Simplicity

Well, I've been procrastinating again...

Blogging has not been at the fore-front of my mind...as I've been rather busy the last month (how has it been a month since I've been home?!) and I've been enjoying the last little bits of what is apparently summer before I settle in for winter at home..

To update, I'm working on adjusting to being home. It's definitely a process...where everything feels familiar..yet nothing feels the same at all. It's hard to explain unless of course you've been through this..but even if you have..everyone experiences and feels things differently...so as much as I have people who know what I'm going through..sometimes I feel like my head is spinning...and I think that I've come to the conclusion that that's okay..because my poor little brain has a lot of stuff to process. As much I've settled back into my 'old' life..things are constantly keeping me on my toes and my mind is constantly trying to figure out everything..

So, I've been spending my days working, spending time with lovely friends and trying to organize my life...or in true Erin fashion...AVOIDING organizing my life.

It's crazy to think that not that long ago I was bopping around Europe, I was country hopping on weekends, watching the sun set over lake Zurich and enjoying the benefits of a completely different lifestyle..

Now I'm back home, and it's a polar opposite. The house is never spotless, we never eat veal for dinner..people pronounce w's correctly...and I think I smile more.

I wondered how I would do, going from the big metropolis of Zurich, with it's fabulous transportation system, a host of friends nearby, a big city's attractions and lots of interesting things to do and places to go..

I mean, I live..here. In BUCKHORN. Where I'm not even sure what the big things to do are...I mean...sometimes we order in Chinese from the one takeout restuarant that exists here..and that's pretty exciting.

But, it's home.

It has my family, who I forgot just HOW much I love chatting with about everything and anything...It has wonderful old friends who I swear just keep getting better and better...It has a job that I love more than anything...It has my puppy, who loves me for me unconditionally...It has beautiful sunsets, girls nights, car rides, euchre, radio in english and so so so so so so much more.

So tonight, I could be in Zurich..where I'm sure something fun and exciting is happening..

But instead, it's 9pm..and my family has gone to bed because they've all worked ridiculously hard all day...we had dinner together, and chats together...I've talked to wonderful friends on the phone..I've tried to clean my room some more and instead, danced around my room to songs on the radio. So for now...I'm now enjoying my evening, eating green olives from the jar while watching wheel of fortune...

And for the moment...despite the whirlwind of fun that my last year was..and how simple and quaint this moment might seem...I am completely and totally content. Maybe it takes being away to see this...and maybe it will get old..but for the moment at least...life can't get much better than this.

Days End

There are some things about home that I never even realized I missed.

While driving home the other night, my entire view for the entire drive home was filled with the views of an absolutely stunning sunset.

I didn't realize that in Switzerland, the sunsets were never really like this. They just don't measure up...they're short, quick and simple. So, I pulled over my car and enjoyed the beautiful views...I went all over europe looking for beautiful things...and turns out that the place I come from is filled with beauty every time I turn around. I still don't go anywhere without my camera :)

How could I not be happy enjoying this view?



<3

Home Again, Home Again...Jigitty Jig.

After two weeks of bopping around Eastern Europe I made my way back to Zurich and spent my last night in Europe pulling an all nighter. I'm not REALLY sure how smart that was..my theory was that I'd get to spend some time with a friend who I love dearly and won't get to see very often once I was back home..and the other was that maybe I'd sleep on the plane and be able to switch over my sleep schedule with relative ease.

So, I spent the evening talking, playing cards and laughing...moving in slow motion to get the final loose ends put together so that I could get on a flight home.

After an extended plane ride (horray for them FIXING the mechanical errors AS we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off..:S) I finally touched down at Pearson International Airport in Toronto..

To find my two best friends (and my faaaaaavourite little boy) waiting to pick me up from the airport with glittery welcome home signs and big hugs all around :) I got my ear chatted off by a four year old who I think had been secretly bottling up EVERYTHING he could think of to talk to me about for an entire year and saving it until he finally saw me again.

It's the weirdest feeling to go home after a year away..I really don't think that words can explain it..when I left my Dad said that "everything will feel familiar, but just be different enough to not be familiar at all" and, like always, he's SO right.

Now I'm running around trying to get caught up on sleep, trying to balance all of the friends and family that I want to see, and trying to jump back into doing some work too.

I've met up with my grandfather and had lunch with him, spent a good deal of time talking on the phone with people I hope to see soon, have made tentative dates to meet up with old friends that I haven't seen in years and have hung out with my best friends every day since I've been home. I've slept on Jenna's couch after sitting around being our normal goofy selves...and I've sat in my Dad's office chatting like we use to in the good old days and laid on the bed in my parents room telling my mom a little bit of everything. I met up with an old friend who I hadn't seen in years and years...and sat in Tim Hortons having a marathon catch up coffee date with Rhiannon.

It's been a good 4 days home...and I'm excited for all of the things to come...but for now...I'd better jump in the shower and get my butt into gear because there are things to be done and work is calling my name.

For now, I leave you with a cute photo we took on Monday...



My two best friends, me, and my favourite "little" boy.
(Jenna, Me, Nicholas & Rhiannon)

Welcome Home

I'm soon moving back to my sweet, quaint and hopefully peaceful existence in Canada after an entire year away in my psuedo-home just outside of Zurich..

I've gotten so into the habit of blogging in this form though..that I don't know if I can really end my 'blogging' story here..and it just doesn't feel right to continue to update my Switzerland blog about random things when I'm not..in Switzerland...I just feel like this is a completely new chapter of my life all over again..even if it is "just" to go home.

I'm going home with a new love for home...for the people, the places and the things there...I'm going home with a newfound appreciation..with new goals, and ideas and perspectives..

Sometimes it scares me, sometimes I don't want this particular European adventure to end..and sometimes I just want to be home more than anything..

If nothing else though..I know that I have a newfound love and respect for making the most of things, for living each day, each moment and cherishing it. For going above and beyond to do the things that make ME happy, and I think that more than anything..this blog will be a record of the happy things in my life that make me love my life in Canada.

Just because I'm going home, doesn't mean that the adventures have to end..and that's what this blog will get to do...But don't worry..I'm sure I'll have another blog dedicated to another travel destination at some point or another!