Giggly? Me? Never.

To quote a text message I received today in class:

"Rumor has it your in town this weekend, could this quite possibly be true?"

It's quite funny how quickly things get around, a spur of the moment decision last night somehow reached people I haven't talked to in at least a week.

So yes--to answer everyone all in one simple post, I am in town this weekend, the rumor is confirmed to be true. However due to the fast approaching midterm on Tuesday I cannot excessively socialize. So I shall endeavor to find a balance between work and play--sounds good to me.

Note: I started to think--you know what's kind of funny? People I haven't talked to in weeks know I am comming home yet my own roommate who I live with doesn't offically know that I am leaving tonight. Thus I'll leave him a stickie note or two and post a comment on his blog...something like that...

Moving along...

Ever have one of those days that everything is funny? Today was definetly one of those days and I logically it would be the result of a lack of sleep that I've been (or not been) getting. You see, as I said before, I stayed up till three thirty this morning (please don't ask me why...) studying for physiology. Yes...I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning reading my notes and making summary notes--I have reached an alltime high of being a keener. In my tired state, I went to set my alarm and needless to say, I mixed up what time I had class today and got up two hours earlier than needed. It wasn't till after my shower that I realized that I actually didn't have to be up yet--but it was too late, I was already awake. So this morning, I proceeded to study before heading off to my seminar.

Good News: Today in my seminar we debated the issue of equity in sport. The example was a case in Manitoba of two women who went to court to get the right to try out for a mens hockey league--they won the case and therefore the right to try out. Now, my argument was simply this--although I am for gender equity, I do happen to believe that it is important to realize that when society makes it possible for women to try out for mens teams that it is only fair for the same priveledge should be available to men--they should be able to try out for a womens team. Now lets be honest, if this were to occur, an A Team and B Team would pretty much form, those who were cut from the mens team (both men and women) would go and try out for the womens team. Inevitably, reality would be that both teams would be male dominated decreasing the experience that women get by participation in sport. By demanding equality, women do not realize that they will in turn take away their opportunities to compete in sport--whether it be a mens team or a womens team. Alas--the good news is after all that was said and done, I got an A on my argument!

Anyways--going back to the idea of being excessively giggly today. This started rather early in the day but became rather prominent in my Computer Science lecture. I can't honestly tell you what we did in class today because I was so busy laughing--at what? I couldn't tell you, I honestly have no idea. I just sat there and everything Lisa said caused us both to start giggling and when I'd comment back to what she said, we'd laugh so hard I nearly cried. It was at this point that Tim looked at me as if to say, "What are you girls on?" Plain and simple--just high on life.

Alas, came the end of my day as I sat in a PMSA meeting in which I swear the objective was to scare all pre-med students away from the idea of becoming med students. Todays discussion was pre-reqs and MCATs. If this wasn't scary enough, they went into statistics and acceptance rates. For what purpose? To motivate those who really want to go into medicine to try harder, and to scare those who are on the fence away from medicine.

Finally, I am back at my house. Now what? I shall clean, pack, grab a bit to eat, upload music to my IPOD for the drive and drink copious amounts of cafienne to keep me awake for the three hour venture back home.

I am so excited!

Descretion Smile.

Note: As Nick discovered last night--too many skittles can make your jaw sore. This only adds to the random little facts about life that he has told me in the last couple of days. Apparently, as I was informed a couple days ago--if you beat someone with a bag of oranges, it doesn't leave bruises. Go figure.

As I was plugging away at my essay last night, I discovered the wonders of sugar rushes once again as I nearly burnt out trying to finish the assignment. I found myself blankly staring at the computer, typing and backspacing every word for lets face it--I can be a bit of a perfectionist. As a random spur of the moment decision, due to lack of productivity and perhaps being a little bit bored, Nick and I headed on a walk over to Safeway--the grocery list? A value pack of chicken for Nick (at 11:30 at night) and anything that contained copious amounts of sugar for me. After going through the till, we definetly did not leave with any chicken--but we did in fact leave with four bags of candy (it was buy one, get one free!) and a giant sized can of Arizona Iced Tea.



Note: As we were walking home from Safeway, I was in a highly sarcastic mood--whether it was caused by the sugar, the lack of sleep, or a combination of the both is unknown. Anyways, here we are walking back, Nick with his bag of Pirates of the Caribbean M&M's (of course, all yellow ones to give the imagery of 'gold')...

Nick: All my M&M's are yellow!
Me: Yah--didn't you know, if you get a bag full of yellow M&M's you win a million dollars!
Nick: Really?!?!?!?!?!
Me: No.

At this point I broke out into laughter as Nick laughed off his gullability. I definetly think at this point, we would have both fallen for such a joke.

After my sugar rush, I was able to power through the conclusion of my essay in a matter of minutes. Whether or not my conclusion was of any substance is another debate entirely to itself. After a goodnight phone call that ended around one-thirty this morning, I found myself wide awake for a reason that I am unaware of. I figured if I was going to be wide awake, I may as well be productive. Thusly I began to study the next chapter in my Physiology notes for my midterm next week. Three o'clock in the morning soon rolled around and I proudly finished the whole chapter. I then passed out and woke up when my alarm rudely awoke me at eight o'clock this morning.

Alas, today the PMSA (Pre-Medicine Students Association) has an optional seminar for its members (don't I feel like a keener) in which I plan on 'keenely' attending.

Sidenote: I wish that all my classes were cancelled tomorrow...instead of all but one pesky lecture. Oh well.

Keep on smiling all.

Random.

Tidbits about my day.

- I have been awake for eighteen hours--seven consequitive hours were spent in classes.
- When a girlfriend announces shes engaged, drop everything you're doing to congratulate her...literally. Today, I dropped my book bag (in which all my books, of course, spilled out onto the floor), run up to her as she screams in excitement, throw your arms around her as the two of you proceed to jump up and down, caught up in the moment.
- When you feel like you're going to burn out, take a step back from everything and breathe. I went on an hour walk to pick up my car today (instead of taking the bus) to merely enjoy the sunshine and have time to just relax and have not a care in the world.
- Note to Self: Before I start your BBQ--make sure there is actually propane in the tank to use. When I realize there is no propane left, and I attempt to cook your dinner for the BBQ in the oven--I should do my best not to set off the smoke alarm in the house.
- When Safeway puts a '2 for 1' deal on M&M Peanuts--go nuts...literally.
- Tonight--Nick discovered that excessive eating of skittles can result in a sore jaw.

Yet Another Wednesday.

As previously noted in other blogs (and known well by my friends)--I am not a morning person. I mean, once I am wide awake then I'm fine...it's the process of becoming wide awake that I find difficult.

Wednesdays have to be my least favorite day of the week (other than pilates happens today) for I kick start the morning at 6am to go to a three hour computer science lab. Could that be any more boring?

On another note--today I look around me as students begin to stress as midterms begin as early as Monday. It's literally a race to see who burns out first.

Bets anyone?

Alas I have devised a plan in order to attempt to avoid what is commonly diagnosed as 'burn out'--for the next three weeks of my life, I have mapped out a little guide that dictates what I do each day. By doing this, I have spread out my workload into manageable pieces (hopefully) each day. The outcome? I will keep you posted.

Keep on smiling...

And So It Begins.

It's like waking up from a dream that turns out to be real...

Sidenote: I cannot even begin to describe this feeling--words do it no justice. To quote the movie Jerry Maguire, "You complete me."

It's official--today I consumed more coffee than I have in any previous twenty-four hour period. I found myself anxiously fidgeting through my lectures and labs today, absolutely buzzed with no attention span. What was my solution to this problem? Logically (of course) if my attention span was already shot, I may as well stop and get another coffee on the way to my next class. What harm could that do?

I finally get home--secure in the fact that I am away from any coffee establishment. Now I need not worry about my lingering fatigue being taunted by a Tim Hortons or Starbucks. I could do what normal people do when they're tired--go to sleep at a decent hour. But wait...what's this? My roommate is brewing coffee...

French Vanilla Anyone?

Yes please!

Alas, I have succomb to every students addiction. Soon enough we'll be injecting cafienne directly into our blood via an IV drip.

Anyways, all considered--my day went surprisingly well. I kicked off the morning with my anatomy lab. Yes ladies and gentlemen--it is that time of the week where I proceed to become the textbook definition a nerd. Today we finished the appendicular skeleton by studying the forearm and hand. Me, being completely amazed at the human body (and a bit of a goof) went outside the boundaries of todays assignment and proceeded to articulate the bones in such a way that I made a complete human arm. What did I do with it after I finished? I got a scream out of my unexpecting lab partner. As she was reading her textbook and memorizing the landmarks of the bones, I tapped her on the shoulder--with the human skeleton, bony fingers dangling and all. At this point everyone began to laugh as I just sat there and giggled at my silly joke.



After anatomy, I headed off to physiology where in todays lecture we studied the chemistry behind the central and peripheral nervous system. Now normally, I would never find a class as amusing as I found todays lecture (coffee could have played a role in this amusement). Today, our guest speaker had a variety of tricks to help us remember the concepts, including having ten volunteers (and by volunteers, I mean he proceeded to select people whether they liked it or not) to be scotch taped and labelled different parts of a neuron as they ran around embaressed in the demonstration. At one point in the demonstration, to illustrate an electrochemical gradiant, several students (who were labelled as ions) had to push against the professor who was acting as a barrier to the ions. After more than a couple students were all pushing with all their might against the guest speaker, he randomly decided to step aside and let them all fall to the ground. This of course caused everyone to break out into laughter as these horribly embaressed 'volunteers' layed in a pile on the ground. This was the highlight of my physiology class.

