Tag: apartment

Bergen

Place 16 – May 14 2022 to May 17 2022: Bergen – 17th May Celebrations!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Day 1

We had to get to the airport early in the morning but we didn’t mind as we were travelling to probably our favourite place, Bergen!

When we arrived, we met our great friends Espen & Marcus at the airport and they drove us to Espen’s apartment. We hung out with them at the apartment as well as meeting Espen’s girlfriend, Rikke, who is a wonderful person also!

Rikke made us some lunch, which was delicious, and we sat and had a conversation for a while.


We wanted to visit the city, as did our friends, so we all took the bus to the city and had a walk around.


Marcus’ dad owns a nightclub/bar in Bergen and he was working, whilst the FA Cup game was on, so we went to watch that with Espen (he’s a Liverpool fan) and we had some drinks and food.


We went back home and we watched Eurovision for the first time! We had a great time watching it actually, and it’s a big deal in Scandinavia. We had some homemade pizza whilst we watched that and then it was time to sleep.

Day 12:

We had some nice homemade breakfast lovingly made by Rikke & Espen.

We had a relaxed morning and watch the GB Vs Norway hockey game. We then got ourselves ready and headed into the city on the bus again.

We lazily walked around the city and tried to buy few things and look around some shops as well.

We went out in the afternoon/evening to watch Rikke in a cheerleading performance! It was super cool to see lots of different ages doing a similar thing but at different levels.

Day 13

We went out for brunch in city with our friends which was really nice! We had some good food and some amazing weather, so much so we were getting burnt from the sun.


We rented a car, so we went to pick that up. They told us there were no issues with it but it was quite scratched up, so we did a full walk around of that and then we set off! We drove to the city and parked up before going to get MANY cinnamon buns and coffee, as is the rule in Norway.

We went for a BBQ at Rikke’s parents’ place which was a really nice place, great food and they were really lovely people as well.


In the late evening, we went to meet another friend, Tony, for some drinks and a chat. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside comfortably, too!

Day 14

This day was the national day for Norway and we were excited to celebrate!

We got all dressed up for breakfast, Curtis and Espen wore suits, Kim had a nice skirt on and Rikke had a Bunad on, the national outfit of Norway. The table looked all fancy and we had a really nice, big breakfast!

Espen & Rikke!


We took the (very busy) bus to the city to join the celebrations.


There was a parade and we were able to get a table outside to watch the parade and have some drinks! The weather was perfect again so we caught some sun, as well.


After the parade, we went out to Rilke’s aunt’s house for some food and chatting! Everyone was Norwegian so it was a good time to practice some as well. We tried some Rømmegrøt, which is basically ‘sour cream porridge’. When adding a lot of cinnamon sugar, it’s pretty good actually.

We went back to the apartment to get changed into comfortable clothes and relax after a long busy, but fun, day!


We ate homemade cheesecake and strawberries whilst we relaxed and we were all super tired.


Marcus and his girlfriend, Stine, arrived and we got to meet her for the first time. We all sat and chatted and had a really fun time. This was when Curtis finally got the confidence to chat in Norwegian and surprised everyone with how much he has improved, too!

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 994: Vancouver, BC – A Friend’s Tattoo & Leafs Tickets Booked!

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up and got ourselves some croissants and got showered after that.

We did a bit of tidying/cleaning and then Kim needed to head out.

Kim went to meet a friend who was getting a tattoo! Once she got the tattoo, Kim met with her and had a coffee and then walked her home. She had a good couple of hours of chatting with her and that was super nice. A beautiful tattoo, too!

Curtis vacuumed and then played some games and relaxed until Kim got back.

Once Kim got back, she did some more cleaning and had to take a video of the apartment for something and send that off.

Curtis booked tickets for the Leafs game here in Vancouver, depending on if everything is going ok in December! Exciting!

We had leftover Korean chicken for dinner and watched some TV together for the evening.

This Time Last Year

Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 982: Vancouver, BC – full Clean & A Beach Swim!

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up at a pretty good time and had croissants for breakfast again.

Once we ate breakfast and got ready, we did a full clean of the apartment, which felt great to get done, but it was a little warm out to do that!

We had to have another shower after that and then we went out for a walk to the beach. We stopped off for coffee and at Subway to get a snack and then we walked to the beach.

We sat in the shade on the grass and ate our snacks and just relaxed for a bit, cooling down.

We walked on for a bit and then stopped at the beach. Kim went for a little swim/soak which she was really looking forward to! It was pretty cold, but nice compared to the outside heat.

Once we were done there, we walked back home and then went out to do the weekly shop.

Curtis is back to eating solid food now, so we could buy actual food!

We got back home and Kim made Chinese style chicken with rice and we relaxed for the evening, getting ready to work again tomorrow after a really great long weekend.

This Time Last Year

Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 876: Vancouver, BC – More New Home Items!

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up and had some breakfast, and then watched the Formula 1 race highlights.

Once we did that and got ourselves ready, we went out for a nice long walk again. Everything was a little less busy, so it was nicer to walk around and take in the beautiful weather.

We came back home and got some admin done with regards to changing our addresses on different things and then Kim looked online for some specific items we need for the apartment.

Kim found some, so she went out whilst Curtis watched hockey to get a few of those items, which was great.

Once Kim got back, we had a delicious mushroom and sweet potato salad,bwhich we had a lot during the summer last year, and we relaxed for the rest of the evening, with Kim also having her first bath in the new apartment!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 870: Vancouver, BC – Another Busy Packing Day

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up and had a simple quick breakfast and then got ourselves out for a walk and a coffee, before we got started with more packing.

We had done a lot of it yesterday, but still had some stuff to do and we wanted to take a few things over today in preparation for tomorrow, so it was less cluttered in here for the movers and well as easier for us after the move.

After we did our walk, we went to Canadian Tire and got a few things we needed to the new place, such as a microwave.

Once we got back, Kim went out to a shop to look at clothes and she also bought a drill and screwdriver. We’ve needed those for so long but never bothered buying them!

Curtis watched hockey whilst Kim was out and then Kim dismantled the bed and we organised everything for a lot of the rest of the afternoon and evening.

We did get some Vietnamese food and then after that we continued on again.

We got a lot of the kitchenware packed up but we will likely take some of that ourselves tomorrow.

We did a few trips over to the new place to drop items off and that all in all took us a few hours.

We got back home and still had stuff to sort and pack, but we are pretty much there in regards to getting everything ready for the movers.

We had showers late evening and then watched a little bit of TV on our laptop on our floor-mattress bed!

We are nearly there and we are very excited to move!

Tomorrow is an early wake up and then we need to be up and ready, but hopefully the movers will be all done by around 12:00 then we can get the things we need to take over and do some cleaning, then we’re all moved.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 869: Vancouver, BC – Successful Packing Day

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up at a really good time and Curtis went out to get some croissants for breakfast.

We ate and got ourselves ready, and then began packing up!

We got most of the bathroom packed up, other than stuff we need for the next couple of days, and then we packed all of our clothes and things in the bedroom, so that’s now empty, other than furniture.

We got a lot of kitchen stuff packed up too and then managed to get a nice long walk in, before we took some stuff over to the new apartment.

We got home and were hungry, so we had some chili for dinner and then it was relax time.

Kim had a bath and then we watched some TV.

We have tomorrow off but we actually move on Tuesday. We need to break down the bed and a few other bigger items and pack the last few things.

Nearly there!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 867: Vancouver, BC – The Final Weekend

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a fairly quiet day.

He started with a discussion about a process which needed to be changed which was very productive.

Most the the morning was then spent doing tickets as well as trying to help someone setup a laptop remotely in a US office, which took quite a bit of work.

Curtis then had some lunch and after that had a 1 hour team meeting to discuss the projects over the last 2 weeks.

Curtis finished off some tickets and admin and then finished work for the week.

Kim’s Day

Kim had a block of time in the morning so she got a bit of paperwork done before she had back to back meetings for the rest of the day.

To start with Kim had an interview then she joined a meeting about a project that will be coming up. As it was a full working Friday Kim then hosted a games break just before midday where people joined in to play Skribbl, it was so fun!

After games Kim had a meeting about a new hire and then she went into another interview followed by an interview round up meeting after. As she had been in a couple of interviews for one department during the week Kim met with the other person on the panel to discuss and make a plan for the next steps.

Kim then had another interview and post interview catch up before having an end of week team meeting, a quick chat about a project and then completing some paperwork!

Evening

Today marks the start of our final weekend in this apartment!

We will likely spend it just packing up and getting ready, and then we are off on Monday to finish the last few items before we move on Tuesday.

We ordered some chicken katsu curry to eat tonight, which was pretty good, and then relaxed before we get crazy with packing etc tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 866: Vancouver, BC – Starting The Packing Process

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had some tickets to get done in the morning and then he jumped into a team meeting which went really well.

He then spent some time sorting out some licenses that people shouldn’t have had, which actually took much longer than expected.

After that, he had another meeting in which we discussed how some software works and what needs to be done to get something working as it should. Curtis learned some new things which was great, and his colleague was also able to learn things.

The afternoon was a lot of tickets and admin. He had a discussion about a potential new tools and helped people out with some tickets.

