And I'm Back

Okay! I am back in Glasgow, and am feeling better about it having had a solid nights sleep and my first class of the new trimester after a very rough time of leaving and an even worse flight from Toronto to London.

The Flight from Hell
So this 6.5 hour flight to London Heathrow I had a window seat which is always nice but right behind me was the only baby on the plane...a 2 yr old little girl with stitches in her face. So when she wasn't squealing and doing whatever her parents told her not to do, she was flipping and unflipping the tray table that was attached to the back of my chair or standing on the floor so I couldn't recline without squishing her.
In front of me was an Indian man who always had his seat full reclined so when he sat up 27 dozen times he would slam back into it with all his force like he was free falling.
If that wasn't already enough, directly to my right were two 18yr old "gangsters" from Saudi Arabia who emanated a strong disgusting stench, but wait, it gets better. The one right beside me like to hog the armrest and have half his arm and some of his giant gangster thigh in my seat space pushed up against me... nope still not done yet... when he fell asleep after dancing and grooving along to his music on his ipad (with the screen brightness on full) his head was turned towards me... mouth gaping open... BREATHING ON ME.
Grrrrr, makes me mad just thinking about it.

Makes for a very loooooong flight. So no more flying economy if I am travelling trans-atlantic by myself, which is okay because British Airways upgrades aren't too much more in costs and they have bigger and less seats and better food. :)
I sat in Heathrow for about 2.5 hours and took a brief nap before getting a hot chocolate before boarding. By the way, Starbucks hot chocolate is not worth the price.
The flight from London to Glasgow was alright, quiet.
I was absolutely exhausted when I finally got to my room and had a quiet night to myself trying to settle in and relax.

But like I said, today is a new and much better day, I am trying to get some issues with school straightened out and settle in but other than that, excited to start making plans for trips.

Home for the Holidays

I wasss hoooooome for Christmasssss   *sing to tune of Bing Cosby's I'll Be Home for Christmas*

So here we are, back at the old blog posts. I bet you’re all just itching to hear about my Christmas at home. Since I am sitting on a plane on my way to London, I have a solid 7 hours to tell you all about it! To put it bluntly, it was amazing and I don’t think it could have gone any better. 

I flew in December 13th, the day before the big snowstorm, so I definitely caught a lucky break with that one. It was so nice to see everyone and be home with tv, nice showers and fast internet. Now now don’t worry, I didn’t spend all my new free time in front of the tv. I got to see everyone, visit the ol’ workplace to see all my NPI friends, and spend some good old fashioned quality time with the BF and the BFF (that’s boyfriend and bestfriend forever, just incase you didn’t catch that). 

Christmas was very nice, I was definitely spoiled and enjoyed the time with the family and all that fun festive christmas seasony stuff. We had dad’s family over on Christmas day, which was excellent and it was nice to see everyone and catchup with what’s happening in their lives. 

I had found a great christmas photography idea to do at christmas and it actually turned out really well. Brandon and I pinned up white lights on the wall and then pinned a white sheet over top to make a nicely lit background for pictures of everyone and it actually turned out really well! We had hats and tinsel and coloured lights for the subjects to wear in the pictures. Everyone enjoyed it and the picture turned out fabulously.

 (Next time we'll make it bigger for more people)

I also got to spend time with Dennis and his family during the holidays and that was excellent as per usual and had a really nice time seeing everyone. 

New Years Eve was exciting and soooo much fun and so many laughs. Hard to believe it’s already 2014 eh? Where did the time go?

I got to go skiing in the new year to Kissing Bridge and Holiday Valley with Dennis and his lovely mother, which is always a boatload of fun and something to look forward to. I wish I could be around for more ski-day trips but they will still exist next winter.

I also got up to Brock U and was able to see some friends and had a nice visit with my academic advisor. From that visit I have been approved for some online courses through another university meaning that I am not a student of Brock University, Glasgow Caledonian University and Athabasca University! I know right, look at me go. 

Anywho, I am so thankful that I was able to be at home for 6 weeks because I was definitely not ready after the initial 3 weeks I thought I had. Mind you I didn’t exactly prepare myself for leaving as well as I thought. The first time I left back in the beginning of September was easier because of the excitement of adventure, this time around I had known what to expect so it was much harder to leave. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to be back in Europe and travel and see a bunch of different countries and adventures, I just don’t like leaving people behind. Props to my parents, Taylor J and ESPECIALLY Dennis for dealing with a series of meltdowns on my part.

I have also learned (and take my advice on this) if and when flying with British Airways, unless flying in 1st or 2nd class I would advise you to select the seat(s) in the very back row (39A,B, J,K). I had the opportunity to choose that seat again and I didn’t because clearly I am a genius. So now I am squished up against a window with an over active 2yr old behind me and a couple of weird gangster type 18yr olds beside me and a hispanic or italian dude in front of my propped all the way back.

 Yea, I know. 6 hours to go. 

But for now I am watching my new seasons of That 70s Show on my laptop waiting for the food and the 2yr old to fall asleep.