T'is the season to be jolly

... well maybe that person who wrote that wasn't having to write 3 major papers in just over a week, plus study for finals. But while yes, I am procrastinating at the moment while I write a quick little entry, I am trying to stay focussed on the present and get finished, because it will be such an awesome feeling when I am done. More than the 25th of December, I find I am looking forward with such enthusiasm to the 12th!! Not only is it "Adventure Day" as is the 12th of every month with Jason and myself, but it will be my first day free after my exams. My very first day of the holidays!! I am so excited, I even booked the day off to make sure I could take the day to have fun. There was some talk of a snow hike!! I have so many things I want to do this holiday break:
- snow hike
- snow biking!! Last year we went to the woodlot, up to Goldmine... It was sooo awesome!
- Christmas train in Stanley Park
- Ice Skating on Grouse Mountain
- Go visit Santa (haha, that was Jason's idea, I just think it's awesome!)
- play in the snow (they are actually calling for snow tonight!! whether or not it will happen is yet to be seen... I bet it'll just rain...)
- go snowboarding
- visit with all my friends a lot, because we'll actually have time!!

There's probably more but that's what I can think of right now... Now that I'm filled with all sorts of wonderful thoughts for my break, I'm going to go do some homework!! :)

Hmmm

No time to write, but I've been going back and forth between blogger and livejournal... so if you're wondering if I've updated go here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mandabear11

cool bye!

And so begins Christmas 2004...

Well I decided last month (after Jocelyn kept bugging me that HER holiday - halloween - hadn't even happened) that November 1st would mark the start of the Christmas season for me. I love Christmas so much, and honestly, I don't understand how so many people can and have said to me that it's much too early and basically respond in a negative way. Now, I don't expect everyone to just pick up and begin Christmas with me, not at all. Most normal people start the "Christmas Season" in December, or at least closer than now, and that's totally fine (and normal... kinda unlike myself anyways.) But a lot of these people seem to be so focused on what Christmas is today. The media seems to equate Christmas with money - people spending it, and retail companies making it. Heck, they don't even call it Christmas anymore. Seriously, look around, NO WHERE will you find signs saying "Merry Christmas". It's all politically correct, "Happy Holidays". They seem to profit out of the holiday that started out as a memorial to the birth of Jesus. No frills, no gimmicks, just Jesus. Now I realize not everyone believes in that, but I do. And even still, if I didn't believe that, Christmas is much much more than spending money, buying gifts, getting gifts, etc. It's about family and loved ones and the joy that people can feel over the holidays. I'm so excited for this joy that I am already feeling, and I hope that more of you (if anyone reads this) will feel that joy and excitement for what it really is. I realize that "The real meaning of Christmas" as a phrase is a huge cliche, but maybe it's because so many people haven't realized it, despite all the talk of it.

Anyways, I guess that's enough of my rant, however, I think I've changed my mind about my English essay that I was doing .... We are supposed to do a position paper, to learn how to "argue" in essays. I was going to do a paper on mountain biking and how it should be permitted on all trails in the North Shore, because lots of people are against it. But I think I'm going to look into doing it on the holiday season...

Oh! I got my geography midterm back annnndd................. (drum roll please.....).... I got 99%. A+!!! And my map quiz that sorta went with it, I got 100%. I was sooo happy. Crazy happy. It was awesome. I celebrated by buying myself a mocha.

And with that, I'm going to go work on my essay. Merry Christmas! :D

Sigh

Well I must first start off by thanking Gayle for the wicked reference, because I am now an employee of Cineplex Odeon. I haven't started yet, it doesn't open until halfway through November sometime, but at least it's a job. And it seems like it would be a fun job! I hope I get free movies, that would be sooo sweet!
In other news (I sound like a news anchor) I found out the other day that I am officially going to Boston for New Year's. I'm super excited to see my family again, my Uncle Gary is getting married to ... well my new soon-to-be aunt Nancy. She's very nice, I met her in Nova Scotia. They both wanted me there a lot, and since I am going to school and can't afford to go, they are basically paying for one whole ticket, so me and my sister only really have to pay half the price... I don't know how to thank them, they are absolutely amazing people. I'm so excited to get to see my Pere-Pere again, and my cousins from Tennessee. I can't believe it won't have even been a year since I last saw them, that NEVER happens in my family. The only bad part about the trip is that I won't get my midnight kiss from Jason :( But I am going to call him at midnight in Boston which is only 9:00 here. Perhaps I'll even stay awake the extra 3 hours and call him then instead... depends on what I'm doing, and what he's doing too I guess.
Anyways, I should stop procrastinating and get to work on my homework, cuz I have to pick up Jocelyn from work pretty soon.

DooDooDeeDoo

Well I coulda slept in today, my first class was cancelled. So with my new extra time I made myself some breakfast and watched some Clean Sweep on TLC. A Wedding Story is on in about 10 mins, it's my favourite. I think I'll watch that and leave for my second class right after, so that I can stop somewhere on my way and pick up a present for Dianne, Jason's mom. It's her birthday today. I coloured my hair yesterday, it's beautiful. :) Well, it's a heck of a lot better than the red I had anyways. I never liked the red, I just couldn't die it again right away or it would be crispy... Now it's a nice dark dark brown. Good for wintertime. Speaking of wintertime, I am super excited for Christmas! I have been listening to christmas songs, and last week I watched "One Magic Christmas"... Yes, I realize it's very early.... I've been told... :) But I love Christmas and want it to hurry up and get here! I get to house-sit over the holidays which is super awesome! from Dec. 20th to Jan 4th or so. It's gonna be wicked. I love her big slobber dog, it's a bull mastif. And she has a kitty that's cute too!! yayy! Anyways, I'm gonna go watch the wedding story show... this blog had no point to it other than to kill time.... :)

Mondays aren't fun

Well not only was today a Monday, it was an extremely busy Monday. I had to be at school for 8:30 for my geography midterm. That's not any earlier than normal, just stressful because of the exam. It was brutal, the teacher doesn't "believe" in multiple choice so there were like 75 short answer and essay questions. Blech!!! I hope I did ok... Then I had a geography lab which was fine, just boring like normal... then after killing some time I decided to go to my car and head to Mission for my next class. Yeah. Well. I had been a complete idiot and while being all flustered about my exam when I got to school, I forgot to turn my lights off. Soooo, the battery had died, and I wasn't going anywhere. I think I sat there for about half an hour, asking every single person that went by if they had jumper cables. FINALLY, someone did. I don't know for sure, but I think some people just didn't want to help. But maybe that's just me being weird. People do that sometimes though. Anyways, I made it to Mission for my 3 hour history class.. and when that was done, I had to drive all the way back to Abbotsford for my ECE interview. (too much driving today!) My interview went ok I think... it was 3 of us in the same room, being interviewed by 2 professors in the program. All of us at the same time!! it was weird! Oh well, I hope I get in!!! I also hope I get a job at Cineplex. I stood in line forever on saturday, in the freezing cold to get a job... now it's Monday and they said they'd call after the weekend... hopefully they call... I don't know what I'll do if I don't get it. UGHHHH too much stress I need to go sleep!!!!

Surprise Adventure Day

First off I should say that the 12th of every month (well, not every, but some) is called Adventure Day. When Jason and I started going out we celebrated our "3month" and "7month" and all the insignificant ones like that, but instead of calling them "monthiversaries" or something, we called it Adventure Day because most of the things we ended up doing were adventures. So anyways, Jason and I had decided a few weeks ago that we would celebrate a year and a half together on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, because well, thanksgiving is too busy, and our actual "day" is Tuesday, when we both have school. So he had something planned for a while and said we'd do that. It was all a surprise. He picked me up at 11 this morning and we drove towards Vancouver. I had thought it was going to be the Planetarium, which woulda been neat, but he kinda tricked me and instead we went to Science World!! (much preferred over the planetarium, although i've never been to that one, I should go someday) I was soooo excited!! We had a ton of fun running around learning science things. I swear that place gets more and more fun as I get older. Went to the Omnimax show, which was "Forces of Nature". How appropriate is THAT!? So awesome, just so happens to be one of my big interests! It was a good show, it talked about the Montserrat Volcano, and the predicted big huge earthquake in Turkey, and one of my ultimate favourites, tornadoes. Haha I'm such a weirdo. Anyways, afterwards Jazoon took me out to dinner at this new place in Coquitlam Centre called Montana's. It was soooo great!! They have paper down on the tables that you can draw on! And their ribs were tasty-good! mmm... So great. All in all it was a great Adventure Day.

Bike rides are great stress relievers

Well the other day I went on a 16km bike ride at Gold Creek in Alouette. It was a beautiful day and the trails were absolutely perfect. The climb wasn't too frustrating, and the scenery, with the autumn leaves changing colour and falling combined with the evergreens was gorgeous. I could've gone for much longer but it was starting to get late and I needed to get back to go to church that night. (This was Saturday) I found that it really took my mind off school for a bit. I wish that could've happened more... Last night I was up until about quarter to 2 in the morning working on an essay. pretty crappy, but at least I got everything finished. I guess it's all part of being a student... So tonight I celebrated by not doing any homework at all and watching the Gilmore Girls. Tomorrow is crazy homework day so I decided I needed (and deserved) the break. I also found out that I got a B+ on my group presentation for English 170 last week. It's worth 15% of my overall mark, so I'm pretty happy about it... hopefully my essay does well, because that one's 20%... I really want to do well... This whole ECE thing is excellent motivation!! Hooray for direction!!

A New Direction

Well, yesterday I wrote an amazingly long blog only to have my computer completely crash as I was trying to publish it. I was too frustrated to even try to start over so I decided to leave it until today.
A couple days ago I was stressing big time. Maybe I was just being over-emotional due to certain girly stupid stuff, but I was completely freaking out. Money and school were what were occupying my mind... or rather the lack of money and the amount of school ahead of me. It's just been a month and I was already panicked about how the heck I was supposed to pay for 5.5 or more years of school, and I really don't want to be stressed for that long. So I decided to look up information on 2 year programs I might be interested in. Then I found something that I had seen a lot of but never actually considered. And the more I thought about it, the more it worked for me. Early Childhood Education! There are a ton of different directions I can go afterwards, but initially I will get my certificate that will allow me to teach preschool. It was absolute perfect timing, as the program starts in January, and only takes 3 semesters! So that means I will graduate (with the cool ceremonies and everything! even the hat!!) in April 2006!!! That's not long at all, and it all just makes sense. I can see myself doing this much more than the other stuff... Also, if I want to upgrade and get a diploma, it will just take 6 more classes - 3 core courses, and 3 in one of 2 specialties: Special Needs or Infancy. I think I would opt for the Special Needs one, as that would allow me to be a teacher assistant at public schools. The best thing about all of this is that I can get into the career right away, and work my way through school at night if I wanted to. Eventually, I can also take the Child and Youth Care program, and with all of these together I could get a bachelors in Child and Youth Care. I am a lot more relieved now, this makes a lot of sense. And a nice bonus factor is that Jason will grad at the same time as me! It all just works out well...

In my lost-blog I wrote also about the wedding this weekend. It was absolutely beautiful! Tara looked gorgeous... I couldn't look at Scott during the ceremony, he was teary, and that was making me cry! And Jason looked... tall. Haha, well pretty much everyone was around the same height, and then there was my boy, towering well above everyone. But he looked amazing too, which was torture! I couldn't hang out with him, he was running around with the wedding party doing wedding stuff. But that's ok, I was busy decorating and dealing with the guestbook. All in all it was a great wedding, and I am super happy for Tara and Scott, they are a great couple.

My last blog was a lot better, but this will have to do... So now I have to go memorize a script for church, which I really should've had memorized earlier. :S

A Beautiful Day!

I love the sunshine, and how it just makes me feel so happy... It's not very good though when you have a lot of school work to do... But I just checked the forecast, and it is supposed to stay sunny and nice all weekend, so the sooner I get this stuff done, the more time out in the sun I'll have later. It's even supposed to be nice on sunday for the wedding, how perfect! Biking tomorrow will be awesome, hopefully it's not too slick in the forest. Later today I have a job interview to go to!!! Hooray!! It's all the way out in Abbotsford though, so hopefully it's not on days that I'm not at schoool, because that would be a long way to go all the time... We'll see... wish me luck!

Happy Autumn!

Well Mom's birthday was awesome, she was totally surprised when she walked into Swiss Chalet and found 20 some-odd people there waiting for her! She even cried, which was good.
I'm just eating some lunch right now and procrastinating getting to my homework. It's going to be a busy weekend though, with Tara and Scott's wedding, and their cousins down visiting, I won't have much of a chance to do too much homework later, so I can only procrastinate so long.
Last night Jason and I went down to a little wharf place in Poco, beside the Mary Hill... It was really sweet... We've been there before, but I just love going there at night with him. The river's right beside us, and you can see the bridge downstream a bit. It's actually really pretty. We just walk back and forth and keep each other warm, because well, officially today is Fall, and it's been getting cooler.
Anyways, I really do have to get to that reading. So many words....

Hooray for a title.

Hi! Just trying to kill some time and decide whether or not to go put up my mom's birthday sign at the church tonight or tomorrow... I think I'll probably do it tonight but my mom has to be fast asleep, and she isn't yet. So blogging it is. Anyways, it's my mom's 50th birthday tomorrow, and we have some suprises for her. I won't write them yet just because I don't want her accidentally seeing this before the suprises happen. I think I've already said too much. Meh.
Anyways, not too much is new, I was stressing over what I thought was a big assignment due on Monday for Geography... But realized today that while it IS a big assignment, it's not due until October 13th. So yay! Except I turned down going out tonight cuz I thought I'd only have tonight to finish it off. So blah. But that's ok, it's kind of nice to wander around home with sweats on all day and just be lazy... Except I cleaned the house, so that's not entirely lazy. Mom was on my case to clean recently, cuz next weekend is Tara and Scott's wedding, and Jason's cousins from Logan Lake are coming, and the oldest's girlfriend is staying here. So I had to get a "spare room" ready for her. Tonight (well... today) was Scott's stag, so Jason's been out with him and all the other groomsmen. The plan was to wake him up with an airhorn early, dress him in a pretty dress and feather boa, and go play paintball, then dinner and then a comedy club or something. Sounds like fun, and it was especially funny finding out that Garret and Kevin tried on 8 or 9 different dresses at Value Village before deciding on that one.
Anyways, I think I'll head over to the church to put up that sign before I get too ridiculously tired to drive.

Classes and Fun

Well I am alive, for those of you who thought otherwise. I am taking a much needed break from studying. I am getting used to this school stuff still, although it is only the 2nd week... I'm assuming it will only get busier. I wanted to also say that it IS possible to comment without signing up as a user. Just comment as an anonymous guest, and in your comment say who you are!! Sound good? Anyways, I really can't write a long time because I must get back to Guinevere and Lancelot's romance. Ahh chivalry.

Celebration of Light Finale

That's where I went tonight. It was great! Jason and I sat on this crazy steep hill, so I didn't have to worry about someone tall sitting in front of me and blocking my view! It was a lot of fun, we had a picnic lunch, complete with little wee ants. That part kinda sucked... :) Earlier in the day I went to Joel & Courtney's wedding. About 2 weekends ago was Sara and Nate's wedding. And next month is Jason's sister Tara's wedding. So many weddings! I'm going to go broke! Nah, I'm happy, I love going to weddings, they're so fun. It's funny, I'd never been to a single wedding until last year, now I'm going to one every month for 3 consecutive months. And I know there will be plenty more after. I guess it's just that age...
There was a guy today at the fireworks, sitting on a bench at the bottom of Ol' Steep Hill, and he smiled and nodded and gave thumbs up and 'the gun' to everyone. He also nodded in appreciation to every plane that went by. Jason and I thought he must really love life. Either that or he was high as a kite... We went with loving life.
Oh, last weekend we all went to Oregon to go surfing! It was crazy fun! I got some big waves, and a really big bruise like I got last year... (My arm isn't long enough to carry the board under my arm, so I have to rest it on my hip...) There was also a crazy time playing in the muddy sand when the tide went out. I want to put the pics up on my photobucket site. I'll let you know when I get them there... :S
Tomorrow I am going biking. I want to ride platinum. It's probably the newest trail at the woodlot... it's crazy though, really well built, with a ton of super-crazy-manda-will-never-try-these stunts. But I like the b-line, because it's just as well built as the actual trail. It just takes a while to climb up to. But that's ok. Hopefully it's a nice day!
Anyways I should really get some sleep if I expect to wake up for church in the morning. :)

