Mission Impossible.

It's 4:40pm and I have less than twenty-four hours to take this house and get it looking like it did before the parental units left two weeks ago. I am looking forward to living on my own again in September and not having to worry about someone elses standard of clean.

Today has been an eventful day thus far--it started with a bit of cleanup, laundry and a shower. I then dug through the garage for primer, paint, brushers, rollers, sand paper and a powerwasher. After collecting all the above, I placed the items in the backyard so that Ken (who was comming over to do work for my parents) could start his work without me. Minutes after Ken arrived, Dave Rees showed up to pick me up. I quickly showed Ken the work that needed doing and ran out of the house to join Dave Rees. A couple of days ago I offered to help Dave and his family because they are moving within the next week to their new house. So we spent the afternoon cleaning out his new garage, first with brooms and a hose--then with all purpose cleaner (which was an 8 on the corrosive alkali scale--this reminded me of my chem lectures). This stuff was pretty close to neon pink which when scrubbed into the floor caused us to be surrounded by pink suds. After power washing the floor (we did our best to avoid a waterfight but we still got a little wet), we hosed down the garage door itself and call it a day. Dave was nice in treating me to lunch afterwords at Quizno's for helping him this afternoon. Now I am home--looking around this mess that I have created in the last couple of weeks...mission impossible.

Speaking of the word 'impossible', I am reminded (through the power of A.D.D.) of an Adidas advertisment that I've always loved:

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Ipossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.

Now, having written this blog I realize I should have titled it with quotations around 'impossible'.

Let the chaos begin.

It's You That I Want.

Sidenote #1: My Edmonton friends and I all assumed that when we plugged my speakers into the jack on my laptop that when only the right one worked that something was wrong with my laptop mechanically. As I was informed by my brother this weekend--I should just try adjusting the audio balance in my 'system preferences' to see if the problem was corrected. Well, you'll all be happy to know that the 'problem' was fixed! I now have sound from both speakers with a simple click of a button. Who would have thought...

Sidenote #2: I strongly dislike (I'll refrain from using the word 'hate') that I'm 'too nice' to people around me. I guess I just don't have it in me to be mean. On the up side--the optimist in me just says that God blessed me with a big heart.

Now onto the blog...

This weekend was incredible, it just couldn't have been any better...

Today my family and I got up at a reasonable hour and showered up for brunch at our family friend, the Burrow's condo. After the food was all gone and we had all caught up on eachothers lives in the last year, we headed back to the condo to get ready for the beach. Now let me tell you--this was not a beach day, the wind was whipping up a mighty storm. But us, being as crazy as we are, still saw it fitting to head down and tan in the non-existant sunshine. Don't get me wrong, it was a riot being the only people down on the beach laying out in the wind. After we decided we were good and cold, we headed back up to the condo where Jon and I packed up our things to head on back home this evening.

Question: Have you ever picked a restaurant based on the fact that the name of the restaurant makes you laugh?

From Mini Golfing, to eating dinner at Angus McToogle's--the evening was just amazing.

I am so lucky...

Lay Beneath the Stars.

Note: The alternate title for this blog was "dihydrogen oxide up my nose". It was a close race but of course, the hopeless romantic in me 'won' the battle and therefore the title. But "dihydrogen oxide up my nose" earned an honorable mention.

You know the expression, 'Time flies when you're having fun?' Well, they definetly weren't kidding around on that one. Today was amazing but it seemed as if I had blinked and it was over. The day began this morning at ten o'clock and went on to include massive amounts of tubing and tube wars (in pretty rought waters due to wind--the nice thing about this was that there was no one else on the lake because no one was perhaps as crazy (or as desperate) as us to get out on the boat). We then all came back up to the condo and rested before we went to 'nine and dine' at six pm. But of course, knowing my mother (the 'event coordinator') we were there a good hour early. There were two groups to golf--a group of three (My dad, Jon and I) and a group of four (Tara, Colin, my mom and Dwight) and we all enjoyed our time. I must admit, I was nervous at first and it caused me to 'shank' a few balls here and there. But then--I saw that smile and suddenly, I wasn't so nervous anymore. The balls after my nervousness faded (that I continued to shank) I have no excuse for, other than my lack of golf skill. Despite not being a very good golfer, I had an amazing time because I was doing something that a certain someone loves--which made me happy beyond words. After golfing, we headed to the lounge to have some dinner and unfortunately listen to some bad karaoke music. It did however provide some entertainment to the evening which ended when my mom decided she had heard enough out-of-tune singing. The night ended just laying beneath the stars--admiring the beauty of God's creation and His blessings in my life. There is no better way to end a perfect day.