After physiology was the class that every week I seem to struggle through--computer science. I'd write something interesting about something that happened only there is nothing that seemingly happens in this class. The only thing I can think of is my friends and I have bets now on how long we can all make it through before we leave. The first person to pack up there stuff and head out the door loses. Today--that was me.

Now here I am--wasting time away on my blog when plenty of unsavory homework awaits. I officially have one week until my first midterm...let the cramming begin.

Notable Quote.

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, (protecting its sanity), covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But, it is never gone."

~Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy~

She Loves You.

Note #1: For those of you who noticed--yes, the title of todays blog is an amazing song by The Beatles (aren't they all?). It also happens to be a very fitting song title.

Note #2: It's good to know I have my priorities straight. This morning, after an agonizing three hours in my computer science lab I came to the conclusion that in order to carry out my day I'd need a nap. The decision then came with when--for I still had classes left before my day was over and we cannot forget the Pilates course that I signed up for. It was when I was in my anatomy lecture this afternoon, sitting there--struggling to keep my eyes open that I realized that if I went to biochemistry, I'd just fall asleep anyway. My logic? If I was going to sleep--I might as well sleep in my own bed. This and I really shouldn't be tired for my pilates class! So today, I skipped class to make sure I was well rested for pilates. Awesome? I think so!

On another note--pilates was amazing. I was pretty excited today as I got into my spandex (yoga clothes!), hopped on my bike, turned on my IPOD and headed off to this class. I was actually surprised at how much of a workout it was--it was only after it was done that I could see why the class is only an hour long. It's intense! I can already feel my muscles burn...I love that feeling...

Other than that, I have nothing too exciting to note that happened today--much like everyone I seem to talk to, I am avoiding homework like the plague. Unfortunately tonight, I realized I can no longer hide for I have an essay due tomorrow on the book I previously mentioned 'Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality'. To be honest, I am struggling through it because I found the book was written from an extreme femminist point of view and despite my beliefs that men and woman should be equal in sport--I am finding this book to be just unreasonable. Go figure.

Alas, I shall go back to my essay--I am just over the half way mark. I will sit here typing away being distracted by every little thing...music, the internet, my blog and various webpages like myspace and nexopia.

Can barely wait to see your smile...

It's Official--I Strongly Dislike Wednesdays.

Note: The time.

I am definetly not a morning person--especially when it comes to computer science labs at 8am. That's really all I have to say, if I get out of my lab early enough, I'm going to bike home for a nap before anatomy this afternoon.

Two more sleeps...

My Nerdy Side.

There exists this moment in time in which everything we've done up until that second has been working towards that very instant in time. We go through elementary as a precursor to junior high--from there we proceed on to highschool and it is there we are given the chance to pursue our dreams, whatever they may be. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to work in a medical field--for not only do I have an immense amazement with how our bodies work but I also have been blessed with a big heart in which I want to live to serve others. So personally for me, when I graduated from high school--there was not a doubt in my mind that the next step was university. Last year I was emersed in intense courses--one could definetly say I was in over my head. To kick start the year, I had the bain of my existence, Organic Chemistry--a course that later I discovered was actually a class they used to 'weed out' students who desire to pursue medicine. This was followed by many other courses (like Honors Calculus) --as was the case with most of my courses, I couldn't see their relevance to my passion in medicine. Now to reiterate what I said before--there is this moment that exists in which we see every ounce of work we've dedicated to our goals start to pay off. For me, this very moment was this morning in my anatomy lab. I can't even begin to describe what it was like, for up until today, I had only ever seen gross anatomy from the perspective of a textbook. I was completely blown away as I got examine the human body--the skeletal system, the muscular structures and nervous system all first hand. Today we started our studying with the pectoral girdle and as 'dorky' as this probably sounds, I learnt a lot of 'cool' things. For example, I've always assumed from how bones look in pictures that they are sturdy, solid and reasonable in size. But today, I held a scapula (shoulder blade) in my hands (a real, human scapula donated to science) and I was just amazed at previously how wrong I was. The first aspect of the bone that caught my eye was the size--it couldn't have been much bigger than the palm of my hand. The second aspect of the bone that I noticed was the subscapular fossa (the main portion of the blade itself) was rather thin, and when I say thin I mean--it was almost see through. As our TA informed us--it was the ligaments and surrounding muscles that provided the the strength and protection of the scapula--not the bone itself. I spent the remainder of my lab with my lab partner studying first of all, three major bones: the scapula, the humerus and the clavicle. For our exams, we have to know every ridge, line, indentation, bump and marking on these bones so for the next hour we simply quizzed each other back and forth using our textbook as a reference. Afterwords, we got to move on to a slightly more intimidating topic--the muscles that make up the pectoral girdle. This was slightly more challenging and took the remainder of the lab as we analyzed first the superficial muscle groups and worked our way in towards the deeper ones. Isn't that cool?...

For those who have found my rant to be somewhat interesting--here is a picture of what I was talking about previously, the scapula!:


Alas, I must go back to working now--I can only spend so much time blogging before I realize that I cannot run from my homework forever.

Three sleeps...

Just A Note (Literally).

I woke up this morning to prepare for my cadaver lab--as I walked into the kitchen I noticed a little yellow sticky on the counter from my roommate--despite the joke being not that funny, I did laugh outloud. I guess that really illustrates that I'm amused easily!

Excerpt from note:
"...Have a stellar day and don't kill anything in your lab! Hah, I'm so funny!" ~ Nick

On another note--I am so tired I could probably fall asleep standing up.

Who's going to burn out? Pick me, Pick me!

Keep on smiling.

With Faith Like A Child.

Quote of the Day:
"I can read you like one of those large page seniors books!" ~Nick

This only confirms what I have previously thought--there is not an ounce of being discrete in me.

They say that I can move the mountains, and send them falling to the sea. They say that I can walk on water, if I would follow and believe--with faith like a child...

God's blessings in my life leave me absolutely speechless--I have found that words cannot justify this feeling He fills my heart with. In every aspect of my life, I see his work--does it get any better than this?

There are always those people in our lives whose profound impact on our lives they are unaware of. Through experiences in my life that have caused me to learn first hand that life is simply too short to not say how we feel--I believe it's important that we remind these individuals in our lives of the postive influence they've had upon us. Last spring I did this before I left to return home for the summer with a very special friend in my life. I met her last year in my statistics class--we ironically started talking because she was ranting to someone next to her about people's personal bubbles. It was the first day of class and as always, people file in and always space three to four chairs between them and the next person. It was through her cracks about people's personal space and how she personally isn't at all shy that I turned around and introduced myself to her. Over the next four months of the term, I got to know her as she inspired me to grow in all aspects of my life--spiritually, emotionally and physically. She constantly challenged me to see things from a different perspective which encouraged me to continue to mature. Through her, I truly learned what it meant last year to have amazing connection with God through a personal relationship with Him.

Now--why do I bring this up today? Well, four months ago, when I left to go home for summer--I gave her a big hug and of course told her I'd miss her. I went four months without really talking to her due to both our busy schedules. Today, I went to 'The Flood'--a young adult ministry at church for two reasons--firstly of course I love God and will take any spare moment I have to gladly worship Him and secondly because I knew Martine would be there and I could surprise her. Tonight, as I locked up my car in the parking lot and walked towards the church steps, I saw her greeting people as they came in. Of course I snuck up behind her and as I approached her, I casually tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and caught me off guard as she screamed and threw her arms around me. The night proceeded with a powerful worship service and a sermon that challenged us to always strive to be better Christians by striving to live a life like Jesus. After the service, her and I stood around in the lobby talking and catching up. Now those who know me, they know I can talk...a lot. Now believe it or not, I've met someone who I myself can barely keep up with--Martine. By the end of the night, we both agreed that a 'slumber party' was in order in which we'd veg out on our favorite snacks and watch movies and talk until we lost our voices. Sounds good to me!

On another note...

Generally speaking, I seem to be having bad luck with my automobile--more specifically with my windshield. As some know, I recently had my windshield of my car smashed while I was at Ookfest (the biggest frosh week party in Canada)--and just a couple of days ago, I paid to have it fixed. I won't begin to describe how much this frustrates me because that will start me on a rant about vandalism that would result in an essay. Thusly, I will just summarize it now by saying that vandalism is an act of immaturity and utter disrespect. After paying to have my windshield fixed, I put my mind to ease for at least the problem was dealt with...or so I thought. Tonight, when I was driving home from church I noticed that my rearview mirror was 'swaying' a bit. Honestly, at first I thought I was seeing things because I'm exhausted but as I continued to drive, the swaying worsened to the point that my rearview mirror became disattached from my windshield. I do have to admit that I did laugh, I mean--what are the chances?

Anyways, I've killed as much time as I feel I can by writing in my blog--now I will go finish reading my book about Women, sport and sexuality for class while I wait for a goodnight phonecall.

You complete me.

Mental Note.

I just bought the book Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality. What did I get myself into by signing up for this sociology course?

Post Script.

For those who are interested:

I posted plenty more BBQ Pictures as well as other weekend pictures (like setting the garbage can on fire and the rugby world cup) on my online photo album. Follow the links on the side of the page--the newer photos are posted on "Part II". Enjoy!

Counting down the days...

Game Day.

We've never been so close, to be so far...

For once--I'm too tired to write, Friday night had more of a toll on my body than I was aware of at that point in time. I should have followed in my roommates footsteps in going to bed last night at six o'clock.

Let's just say, today--I saw something amazing for today I sat in the stands and watched first hand the IRB Woman's Rugby World Cup. I gazed intently upon Team Canada as they battled for bronze against Team France. I yelled and cheered as I waved my Canadian flag--I even made up a little dance for when Canada scored a try. It was just indescribeable to see some of my teammates from Team Alberta on the field proudly now representing our country. But sadly after struggling for the lead, Canada came out defeated. Next up? The gold medal match. I cheered from the stands once again (nearly lost my voice) as New Zealand triumphed over England to their third consecutive IRB Championship Title.



I honestly never thought I'd be so priveleged to be sitting in the stands watching New Zealand compete in Rugby. Imagine that...

Still In the Light.

The BBQ Aftermath.

The Kitchen...




The Hosts...the morning after...
Note: Nick had an advantage in which he had already showered at this point and I had just woken up.




You're probably thinking the aftermath could be much worse--but think of it this way: the majority of people resided in the basement the entire night--they drank there, ate there, played games there and eventually passed out there. If the kitchen looked like that and no one was really upstairs then you can only begin to imagine what the basement looked like...

After cleaning (afterall, the parents arrive for their first visit today), Nick found a surprise in his garbage can and as a result the two of us proceeded (logically of course) to set his garbage can on fire in the backyard. With garbage can, matches and pitcher of water in hand, the two of us proceeded out to the yard to start a fire and take pictures!







Alas, I sit here, in my sweats waiting for the arrival of my parents. Once they get here, I'll visit a little bit before I head over to West Ed to meet up with some friends visiting from Calgary!

Keep on Smiling.

Counting the days till I see your smile again...

Wait Until Morning.

Note: I think I have an obsession with taking pictures--I should probably have myself admitted to an institution or something because todays upload was one-hundred and forty five pictures. I actually ran out of room on my 1GB memory card and I've had it for just over two weeks!

"Hello, my name is Alex and I'm a photoholic."
*Group response in a montone voice* "Hello Alex."

Ever have one of those days?...
You lay in bed at the end of the day--of course reflecting as you always do. You think of your morning and wonder, 'Was that actually just twelve hours ago?' Your day was just so busy, you barely had a moment to relax. It all begun this morning at 8:30 with your over ambitious desire to be productive and of course, knowing your avid dislike for mornings, the story is perdictable for you pushed the sleep button a good dozen or so times before actually getting out of bed. Once up, you look at the clock and realize you only have twenty minutes until your supposed to be on campus meeting a friend. At this point comes the quick shovel through the clothes on the floor, bed and closet for something clean to wear. You find something you like--you check yourself out in the mirror and head out to the bathroom to do the hair while juggling putting out the dog, feeding her and grabbing a bowl of cereal. In record time you manage to complete these routinely tasks. You look out the window--yet another freezing day in Alberta and today you won't underestimate the weather. You throw on a hoodie (over your long sleeve shirt) and a rain jacket. You pull the hoods up to protect your hair (that you just worked 'so hard' to do), grab your IPOD, strap it to your backpack, grab your keys and head out the door with your bike by your side. Jumping on the bike, you rip your way to the students union building realizing your already late. Luckily, you get there in time to be fashionably late (as always). The next hour and a bit fly by as you sat in the students union building catching up with an old friend--and before you know it, it was time for class again.

Embaressing moments...
So here you are, you walk into your anatomy class and begin to scan the room for where your friends are sitting. You see them in there usual place, back row. As you begin to approach them, one by one they slowly begin to clap. At first you smile at their humor but slowly as they one by one begin to clap, the class slowly joins in (having of course, no idea why they're clapping) till the point where you sit down with a bright red face and the whole class of nearly two-hundred is clapping. Now one may ask why these friends and strangers alike are clapping at your entrance into the room and the answer my friend is truly simple. This week, you didn't go to class and therefore upon comming to class for the first time in the week (on a Friday no less), your friends find humor in being sarcastic--clapping as if to say, 'Hey, you showed up!'

The time crept by...
There you sit, through Anatomy then Biochemistry then of course Sociology. Each class you stare at the clock and blankly at your book obviously daydreaming. For starters, your not discrete--you have completely tuned out everything around you and your grinning from ear to ear. One could dub you, 'Ms. Permagrin' and it wouldn't be far from the truth.

Between here and there, it managed to be nearly four o'clock in the morning...
Somewhere between that class, you come home, clean, and make yourself a late lunch. You make a trip to get some groceries for your bbq and the next thing you know--people are starting to arrive. This is where the night becomes a blur for you (and not because of alcohol, infact you're so cool that you don't need to drink ;) haha) as time flies by. From games of 'Ho-down', 'Twister', 'Spoons' and 'Higher Lower' to tournaments of foosball (in which you are still undefeated) and dancing to music (in which you once again make a fool of yourself)--the night was a 'hit'. Now here you find yourself, the bbq began at 6:30pm and ended at 3:30 in the morning...9 hours later...

Now that you've adequately described your day, you are itching to post your favorite pictures hoping that everyone enjoys them as much as you do...


Just the girls.


In the company of good friends! Alex Unrau, Hayden, Brenden and I.


A smaller group of us decided to kick start a game of spoons!


Looking Cute.


Twister close up.


Alex Unrau, Ben, Justin and Daniel being goofy.


My friend, Jason and I hanging out.


Jason and the boys came up from Calgary for a visit!


Another group shot playing cards.


Getting the twister going.

Keep on Smiling.

My previous entry (the first in ten days!) was described by one as an essay. I decided to post another blog (to make up for lost time) of just pictures for those who are not overly thrilled by the use of numerous words. Enjoy!

Ten Indescribable Days.

Honey--you are a rock, upon which I stand and I come here to talk--I hope you understand. That green eyes, yeah the spotlight shines upon you and how could anybody deny you. I came here with a load and it feels so much lighter, now that I've met you. And honey--you should know, that I could never go on without you. Green Eyes. Honey, you are the sea upon which I float, and I came here to talk, I think you should know. That green eyes, you're the one that I wanted to find, and anyone who, tried to deny you must be out of their mind. Green eyes...green eyes...Honey--you are the rock upon which I stand...
~"Green Eyes" Coldplay~

Note: You never realize how some of the little things you do are appreciated by those around you. I mean--even the seemingly insignificant things can be part of someone elses life in ways that we are unaware of. In this way, today I learnt that my blog was part of many people routines--go online, log on MSN, check the email, the usual and somewhere in the midst of it all was 'Check Alex's Blog'. One person in a lecture today even went so far as to say that they missed my blog (I haven't posted in a week and a half) because on their bad days, my humor brings a smile to their face. So thank-you, I love to bring smiles to friends faces in any way I can! Always glad to be of service!

So today, I need to express my ever growing dislike for the cold weather. Usually it wouldn't bother me--actually, it would be quite the opposite as I adore storms for they're pretty to listen to and look at.

Note: Here, I said 'look at', not 'be in'.

This evening, after class, I ventured out into the cold because due to unfortunate circumstanstances, my car needed its windshield replaced (this is another story entirely unto itself). Anyways, here I am, getting ready to walk to pick up my car, I gaze out the window, and logically because it wasn't raining (yet) I went out the door in merely my jeans, runners and a light jacket. Here in lies my first mistake, never, under any circumstances underestimate the weather in Alberta. So as the story goes, I put on my headphones, slipped my IPOD into my jacket pocket and began the journey down my street and onto the main road. Here I am now, walking down the street, singing outloud (without realizing it) to Starfield on my Mp3 player when it begins to sprinkle. It was a mere spitting so I decided to continue on my walk without turning around to change. A block or so later I realized I only had thirty minutes to get to the shop before it closed and this is where the weather kicks it up a notch. The spitting I referred to before developed into a down pour. Within practically minutes I looked as if I had just gotten into the bathtub with my clothes on. My shoes were full of water, my pants no longer had a dry inch on them, and I won't even get started on my hair. At this point, I thought I had it pretty bad. I was about ten blocks into the walk--half way. This is where I made my second mistake--ironically the same mistake I made twenty minutes earlier...I underestimated Alberta's weather. I should have been thankful that it was only raining for at just after the halfway mark of the walk, the rain turned to hail. Now not only was I cold and wet--but now, I was being pelted by balls of ice. I couldn't help but smile, I mean, I had to see the humor in it because whether I liked it or not, I was stuck in it. So there I was, drenched from head to toe as I saw people at bus stops--sheltered in those little boothes, pointing at me and most likely thinking, 'Look at her--what is she thinking?!', as I smiled, listened to my IPOD and sang along with most of the songs.

Note: Yes, I know, I'm kind of crazy...the way I figure it is well, for starters, sanity is overrated, that and the crazy people have all the fun.

When I finally reached my destination, I breathed a sigh of relief--my trek was finally over. I stepped foot inside the shop and immediately the man behind the counter got up and went to the backroom and returned with towels and a cup of coffee. It was an amazingly kind gesture! Once I had warmed up and paid for my new windshield--I got into my car, turned on the heat seats, plugged in my IPOD and off I went driving back home, singing along to my music once again.

On the drive home, I made a little detour and stopped at Home Depot. I was looking at the prices on replacing a piece for our toilet that was broken. After spending a decent amount on my windshield, I just couldn't bring myself to spend thirty-dollars on a little clip (that looked insignificant) and decided that I could figure out something at home for free. I headed home and while I was wandering around the house I saw a box of paperclips on my desk (if I was in a cartoon, this is the point where a lightbulb would light up above my head). With a little bit of creativity and innovation, I managed to fix the toilet with a paperclip--how's that for resourceful?

The night proceeded on with catching up with Nick, chatting on the phone and MSN with friends and taking a hot shower to warm up. Here now I sit, in sweats pants, a hoody and dalmation slippers--still shivering. Knowing my luck, I'll probably catch the flu or something. I am now off to review and catch up in my studies. Enjoy your evenings everyone!

Forever and ever babe...two-hundred and forty unforgettable hours...

I miss you already...

A Post By Nick (the roommate) Part II

Does anyone know where the swiffer is? This blog is starting to accumulate dust.

A Post By Nick (the roommate) Part I

Because Alex hasn't posted an entry in a while, I shall post one for her. This is all I got actually.... No substance here.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Recipe for Disaster:
Provided By: Alex

" A mouth watering treat!"

Category: Experimental
Ready In: Fifty-Five Minute Intervals
Servings: One

Ingrediants:

- One cup of thirty degree weather
- A quarter cup of freedom
- 1 Activity Guide, Fall 2006 edition
- A tsp of excitement
- An ounce of anxiousness
- A sprinkle of adventure

Directions:

1. Combine the above listed ingrediants with water and mix until smooth.
2. Apply cooking spray to non-stick baking pan.
3. Add mixture to pain and cook for an hour at 350 degrees.
4. Enjoy!

End Result: You craved that new and exciting treat--something completely different from anything you've ever tried before. You flipped through the Activity Guide and nothing seemed to jump out...but wait, what's this? A class on pilates core training? This peeked your interest. Next up you double check your class timetable making sure that the appropriate time slot was available. Once everything was double checked and the fees were paid, I find myself registered in this fitness class on Wednesday nights. It truly is time for something completely different...

Thusly the recipe for disaster...

Do You Remember?

Sidenote: Please take note of (either by route of reading previous blog or checking out side links) of new picture site. Long story short--I ran out of bandwith and instead of paying to upgrade, I created 'Part Two' of my online photo album.

Today had a slow start (this can often be the result of staying up till three in the morning the night previous) but soon picked up (and by soon, I mean by about 5 o'clock). I slept in till nearly noon but made up for it by being productive in the afternoon with chores around the house. I have to have the house looking nice for my guest tomorrow! From vaccuuming, cleaning to dusting, mowing and laundry--I'd say this is the cleanest I've ever been! Needless to say, it was thirty degrees today and the house (without air conditioning) became rather hot, rather quickly. At this point, Ryan and I threw together a smoothie with V8, yogurt, bananas and ice, sat down and watched some good ol television. I managed to make fun of almost everything I saw on TV (sometimes I do that when I'm tired--I can get a little attitude haha) and found that Michael Jordan was being interviewed on Oprah. This is where I spent most of my time for despite how much I dislike Oprah--I love air jordan and therefore would watch anything that was on him or with him in it. Simple.

Alas, I discovered the wonders of getting a second wind right around the dinner hour and decided to head out (after Ryan had left to bike home...90 blocks...) to pick up first, Alex Unrau and his roommate Brenden and then drive to Ryans to pick him up. This was as far as I had planned, so the moment we arrived at Ryans we kind of all just stared at each other thinking...what now? It didn't take long for us to figure out we were hungry, so off to Sobey's we went. After probably thirty minutes of wandering there, we were truly unimpressed and grabbed dinner at a Tim Hortons around the corner. With Tim Hortons in hand, we went back to Unrau's place for some good ol' Nintendo--the original. We played Dr. Mario (which couldn't have been more simple in concept but for some reason, I was still confused...I am not gifted when it comes to video games) and took tons of goofy pictures while eating giant cinnamon buns and drinking the only things Unrau had in his fridge...Alexander Keiths and 'Cat Piss'...surprisingly a name of a wine. It was a great time of just spending time with friends--the kind of time where you're so comfortable that you really don't have to do anything in particular to have an amazing time.









Note: Incase you wonder why the one picture seems to be me intensely focused or...'frowning' while holding a Nintendo controller, this is what the boys tonight dubbed as my 'game face'...I'm really into the game...as you can tell hahahahaha. (Sense the sarcasm?)

Goodnight all and as always...keep on smiling...

Due To Unfortunate Circumstances...

Due to the limit on bandwith allowed per user at my picturetrail account (online photo album) and my lack of desire to pay twenty dollars a year to upgrade to an account in which I can upload more pictures, I have decided to create another online photo album at a different URL to carry on the posting of new pictures (I have so many, I can't keep up). This solves both the problem of running out of bandwith while avoiding having to pay!

Enjoy!

www.picturetrail.com/Alexandra024

(It's like the next step--get it?...023...024? Soon enough I'll be on to 025...but not yet)

Less than twenty four hours remaining...

In the middle of chores.

My previous entry couldn't have been more right. When we don't want it to, time slows to a screaching hault and when we want nothing more than for time to stand still--it disappears in the blink of an eye.

Counting the hours...

Miles Away From Where You Are.

I've been counting down the days and now--only one day remains...

I have this ever persistant thought that these last twenty-four hours will be the slowest of all as I will repeatedly check the clock causing time to appear as if it creeps along.

To help distract myself, I've set out a 'to do' list for tomorrow. On this list include my all-time favorite chores of laundry, vaccuuming and mowing the lawn. Lucklily, a friend has eagerly volunteered to help which will result in the time seemingly go quicker than if I was just on my own!

Counting the hours...

Shut Your Eyes.

This afternoon, I ventured back to the place I usually wince at the mention of [que evil theme music], IKEA. Despite my avid dislike for this store last year, the summer break gave benefit as I found myself there this afternoon actually having a good time. As you can tell from the following pictures--it was not all work in picking out what Ryan wanted for his new place, there was definetly some play in there...









After IKEA, the rendevous was back at my humble abode to meet up with my friend Jimothy that had come into town to visit myself and his best friend and childhood buddy--Evan. The afternoon kicked off (literally) with a little throwing of the football, some shooting of the hoops and a bit of passing around of the soccer ball. I would post pictures but I simply have too many, so for those interested parties--please follow the links on the side to my online photo album!

I am getting tired so I am going to cut to the bare necessities. After an afternoon of sports, the four of us headed over to campus where we adventured to HUB and SUB (two buildings most obviously on campus) to find Jimothy some lunch/dinner. Me (being the dork I am) thought it would be a fun idea to go into the bookstore while we were there, but low and behold--a certain someone I seemed to be avoiding was in the hallway and as I did my best to avoid eye contact--I was caught. What did I do? Well as the boys so joyfully teased me about, I ran. I avoided it like the plague so to speak.

After our trip to campus came a little bit of down time in which we rested and caught up on some R & R--this could only be done for about an hour though before we decided to get back up and head over to the 10 pin bowling alley to of course, prove again that I am a superior bowler. At first, my game started with more than a couple gutter balls as the boys mocked me. I kept my style going though (a smile on the face) and made a major come back to tie for first place. Twas good times.

Alas, here I am after talking till nearly 3am--and I'm totally drained. I have plans to head over to church in the morning to track down a friend from last year so I better call it a night.

Keep on smiling!

When the Angels Can't See...

Been beat up--been broken down, no where but up when you're facedown on the ground. I'm in last place, if I place at all--but theres hope for this underdog, can you call me the underdog...

I'm in this race to win a prize, the odds against me, the world has plans for my demise. What they don't see is that the winner is not judged by his small size but by the substitute he picks to run the race...and mines already won...


The plan for today...

This morning I am off to IKEA--now, as always, I still think some sort of evil theme music should be paired with the mention of this Swedish (and therefore, technically, Socialist) company that is slowly taking over the world in a very capitalistic nature. Moving on from the topic of IKEA thereby avoiding my rant about the pains we went through in furnishing an entire house in this furniture--after ths trip out to...*evil theme music* IKEA, I will be returning home for as I found out yesterday--I have two guests from back home arriving today! What does this mean? This means I have to pull in a matress from the garage and hope one of them doesn't mind sleeping on a futon on the floor in the basement. I am so excited and feel incredibly special that I not only have one person comming out to visit me this weekend but two! It's going to be a riot as tonight we'll go out and adventure around the city to see the wondrous natures of its bars. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures--as always.

Keep On Smiling...

A Hunger For Things That Are Deeper.

Today was yet another action packed day as I attempted to fill my day with as much as I possibly could. This morning, I got out of the way my usual routine--a run around the campus for an hour and a half, a shower because I was inevitably gross after the run, a nap because I was tired from waking up before my body wanted to, a little bit of cleaning around the house because, honestly, I've become someone who likes things to be clean over the last year...alas all these things are rather boring and nothing out of the normal.

This afternoon Ryan, Nick and I headed out to the backyard for a little basketball--a game of 'horse' followed by '21'. It was however interupted in the middle for a branch that was in the way of our shots. Needless to say, this branch took a good amount of work and it still didn't want to come down! We were swinging off of it, pulling, twisting, and wrenching at this silly thing and we had no dice in actually getting it off the tree.







As you can tell--getting that branch down was a game unto itself!!! After shooting hoops, Ryan was kind enough to buy the food to cook us a beautiful meal of steaks, bbq'd potatoes and caesar salad. After this most wonderful meal, we drove to his place so he could change and shower before we went out to Unrau's housewarming party thing (for Ryan had biked ninety blocks to my house from the North end of the city!). When he was getting ready, Nick and I googled Superstore to find a Superstore liquorstore near to Unrau's place so we could get him a housewarming gift!

I think we did well...Three cases of Alexander Keiths later (12 packs)...



The night was just amazing, sitting around talking the night away as we all laugh and remembered good times from last year. Speaking of remembering old times, I had to get a picture with these three guys for they were some of the first people I met last year when I moved up to this strange city...(I love these guys so much, and yes--ladies--they are single!)