Spring 2009 Vacation!

Finally! After 1 day of being offline, I am once again able to live my online life. I'm at Jasper Town right now and I'm glad that the hotel that we're staying right now offers free internet connection. The last place we stayed at has internet connection but you had to pay for it which I believe really sucked!

I've already posted photos of the places that we've been through the following days like the Royal Tyrrell Museum (a museum showcasing real dinosaur bones and the evolution of the earth), Banff Gondola, Lake Loiuse, Columbia Icefields (an expedition to the Athabasca glacier which is as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall), and lastly the Jasper Tramway (A place where you ride a lift 2,000 feet above the ground to have the scenic view of Jasper Park). You can check the pictures out at my Multiply Account or the Photo Gallery link above the website.

It sure is great to be able to get a breather and escape from my monotonous and stressful life and be able to spend time with my family and be able to reflact and ponder on things. The long drive was really relaxing because it was my mom's co-worker that drove our car so I was able to catch some sleep at the back. The trip was great and we never got lost because we went with 3 other Filipino families who were my mom's co-workers.

I loved the beautiful scenic views that we've seen and even if it snowed and rained it wasn't too bad. But I really want to point out one store from my long drive which I really believe is worth mentioning.

If ever you are here at Jasper Town, I highly recommend that you visit an excellent little souvenir and gift shop called Everything But. The lady store keeper was really nice to me and my brother and she even gave us a free key chain. It's very hard to find stores who are very entertaining and quite generous like Everything But.

I can't wait for the next long drive!

Thinking About Moving

I still can`t get over the fact that we`re going to have our new home built this November and that we`re going to move from our modest 2 bedroom apartment into a colossal 4 bedroom house. The first thing that really comes into my mind and can`t get rid off is finding a moving quote. Although our SUV has plenty of cargo space at the back if you fold down all the seats but you can`t expect our beds and dressers to fit in there right so we really need to choose from several budget van lines.

I`m just glad that we live in the city and moving from one house to another has become a norm so there are already several moving companies that could help us in our move. Just thinking about moving sends shivers down my spine and there are some fears and reservations but I guess that everything will turn out alright.

It`s also good that we have such great family friends who I know will help us in our move so I feel a bit at ease. Our family friends have also recently moved into their new home last December so they could surely recommend which movers to choose from.

We won`t be moving until November but it doesn`t hurt to be prepared right?

Blogging Instead of Packing

One of my greatest sins is being a procrastinator! I`m supposed to be packing right now but I had to put that aside since I want to tend to my not so healthy blogging life. By an unhealthy blogging life I mean that my blog isn`t really updated that much and if it is updated the content sucks. How I wish I could make posts that could both entertain and enlighten.

Anyway I have been facing a huge dilemma! I can`t decide whether I should move my blog to a new domain or start a new one and keep two blogs running. I already threw away the idea of keeping two blogs as I said in this post and I`m not going to move my blog either as I don`t want to lose my PR 4 which by the way I worked so hard to get.

So I`ve wasted around $30 ($100 plus if JustHost won`t give me my refund) in buying two domain names: evbautista.com and evbautista.ca. I wanted a new domain because I`ve seriously made a colossal mistake of putting my entire name as my domain name. It doesn`t only make my domain name so long but I`ve also put myself at risk for identity theft that`s why I monitor my credit history now every month.

So I better start packing now if I want to get enough sleep tonight. I`m packing some stuff for our 4 days long drive to Banff and Calgary. Wohoo! At last vacation time! I`ll be bringing my lappy on the road so I`ll be updating my blog once in a while on the road.

Great News!

Finally! After a hell of a week I finally heard some good news for a change. Well it's not the good news I've been waiting for (getting accepted into the nursing program at MacEwan) but nonetheless it is still a very very great news!

Our mortgage application has been finally approved by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Association! Our new home will be finished this November 2009! People said that we won't be able to buy a house in Canada because it's only been less than a year since we first came here but we once again proved them wrong just like when they said that we won't be able to buy a new car on our 6th month of living here in Canada.

But maybe if the economy was good and the interest rates were very high then maybe we wouldn't be approved at all for both the car and house. But I guess we were lucky this time and arrived in Canada during a financial crisis.

I only hope that my parents will still have jobs by the end of this year because if they don't then goodbye car and home and I might even have to stay at my job if that happens. Oh God no! I guess I'd better be nice from now on to get positive karma.

Anyway the house is really great! The picture above is how the house would look like from outside. It's a two-storey home, it has a finished basement, a 2-car garage attached, 4 bedrooms, 3 and a half bathrooms, and it's located near a future strip mall and bus station. We would never be able to afford this if we lived in the Philippines just like our car. So this is the positive side of living in Canada, you can afford to buy stuff but if you would offer me a chance to live in the Philippines I won't think twice and take it!

When I retire I'd choose to live in the Philippines than here. But this plan would change of course if I get married. I'd sacrifice my own happiness for my children's sake.

Mobility: Independence and Empowerment

I really am amazed when I see people who can't walk crossing the road or who come into our store to buy coffee and such. I would then imagine how my life would be if I was disabled and I was immobile. I know that my life would be very hard and it would take me months and even years to get over my disability.

That is why I highly respect and look up to those who are disabled because they don't let their disability hinder them from living a normal and happy life. But I guess their electric wheelchairs also play a huge part in the improvement of their lives. I know that it's very hard to move in a wheelchair all by yourself. You have to have great upper arm strength something which by the way I lack. So if it weren't for electric wheelchairs how can the elderly or those like me with weak arms move? So motorized wheelchairs are indeed a great contribution to the changing of lives for the disabled.

It's also great to know that one could regain mobility once again at little to no cost at all because I've heard that your health insurance can cover the expenses.