CURRENT MISSION

To survive the next epic adventure in life: parenting!!!

ABOUT ME
We are busy parents of a very active toddler. We both spend most of our time overachieving with work and home renovations, and are happy with this. Alicia spends most of her downtime cooking. In fact, cooking for others is one of my main joys in life. When Derek has some time he'll either be fixing something or wiring up the house in some creative way. But really, what is downtime when you have a baby? It really is all about the spending time together at parks, on bike paths and wrestling on the carpets.

We used to (and occasionally still do) host ever unique parties that involve food (cocktail potlucks, World Beer Tasting, Gingerbread Decorating) or exploring (urban scavenger hunts, rural road rallies). We believe that Ottawa is one of the most beautiful cities you can visit in Ontario and is more than just the home of Parliment. We love finding neat nooks and hidden gems in our hometown and local area and will be thrilled to show you. Don't forget to bring a camera! Whether its skating (or canoeing) on the Rideau Canal, walking along the River Parkway, eating pountine at 1am at Elgin Street Diner or exploring a museum, we can point to or show you a lot of what Ottawa has to offer.

PHILOSOPHY
We are not damned for doing wrong, but for not doing right
- Robert Louis Stevenson, "A Christmas Sermon"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCH SOMETIMES AVAILABLE. We both work full time and have a toddler, so life is busy. If you are a CSing family, we'll definitely try to see if we can host. Not a CSing family? Drop us a line, we might be able to help.

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING
Alicia surfed in Germany in 2011 after the great recommendations from friends. We host when we can. If the couch is showing as available, then life is looking clear enough to offer a place to stay.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE
Alicia's surfed thee couches in Germany and am now convinced it is the best way to travel! Great hosts give so much depth and a unique perspective to visiting another country and culture. We've hosted various people and love connecting with people who have stories to tell of their life experience rather than people looking for free accommodations.

Interests

Cooking (any nationality, the bigger the challenge the better!),
Photography (favourite subjects - random secret corners of the city, made to look different through a camera lens),
Geekery (Comicon, Sci-Fi, science, costuming, gaming)
Exploring (anwhere, wherever we are, doesn't have to be exciting)
Markets, antiques, furniture, cool home design (give us markets over museums any day!)
Gardening (vegetables, herbs, floral)
Biking

• culture
• design
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• cocktails
• walking
• partying
• gardening
• trivia
• traveling
• knitting
• cycling
• canoeing
• wrestling
• nursing
• science
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC: Alicia prefers pre-1990 or folk/indie/local, and Derek prefers post-1990. You'll hear a mix of trance/ Euro dance, Kerli, Lisa Miskovsky, or Britney (Derek) and Pink Floyd, Beatles, Manford Mann, Genesis, Ember Swift, Of Monsters and Men (Alicia).

MOVIES: We watch anything (except horror - Alicia is too easily scared to get through the first 5 minutes!)

BOOKS: Derek tends to read daily media, and Alicia prefers books. Given the chance, we both read Sci Fi and speculative fiction (Dune, Enders Game, Foundation series, anything by Sheri S Tepper). A's guilty pleasure is historical romance and teenage fiction (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

HER: I have personally welcomed 4 babies into this world with my own hands. Prior to studying to be a nurse, I was studying to be a midwife. Nothing is more amazing that seeing a mom breath a sign of relief after nine months of anticipation while at the same time seeing a babe take his or first breath of air. There is no greater honour than to catch a babe and pass it to waiting arms.
HIM: I've been blessed to have travelled to many places when I was younger, especially living in England for over 2 years.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: HER: Cooking & food; knitting & fibre; knowledge about and stories of working with birth, death, the interesting bits in between and the Canadian Health Care System that I work in.
HIM: (stand back I'm trying) Science; Web development; Trivia.
Learn: HER: Photography, cooking
HIM: Any new skills are welcome

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, China, France, Germany, Lithuania, Mongolia, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada