Wow...it's crazy to think that my last post is nearly two years old! And oh, how life has changed...

I moved from Azerbaijan to Minnesota, completed my degree and moved from Minnesota to Illinois, couldn't renew my visa and moved from Illinois to British Columbia, moved from a house to a basement suite and, as of tomorrow, am moving into an apartment.

Whew.

It's crazy to think of how fast life moves and how much we learn in such a short period of time. Life is so unexpected and yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I've often asked myself if I would tell my past self what was coming if I had the chance and I always say no. There's something to learn in every experience: the good, the bad and the downright horrifyingly painful. Life doesn't very often happen like we want it to and my life has switched directions more often than I've planned--but isn't variety the spice of life?

All that to say...here's to another chapter.

I've been asked time and time again to start writing once more and I finally am. I hope it's all everyone dreams it to be haha ;)

With wet laundry at my feet, clothes waiting in the dryer, dishes waiting to be washed and a whole life waiting to be packed up, this "first" blog post will be short, BUT there's much more awesomeness to come.

This blog won't be themed because there are WAY too many things running around in my head for me to focus on any one thing because I'd have to have a million separate blogs and, though some of you may love my writing, my full-time job and your excitingly social lives would ultimately cease to exist.

Therefore...

Here's to life. To love. To cooking. To friends. To family.

To watching me take 15 minutes to parallel park on a curve.

And I'm serious about the last one.

People were going to send out a search party because I took so long.


Here is to a new and better beginning.

L'espoir fait vivre.

Recent Cooking Escapades

So, in my attempt to impress my unknown future husband, I decided to work on my cooking skills.

Poached Eggs? Check. Homemade Noodles? Check. Plov (an Azeri rice dish with dried fruit)? Check. Baklava? Amen. Check.

And So It Continues...

Here are a few more from our 4 hour long trip home. When everyone else is sleeping, what do you do? Take pictures of course!

This one is obviously blurry and I love it like that! Taken from our van's window.

Taken in a sit-down restaurant where we stopped for çay (pronounced "chai"), the continent's official drink--aka black tea. I adore colour accent!

Mmmmm contrasts. We all know I like those!

This one reminds me of an African landscape! Also taken from that van window.

Şəki... An Overly Brief Overview

Here are some beauts of the last month. My team took a trip to Şəki (a village in Central Asia), where we saw beautiful mountains, vibrant trees and green green grass. Sigh. Reminded me of Vancouver.... Well... only a little :) 

I found this little wonder outside of an outdoor restaurant. 

I can't get enough of the woods no matter where I go. The colours and textures are amazing!

Taken on the way back to Baku, our "base" city.

Stark contrasts. Love it.

The Way to Begin...

The only way to start a blog right is to start with a picture of peanut butter bars. Obviously.

These are one of the few things that I can actually make and I take great pride in how they turn out perfectly every time! Never mind the fact that I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com!

As you'll find out, I absolutely love taking pictures of food...