Home for the Holidays

Every time I come back home it feels as if I haven't really left in the first place. The only thing that really changed was the season.

Arriving in on Thursday Dec 19 at 9:30pm to -36 C was a big chill. I was definitely not prepared for the cold which made it hard to motivate myself to do really anything the next day except for the fact that my dad and I were going to the nutcracker that evening (a christmas tradition for many years now) which I was excited for. This year the nutcracker had a new artistic director who changed the sets and lots of the costuming. It was very well done, less childish than the past few years and all the sets were so beautiful, and was set in more of an imperial russian time. The nutcracker is such a fun story and brings me right back to my childhood when I wanted to be a ballerina.

The next day Jenn, Ashley and I got out in the cold to go to Heritage park for the 12 days of christmas. This is something we had done the year before and had fun doing it and have now started a new holiday tradition. The 12 days of christmas is really for the little ones but it is fun bringing out the child in you every once in a while. We wrote letters to santa, even saw santa himself, enjoyed some cinnamon buns, and wondered the streets to look at the houses on display. I love how all the staff get so dressed up in the old fashioned clothing and really get into character. It was a fun afternoon.

Snow days!!

I know I said I would update you all on that crazy weekend but I need to rant first about the most recent snow days...

You would think I would be excited about a snow day in Portland, on any other regular week it would be nice to take a break from school but no not this snow day! A snow day (actually so far two) during finals week is not cool.

I now have 3 exams that have been postponed for the first week of classes next term. Now I am going to have to lug my notes with me back home and then feel bad when I don't look at them at all during the break and have to cram the first week back.

Frustrating!!!

Holiday Ale and Hockey

This past weekend was very eventful and a lot of fun! A great weekend before we have to really hammer hard for finals.

Friday we started off with the Holiday Ale festival in downtown Portland. Sonia, Dani and I were on a beer sampling mission as we were on a tight schedule. We had to head to the hockey game after, so we only had an hour and a bit to get through some long lines and lots of beer. We all bought a mug and 10 tickets, which means either 10 beer samples or 2 full mugs and 2 samples. We scoped one of the shorter lines and filled our mugs to the top.
Dani chose the Jim 2008, Sonia the Babushka's Secret and myself the Shot Put Stout. All dark beers but the Jim 2008 was more like bourbon/jager in beer (yuck). We drank these beers while waiting in the next line. Having trouble finishing off the heavy beers we let many people pass us in the line while giving then advice on not trying the Jim 2008!! This time we thought a lighter beer would go well, except again Dani was unlucky with her beer (can't remember the name) and Sonia and I were satisfied with the "Pour les Bons Voeux" lighter beer.

Dani not impressed with her beer :(

Not that we are skilled in beer tasting at all but a fun time was had, I just wish we could have taken more time to enjoy it.

Back on the Max we go (after taking some very Canadian themed photos with Beavers!!) we were off to the Portland Winterhawks versus the Calgary Hitmen hockey game at the Rose Garden. Here we met up with about 15 other WSCC students and had fun watching Calgary win 5-1. Go Calgary Go.

Me with Tomahawk the mascot.

I really should get back to my studying for finals which are coming up next week. I will continue on with the crazy eventful weekend soon (probably again as procrastination).

In Montreal for American Thanksgiving

This past weekend I went to Montreal during the american thanksgiving break! I know I should have stayed and experienced a true american thanksgiving but a trip out east in Canada was much needed! I had been saying I would go visit my friend Ashley for a few years now and my mom living closer to that end of the country I thought it would be a good opportunity! Also all the flights within the US were expensive but once you crossed the border they weren't bad at all. The trip to Montreal round trip was the same price as what it is costing me to go back to Calgary over the christmas holidays!

My journey to get to Montreal was a long one. First a 6 hour drive across the border from Portland to Vancouver, a fun little evening with Neeka and then early in the morning I was in a cab and off to the airport. A nice sun set over the mountains in Vancouver!
At the airport waiting for my flight I got a call from my mom just asking how the journey has been so far. I wasn't fully prepared for the weather I would experience in Montreal so I asked for mittens, socks, long underwear and just thought I would ask for home made cookies too. Once I got into Montreal Ashley met me at the airport and we were right in the middle of traffic so went straight to dinner and then met up with some of her friends at a bar. Nice to meet some of her friends and just hang out. After getting back and dropping my things off we went to grab dessert. Yummm the french have really mastered desserts!! I guess you can't go wrong with chocolate fondant and caramel though!

The next morning I met my mom at the train station and we went and found our little B & B! A cute place, great location and yummy Parisian breakfast! After my mom gave me my winterizing supplies and some homemade squares (yay!!), we went to old Montreal and did a little bit of the touristy thing. That evening we headed up to Laval, a small suburb of Montreal, to visit some family friends. It was really nice to see them all and we enjoyed a nice meal with good company!
In Old Montreal
The Welsch's

Saturday had breakfast at the B&B, a second breakfast with Ashley and then wondered the busy shopping streets of Montreal and then dinner with my mom, Ashley and my cousin Ana. From there headed back to the B&B for dessert and tea and then Ashley and I went to a Pascale Picard Concert at the Metropolis. She is from Quebec, it was a good show, although I was expecting at least some songs in french but no luck. It was fun to go to a show in montreal though, the music scene is so much better there then Calgary! Well at least for the music I like.

Sunday wondered a bit more of the streets and went to get some true Montreal bagels!! yum! Sesame seed bagels fresh out of the stove! My mom left that evening back to NB and then Ashley and I went for poutine and then met up with Ana for dessert. All in all a great time was had in MONTREAL!! and yes still my favorite city in Canada!

Now just two more weeks of school, 6 final exams and home for Christmas holidays!!!

A Portland Chinook

I know chinooks in Portland aren't really possible seeing as they don't have the snow to melt and you wouldn't be able to see a chinook arch from the clouds, but today was what I would describe as a "Portland chinook". The rain just stopped and it warmed up all of a sudden, it was great! It was still cloudy but was a nice welcome from all the rain this past week.

I know what you are all thinking... "what are you doing living in Portland if you already need a break from the rain?". Well there hasn't been a whole lot of rain but I am just not fully prepared for it yet . I still have to put the fenders on my bike and get a bit more rain gear. I luckily do have a couple of pairs of rain boots now. Every time I put them on they make me smile! I mean I need some way to make the rain enjoyable!


I have decided however that my brothers have the right idea. Working out in snow is much better than in rain, I mean snow is cold but rain is wet (yes that is an obvious statement). Working out in wet is way worse than working out in cold! Which again is why I need more rain gear before I am fully satisfied with the rain out here.

Multnomah Falls

Two weeks ago a group of us headed up towards Multnomah Falls! The drive was no longer than 40 minutes from our door to the falls and once there we hiked up to the top!
The falls are pretty touristy but not as many people go up to the top! The whole thing was pretty impressive and I am pretty sure I will go back often. They say in the fall with all the leaves changing colours it looks really nice and in the winter it often freezes so that would be cool to see. None of the pictures do any justice of the falls or views so when you come visit me , we will have to go and see them!


Julia (from West Virginia), Tammy (Edmonton- going to PSU) and Sonia and I


On the way back we drove on the "historical highway" which is a winedy beautifully scenic road. It was such a nice clear day and really nice to get some fresh air!

Back to the Student Life

I have finally gotten settled in, the fridge looks like someone lives there and the cupboards are full. It took me pretty much the whole two weeks with many trips to Ikea, winco (grocery store), safeway, costco, the phone company and target to get everything I needed.
Once everything was unpacked there were definetely things I had noticed I forgot back home. Mainly the legs of the futon, making it pretty much useless, so having to sit on the floor on a mattress in the living room was fun.

School started last thursday with a 2 day orientation and official classes started Monday. Orientation went well, there are 93 students in my class, 20 of which are Canadian! Met a whole bunch of people and it seems like a cool group, and we will get to know each other really well over the next four years that is forsure.

Monday classes we have lecture from 7:30am until 12:40 all in the same classroom. No real moving for 5 whole hours, blah that was intense and we went through a lot of material. Pretty much all anatomy terminology but I need to refresh my memory from last year to really get a handle on it all. So I was studying already on the first day, sweet! The rest of the week is random in scheduling but I always start at 7:30 so that will be a challenge to get used to for a while. I am trying not to start drinking coffee but well see how long that will last.

Hampton Hall- which is where I spend most of my day!

School will be intense but I know I will be happy with the end result!

Crash

I had my first real crash today, not a little fall while at a stop light when first riding with bike shoes or something a good road rash, bruised up crash!

My brother said "well at least now you have popped your crash cherry", I really hope it is out of my system for a while. I have seen some pretty intense crashes and I was lucky I didn't get banged up worse. I ended up cycling over a train track and slipping in the track and boom I am face down on the ground, that explains the gist of it . Chipped a tooth and my right side is pretty scratched up and I have some intense bruising to show for it all but otherwise I am OK!

I was riding with a group of women from "Sorella Forte" and they were really helpful! Got me some ice, waited til I was ok to move and drove me home. The rest of the day I spent lounging around and icing pretty much my whole body.

The bruising is getting some good colour to it now, but hopefully the swelling on my lip goes down a bit. I am sure going to look nice for the first day of class this Thursday!

I'm sure I won't be off my bike for too long, I mean I live in Portland now, how could I not go riding. Although from now on I am pretty sure I will be much more cautious on train tracks.

This was a few hours after the crash, the bruising is getting pretty ugly now :(

The City of Roses, City of Bridges... Portland

While I am sipping my peach strawberry protein smoothie (made from my new magic bullet- thanks bub!!) I thought this would be a perfect time to give everyone an update!

I have officially moved to PORTLAND OREGON!

Sarah and I left Calgary on Friday morning. Didn't get much of an early start but we were off at about 10:30 after filling up gas and last minute errands. Really without Sarah I don't know if I would have made it to Portland, first off it is a long drive I would have been lonely and I am not very good with directions so without Sarah figuring out the map I don't know where I would be right now. (Sarah if you're reading this, THANKS again). We made a few quick stops but once in Coeur D'alene we had a shopping trip to Target!! Then drove a little further and spent the night in Spokane.


Here is the one and only picture of the trip. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the intense packing job of the van but it was pretty sweet, fit everything in, even my road bike!

Leaving Spokane, I just wanted to be in Portland but we still had 6ish hours to go. We ended up taking a slight detour for not being too observant and missing signs but oh well it was a really nice scenic route! As I have said before, you find some real cool things when you get a little lost. Once in Portland it was pretty much unload the van and get things figured out! I felt slightly bad because I had all these things I had to get done while Sarah wanted to check out Portland! We did get to see a bit, went down to the Pearl District, took the trolley on the whole loop to get an idea of downtown, went to Portland State University. We found a really awesome vegetarian restaurant/ yoga studio and had dinner there! It was sooo good!! It will be a regular I am sure!

Sarah left Monday afternoon and from then on I have pretty much been unpacking, organizing and doing some necessary grocery shopping and errands! Those first few grocery trips to stock up on things always seem so pricey and the fridge still looks empty. Oh well, I just have to give it time and will have it all figured out.

I have been exploring the bike paths a bit and love how there are bike lanes pretty much everywhere! Love how cycle friendly this city is!

Here is a picture from one of the pathways near my place, right beside the Columbia River with a view of Mt Hood.

The place I am living in with Sonia is pretty nice, decent size rooms a nice living room with french doors and it is only 10 blocks away from campus! I will get pictures up soon!

You can see Mount St. Helens (on the left ) from our balcony, you just have to ignore the big freeway right outside.

Classes don't start until Thursday so just going to do some exploring and I am going on a few group rides with a cycling team this weekend! I will keep you all posted!

Finishing things off

I am here at the office packing up little by little. I ended up taking on the same idea as my brother and leaving all my work clothes at the office and riding to work. It has been great except for now I have all this stuff I need to take home. I have 3 more days left so it's coming to an end!! Yay, I have gotten the office thing out of my system and am so ready to get back to school and start learning again!!