Something About You.

Current Time: 8:16am

Note to Self: That was just over forty-eight hours of absolute heaven. I never want this feeling to end.

Since I couldn't sleep and there were those of my friends asking why I hadn't updated my blog for a couple days--I thought I'd take this moment to write in it (better do it before I fade back to sleep).

Random Thought: ("Soul Meets Body" - Death Cab for Cutie)
I want to live--where soul meets body and let the sun wrap its arms around me and bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing--and feel, feel what it's like to be new. To me, where soul meets body--where we feel these arms wrapped around us, where we feel our body cleansed and new is a place that I simply cannot comprehend (for we cannot understand the unfathomable)--heaven.

It seems that this early in the morning all I have is "notes to self" and "random thoughts". Perhaps it's all my brain is capable of before I really wake up.

A Night Like This - Tomi Swick
A night like this--kept you wishing, for a night like this again.

My 100th Post.

I was informed (by this little blog thing) that this was my 100th post. It's nothing special! A couple friends have asked me to update my online photo album but I had a couple complications. I tried to log in and use my old ID and it had expired (go figure) but the URL still exists. So I just decided to take down the link to the old one and make a new one.

Be patient, I have to start from scratch with uploading pictures!

www.picturetrail.com/Alexandra023

(Incase you didn't know the '23' stands for his airness--Michael Jordan :) haha)

Random Sidenote.

I couldn't eat dinner because I felt so sick. But--my weakness shined through, I spotted chocolate on the counter in a wonderful (and nutritious) form called a nanaimo bar.

Chocolate truly is my weakness.

...at least it wasn't mini eggs--I'll eat those till I get sick.

Water Football.

It was my goal this trip to get rid of some unfortunate tan lines I had put earlier this week at the stampede. I managed to make most of my sandle and watch tan disappear but I don't know where my mind was today, I forgot to take off my rings, so I have some pretty sweet ring tan lines! hahaha.

I am so tired from today that I am going to put the events that passed in point form (you know you're getting lazy when...):
- 9am wake up
- Rowan wasn't didn't get out of bed till almost 1pm, so when I got up (while contemplating what to do) I turned on the TV...you know what I watched? I flicked through the channels and found the British Open on. I do admit I tried to watch it and I lasted more than I normally do when watching golf on TV!
- I soon got bored (I tried, that's what counts :P) and headed outside with my new friend from a couple condos over. Him and I decided to head on down to the basketball courts below and shoot some hoops (bad idea with my knee). I just took stationary shots to avoid jarring my knee as much as Jared wanted to play 'one on one' (no dirty pun intended).
- After sweating in the heat (it hit almost 38 degrees here today) I headed back up to my condo to find that Rowan was finally awake!
- We all threw on our swimsuits and headed down to the beach.
- After tanning on the beach we jumped on the boat and went for a two hour cruise around the lake just enjoying the scenery.
- We threw down anchor on the far side of the lake near shore and dove off the boat for a swim. I got a picture of me in the water with Holly! She looks terrified.
- My dad and I attempted to play water football, it involved just throwing around a little football at first and ended in us pushing each other off the boat and pulling cannon balls to splash everyone.

It was then and there, while swimming in the water that my friend pointed to the shore and said 'Don't look!' For starters, don't you hate it when people say that expression? I mean--saying 'don't look' makes you want to look all the more. So of course, I turned around and at first glance all I noticed were two guys and a dog...but wait...I looked closer...and it hit me, that old man standing there on the edge of the water isn't wearing any clothes. You could see everything and trust me--you didn't want to see what we saw. I think my exact comment was "ewwwwwwww". This caused Ron to laugh--he said (for some reason) that my remark was cute and funny. I didn't know about the rest of the group but by this point I was ready to leave the swimming area. We did shortly after.

- After swimming, we realized it was already 5:30 and I was pretty tired from being in the sun all day.
- I came up to the condo, had a shower, put on my comfy clothes and I am laying here icing my knee. I really should slow down.

Till Next Time!

PS Everyone keeps asking me when I get home so I figure (since I found out how many people actually read this) I'd just post it. Tomorrow Rowan and I plan on leaving here around one in the afternoon--it's a three hour drive which will put us back in Calgary around four. Rowan then leaves shortly after we get in so he can get back to his family.

PSS So, to answer your question Serena, yes, I would love to take you and Fraser to my church on Sunday!

Catch you all on the flip side.

Beach Day

Day Two: Enjoying Beautiful British Columbia

Today--like yesterday, started long before I was ready to get out of bed. For some reason, this cold I seem to have been given makes me wake up at ridiculous hours of the morning. For example--last night, after I managed to fall asleep just after one am, I woke up again at three am. Despite my efforts to conquer my cold with enormous amounts of cold medications ranging from Vicks, Tylenol cold, throat spray to Halls, I was unable to fall back asleep for a couple hours. Since our condo here is pretty small, I knew I couldn't get up without waking someone else up so my solution was to lay in bed reading a new book Crown of Thorns by Sigmund Brouwer and then after reading, I said a prayer, closed my eyes and drifted back asleep.

I woke up, it still felt pretty early--I glanced over at my clock to see that it was just past nine. I decided not to sleep a better part of my day away, so I got out of bed and wandered out into the living room. As I came out of my room, I passed a mirror. Me plus mornings, is just not a good equation. I figured in order to wake myself up I should jump in the shower--but as I turned on the tap I discovered that no water came out. I kind of stood there puzzled for a minute thinking maybe I did something wrong...maybe I was so tired that I thought I turned the knob for the shower when I actually didn't. So I tried it again, and again--no water. I came back out to the livingroom to ask my mom if the shower was broken. She looked puzzled and went to turn on the tap--surprise, surprise! No water. After a couple of phone calls we discovered that BC Hydro blew a breaker in Inveremere Valley, they were going to fix it as 'quickly as possible'. Soon after we lost our water, we lost electricity too. I walked past that same mirror on the way back to my bedroom and just thought--'I can't believe I am going to go out looking like this.' But then again--there is no one here who I am trying to 'dress to impress' for ;)

Note: This is turning out to be a novel on my day. Sorry about that! haha. Keep reading if you're totally bored and have nothing better to do with your time or if you are actually enjoying reading this entry.

My mom and I at this point decided we were going to head into town--do a little shopping at the market for fresh fruits and vegetables (BC is definetly the place to be for that). Since it was already thirty-five degrees out I decided to dress as cool (temperature wise) as I possibly could, I searched through my bag and found my jean skirt (shorter but not mini-skirt short) and a 'tube' top. I figured this would do, so I ran a brush through my hair, put on my flip flops and was ready to head out the door. As my mom and I left in my car to go into town, Rowan and my dad went down for some 'manly bonding time' at the boat.

Question: As my friend Christina says--'Why do guys feel the need to hit on anything that moves?'

Sometimes it can indeed be awkward to be hit on, let alone to be hit on in front of a parent. As my mom and I got out of the car at a little fruit and vegetable stand, a car honked that was driving down the road next to us. Naturally and innocently, I thought they were honking because we may of known them, so I turned around. As I turned around there was a truck full of guys whistling and cheering. I was more embaressed than anything.

Question: What does Alex do when she's embaressed--especially around her mom?
Answer: Act like a goof.

Simulation of real life conversation: (I am having too much fun with this blog)
Me: Hey mom--it must feel pretty good to know you still got it.
Mom: What?
Me: You're still getting honked at! :)

Anyways, our journey continued on after the vegetable stand back to the condo to join the boys down at the boat. Since we were going to go to the beach--appropriate apparel would be necessary. I fumbled in the dark (since we still had no electricity) through my bag to find my bikini and board shorts. After nearly pulling apart my whole bag I found what I was looking for and I was ready to go. We joined up with a couple of family friends down at the boat who were eager to get out on the water. After a short ride, we were at a peaceful spot on the lake where we threw down the anchor and decided to tan and swim. My mom and her friend ate lunch, while my dad sat and joked around like always. Rowan was quick to take off his shirt and dive in, as I contemplated whether I was feeling well enough to go in. It didn't take long for me to make up my mind because Holly was eager to get in (of course I brought her down to the boat) so we went in the water and had her swim to us as she paniced. Let me add that as soon as she realized that she could swim--the big fearful eyes and the chaotic splashing stopped and she seemed to enjoy herself.

It then became time to tube. We tubed for the next couple of hours--first Rowan and I, then Rowan, Ron and I (Rowan and I shared a tube), then Ron and I. It was a great time and I managed not to be dunked. I did however fool around (like I always do) by jumping from tube to tube and standing up on the tube pretending I'm surfing (and then falling down and barely catching the handle as I wipeout...note I did catch the handle and managed to not fall completely off and pull myself back up while the boat was going). To end the day of tubing, Ron and I mutually decided it would be funny if we both tried to do back flips off our tubes while my dad was pulling circles trying to dunk us. We counted to three and jumped--the result? Bellyflops into the water. Good times.

And thus my day ended after a little tanning and some dinner. Now I lay icing my knee (because of course, I don't understand how to slow down). With one day down, it means one less day till I am home. Funny thing how I am actually excited to be home again.

Laying Awake Dreaming.

Note: It's amazing how one simple phone call can make one's day.

I was asked by a friend to post some pictures--so I have a couple random ones here, enjoy!


This is a picture I found of me when I was obviously very little and of course, I'm smiling as always.


This picture is from Italy when we visited the Duomo in Florence summer of 2005. Left to Right: Tara, Myself, Colin (looking mighty photogenic) and David.


This picture is taken in Venice (also summer of 2005) in a boat taxi. Left to Right: David, Colin, Tara and I


This is one of my personal favorites--this picture was taken in Venice in the Piazza San Marco. As you can tell, the square flooded due to rain and the occurence of high tide. My dad and I being goofs decided to walk through the square instead of around it.


I love this picture just because of the odds of what happened. Our first day in London, my mom, dad and I go to take an old fashioned taxi out to dinner and guess what was on the side of the taxi in London? An add for Alberta--there is no place like home!


This was just a picture taken in London at night after riding the underground.

My favorite picture of Colin (oldest brother) and I. This picture was taken in my front yard right before convocation.

Anyways, I think I'm finally ready for bed. Goodnight and sweet dreams.

Slow Down? Nah.

Tonight, I went down to the beach with one of my oldest friends (we grew up together)--him and I watched Holly swim in the lake. We watched her as she tried to play with the lake weed, she tried and tried to drag it back to us without realizing that the weed was a tangled mess that was bigger than her. Needless to say, she did not make it back to shore despite her efforts. I then came back up to our condo and gave Holly a bath (afterall, I do have to share a bed with her). She is currently now chewing on a waterbottle on the floor, chasing it around as she tries to grab a hold of it. It's adorable how amused she is.

So much for not doing anything tonight--maybe tomorrow I'll take it easy. I know for sure I'll get an early night tonight in order to shake this cold before I return home. There's motivation if I ever needed it :)

Beautiful Mountains.

Current Location: In BC

Today, due to being sick, I woke up at 6am and felt rather restless. I was tired but I lacked the ability to close my eyes and drift away to sleep so I got out of bed, rubbed my eyes and wondered to myself, "What do people do at six o'clock in the morning?" Since I can't work with my knee recovery, I obviously don't get up to go landscaping anymore. For some unknown reason, while wandering down the hallway in my Joe Boxer PJ's I thought of my online banking--I suddenly realized it's about that time of the month that I should be making the transfer from my debit account to my credit card. I honestly can say I have never balanced my accounts at 6:30 in the morning before--I guess there is truly a first for everything.