I gotta get better at updating

I'm horrible at this. I have to make it a habit... I constantly think of insightful things through the day to write here, then forget when I get home. Or just can't be bothered. I'm so lazy. Anyways... news!! I got a new car!!! It's super hot!!! It's a 94 Suzuki Sidekick. It's red, and it's a convertible. I'm soooo happy. It was an awesome deal. I will hopefully have it for a long time. I need to think of a good name for her. Yes, it's a her, because she's cute, and SO HOT! haha! My old car was a hunk of junk, stubborn, and ugly so it was a boy. :D haha! It's name was Norm... Mostly because it had a button that said "Norm" for normal...

Give me ideas for HOT car names :D

Whew! hot!

It's cooking hot right now... I'm trying to stay up late so that i sleep semi-late tomorrow (I work at 7pm) I really should be packing right now but I'm so tired I think I'm just going to hang around for a while and do it tomorrow. I'm packing for my trip to Sun Peaks this weekend!! We are going biking at their new bike park, and staying at Jason's cousin's house. I'm super excited, I even got half the night off on my last night shift! So I actually get to sleep!! I get to go to jason's and sleep over there so that we can leave really early in the morning.
I have more to write but I'm just not motivated today... I just wanted people (if anyone reads this) to know that I am alive and well. :)

Reunions, Salamanders, and Cosmetics. Who could ask for a better weekend?

Well it certainly has been an interesting weekend so far... I only have one more day and then it's back to work, but I finally feel like I've used my time well! Monday morning at 7am I left work to begin my crazy weekend. I went to sleep for a little while and then got up, got ready, and went to Erin's with my new friend Franny from work. We all went to Mesa Luna, a really cool salsa bar in Kitsilano, just a few blocks (well... quite a few) from Erin's house. It was an old friend from high school's birthday... He works there so they opened up the bar just for him. There were sooo many people from high school there! It was crazy seeing them all! A lot of them I hadn't seen since grad, 3 years ago!! It was a lot of fun. We all went back to Erin's after and slept over... Such a crazy night, I haven't laughed so hard in a really long time... It was a little bad, our minds went in the gutter a little too much but it sure was hilarious... (the candle, if Erin and Franny read this. Too funny.) Jesse, Erin's boyfriend made us perogies when we got there (Yeah, that's right, the MAN was in the kitchen cookin' for the women.) He made 42 perogies in one pot so they didn't quite all fit... the end result were some very mushed and mangled perogies. But we were so hungry it didn't even matter. The best part (another thing that made us laugh forever) was that I took one bite, and my stomach made a high pitched noise, and I said it was celebrating!! It almost sounded like "yayyy!" haha it was awesome!
Tuesday I went home, and then went shopping with my mom for my friend Sara's bridal shower that we were going to that night (nothing like the last minute, again!) The shower was awesome, I had never been to one before, but I'm sure it will be the first one of many others... I have 3 to go to in the next month or so... Sara had an amazing turnout, tons of people came, she was absolutely overwhelmed. After the shower I was all set and ready to watch a movie and wait for Jason to come over after his night shift... I even asked my mom for permission to order a pay per view... I couldn't decide between Uptown Girls (which I'd seen but really liked) and Anything Else (the movie, not any other movie...)I hadn't seen the second one so I called Heather and she ended up inviting me out instead so that was fun! It was me, Heather, Amelia, and Cory! Shane and Jason joined us later. T'was fun! Happy BIRTHDAY Shane!! (he's an oldie *snicker snicker*) :P
Today Jason and I went to Golden Ears Park for a nature walk. It was great! We saw salamanders in a pond. There were soooo many!! Aww they're cute. Then I went with Megan to her friend's house for a Mary Kay party! I'd never been to one but it was so much fun! We put on face creams and foundations and hand stuff, and lip stuff, and totally 'girled' it up a bit. It was like a slumber party for women without the slumber part. We're having another one soon to learn about other makeup. It's great to Girl it up every now and then. :) I spent way too much money on stuff, but it's so nice.
Oh! I forgot something else that happened this weekend! Yesterday, I got called by one of the places I dropped my resume at before I got a job at Moli Energy... It's a local pub, within 5 mins walking distance of where I will be moving to! I had the interview today which lasted a total of maaaybe 5 mins, and she offered me a job working as a part time waitress, worked out with my other schedule! I'm getting trained tomorrow! Hooray!!
So in the morning tomorrow I think I will work on some packing because I haven't really done much and I really should get on that... I'm such a slacker.
Anyways, this was a really long blog, sorry to bore you like that. :) I hope you have a great week!

