobicoke for a birthday party for Brent at his aunt’s house. All our cars were totally stuck, so Brent’s sister had to come and pick us up in a truck.
(This picture is taken on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto on Sunday, December 16.)In the evening, Dad and Norma had Brent’s whole family over for dinner. :)
On Monday we had the McLeod Christmas at Brent’s sister’s downtown condo. Brent and I went there early and we all had a nice swim (in a salt water pool) and spent some time in the hot tubs in the building. After that we had a really nice dinner and exchanged presents. It was another nice night!The next day Brent and I headed up to Collingwood to spend some time at the condo. It was a nice few days and we got to visit lots with my friend Heather while we were there. It was her birthday on the 18th, so we made her dinner and drank 4 bottles of wine (between the 3 of us)!
We also went skiing at Blue Mountain with Heather and spent one evening at the Scandinavian Spa in Collingwood. The Spa was so nice! We got free massages (cause of Brent’s insurance) and spent a lot of time in the steam rooms, saunas, outdoor hot tubs and “cold baths”. It was amazing.
The night we got back to the city was Brent’s birthday dinner and party with his friends. Sixteen of us went for dinner at the Golden Thai downtown and then a bunch more people met us at a bar called Laide (which we JUST found out is apparently a swingers bar!!) he he he… ooops. I guess that’s what happens when you try to plan things from Australia. Luckily none of use had any clue at the time, and I think everyone had fun. :)
The next week was a bit of a blur- Jules, George and I drove up to Ottawa for the weekend and visited with Granny, Grandpa, and Adele’s family.
We met Dad, Norma and Jamie there and then drove to Barrie the next day for Betty’s Christmas party. Amazing food, presents and puppies- as usual!
On Christmas Eve, Norma took Jules, George and me for our annual breakfast and pedicures downtown. In the evening we had a nice Christmas dinner at Dad’s house and exchanged presents there. This was also Brent’s actual 30th birthday, but he was working nights so we didn’t have much time together at home. Instead, I headed down to the marine unit after our Christmas Eve family dinner and had a birthday dinner with Brent.
On Christmas we didn’t even leave the house. We had 2 Christmas meals with Mom and played A LOT of foosball.
On boxing day Brent and I headed up to Thornhill to visit Anna, Jack and Steve. It was great to see them especially because it had been over a year since our last visit. We had a nice little breakfast with them and then headed up towards North Bay to visit with Brent’s family for a few days.
We stayed with Brent’s Aunt Joanne in their beautiful house overlooking Lake Nipissing and had lots of nice meals at Brent’s grandparents’ place and his Aunt Claudette’s. We also went skating in Powassan and played some outdoor ‘boot’ hockey with his cousins. It was all fun except that I was pretty sick and my head felt like it was going to explode for most of the time. I stayed in bed for 2 days when we got home.Mom took Jamie, Jules and George to Mexico for the next week but I decided not to go. Instead I relaxed at home for a few days, went to a nice New Years Party with my high school friends and spent some more time with Dad, Norma, and Brent in Collingwood. We spent one afternoon in Collingwood at the Scenic Caves which is a beautiful area beside Blue Mountain for cross country skiing and snow shoeing. Dad and Norma tried out their new snow shoes and Brent and I rented some. We all loved it and I can’t wait to go back. :)
On our way home from Collingwood, Brent and I stopped to visit Amelia and Kirsty at Amelia’s family farm. We had a nice dinner there and then headed home. 
Jamie, Jules and George had to all go back to school/work the next day and I was sad to see them all go. :( I’m hoping they’ll come visit me in Australia tho. He he heThe next week Brent was working so I spent a lot of time catching up with my friends.
(This was at the 'Polar Bear Dip/Paddleboard' at the beach in Toronto on January 12th. Those two-Boder and Jon Berrie- jumped in Lake Ontario without wetsuits right after this picture was taken!)
I spent 2 nights with the beach people and met up with one of my old swimming friends, Jen Brankovsky, who is now in Med school in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately at the end of that week, after 6 weeks of waiting, Brent and I got the horrible news that we had been dreading. The Australians denied his student visa. We were both really sad and disappointed and it took us a few days to recover from the shock.
We are pretty much out of options now (as far as visas go) and we are very frustrated with Australian Immigration. We never thought that they would be so unreasonable and unfair. Our families and friends will be happy to know that there is no possibility of us staying there after I’m done school- but unfortunately that doesn’t make us feel much better about the next 15 months that we have to spend apart.
I’ve now booked by ticket to go back to Australia alone on February 11th. I’ll have to live in the same place as last year since I didn’t put much effort into finding a new place (because I was assuming Brent and I would find a place together when he got his visa).
There are a few good things that have come of this, but I can say that I would give it all up in a second if the Australians would let him have a visa.
The first thing is that we’ll be able to do a little traveling since we will have to meet in other countries during my (few and far between) holidays this year. We have a few ideas right now- Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, New Zealand or Hawaii. The price of the trips will probably determine where we end up, but they all seem like pretty neat options.
The second, and more exciting thing is that we’ve decided to plan our wedding for next January (probably the 10th or 17th). Next year will be my last “summer holiday” EVER, so it seems like a perfect time to have the wedding. Brent will have lots of planning to do while he is home without me, but I’m sure he’ll have some help :). He he he. Anyway, we are pretty excited about it and we’re hoping that it makes this year at least a little easier to get through.
The last exciting thing that has happened lately (to cheer us up) is that Dom was just picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs!!! This past Tuesday was his first game at home and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the game! :) It was so exciting and I was so happy to be there. Brent also came along and bought a ticket from a scalper since he’s a REAL leaf fan and was really excited to see Dom as a Leaf too! After the game I was able to catch up with Dom and Mark for a bit, which was also nice since I missed them both at Christmas time.
Brent and I just got home from a nice weekend in Montreal visiting Jamie. We had a great time, but I’m not sure that Montreal is the most appealing place to be at this time of year anymore. He he he.
As usual I ended up writing way more than I was planning, so hopefully someone manages to get through it all. :) Happy New Year to everyone! Take care and talk soon.
We are pretty much out of options now (as far as visas go) and we are very frustrated with Australian Immigration. We never thought that they would be so unreasonable and unfair. Our families and friends will be happy to know that there is no possibility of us staying there after I’m done school- but unfortunately that doesn’t make us feel much better about the next 15 months that we have to spend apart.
I’ve now booked by ticket to go back to Australia alone on February 11th. I’ll have to live in the same place as last year since I didn’t put much effort into finding a new place (because I was assuming Brent and I would find a place together when he got his visa).
There are a few good things that have come of this, but I can say that I would give it all up in a second if the Australians would let him have a visa.
The first thing is that we’ll be able to do a little traveling since we will have to meet in other countries during my (few and far between) holidays this year. We have a few ideas right now- Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, New Zealand or Hawaii. The price of the trips will probably determine where we end up, but they all seem like pretty neat options.
The second, and more exciting thing is that we’ve decided to plan our wedding for next January (probably the 10th or 17th). Next year will be my last “summer holiday” EVER, so it seems like a perfect time to have the wedding. Brent will have lots of planning to do while he is home without me, but I’m sure he’ll have some help :). He he he. Anyway, we are pretty excited about it and we’re hoping that it makes this year at least a little easier to get through.
The last exciting thing that has happened lately (to cheer us up) is that Dom was just picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs!!! This past Tuesday was his first game at home and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the game! :) It was so exciting and I was so happy to be there. Brent also came along and bought a ticket from a scalper since he’s a REAL leaf fan and was really excited to see Dom as a Leaf too! After the game I was able to catch up with Dom and Mark for a bit, which was also nice since I missed them both at Christmas time.Brent and I just got home from a nice weekend in Montreal visiting Jamie. We had a great time, but I’m not sure that Montreal is the most appealing place to be at this time of year anymore. He he he.As usual I ended up writing way more than I was planning, so hopefully someone manages to get through it all. :) Happy New Year to everyone! Take care and talk soon. 