Sonia and I have found a place in Portland and have gotten things organized with that. Such a weight off the shoulders to have a place figured out. Although we still have yet to see it and have no idea what the floor plan is, but it is better than nothing at all! We aren't tied down to anything so if it isn't what we want we can move if need be.

I will keep you all posted on the official move, which is next Friday!! AHHHH so soon!

Umbrella!

After scimming through the BBC website I came upon this picture and it made me smile! Hopefully I will be able to swim outdoors before the summer ends or who knows maybe in Portland before it gets too cold!

Ongoing house hunt

It has been almost 3 weeks since Sonia and I went to Portland to look for a place to live. Things in Portland were rushed but we managed to see a lot. We found a place we liked right away but knew we had to keep looking if things didn't work out with this particular place. It is always hard trying to look for a place after you have already set your mind about another, we kept comparing every place to it.

As of last week the place we wanted fell through and we were back to the drawing board. We have a few options available but obviously they aren't our first choice, but as the rolling stones sing, "you can't always get what you want, but you get what you need". In the end I think it will all work out, I mean its just first year, I have 3 more years to find the place I really want!

After only a day and half in Portland I was off to Vancouver. Originally I had planned to take the Amtrak train to take a nice scenic route, however the train was going to be delayed by 6 hours so I ended up taking the greyhound. Eight hours later I arrived in Vancouver at 3:30 am, blah! Luckily Edwin was only just starting to doze off and was so nice to come pick me up at the station. In Van I went shopping along Robson, went to the beach, watched the fireworks in the evening, helped assemble some furniture for Edwin's new condo, watched the Pride parade and hiked up Grouse mountain. All in all a great time. I will definitely be going to Vancouver as much as I can once I move to Portland.

House hunting..

I am off to Portland tomorrow to look for a place to live, Sonia and I only have a day and a half to get through apartment viewings, a school tour and more apartment viewings! I am hoping we find a place alright. Wish us luck!

In other news I have been back on the road to recovery from my surgery, still not feeling 100% but getting there. Right now I am debating whether or not to withdraw from a sprint triathlon August 10th, but I will make that decision closer to the date. I haven't been in the pool in a very very long time, and my endurance has decreased drastically so it would definitely be a challenge.  Well see?

Just was packing and listening to some music and this one song came on which reminds me of my brother Cy. Not the lyrics at all just the guy singing. This isn't Dan le Sac from "Thou Shalt Always Kill" but sounds similar to me. Maybe it's because they are both from the UK, but its a fun song.  Check it out, it is called Wearing my Rolex by Wiley

What would we do... Usually drink, usualy dance, usually bobble!"

Have a good August long !

Numb

So I know it has been a very long time since I last posted here and not sure anyone even checks this anymore but I felt a need to record how I am feeling these days.

After having surgery to remove a cyst in my neck a week ago, I think I am doing pretty good. I have been very protective though and ended up tensing up my neck muscles real good which has added to the pain and annoyance. I have also started to notice that right underneath my chin it is almost starting to feel numb. I am not sure if this is due to me trying to slowly pull at the steri-strips or just part of the normal healing process but it is a very strange feeling.

Now I am just worried about what it will look like when I fully remove the strips.

Fingers crossed it turns out ok!!

Wow its been a while

Well I haven't written on here in a very long time, but really it's because nothing that crazy and exciting has happened. I have found a sweet job that keeps me busy and will help me save up for school. It is nice because I work in the same building as my brother so I get to see him much more often than before. Well before which consisted of when I lived in Edmonton so being in the same city does help with that.

I have developed a nice routine, I am up every morning at 7, with a 5 minute snooze and on the bus by 7:50. Home by 5:30 and have all evening to do whatever.

Trying to stay healthy is my main priority, and I am having a hard time with this. I seems no matter what I try I still get sick so easily, I guess the curse Cy put on me of calling me "perma sick" has seemed to stick.