Life is meant for living!

Note before reading: I was listening to some GBTTZ tunes on Spotify while writing this blog. This may or may not have had some influence on my somewhat over-enthusiastic ranting! *Beam me up*

 

First things first! I simply CANNOT believe that 1/6-th of my time in Canada has passed already. Feb 29 is a sad day that's for sure...although... I did just make myself an amazing dinner, pasta aioli for the win (Sorry Canmorians, a smelly garlic breath is guaranteed these next few days!) and had a fun day at work learning how to do milk (for coffees I mean.. you pervs!). 
 
Nonetheless since arriving in Canada my motto has more or less been "Life is meant for living"! A "friend", whom ironically is a retirement investment adviser, stated "it's all about having as much fun as you can now, because that's what's really important!" as I was contemplating whether or not I'd ever save enough money to retire at all.

And in the spirit of "Life is meant for living" I am celebrating my "week of firsts!" on this blog! Some of these "firsts" may have changed life as I knew it, but all significantly contributed to me having a great time in Canmore, Alberta (No!! @Jeroen N./Vincent I did not.. repeat did not check this with a statistical analysis.. 'significantly' is chosen as a subjective adverb ;))!

As I received some complaints with regards to the length of my previous blog posts (#iknoemgeennamenmaarbedanktpap) I hereby present you with the shortlist of my recent "firsts":

• Cross country skiing,
• Roller derby, 
• Hiking up Grassi Lakes, The Highline Trail & Lady MacDonald,
• Restore & Repair Yoga session by Lydia Zamorano @ The Yoga Lounge,
• Bowling night in Banff,
• Brewing espresso's and coffee shots according to Phil & Sebastian standards

If you're more visually enticed you can skip the text and scroll your way through the pictures in this blog post, else I invite you to continue reading my memoirs of these very exciting events.   

I was really excited to go cross country skiing (or XC skiing), because everyone seems to be really into it here. Besides, the Nordic Centre, with over a 100 trails and recently the stage of the world cup biathlon games, is located in Canmore. My cute colleague Eva goes there all the time and she was willing to take this newbie for her first ride. It's a serious full body workout with the gorgeous scenery as a bonus. We lucked out with the weather and I only missed one turn ("uh oohh.. !!").. The biggest success in my honest opinion! I'm thinking of getting me some skies to go out there way way way more. *zwoefzwoef!* 

 Good times XC skiing @Nordic Centre Canmore with this Czechy ;)!

That very same day I had planned on going to the climbing gym, but ended up going to a roller derby practice instead. I mentioned this sport in my previous blog post not knowing I was going to experience it myself. The Lady Mac's, Bow Valley's Roller Derby team from Canmore, Banff and Exshaw, have their weekly practice on Thursday night and Jenn invited me to join. I borrowed a pair of skates and protection gear from one of the ladies and skated away.. well.. more or less..more less than more..anyway..SKATING IS HARD! Megan showed me how to fall (and told me how NOT to fall..even with crash pants falling on your ass can be seriously unpleasant), showed me some skating moves and I watched the Ladies practice their laps, stops and turns for the upcoming benchmarks. So much fun, but I was very pooped at the end of the night. 

 

Show-up picture of the Lady Mac's roller derby practice Thursday February 25th 2016 

The next day I met up with Julie for a hike up Mount Lady MacDonald. Julie is also a member of the Alberta Adventure Girls and we connected through the Facebook page. Such a great way to meet new people and adventure together. In this case I'd have to agree with "A picture says more than a thousand words", because THOSE VIEWS!! Thank you Julie and Jenga for the fun hike, the great company and conversations along the way and our little picknick at the heli-platform. I had a blast! 

 

Canmore from up above!

 

Speaking of the Alberta Adventure Girls.. remember I mentioned those half marathons in Canmore and Banff? Well.. as it turns out I kinda have some issues going out on the trails for a run. Luckily for me Amanda reached out on the AAG page in search of a running buddy in Canmore, because her solo sessions were cut short by cayote encounters, and I opted to give it a try! Next weekend will be our first session. Definitely super stoked!

Besides Lady Mac I also went up to Grassi Lakes and the Highline Trail for the first time last week. Jana and I planned on going up Ha Ling, but decided to take it a little slower. We had a great time exploring these other trails and even took a little sneak-peak of the climbing routes near Grassi. Very promising for summertime!! 

 

Grassi lakes!

 

Left to right: Mount Lady MacDonald, [Unknown], Grotto Mountain

 Selfie-time!

After hiking up Lady Mac I had the best restoring yoga session. Lydia, a good friend of Maja, my Airbnb host, teaches these Restore and Repair yoga-classes at the Yoga Lounge in Canmore. The target of this session was the psoas muscle. This muscle runs from the lower vertebrae to the pelvis and is part of the group of muscles that form our hip flexors. Fun fact: the psoas muscle is equivalent to the tenderloin (beef or pork ;)). A bit of googling mixed in with some personal experience tells me that these hip flexors become short and tight if you spend most of your waking hours sitting. Therefore I was thrilled to notice part of this tightness to be relieved after the session. I'll definitely be back for some more repairing and restoring!! Tuesday Jenny and I are going to Yin Yoga where we will be targeting our connective tissue. Siked!

On Saturday night part of (or previously part of) the Mountain Mercato crew headed to Banff for some much deserved bowling and pizza at the new 10 pin bowling alley! Who knew kale and maple syrup on pizza would work this well! Although.. maple syrup basically goes with anything. Again.. pictures versus words? In short: fun, crazy, banana and ending on a high! Our next outing will be a potluck-style dinner and games night playing 'Cards against Humanity!'..[try having anusses for eyes]!

 10-pin bowling whatup?!! 

At work Natasha recently thought me how to brew espresso's and shots for our latte's, dulces, hot chocolates and mocha's. Phil and Sebastian, our coffee supplier, put a lot of effort in providing bean-specific instructions on how to properly brew their coffee. It's amazing how much influence the type of coffee bean, time of day, humidity, weather and skills of the barista influence the brewing time and the perfect coffee output. It's a challenge, but a fun one for sure! Today I was shown how to steam milk to the desired temperature and texture and took some baby steps in the world of latte art! So excited to improve my skills over the next few weeks. My goal is to avoid making any fallus-like latte art on our customer's coffees. Apparently this is easier said than done ;). Time will tell I guess.
 
Tell me, tell me! I'd most definitely like to hear all about your recent firsts! I'm pretty allround when it comes to communication. You name it..blog comments, whatsapp, facebook, instagram, twitter, skype, a (quick) call or a good old postcards.. I've got it! #enthusiastinlife Would love to hear from you!

Now I'm off munching raisins.. They're my new favorite snack and I favor them over chocolate.. now that's a first!!!

<3