Kim’s Day

Kim spent a lot of her day in meetings and interviews. She had one interview in the morning followed by a recruitment meeting. Then for the rest of the morning she was able to complete a few admin tasks and plan some projects.

In the afternoon Kim joined another recruitment meeting and then had a 5 Min surprise meeting with a colleague to catch them up to date on the meeting. The wellness break for the week was at lunchtime and a few people say down and took some time to hang out and do colouring in online. It was so enjoyable and Kim cannot wait to do it again!

Kim then joined a meeting about an IT project that will be starting soon. She will be helping out with the logistics of it and it will be really interesting! From there Kim went in to host another interview and then had a quick review of the meeting with her colleague.

There was some paperwork that needed to be completed so Kim jumped on a call with a colleague to work through it. Then Kim had a call with another teammate to just have a check in and a chat.

Starting The Packing Process

We got done with work and then Kim went to take back some items she didn’t want from Homesense and then we went down to our storage locker and took out some things from there and took them over to the new apartment.

When we got there, we took the items in but Kim also got the sofa finished and we sat on that for a bit, just relaxing. It was super comfortable and a great purchase!

There were a lot of boxes from the sofa, so we took those down to the bin and then we drove back home and brought up some more items from the storage locker, ready to pack clothes and a few other things. We’re actually getting some things ready for the move, now!

We made sausages, peas and mash for dinner and watched some TV whilst relaxing for the remainder of the evening.

We’re glad we got some stuff done for the move, though most of it will get done at the weekend.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 865: Vancouver, BC – Viewing Is Cancelled

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis was meant to have a meeting at 09:30 but that was cancelled, so he had a bit of time to get some tickets completed.

He used that time to find and order 8 tablets that were required. It took some time to find some at a good price that were not sold out, but he was eventually able to find some and get them ordered.

That took up a good hour of his morning and then he had a 30 minute team meeting.

He did some more tickets and then had a team discussion about a project for 1 hour before having some food.

After lunch, it was mostly just tickets but he did have a short team meeting, too, to discuss some random points.

Kim’s Day

In the morning Kim was able to get a fair bit of admin done. She was able to organise meetings, send emails and complete some paperwork. She then had a phone screen interview. After that she worked with a teammate on a few tasks before heading into a team meeting.

In the afternoon Kim worked with her teammate again to go through some paperwork and then Kim joined a post interview chat to discuss a couple of candidates. She then hosted another marketing meeting which was so interesting and some great progress has been made. She ended the day by getting more paperwork and admin done.

Evening

The viewing that was meant to happen here at our apartment was cancelled, so we had our evening to ourselves.

Curtis watched hockey and Kim used the time to have a nice nap which she felt much better after.

We made some cheese and pesto pasta for dinner and just hung out for the rest of the evening. We’re getting closer and closer to moving!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 864: Vancouver, BC – Sofa Is Built & Registered For Vaccine!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis went to the office in the morning and had to setup 2 laptops, as well as find equipment to send out to the new hires.

The office is running low on equipment before they get an order, so finding some items was a bit of a challenge.

Curtis finished that up at about 12:00 and then did some tickets whilst he waited for someone to arrive to collect a monitor.

Once that person was gone, Curtis had a meeting with a colleague to discuss a process and then once he was done with that meeting, he walked home and had some lunch.

After lunch, he had to generate some reports for someone and had some tickets to deal with which took him nicely to the end of the day.

Kim’s Day

Kim had a day full of back to back meetings and interviews! In the morning Kim had her team meeting to go over the plan for the week. She went from this into an interview, then straight into the weekly meeting and then into a second interview. She then had a meeting with the hiring managers to discuss the interviews. It was a really productive and interesting morning!

To start the afternoon Kim had a meeting about planning and next steps for a project. It was so interesting and it turns out Kim was approaching it all the wrong way, she learnt so much!

For a good chunk of the afternoon Kim worked with her teammate on setting up interviews and sending out paperwork. She then had a chat with another teammate before heading out to the new apartment to continue building the sofa. She also had a great chat with a friend while she did the final bits to the sofa.

Sofa Is Built & Registered For Vaccine!

Before work this morning, we registered for our notification to get a vaccine! We don’t get a vaccine for a while, but a new registration site went live so you can get instructions and a code for when you can get a vaccine.

This makes it feel just that little bit closer!

After work, Kim went over to the apartment to complete the sofa as the items we were missing arrived in the mail and we now have a constructed sofa, which is great.

Kim chatted with a friend after that and then headed back to our current apartment so we could have some dinner.

We ate delicious lemon chicken!

We got notice that there will be a viewing tomorrow, which is the first one with the new owners. We’ve been enjoying not having any, and our final week is the worst possible time, but what can we do. That’ll be happening tomorrow evening but maybe we get out for an evening walk.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale