So She Made It To Cyprus

Just saw the first post on Vicarious Travelling that says my mom made it to her rental in Cyprus. She will be there for the next few months.

This is the second time she has been. Years and years ago, when my Grandparents were staying in the Turkish part (Northern), my parents went to visit for a couple of weeks - I tried to look up reference to this trip on either Always Standing or Vicarious Travelling but couldn't find anything, so I have no idea when it was. The northern part is contested territory and this time she is renting an apartment in the Greek part (South) which is easier, safer, etc, and she hopes the archaeological sites are better preserved.

As usual, you can follow along with the trip on her blog (link on the right), where she is posting everyday with lots of photos.

TB - August 2007

Throwback Thursday - Scroll to the bottom of the month and read up. Or click on the earliest post in the month (to view the post and the comments) then keep clicking Newer Post until you finish the month.

AUGUST 2007

This month saw some considerable shifts, I made the decision not to go back to Carleton full-time and instead took a contract extension with The Department of Natural Resources. I do detail my plan to take two night courses, which I think is where I meet/met Jenn and Erin. (I also feature an adorable photo of the other ERin at the start of the month.) The other change is that Anna and Wes moved out, which I remember being sad about.

Also, I mention Brian and Tina going to Japan, but I can't remember who these people are. Did I meet them at school, or work, if so which work? Were they friends through another friend? The link that I reference in the post is long gone.

When doing these Throwback posts I like to edit them and provide updates, mainly adding in more tags or fixing spelling. Grammar and editing wise I had to do a lot with paragraphs and spacing, what was I thinking? Did I believe that I was writing stream-of-consciousness, and if so that it didn't need to be put into paragraphs?

Noted Post: I don't think the writing is very interesting, but I love the photo of my smile in the Humour post.

But She Did A Photo Diary

Some people said I was cheating by referring people over to Mom's blog after our Inca Trail trip two years ago. The thing is, she writes her blog like a travel diary with tons of photos - her travel posts are just way better than mine. The day-to-day based approach really goes into detail about the trip and her photos are excellent. Always Standing tends to be random and when I travel I still post about it but not consistently or in a way that would give readers a good sense of the trip.

So, I will still be posting about Africa as I think of things or if I notice a good picture that I want to share. However, for those that haven't been checking out Vicarious Travelling on the regular, or during our big Africa Trip, please go read the posts from January. The archive is on the right hand side of the site (she has a different set up from Always Standing) and it is easy to navigate. All the posts from our trip are titled starting with Gate 1, South Africa, (gate 1 was the tour company that the Groupon was from). You can find her first African post HERE.

Also, Vicarious Travelling can always be accessed from the link called Mom's Travel Blog in the Lovely Links section of the left-side column of Always Standing. This is also where you can find a link to Two's Instagram for readers that want to check that but don't have an instagram account. And if you are reading this in the mobile version on your tablet or cell phone and the side columns aren't visible, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on View Web Version to access the aforementioned links.

So Soon, So Unbelievable

I can't believe my trip to Africa starts tomorrow! In fact, for Kristen and Noah the adventure has already begun. As I mentioned back when we booked the tour, there are 6 of us going together. Kristen, Noah, Tessa, Jason, myself, and my mom for 12 days in South Africa with game drives and everything.

Always Standing will be buzzing! I have pre-scheduled posts that detail each day on the itinerary. I hope to load pictures and posts throughout the trip as well - we are staying in nice hotels that should have good wifi.

You should also follow along with Vicarious Travelling, which is my mom's blog - set up in a more 'travel diary' style. (Link on the left)

The Great Pet Shuffle

- I took Two to Teri's today. Two will be staying in Oakville until Family Day, hopefully behaving herself around the baby.

- Tomorrow I am going to go pick up Panda from Tessa's apartment. Jason and I are going to look after her for the week.

- This is because Tessa is up in North Bay looking after her families pets while her mother is out of town.

We are all so lucky to have Teri at the end of this chain who is able to take Two. Follow along with the TwoDeeCat instagram account, link to the left, for pet updates.

Orchard And Goats

My mom is in Spain, you can follow along on her trip my visiting her blog Vicariously Travelling (link on the left). The problem with reading her posts is that it makes me really want to travel. I don't feel like I got to travel as much as I like to in 2016, probably due to buying a house and having a wedding. 

Mom went for a walk through a citrus orchard yesterday and the photos are beautiful. There were also chickens! They are less beautiful but still very majestic.

A Chicken Amung The Orange Trees

Photo by Mom

A few days ago she posted a series of goat pictures, they jumped over a wall onto the road in front of her. She says that she took the photos mainly for me because I love goats (and sheep). However, these goats had two baby goats so I think everyone would be excited to see them and want to take pictures.

A Series Of Goat Pictures

Taken by Mom

You Can Creep Her

I posted a couple of weeks ago that Two has an Instagram account.I have realized that since her account is public you don't even have to have Instagram to see all the pictures! So I have included a link to them over on the left. Visit her profile often, there tends to be a new photo daily and all the comments with them are written in her 'voice.' If you click the photos you can read the comments.

A Little Preview Of Our Photos

Steph has released the Sneak Peek of our photos on her blog! I haven't posted any photos yet of the wedding because I knew her's would be the best, so wanted to wait until I could direct people over to see them.

My mom has also written about both days of the wedding on her blog, and included a lot of photos. You can read about both Day One at City Hall and our wedding day on The Island and at The Pub.

Wedding Website Is Done!

Wedding prep has been a challenging and overwhelming task at times. I posted first about our Wedding Website when I was talking about the amazing drawings that my cousins did. I have included the link to the left since early this year. I think most people who read Always Standing have been invited. (Though there might still be the occasional lurker from my past, who I appreciate and wish would comment.)

Like most things with the wedding, I had big plans, big dreams about the website but didn't find the time, talent, or patience to see them through. However, again like most things with the wedding, the end result is still exciting.

Check it out at:

www.SweetonWoods.blogspot.com

Obviously the best part are the witty responses from our wedding party. So be sure to read that page.

A Published Wedding

This is both a Wedding Wednesday post and a Much Overdue Congratulations! If you have been following along with Steph's Photo Blog (link on the Left) than you will already know that she has had some amazing business announcements over the past few months. She is starting to get regularly published in wedding magazine's and blogs! This photo (taken by Dave) is Steph showing her photos in the Spring/Summer 2015 edition of Ottawa Wedding Magazine. She is in a Chapters - her photos are in something that is sold at bookstores! I am so proud of her. You can read more about these recent announcements on her blog HERE.

I also wanted to let you know that Stephanie Beach Photography has been nominated again this year for the Ottawa Wedding Awards. Please vote for her HERE. Voting ends on March 16, 2015.

Travel Vicariously

My mom is gone again - spending two months with my grandparents in a place called Céret in the south of France. She has already started to post updates on her blog and it looks stunning. The pictures make the cold and snow here a bit more depressing. Her blog is always available under Some Lovely Links in the left-side column of Always Standing. Or find it here:

vicarious travelling 

Check regularly, she is away travelling in France and Spain until early April.

Rusty At Christmas

Rusty's First Christmas

Taken by Mom

Mom has done a full blog post with Christmas themed Rusty photos. Check it out HERE. You can always visit my mom's blog by using the links to the left.

NOTE: This post contains some incorrect information. Please see THIS POST for details.

Back From A Boat Trip

On July 29, my mom drove down to Sandusky, Ohio, with some friends. They met up with 4 boats that had sailed down from Port Dover. She stayed with the boats for almost 2 weeks, gradually sailing back along the south shore of Lake Erie. She returned to Port Dover yesterday. You can read about her adventures on her blog - Vicarious Travelling. (A link to her blog is always available on the Left-Side of Always Standing.)

Steph's Back From The UK

In 2008, Steph and I went to London (with a side trip for a couple of days to Salisbury to see Stonehenge.) It was mid-January, which is not the ideal time to tour that area of Europe except that the prices are good. We went for 10 days and were celebrating Steph finishing university.

You can read the trip highlights or look at a few pictures I took during the trip - Photo Post 1 - Photo Post 2. Compared to other trips I have taken, I didn't post that much on Always Standing about it. However, I remember it being an amazing trip. Steph and I travel well together (and stay under budget!)

A couple of years later, I ended up back in London for a few hours early one morning in February of 2010. I missed a flight out of Heathrow on my way home from Spain. Even though the airport is fairly far away from downtown, I used the opportunity to head into London for a super quick bus ride around the main parts of the city.

Most recently, Steph went with Dave to Ireland and the UK and has just returned. Keep checking her blog (LINK is also always on the left column of Always Standing) to see photos and read stories from her trip.

Follow By Email

Look Left! You can follow Always Standing by email. Mom does this with her blog, so I have added the feature as well. I don't know what it will do for stats (Google Analytics) since it would mean people read it in their email and not on the site, or maybe it just sends a notification when a new post comes up and then you still have to come here to read it. Either way, sign up! Like all notification email things, I am sure that it has an unsubscribe if it gets annoying. Especially since I am trying to post everyday. Though getting it emailed may expose those days when I do multiple posts and back date them. (Shhh, you didn't hear that.)

Not Every Day In 2013

Reviewing my New Years Resolution from 2013 about blogging and I did not fulfill it. I had decided pretty early on that instead of trying to blog every single day in 2013, I would do 6 days a week and allow myself to skip one day. Well that would mean about 312 posts last year, and if you look on the left-hand side, I only did 234. It was a big improvement from the previous few years, but it still isn't up to pre-2010 standards and I have yet to ever have a year that Always Standing has more than 365 posts. If you look at the breakdown, like all resolutions, I start strong and then have a weak June and off and on weak months after that.

So, I am trying again - My resolution then is to BLOG EVERY DAY IN 2014 so that the number beside it reads at least 365 by this time next year. And again, this will hopefully, up my readership, mean more comments, improve my writing, and better document my life. (A reread of last year's post and it says "document this amazing year that I plan to have" and this time I am not going to make near as bold a statement.)

Speaking of blogging...
Remember to regularly check out the two blogs listed in My Links:
- Mom's Travel Blog - She recently did a great post reflecting about her first year of blogging and I really agree that it becomes more about doing it for yourself than for others - however, I am still the type of writer that lives for the comments. Unless she is travelling and using vicarious travelling as a daily diary, then mom is posting a little more than once a week.
- Steph's Photo Blog - She has always been good and seems to be getting better and better! With Stephanie Beach Photography taking off the way it is, I was worried that Steph's blog would become less personal, but it hasn't. She posts about once a week, a combination of client shots and personal ones.

Also, check out the funny writings of my GeoConnections' Girls:
They don't quite post enough or consistently enough to show up on My Links yet, but when they do bring something to the internet it is always amazing!
- Generic Blonde Musings - ERin's blog started back in the summer and follows her life back in Edmonton. She spent a couple of years in Ottawa but has moved back west again.
- Whispering Swede Nothings - Anne's blog to document her time in Sweden as she works on her Masters. She has always had the funnest posts, even previously on her personal blog. Also Sweden seems crazy. It looks like Anne is posting about twice a month or so.

The Full Two Shoot

 

Two: The Cutest Of All The Kittens

Photo by Stephanie Beach Photography

Copyright 2013

Steph finished editing the recent photo shoot that she did with Two, that I mentioned briefly before. You can see all the pictures on the Stephanie Beach Photography Blog, the link to which is always available on the left side of Always Standing. Pets in general are so hard to get good pictures of, cats especially. I am very happy to have these and will probably ask if I can get some printed to put up in Rrunuv Bayit.

Birthday Time

Today is my birthday! (As usual I am working, since even though I am born on May 24th and that is a Canadian holiday - it is always held on the Monday before the 24th meaning that my birthday rarely falls on it.) I tend to celebrate on the long weekend, this year, as I mentioned before, I went to the cottage. It was a very fun, very relaxing time. My mom did a great post about the weekend on her blog, read it HERE.

I have also now permanently added Vicarious Travelling, my mom's blog, to My Links featured on the left.

An Award-Winning Orchid (Photo)

Congratulations to Steph on her photography win in Ottawa earlier this month! You can read more about her entry, and see the photo that won, on her blog, HERE. To further celebrate this achievement,  I have finally made a bit of movement on my long-standing project to update my links on Always Standing, note them on the LEFT.

And She's Back!!

Steph has returned to the world of writing and blogging. She just posted on her main personal blog (The Great Abyss), giving some reasons for her absence. You can read it HERE. I am so glad she is writing again, I have missed it!

It also looks like she has made some adjustments and moved her photography blog over to WordPress. She also has a beautiful website for her company - Stephanie Beach Photography. I know I keep saying this, but I promise I will get the My Links section of Always Standing updated soon.