2014 was a tough year.  I finished my Master’s Degree, lost my job due to a mass layoff at the college where I worked and broke up with my girlfriend of many years all in the same month.  After the summer semester was over, I went to the UK to pick up my diploma at the graduation ceremony because I would need it to complete the work-visa requirements for a job I had been offered in the UAE.  Although I didn’t attend classes on campus, I’m glad I got to take part in the graduation ceremony and visit the university. It was a great experience.

After I finished up in the UK, I went to Amsterdam for two weeks.  I had spent the previous three summers visiting Canada, and those trips weren’t really vacations for me.  I don’t think K ever realized how drained I was working at the college and doing the Master’s degree at the same time.  There were also stress points for me in Canada each year I visited and by the time I went into my third year working at the college I was nearly spent.  K and I have since moved on from each other, and I’ve made a real effort to learn from my mistakes so that I can be better with RS.

The time spent in Amsterdam was rejuvenating.  I absolutely loved the city. I spent my days and evenings biking around the city and exploring. My nights were spent aimlessly wandering, enjoying the  various night spots before going back to my hotel to do it all again the next day.

During this trip, I came across a restaurant called Le Pain Quotidien and enjoyed a sandwich with a beer there for lunch.  The restaurant was selling cookbooks so I bought one.  For years that book stayed on my shelf unopened until I decided to make a concentrated effort to use each and every cookbook in my collection. I cooked a recipe for French toast from the book, but in the end I didn’t really think it was worthy of being posted online.