It is great to be back home- but I can’t say that I’m loving the weather! I got to skip winter last year since I left before it arrived- but this year I don’t think I will be so lucky. I can’t ever remember having so much snow so early in December!
This weekend coming is going to be VERY busy! We have Mom’s family party on Saturday, a birthday brunch for Brent on Sunday, a birthday dinner for Brent at Dad’s house on Sunday night (with Brent’s parents) and then the McLeod Christmas at Erin’s place on Monday. I’m getting ready to pack on the pounds :( .
Tom was in Australia for the first few weeks of November and I got to see him quite a few times while he was in Sydney. I showed him all around our campus the first day he was here and we had a bunch of great dinners with Janice. Alice also invited Tom and me for dinner up in North Sydney one night- which, once again, was AMAZING. Alice is such a good cook! Tom seemed to really like Australia- which I was also very happy about since he says he’ll be coming back to visit every year!
Mom arrived on November 13th and my exams were on the 16th- so Mom toured around Sydney during the day while I studied. In the evenings we met up for some walking around and some dinners. I even made Mom dinner at my studio apartment (with no kitchen) one of the nights. It was fun!
I had to skip Tom’s last day of touring around Sydney because of all the packing- so I was kind of disappointed about that. But, at least I got it all done for Mom to help me move it all into my friend’s house on the Sunday. Things went surprisingly smoothly after that and I was feeling much better by Monday.
Mom and I spent the next 2 days in Sydney. We took the ferry over to the Sydney Zoo (which was SO nice), had some great fish and chips, went for a tour and a walk through the Botanical Gardens, went on a double-decker bus tour and did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!! Somehow Mom even had time for a mid-day conference call in the midst of it all! We also had a few REALLY nice dinners which was another great treat.
While we were in Sydney, we stayed at the Royal Automobile Club which was right in Circular Quay beside the Opera house!! We had a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour from our window. It was AMAZING. We could also walk right out the back door to the ferry docks- which was SO convenient. What a great place to stay!
On Wednesday, we took an early flight up to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed on a little Island Resort (called Green Island) which is an island that actually sits on the inner reef. It was a beautiful place and we spent 2 full days there. On Thursday, we took a half-day trip to the outer reef where we got to snorkel for hours with sharks, turtles and TONS of fish! We even got to pet “Wally”- who was a giant Humpback Wrasse who hung around the raft we were on! I totally loved him. He he he.
After our 2 days on the Island we headed back to the mainland for one night in Cairns. We had a hotel right on the main street and spent an evening walking along the Oceanfront boardwalk. Mom saw lots of new birds and I took lots of pictures. We had another nice dinner that night and even found a Baskin Robbins for some of my favourite ice cream for dessert.
Last weekend was the North American Medical Students Association Halloween party and also my friend Amy’s birthday- so I decided that I should go. I would have much rather been in Toronto with EVERYONE else watching Jamie’s band play at Neutral… but the party here ended up being pretty fun, so it was an OK second option. Australians seem to love their costumes, so most of them went ALL OUT and I was very impressed. Some of them are hard to describe, so hopefully the pictures will do them justice. My friend Ben won best costume for the night- hopefully you can tell what he is because it was pretty hilarious.
Yesterday was actually Halloween, but we didn’t do much since most Australians don’t celebrate it (despite their obsession with costumes). But… it was still an exciting day for me because Brent sent me 12 ORANGE roses and some chocolates! I didn’t even know orange roses existed! :)
Oh… and I also dropped off Brent’s application for the masters program at the Sydney University International Office- since it was the last day to apply.
Well that’s it for now. I am off to practice Cardiovascular examinations with my friend Martha… he he he.
See you soon! Miss you. xox
