January 19, 2016

Garlic Shrimp with Caribbean Style Rice

Tuesday, January 19, 2016 Posted by Mary , , 1 comment
I'm in a cooking phase! I've always loved cooking, but I never really paid much attention to recipes. I've always been able to come up decent tasting stuff just by using ingredients I already have in my fridge. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine who's a Beachbody coach started a clean...

January 4, 2016

Revival

Monday, January 04, 2016 Posted by Mary , , No comments
Wow. I didn't blog at all in 2015. That kinda makes me sad. I've always wanted to keep my blog as active as I can, but sometimes life just gets away from you. Now, it's 2016 and I feel like I have a fresh start. I officially marked my 3rd year in Canada in December. I love this country. To bits. But...

July 18, 2014

MH17 Shot Down

Friday, July 18, 2014 Posted by Mary , , , No comments
I can't believe it! Just months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanishes without a trace, another Malaysian jet is down. MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, is shot down by a surface-to-air missile in pro-Russian controlled eastern Ukraine. I'm so heart-broken. And angry. How dare...

July 15, 2014

Enamored with Waterton Lakes National Park

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 Posted by Mary , , , 4 comments
There has been one thing that's influencing my travel decisions for the past few years: the item on my bucket list that requires me to visit 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This interest started around 10 years ago when I was an exchange student in Japan. We'd visited a number of these sites then,...

July 9, 2014

Fragile

Wednesday, July 09, 2014 Posted by Mary , 1 comment
Last night, I found out that the daughter of a former colleague of mine in the Philippines passed away. She was only 17 years old. It is devastating. I watched this girl grow up. She would often come to the office, a smile always on her face. She would be at our Christmas parties, and other special...

June 27, 2014

This Is Where I Belong

Friday, June 27, 2014 Posted by Mary , No comments
Last week, I passed my 6-month probation at work. I'm relieved. This job has been really good for me, and I'm glad that my supervisor is extremely happy with all the work I've done so far. I remember when I was in high school. I was debating between taking up Political Science (to go into law...

April 7, 2014

Smells Fishy

Monday, April 07, 2014 Posted by Mary , No comments
I love fish, especially fish heads! My husband thinks this is super gross, but when fresh from salt water and cooked properly, they are actually very tasty. When I was in the Philippines, I took fish for granted. In fact, I would sometimes sulk, because my parents are huge fish eaters, and it seemed...

March 3, 2014

Best Oscars Ever

Monday, March 03, 2014 Posted by Mary , No comments
I don't normally like watching awards ceremonies. They usually bore me. Last night was different. It was probably the best Oscars ever! I love that they had Ellen DeGeneres host it again. She was just unbelievably brilliant. She's truly awesome, and no one--no one, can host the Academy Awards better...

February 20, 2014

Beautiful Sylvan Lake

Thursday, February 20, 2014 Posted by Mary , , No comments
Every time I watch a movie or TV show that's set in a quaint little European-looking (but actually North American) town I always go, "I wanna live there!" I get even more excited when, in said fictional town, I see a body of water with a few small boats or yachts docked here and there. Unfortunately,...

February 19, 2014

I Volunteer

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 Posted by Mary , , , , 2 comments
One thing I've always wanted to do and is an item on my bucket list is to volunteer for a non-profit organization. Strangely, and for reasons unknown to me, I was never able to do it in the Philippines. Recently, I was able to volunteer for a local animal rescue society. Hope Lives Here Animal Rescue...