Ouchy

Well I am sitting here, sunburnt on the front of myself, looking like a raccoon. I went to the beach today with Erin, Jesse, Franny, and her friend Jen. It was a grand ol' time except for the fact that I never turned around so the whole front of me is burnt to a crisp and the back of me is still as white as a ghost. :S blech. oh well... hopefully these stupid raccoon eyes will go away soon though hahaha! If you haven't noticed, I changed the template to my blog! I think it is pretty. I'm still working out a few bugs though, I can't seem to figure out how to get comments enabled...
Anyways, what's new with me? Well I've worked 3 rotations at work now... I actually like it! I like having a job... I really like having money, which could be a problem. I really have to start saving, and soon. I prefer the night shifts to the day shifts... mostly because there are no supervisors around and we can listen to music, and it's just way more laid back. It's fun...
I'm getting quite anxious about school now... and the move... And now I've found out some info which might make moving away to Victoria even harder!! Jason wasn't accepted back into the engineering program! :( He may not be able to go to school out in Victoria at all... There is a possibility that he could do a program at Camosun though, so that will be in my prayers for sure... It was scary enough moving away from home, even knowing he'd be there, but now that he might not, I'm totally freaked out!! I don't want to do another term like that... Ugh, I have to stop worrying so much...
Tomorrow I have to do a bunch of packing. I almost want to go outside tomorrow and lie face down all day to burn the back of me, so at least I'd be even... but then it would be double the pain I'm feeling right now, and I certainly don't want that! After Jason's work he was going to go biking... unfortunately I don't think I'll be going... putting the shin pads on very burnt legs doesn't sound like too much fun... Boo why was I so dumb, I should've turned over or something!! hahaha :)
Anyways, not too much to say, I'll try to keep this as up to date as possible....

And now the moment we've all been waiting for... a sigh of relief.

Ok, it's been a while (again) since I last wrote. I was doing well in the beginning with this blog thing, but lately it just hasn't been on my mind... So, last time I wrote I was stressed... more stressed than I think the entry portrayed... but things are MUCH better now...
Those 3 weeks without Jason were very long, it was really hard being away from him for that long... (it's hard to be away from him at all, for any length of time... yeah I know, bring on the gagging... I like to be mushy.) He came back for Easter weekend, but of course that weekend went waaay too fast, and now I'm back to missing him for another couple of weeks. At least it's only a couple weeks, and then he's back for good! I'm really looking forward to my phone bill not being a reason for my mom to get mad at me...
Our house did sell, everything was final on exactly March 31st. How's that for cutting it close??? It was actually a really amazing week... Mom became a Christian (which was incredibly amazing, I never thought it would happen... how's that for lack of faith? ... I've learned better.) and then a few days later our house sold. It was quite the miracle actually... I'm still amazed at it. So now we have to pack up and we move to our new place on June 1st. I'm really excited to design my new room, even though I won't be there for very long. :)
Easter weekend was fun, Jason came home from Victoria on Friday. He came by airplane!! It flew right from Victoria straight to Pitt Meadows! It only took him a half an hour, which was great! I got to see him in the morning, and we went biking in the afternoon. Saturday and Sunday were crazy, with the church services. Everything went really well, but I'm really glad that stress is over. Sunday night Jason's entire family came over for dinner! Mom cooked turkey, and it was spectacular... I didn't know we could fit so many people around the table. Monday was mine and Jason's anniversary... We didn't really end up doing anything we'd planned, but it was hard to plan much, being Easter and all... it was just nice to have him with me, especially after those 3 weeks.
And then we come to today, with some more good news, and some more relief. I finally, after much searching, got a job. I was phoned at 9am, had the interview at 11:30, and was offered the job just before noon. It was a good morning!! I start on Monday, and I have the same shifts as my best friend Erin! I will work for 4 days (12 hour shifts) and then I have 4 days off! It's just a temp position, and it pays more than any other place would, knowing that I'll be going back to school. I'm probably still going to look for a little part time job for some extra cash, to work on my days off. Just a few hours here and there for a bit of spending money.
So anyways, that's more or less what's been happening, and I'll try to be better at updating this... :)

Stress, Stress, oh, and a side order of Stress.

Sooo, I'm stressed... We're still trying to sell our house... If it doesn't sell by the 31st (less than a week) we will lose $5000 and the offer we have put on a townhouse we want. Plus I am still looking for a job.. ERG! And Jason is back in Victoria now, I just saw him for 3 days, now he'll be gone for 3 whole weeks!! Ick.... But, I'll just keep on truckin', keeping myself busy somehow.
Other than that, things are pretty good, Easter is coming up and with that comes choir rehearsals and of course I got pulled into the dance performance again so rehearsals for that as well.
That job interview last week went pretty good I think, but unfortunately I can't take that job. It would have been an awesome job to work at if I was not moving away to go to school, but they would have to train me and I don't think it would be worth their time and effort just to have me leave... But it was a good experience to go through that interview. I was super nervous and it was with 3 people interviewing me... But I knew the information needed and I think I did pretty good.
Today is Heather's birthday!! Happy Twenteen to you Heather!! Keep the teenager alive!!! hee hee
Anyways, I'm going to go have a shower and go drop my resume off places some more... Ciao for now! :)

I think I just want a good friend...