After a few text messages back and forth this morning, I was smiling and ready to go back to sleep. I was then woken up at 10:30 by Rowan who was wondering when I was going to get up so we could hit the road to BC. At this point, I was a little more awake, so I jumped in the shower (where the warmth nearly caused me to fall asleep again), and burned a few CD's for the road (Chris Tomlin, U2, and Muse). At this point I realized I had to pack and wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything. Being as indecisive as I am, I ended up bringing more clothes than I can possibly wear in the next four days--but the way I see it, at least I covered all of my bases. I packed Capris, Shorts, Pants, Tank Tops and all my bathing suits (I have so many bikinis, I don't even know which one to wear). I then packed up Holly's things--her dog food, medications and her leash. We made it out on the road by one o'clock this afternoon (that's pretty decent--right?) and started with the Chris Tomlin CD. There is no doubt in my mind that there is nothing more powerful than listening to praise music while driving through the mountains. While passing through the mountains--I also realized that the scenery was also the most romantic thing ever. Soon I found myself daydreaming about taking a daytrip to the mountains. Anyways, after listening to Chris Tomlin's CD twice, Rowan put in his favorite CD of Muse. After Muse came U2 as we both nearly fell asleep on the tail end of the drive. We arrived safe and sound despite our exhaustion.

So far I've rested my knee with some icing, watched some CSI, and written in both my journal and this blog. Once I finish up this blog I plan on doing nothing (for once), this should be interesting!

Tomorrow Colin (oldest brother) comes out to join the family. Him and I plan to go tubing together--he said he'd take it easy on me so I am quite excited to get out on the water and have some fun. My childhood friend Nathan is also up here, we plan on going minigolfing tomorrow night. Other than that, I plan on reading out in the sun so I can work on my tan, finishing up a scrapbook I am making for my mom and enjoying some girl talk.

Sorry that this blog lacks any interesting topics, I am quite tired and as a result, I have begun to ramble...

Enjoy your evening!

God of Wonders Beyond Our Galaxy...

No words can simply describe this incredible feeling. Words simply fall short.

I will dance, I will sing to be mad for my king. Nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul--so I will dance, I will sing for my king, nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul.

Today I struggled to open my eyes after yet another short night's rest--but I the way I see it, I can sleep when I'm old! Last night was a picture perfect night, friends came around for a barbeque in which we enjoyed the pleasure of having hamburgers with all the fixings (compliments of Chef Rowan, Sidekick Serena and Supervisor Jim). Afterwords we cruised down 17th Ave in my dads Model A (because we are just that cool) and then joined up with more friends in my backyard for late night cards. We all sat on the trampoline with candle laterns surrounding us, which added a very nice ambiance to the backyard. The night ended in laying up and looking at the stars--very picture perfect.

Tomorrow I leave for BC with my family and will return on the weekend--I hope all is well with everyone and I'll see you when I get back!

God Bless.

Cute.

Random Cute Quote:

"I love God! Pick me pick me!!"

This is just adorable. That's all I can say! :)

Leap of Faith.

I feel so good right now--words can't even begin to describe it.

I remember (not specifically) that I wrote a previous blog on irrational fears. I remember I wrote about how life's events affect our greatest fears, whether or not they are waranted, these irrational fears seem to control us. For example, in 2003 my best friend passed away in a tragic avalanche that killed seven students. I can honestly say that since then, I have only snowboarded a few number of times that could probably be counted on one hand. Why? It's not that I fear the mountains will take my life, it's I fear facing reality. Up until this year, I can honestly say that I hadn't completely dealt with her death. I felt going snowboarding would not only remind me of what happened but it would force me to accept that it happened. A year later in 2004 a good friend from youth group was hit by a car while she was turning left pulling out onto the highway. I then dealt with another irrational fear--left turns at uncontrolled intersections. Was this fear waranted? Probably not. Does that make it any less real? Definetly not. After loosing both of them, I felt that the people I loved most in my life seemed to be taken away from me, I became afraid to become really attached to someone for fear of loosing them. Yet another irrational fear. As the cliche goes--it's better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all.

Now, to the point. Why did I bring this old blog up and summarize it? Well, for starters, I summarized it so that you would not have to dig through archives and archives of stuff to figure out what previous blog entry I was talking about, and secondly, I brought it up because I feel like I've taken a step towards overcoming these irrational fears. For what specific reason, I do not know--all I know is that God has blessed me and through His love and His grace, I am making steps towards healing.

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.

Hey All! As stampede draws to an end--I decided to head down to the grounds one more time today to enjoy the spirit of the stampede and of course--the company of good friends. Today Rowan, Jim and I hit the grounds first, enjoyed some rides, food and joking around. I boxed a bit with Jim but I think he had an unfair advantage--have you seen those arms???? Afterwords, Jon joined us, and then soon after, Caroine, Sarah and Liz. Our conversations ran everything from makeout points around the city to the ever elusive sexual innuendos. All in all, I'd say the stampede venture was a hit. After we left the grounds, Serena and Fraser met up with us and Jamie soon after joined. We all had a good time cuddling in a big blob on the ground while watching a great view (partially covered by trees) of the fireworks!

Good times--good memories--unforgettable smiles...

Hopeless Romantic.

A friend just quoted Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting, and the quote just made me feel all warm and fuzzy because well, I am a hopeless romantic and things like this just melt our hearts.

"It's not a question of whether you're perfect or she's perfect, but a question if you're perfect for eachother."

Late Nights.

The last couple nights I've been up to the wee hours of the morning (...3:30am) either talking to friends on MSN or hanging out with a friend and not being able to really say goodbye. Both nights were completely worth the exhaustion that I feel now.

As I stretch, yawn and look at the clock, I realize I must get on with my day. The only downside to staying up so late would be the sleeping the day away the next morning. Currently, I must get up, shower, dress, drive to our dog groomer's, pick up Mocha, drive home, meet up with my mom and her friends and put together bridal shower invitations for my mom's best friend.

Sidenote: Putting four of them in a room together with me will be quite interesting as they try to pry information out of me. I can see it now--I'll just be sitting there with my head on the table laughing and blushing. My reaction will probably encourage them to tease me more.

I wish I had some sort of poker face. But nothing will work for my mom--she can read me like an open book no matter how hard I try to be "unreadable".

Sidenote: I am ashamed to admit it...but I might as well. Currently my music selection includes Nick Lachey and Teddy Geiger.

You know--there was something I never realized before. I never knew how much entertainment could come from a single picture of my family. It's kind of embaressing actually. But we all have to learn to laugh at ourselves...right?

Plan for the next few days (just ask if you want to come):
- Rowan arrives tomorrow. ETA: 12pm noon
- Stampeding on Friday.
- David arrives Friday. ETA 2:00pm
- Welcome home party for Chelsea and Lauren at 6:00pm
- Our Lady Peace Concert in the evening.
- Ken leaves Saturday for the Shuswap :(
- Adventure to take Rowan rafting down the river on Saturday.
- Meet Caroline on the grounds, Saturday.
- Sunday morning church.
- Third Day concert sunday evening.
- Closing stampede fireworks. (these are always so romantic)
- Next week Tuesday--leave for the lake for a couple days.

Stampede brings out the cowgirl in me.

Where'd you go? I miss you so. It seems like it's been forever, that you've been gone...

It's official--I over did it. Between two stampede trips and rafting on the weekend, my knee has officially decided to stop working today. I figure I better take this day and take it easy (I don't think I have much of a choice haha, I can't really walk). So I look around my room pondering what I am going to do...

1. I have a few books I haven't read yet--all focusing on my passion to learn about WWII, specifically Nazi German History.
- Doctors of Death
- Eyewitness Auschiwitz
- Five Chimneys
2. I have some scrapbooking I can do (yes, I am that much of a dork), it's another hobby. Currently I am making one showing my two brothers and I growing up over the last twenty-three years.
3. I have to hang my Beatles clock. Yes that is right, a Beatles clock! When I was down at the grounds, we found (in the Roundup Center) a store that takes old vinyls and covers and turns them into clocks. It's ... beyond words. So I got a Beatles cover that is also a clock. Ken was sweet and treated me to it!

Anyways, I am pretty tired and sore so I am going to end this blog before I just fall asleep at the keyboard.

Have a good day all!!!!

Thinking Hurts.

Be careful not to think too much--it can hurt.

Rafting today was amazing--we got so much sun, it was crazy. Then when I went to Pirates tonight (the movie) everyone commented on my tan. I was quite pleased. Even though we missed the fireworks after we had a good time watching Jamie open beers with his new belt buckle. Good times.

I'm too tired to write. All I can say is I am so confused as to what I really want.

P.S.

It's really sad when an extended family member is sick.

Testing Me.

You got me tossing and turning can't sleep at night.

I must say, this tan I am getting really goes well with my mostly brown wardrobe. Today I wore white capris and a brown halter top and I must say--I am liking this tan.

~Sidenotes~
- Pete looks cute closing his eyes because he's scared on the Fireball
- Default (band) is not a good band live
- I missed the one band I want to see on the Coca-Cola stage (Philosopher Kings)
- As Tom said--Katy's party was a sausage fest...but the girls really can't complain about that haha
- When Piers, Shane, Ken, Katy and Alex mix strawberry daquiri's, they turn into more of a rum based fruit cocktail. First, we added the daquiri mix and the rum (two kinds because we didn't have enough of one--both white rum and dark spiced rum). We did not have enough ice to make it a slushy so we added fresh strawberries--then bananas and coconut milk. It strayed from the original recipe but apparently it was tasty!
- Piers has some pretty sweet Blues Brother Sunglasses
- Hopefully we will actually get to go rafting tomorrow

Okay, now I am tired, now I go.

Goodnight All.
Sweetest Dreams.

Next Stop.

The recipe for the next couple of days:

- Rafting down the Elbow River
- Tanning
- Katy's 19th Birthday Bash
- Serena's Work's Stampede Breakfast
- Attacking Sarah when she is the mascot down at the Stampede (I really have to make sure it's her before I run, jump and wrap my legs around the mascot hahaha)
- Church
- Planning a bridal shower

Home Sweet Home.

Good news, I am home in one piece! As if there was any doubt that I wouldn't be ... haha.

Unfortunately the swelling is overwhelming in my knee--so much that it would have to be drained to do the procedure this morning so I opted to reschedule (draining is painful). Instead, lucky me, I got to hold my knee in the same position for thirty minutes while they MRI'd the joint. But the cool part was they gave me a CD of the photos from the MRI...and by cool I mean--completely and utterly nerdy. Anyways, I got home and the first thing I did was load the CD onto a computer and starting placing the anatomy on the MRI. Cool eh? It kind of reminds me of when my Microbio prof would say 'nifty'.

Okay, before I make myself sound like a complete keener--I am going to change the topic.

On a different note, a friend gave me the latest SLAM (basketball magazine) which focuses on my hero--Michael Jordan. I haven't had a chance to open it yet, but I am sure when I do I'll end up reading it cover to cover. After all, Jordan is what the game has been missing.

Okay, now I will stop before I go off on a tangent about sports. So far I have managed to talk about my two of my greatest passions (the only one missing is my single greatest passion--God), medicine and basketball.

Anyways, now that I've reminded myself that I have this magazine, I am going to go outside, lay with my dog in the sun and read it until I go to physio.

Three minutes and counting...

I have three minutes before I have to leave for the doctors...admist my feelings of nervous anxiety--I find my calm place...

I want to say a prayer--before my feet can hit the ground...Lord I give this day to you.

Was it? Was it not?...

This question circles through my head now...'Was it...or wasn't it?'...I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Moving along...

Stampede week is upon us once again and it's time to be a faithful Calgarian and throw on those cowboys hats and show pride in our 'hick' like nature! Since I am not big into the drinking scene, these ten days will consist of many trips down to the midway to go on rides so many times over that I'll probably get sick, then play some games in which I'll inevitably lose because they are rigged--all that and some tanning with girlfriends and of course--linedancing! Can't forget the good ol' linedancing tradition. I'll keep to my word and teach you how ;)

Other than these next ten days consisting of a mass amount of people crowding our city, I have a couple things planned here and there. Philosopher Kings play tomorrow night--I really hope to make it down to the Coca-Cola stage and on Friday I plan to tan and raft down the river (assuming that my leg will allow me to). I think on Sunday I'll try to make it down with some friends back to the grounds because it's free admission in the morning. After that, I have a Third Day concert to go to--and Rowan comes down from Edmonton for a week long visit!! This should be a really good next couple of weeks :)

Anyways, I must go, I have an early morning visit to the doctors.

P.S. I had a really good time tonight...I'll go to bed smiling now.