You got MAIL!

J So after waiting only 10 days, we got our passports in the mail today! Unbelievable I know. We waited three months after submitting by mail the first time.. only to find out we didn't fill in the application properly, and today we were shocked as when they were submitted last week on Monday we were told they would be printed on the 4th of September and would arrive a week or two after, cutting it close to our departure date. Well I hope this is a good omen of things to come. Praise God for giving us the means to do this adventure! Financial of course, but also the support network we have, our family and friends.

27 Days, excited and nearly prepared

J So as of yesterday Michelle has a new pack and sandals; I've contacted our vehicle insurance provider, and we've booked our hostel in Madrid, Spain for the days immediately before Pueblos Ingles. We've talked with Michelle's family members that we'll be meeting with in England, and at my work we've had a fellow from Ireland helping us out for the last two weeks, so I've got a bunch of tips on where to go when we visit "Your Very Own, Ireland". That's the catch-phrase from their official tourist website. lol

I also bought a certain item that will inevitably lead to a confrontation, whether between Mich and I or possibly a foreign official when they confiscate it. I got some Dog Repellent, and as I plan on telling anyone who asks I don't much care for dogs, and I'm quite afraid of being bite by one. After all, I opted not to pay $150 to have the rabies vaccine inoculations ($50 a shot, 3 shots total). However I don't know how immigration officials will feel about my bringing it into their country. Personally I think it shouldn't cause me much trouble, as the worse it will do is cause a trip to the hospital, and it can be a very effective deterrent if someone is threatening us with serious harm. Obviously I'm not looking for trouble, but for the length of our trip I think it's a good precaution, and there may be times that for whatever reason Mich and I are separated, and I'll be much more comfortable knowing she has a form of protection against an assailant.

Anyway, we've still got lots of loose ends to tie up, and packing to do as our house sitter doesn't want to inherit a messy home. ttyl

39 Days and Counting!!! Don't PANIC

J Well it's been 10 days since an update so it's about time to let you know how our planning is coming along. Firstly, we finally got our passport applications completed. I know, your thinking we're crazy for not having them done already, believe me we tried. We sent in our applications over 4 months ago, and had them returned to us 1 month ago. Apparently we did not have our guarantor sign photocopies of our drivers license and we sent in photocopies of our birth certificates, which is not allowed. The good news for anyone ELSE who's thinking of traveling is that on August 15th the government of Canada changed the renewal process. However if your name has changed, you still have to go about it the normal way. Read the news release here.

Our friends Christian and Liz got us this neat camera tri-pod called the gorilla-pod made by Joby. Which we're looking forward to making good use of (yes I'm a picture-taking-maniac).

Also, we've determined where we'll be staying for a week in October.. SPAIN! Our application to a special program was accepted. The organization is called PuebloIngles, which translated means English Village. Basically a bunch of native English speaking people are given free lodging, meals, and a bus trip from Madrid, for participating in their program. It's a chance for native Spaniards to hone their English by talking in an English only environment for a whole week. There are one on one times, phone conversations (over the phone literally) and group activities. The benefit for us is to help someone while enjoying the scenery and experiencing life in Spain, at no cost to us! If your interested in seeing more details head on over to their site.

The venue we're staying at is La Alberca in the province of Salamanca. We'll be sure to visit the city of Salamanca as well, which is a meca of universities, and perhaps we'll stay a week there and take a Spanish language course. We'll it's time to book our hostel stay for our first few days of the trip in London. Caio

Gearing Up - 49 days

J So we've been going to these travel talks over at the Hosteling International Travel Stop just beside the Sugarbowl, which is across from the High Level diner. We've also been buying all sorts of gear, from crank-energy flashlights to super ultra lightweight absorbent towels (see picture).

Cory my brother-in-law is lending me his MEC backpack, which is probably 90-100L capacity, which is huge! Thus I will have to fight the urge to take too much stuff with me, we learned from these talks that expert travelers usually bring 25lb or less, while those still learning bring 25-35lb's of gear, and of course, there are those that bring 35lb +. So I'm hoping to NOT be one of those people, but hey the pack fits me really well, and it saved us enough money that we could afford an iPod for the trip! Yay for 3 years of music in the palm in my hand. Anyway, we're frantically organizing for the garage sale this weekend, and we have to have a serious talk with our tenants tonight, so that's all for now. l8r

Gearing Up - 51 days

J So we bought some new shoes and sandals this last weekend, and we broke them in a bit by visiting the Heritage Days festival in Hawrelak park here in Edmonton. It was a fun time of tasting delicacies from around the world, hearing the songs, seeing the dances of other cultures and getting a good dose of bumping elbows in a mass of people. One of the things we won't be used to when we're abroad is the crowds. Fortunately I'm not easy to move, and Michelle has her infamous pointy elbows (the Graham elbows).

T-Minus 52 Day's Until.. GO TIME

J Alright Mich and I just created this website, true that I'll be doing most of the typing and maintaining the site but I'll certainly be asking her for input into what goes up, she often proves that she uses way more words in a day then I do. lol

M Hey people, I just want to say we're getting excited about our big trip. We're getting tons of planning done now (nothing like the pressure of less then two months before we leave to motivate) however we would love any and all tips into where we should travel, what we should bring, get those thinking caps on. Thanks for all the support. Oh and don't forget we're leaving behind our old email addresses as we're giving up on Telus (Jesse is happy for that), so write down our new address, it's at the top of the page! Thnx