Mind you, no one else I know sits around all day with all the free time in the world... Bah... Not quite sure what I'm getting at, I think I'm just sorta in a weird place from this weekend... I didn't do a whole lot, other than my highlight which was going out dancing to the Mirage with my friend Megan... Jason was in Victoria this weekend, and I realized that he's totally the life of my party. haha... I love the friends I have, but everyone seems to have a "best friend" already. I think I just want a girl friend who will call me up and go for a walk and talk about girl things... BUT ... that's ok, I think I'm in a transitional stage at the moment... I'm sure I'll make plenty of friends when I move to the island...
I've been doing research for my interview tomorrow. It seems like an interesting place to work. Hopefully it goes well.. I'm getting pretty nervous.
I thought I had more to write than that but apparently my brain has ceased to function right now. I'll write more when there's something interesting for me to write! :)

Finally!

An update! I probably don't have any readers anymore it's been so long. I've been really busy, looking for a job and helping sell the house... I guess you all know now that I haven't put up my Belize journal... I started to, but then realized that I really wrote a LOT in 10 days... And to re-type it would be insane. But I'll try to put some pictures up on my yahoo photo site as soon as I get them back from the church.

Anyways, like I said, I have been really busy lately. My mom is selling our house, which means keeping everything in pristine condition... That's hard to live in.. I can never find anything I need without tearing apart an area of my room... So I've been learning to go without some things I need.

I have also been searching for a job. That's right, I'm still without a job. BUT I went out today and got a phone call within an hour of getting home for an interview!!! And it's the job I wanted the most! It's an office job, in the industrial park near my house as well! I know the president, he goes to my church, so HOPEFULLY something will come of this. It's a really nice office too, and the people I saw were very nice. It seems like a fun place to work, also with what I've heard about it. I don't want to get my hopes up too high though...

I will try to write more soon ...

Home Sweet Home

Well I am back from Belize! What an amazing trip!!! I can't really go into a lot of detail right now, but I will put my journal that I wrote each day on my trip online soon! :)

I'm hungry.

But I'll live. Well there are just 6 days left until I leave for Belize. I have SO much to do yet, but trying desperately not to stress myself out too much. I've been having stupid nightmares of planes falling from the sky (I've only ever flown twice), plus I still have another $500 to give the church for the rest of the trip... Not to mention the ever-growing list of things I still need... And to top all that off, I just found out yesterday that I lost my job! BUT, I'm not even going to worry about that until I get back from Belize. It's just not important yet. And it really isn't all that bad, it's definitely manageable.

So, looking onward optimistically towards my trip... all stress/nervousness aside, I'm VERY excited. We were all separated into 3 ministry teams: a work team, a puppet ministry team, and a kids club team. The work team will be doing construction for the most part of their trip. We're building cabins for a camp in the area, and also I believe we are adding to the existing church building in Roaring Creek. (All the teams help with the work in the mornings) The puppet ministry team will be having puppet shows, as well as teaching the older youth in the area how to do it themselves. The puppets they have made are super-cute!! We are leaving the stage and all the puppets there for them to use after we leave. The kids club team (that's the one I'm on) is holding a short version of our church's Vacation Bible School. It has a Canadiana theme, with skits, crafts, games, etc. Besides all of these main ministries, we are also visiting a school to share testimonies, and talk to the kids there. Another day we are going to be visiting orphanages and reading to the children, and just basically loving them and spending time with them! Somewhere in between this crazy schedule we have laid out, we are also doing a few things for ourselves, like visiting some Mayan Ruins, and Goff's Caye, and Belmopan.

This is going to be an incredible experience...

Sometimes I just want to sing...

but there are always people around. When I move out I'm going to buy a karaoke machine. My neighbours will love me.

A Friday Five on a Monday :)

Well, I keep meaning to do this on a friday, but I always forget. But I suppose late is better than never.... (questions are from www.fridayfive.org)

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?
I'd have to say right now... um... well honestly I've just been listening to a lot of my cd's lately, mostly Coldplay, Jack Johnson, and Dave Matthews band in a sort of rotation... they're all so good I can't pick a favourite.

2. ...food?
Lately I've been eating way too much junk food. But my all time favourite food in the world is lobster, second is roast beef and roasted potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. mmm... And I guess I HAVE to put lasagna. I eat enough of it for it to qualify as a favourite food...

3. ...tv show?
Friends, Survivor, and the Apprentice! Thursday nights! :)

4. ...scent?
Roses, Lilacs, and boy. well... just Jason, not just any random boy.

5. ...quote?
...couldn't think of a quote right now, but the quote of the day at work is "Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today" ~ Ben Franklin

Sisters are funny

So I forgot my keys were in my bag I took to Victoria this weekend... I had to knock for my sister to let me in. After somewhere between 5-10 knocks and ringing the doorbell once or twice, she finally gets up off the couch, opens the door that's about 4 feet away, screams in my face "where are your ***** keys you ***** ******?!?" and slams the door in my face. I walked in, and she proceeded to scream at me about how she can't wait until I move out, and, contrary to what I believe (know), my mom is actually kicking me out by moving. (my mom has been planning to move to an easier to handle place for a while now. we've talked lots about it, and she's moving around the same time that I'm moving out to go to school... that's hardly kicking me out...) Well sometimes I'll come back at something like that in the totally WRONG way and scream back at her, but today I just laughed and told her that she wasn't going to bother me. But I am glad I have a place like this to vent! :) I feel better now!

I just want to sleep ...

I am really tired today. I just want to go home and sleep for the afternoon, but I can't. I'm going to fake and bake (so I don't burn on my trip) at 4:30, and then I have a Belize meeting at 7:30. Maybe I'll get a power nap in between... I went to Victoria this weekend, and Jason was a sicky, so I am really trying not to get sick in the next 9 days or so. I'd rather not be distracted by being sick while I'm down there. Besides Jason being sick, the weekend was great. It was really nice to not have to do anything - or rush anywhere - for an entire weekend. Very relaxing. We rented 3 movies, watched them all, walked around Victoria, and just hung out. Nice and quiet. Which I had hoped might prepare me for the week ahead of me that looks to be super busy, full of last minute details, etc. But I'm exhausted and it's only Monday... Anyone know of any good tips for fighting illness?? I know lots of liquids, etc, but has anyone tried that echinacea stuff? Does it actually work?
And now for something totally random... my mum and I saw a very strange sight while she was driving me to the ferry... We were driving near the hospital in New West, and we saw some guy in a hospital gown running down the street. He looked like he was escaping. My mom locked the doors. I thought it was funny.

From the mind of a 21 year old...

Well it's official, I am an adult everywhere in the world. I don't feel older... I don't even know how to be an adult... but I guess that comes with experience. Bring it on world!

This weekend was mucho fun! Friday night Jason came home, and we went over to some friends' of ours for a murder mystery party. Everyone dressed up in the characters assigned to them on their invitation. I was Clair Voyance, the fortune teller. It was awesome, everyone went all out. They all surprised me by getting me the game Cranium for my birthday! I wasn't expecting anything from them, as I haven't really known them that long, and kind of assumed that they were just being friendly because I'm going out with Jason... (I think I have self esteem issues...) so I was touched... plus it's Cranium!! The best game ever!!

Saturday was the day my adulthood became official. My mum gave me a new dressy watch. It's one of those italian charm bracelets (I saw them recently and really wanted one), where you change out the links with ones that have different things on them. My sister gave me a charm, it's got a cross on it. It's great! Jason got me UVIC sweatpants (with the UVIC on the bum - ubercomfy) and a picture of him in a forest making a funny face... the best part of the picture is the frame! It's a really nice frame, which he got engraved with "Dippy the Goof" ... (it's a bit of an inside joke... I laughed a lot...) Erin (BFF!haha) gave me a really nice RipCurl sweater and a cleavage top... hahaha! Well that's what she called it. It's pink! yay! My dad gave me $100... not a whole lot of thought but MUCH appreciated, especially before my trip. I'm going to be buying a digital camera at the end of this month (yay pictures!) so I will put it towards that.

That evening a bunch of us went to Rossini's in Gastown for dinner... This woulda been better had the reservations I made at the beginning of the week actually gone through. They sat us at a taller table with stools... It was still ok though. After this we went to Blarney Stone. I had a lot of fun... I didn't have to pay for my dinner or my drinks at either place, which was super nice... Especially with my trip coming up, I can't really afford to spend that much. At around 11:30 we decided to head towards home and go to Rooster's. I love Roosters, it's got a way bigger dance floor, and they play country music. It was fun fun fun.

Sunday was pretty good, I got my birthday dinner (roast beef, roasted potatoes, veggies, and of course, yorkshire pudding!! mmmm - so bad for you but sooo tasty) I tried to go biking but my rear brake pad is totally worn out so I couldn't go... I got all the way there too and THEN figured this out. So I sat in the truck while Jason and his dad went biking. Mind you, his dad didn't get too far before it started to pour so he came back. Jason of course braved the weather and came back soaking wet but happy with his ride.

I added my Saved by the Bell quiz. hahaha!

The FUN Campaign

People at my work have noticed that apparently we don't have any fun. I try to make fun out of everything I do, but it is kinda true that when we walk into this building we are faced with white walls, and no colour, and in general things just are quiet and slow. So a couple people in the morning at the beginning of this week decided to do something about it. We ended up having a staff meeting to try and see what kinds of things we can do to boost moral.. Well so far it's been working pretty well actually... I mean it's only been a couple of days and today IS Friday (who wouldn't be happy on a Friday??) But it's definitely been a happier place to be this week, without a doubt. I even got flowers today!! Ok ok, that has less to do with the "FUN Campaign" as it does with the fact that it's my birthday tomorrow, but hey, it made ME happy! And being happy is fun!

Wow.

I just bought the sweetest pair of comfy pants. They have Curious George on them. Wow. So neat. Tee hee!!

T.G.I.A.F.

That stands for Thank Goodness It's Almost Friday. I figured I'd take the optimistic route of looking at the week as almost over, as opposed to looking at it like I still have 2 days left til the weekend. So far I think it's working alright. I was in a really bad mood when I got here this morning, but as the day's gone on, it's been getting better. I treated myself to food from the catering place down the street.. YUM! Chicken club with real chicken and fries... It's all about the food.

22 days and counting...

I am in such a good mood today! Everything is fun, even filing! Ok, "fun" may be a stretch, but it's bearable at least, and I don't feel that yucky about actually doing it. The reason I'm so happy today is because I had a meeting for my missions trip last night. I am so excited about it! I have never gone off the continent before, let alone on a missions trip... 24 of us from my church are going to Belize on February 4th, for 10 days. While we are there we are going to be building cabins, hosting a kids club through the week, having family nights where we play videos (possibly Finding Nemo!!!! :D) on a big screen outside, and in between seeing some sights. It is going to be amazing! We are also doing a puppet ministry and leaving the puppets we made and the stage we made down there for them to use. I am so excited... There is still a lot of preparation to go along with it though and I am trying not to stress about it. But it will be a life changing experience I'm sure... So anyways, the countdown is on, 22 days left...
I am coming back from Belize on the 13th, (more like the 14th) very very early in the morning... Which leaves me with the fact that I will be gone for 10 days before Valentine's Day. I would like to do something or get something special for Jason before I go, and perhaps find something in Belize. But I have to figure out what that would be... we've talked already about going to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra that night, but I would still like to get him a gift of some sort. So if anyone happens to stumble across my blog here, ideas would be helpful, to get my brain rolling!! :)

Suddenly Monday...

This weekend was awesome! Friday after work my Mum and I drove to Tsawassen to pick up Jason from the ferry. There is a lot of truth to the statement "Absense makes the heart grow fonder"... It was a long drive, with a lot of David Bowie tunes (my mom's Christmas present from me) but I was very happy to have my guy back home with me! When we got back we decided to go to Rooster's, as it was a friend's birthday party that night. It was pretty fun, but after about 2 hours we'd had enough and went home to watch a movie.
The next day we went to Coquitlam Centre... I was pleasantly surprised that Jason didn't mind me dragging him around the mall. I helped him pick out a new shirt too... I bought 4 pairs of dress pants for $10 each! I am such a good shopper. haha. I was having an absolutely splendid shopping trip until I got to Fairweather. I really like this store, good deals, and nice clothes... I wanted a new sweater to go with my new pants, and they had a deal around the store for certain items - buy one get TWO free... so I picked out some sweaters in my size, and stood in line to pay for them. Keep in mind I was in a rush... So I stood in line for a while, waiting for this cashier to get to me... She was moving slow but I tried not to let that bother me. I finally got to the front of the line and when I put the items on the counter, she wouldn't let me buy them without trying them on. I understood full well that they were a final sale, and when I acknowledged that fact, she should have let me bought them. But she didn't, and I didn't have time to try them on. So she lost that sale, and I didn't get the neat sweaters I wanted. :( Oh well, another day. I was on worship team at church that night, so I got to sing! After church we went to the Bourbon St. Grill with a bunch of friends, had dinner and listened to live jazz... I am just getting into jazz lately, it's awesome! If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!! After this we went home again to watch yet another movie... We started watching "Underworld"... but after 20 mins of vampire vs. werewolf fighting and no dialogue we decided we'd watch 'A Beautiful Mind' instead. I forgot how good that movie is!
Sunday morning was church again, 2 services of singing and hanging out with kids in Sunday School. fun fun fun! After this we went out biking at Bear mountain. It was a lot of fun, I made it to the top before Jason and his dad... I was cooking though, I ran up the last part. Later on that night I went over to Jason's aunt's house for his Grandma's birthday. It was fun. I love hanging out with his family... They give me hugs, like I belong there! I wish I had my family around... they all live so far away! :(
Anyways, my eyes are getting blurry from computer screens all day, so I am going to read the rest of my book (the Hobbit) and go to a meeting about my missions trip (in 23 days!!)

Why is it that whenever I try to wake up early, I end up waking up later than usual?? I normally am up at 7:30 to get to work by 8... (having to walk at 7:50) It's always a mad dash to get dressed of course, but I really don't care what I look like at work, as long as I'm not wearing my pajamas (although that would be nice...) and my hair is out of my face. Today however, I wanted to be up at 7. I wanted to make myself look b-e-a-utiful because I am going to pick up Jason right after work, and I wanted him to be like "wow!"... yeah I don't know if that's gonna happen now. (I guess it might, but it will take relying on my personality... and that takes way more energy!! haha) I woke up at quarter to 8, with no sign of a Mum to beg for a ride... I straightened my hair and found something a bit more decent to wear (which is jeans and a nice black top - I hope my coworkers don't fall over in shock that I "dressed up") (ok sorry that's a huge exaggeration...) Anyone who knows me outside of work knows I like to dress myself up... BUT that's outside of work, I really don't dress up for work. ... Anyways. I think that's enough about my vanity...

OK Well I haven't fully decided which online journal I like the best, so for now I think I will alternate between the two of them... Until I decide to learn html I suppose, as this website allows that! (if any of you have any beginner advice, let me know!!)
I'm sitting at work right now, on my lunch break. I was filing invoices all morning, which is not the most exciting task and I'm not looking forward to getting back at it. If you read my other journal you'll learn that I talk alot (probably too much) about my boyfriend, Jason. He is the light of my world, I love him very much. He's coming home to visit tomorrow (He's at school on the island - 4 or more whole hours away from me!!) and I'm very excited.
As for things I like to do in my spare time... I am an active church-goer... Call me what you will, I believe in Jesus Christ as my saviour, so I call myself a Christian. I teach sunday school for grades 5-7 and I also sing on the vocal team (not choir...) every few weeks. Other than that, I mountain bike frequently, although lately not as frequently as I want... Snow tends to limit my excursions a bit... although snow riding is a LOT of fun! (I'm going this weekend!) I also play the bass guitar, although not very well, and never really in front of people. More as a hobby, I like to pick songs and learn them, just so I can pretend I'm a rock star by myself in my basement. Pathetic, I know. ;)
There's a lot more about me, but my lunch is over so I unfortunately have to get back to work. Drop me an email if you read this, just to say hello! I welcome the distraction!! :) (aboudreau_11@yahoo.ca)

Hello and welcome to my blog... I am trying to decide on a web journal... for now I am using livejournal.com, so if you care to read, go to www.livejournal.com/~crazyfunme