Started 2025 with a trip to Las Vegas

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It’s now December 31, 2025 Im drinking tea in an ice cream shop in Ottawa realizing I never finished this post. I drafted this post earlier in the year but it’s all still relevant.  The  way the world has changed in the last few months I feel like I need to explain that I went to Las Vegas in early 2025 because I knew things were going to change after January 20. I didn’t know how. I was expecting more violence and less direct flights. I never expected that things would change so quickly in a few months. It is now the beginning of March and it’s hard to keep up. Anyways flights and tourism to US destinations are already significantly reduced from Canada. I finished this trip knowing it would be awhile before I visited the US again and it was a pretty perfect trip for my memories and I am glad I took it.  I have been to Las Vegas many times you can read about some of my previous trips on this blog. I don’t think I have ever been in January. This time I was supposed to go w...
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Part 2 what has been happening in my life

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If you have not read part 1 you can read that here 
Part 1 What has been happening in my

My mom had moved to Ottawa before me and stayed in apartment hotel in downtown. I stayed with her for awhile. This was a hard adjustment. My mom and I were both used to living alone but close to each other. My mom had already made this her home as much as one can in a hotel. I had my own bedroom and bathroom in the hotel but no area to sit and the area was not the greatest. Ottawa is very safe but downtown is downtown everywhere especially as mental health issues and homeless populations increase due to the pandemic. The nice thing was the mall and Byward market were close by and vegan food options were easily accessible. 


I was looking for my own place but the condo market was overpriced. I found a place that had an option to rent and thought it would be a good idea to rent until after I have experienced winter here. Through connections things ended up working out my mom’s retirement home and the apartment I am renting are a block away from each other. 


I love the area and the apartment I am living in now. It is a very walkable area with lots of small businesses along with great vegan food options. There is even a farmers market and during the summer a night market. Ottawa night time is from 4-8 pm everyone sleeps at 9pm here. I love how it’s a busy area during the day and at night it is quiet. 


The view from my apartment window is amazing. Everyday it looks like a different painting. The building also has fantastic amenities like a rooftop, gym,



I really like Ottawa. When I think about the things that have happened this year it all seems very stressful. My mom and I often talk about how things have worked out great here and we keep getting connected with the right people. I hope I will have more time to write about life updates in the future as there are so many things happening. Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @livingottawalocal if you enjoy the life update series. 





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