Something to say for irony...

So as it turns out, I love to build epic caves.
First one: snow.
Second one: sheets.

I have discovered the link in my fort building: Jeff Spackman. He's the only one that was present for both.

Last weekend, the greatest fort of all time was constructed. It's a good thing I had JUST bought new sheets, so that we had enough to construct this wonderful monstrosity.



It took some serious contemplation and arranging, but once we took a second to think about it - badda boom, badda bing!




The most brilliant idea was using the nest to heighten the roof.
(Mind you, some of the construction pics are from the expansion we did the next night)

This is the original fort crew...



But there were plenty more good times to be had in the fort...










There may have been a lot of roommate bonding in the fort. It really brought us together. We may have had a few roommate sleepovers over the course of the week...
but sadly, it came down today, 9 days later.

I think I'm going to build a fort in my bedroom next.

PS.

Did I really not mention mini-golfing in the vacant Leishman house in Picture Butte?? Well, let me tell you... that house is huge and we divided into teams and mini-golfed through all three floors! Such a good time.



Yes, my ball ended up under a table, and they made me crawl under and putt it out.

There was a ramp off the loft, detours through connected closets, and last but not least - a hole to drop the ball down.

Did I mention that there was a fire pole in that hole? Because there was. A FIRE POLE! In her house! I can only imagine the greatness of the Leishman's childhood in this house.




Just one last good time over Christmas break.

Finally, it's New Years

Better late than never right? I didn't have my camera for some devastating and simple reason so it took some time to get the pics from New Years. But it was such an epic party that it needs to be shared.

Let's just start by saying, we know how to throw a party. And by "we" I mean Bonnie, Cody, Melissa, Janessa, Scott, and I. And ultimately the hosting skills of Bonnie and Cody are fantastic.

Place: Waterton
Time: 12pm Dec. 31, 2009 - 12pm Jan. 1, 2010
Invited: Good friends only
Cabins involved:
Pollock - food cabin
Steed - dance party and games
Leishman - reserved girl sleeping (AKA me, Bonnie, Melissa, Raquel, and Jessica)
Agenda:
1) Lunch
2) Dig most epic snow cave of all time
3) Dinner
4) Swimming
5) Dance Party
6) Fireworks
7) Games (Namely kissing rugby, stacks, and highlight/lowlight of 2009)
8) Fall asleep to movie and warm fire at Bonnie's
9) Delicious breakfast
10) Chilling in the snowcave and spontaneous snowball fight

Only one word can describe the awesomeness of those 24 hours: epic.



We've arrived and we are SO ready to get this party started. We're bundled and ready to do some serious playing/digging in the snow.


Cody and I have wicked sweet snow pants. Let's do this.


And dig we did.


For hours. Literally.

We had four entrances that we then expanded and connected into one giant cave. In my section, I assumed position inside with a small shovel, pushing back the walls and clearing out the snow chunks from Logan, who was very effectively digging out the side wall to connect up with Cody and Jeff's side (who were also digging machines), and poor Janessa was a trouper, outside the entrance of my section, she kept clearing and clearing, but the snow chunks just kept coming.

Here's the thing about digging a snow cave: There is always more snow to clear, more ridges to chip off, farther to dig. But in the end, when we finally decided to end, the cave was around 40-50 feet long, 6-8 feet wide, and 3-4 feet high. No joke. Epic.






Needless to say, I was fairly exhausted after digging for close to 5 hours straight... Though my eyes were, in fact, supposed to be open for this pic...


The dance party was great fun, though the perma-strobe light and hardcore rave music was a bit much after, let's be honest, 5 minutes. I love dancing, but I would have preferred starting up the dancing game - I adore the dancing game.


For some reason, the spontaneous snow fight the next morning was waged against Bonnie. And Bonnie alone.

I think she took it... rather well.

Best new years ever.
Best birthday ever.
Best party ever.
Best friends ever.

I know this word was thrown around a lot over Christmas break, but really... new year's was epic.

craaaafts!!

if any of the people reading this blog know me, they should know i love crafts. 

if you don't know i love crafts, now you do.

i've been known to spend full days elbow-deep in paper & frames & modge podge & yarn & crochet hooks & patterns & fabric & photos & everything else you could possibly imagine.

my roommates are enjoying this fact, and reaping the benefits. 

my latest creations?

picture frames.

AND.

paper'd mirrors.

they're cute.

i promise.

i only have a couple photos, but perhaps tomorrow, or another day, you'll see photos of the entire set.

perhaps when they are all hung up and in full splendor, you'll see the full beauty.

or maybe you can just come visit my house...

...and do crafts with me!!

Motivated

So my dear friend and fellow blogger, Brittney, started a weight loss challenge for herself. She is highly motivated and determined to get into shape. All it took was reading one blog post from her to get my butt back into gear. I used to run almost every day last semester, but ever since I moved to the castle, I haven't been running. Now that I'm working though, I come home from work and what else am I supposed to do? So Bonnie and I have joined Brittney in her exercise regime.

Ironically enough, Bonnie had never stepped foot into the UofA gym until this week - after she had graduated with her degree. But since stepping foot on Tuesday, Bonnie and I are 5 for 5 days. We're hardcore like that. And the shortest amount of time we've spent is 1 hour; we usually average about 2 hours. We're hardcore like that.

I am loving it. I love pushing myself and working hard and feeling dead, but so good after. Usually in the past I haven't lifted weights, I'm a cardio kind of exerciser, but we're doing the full package deal and it's great. I'm actually really excited to get my arms into shape because my legs are always in better shape than my arms. Bonnie is loving it, too. Hopefully we can keep this up. Not gonna lie, my body is so grateful that tomorrow is the Sabbath. The day of rest.

Rite of Passage, Right?

So yesterday was pay day, and I feel like it's kind of a rite of passage to blow the first paycheck. I even wikied it and this is what the 5th standard work had to say about rites of passage:

A rite of passage is a ritual that a person must go through in order to progress to the next stage of their life.

I am definitely progressing to the next stage of my life. I am done school, working in my chosen career, and the first pay check in that career is kind of a big deal, and I think blowing it is only necessary to fully step into this new stage of my life. So today I am going shopping.

Or perhaps just call me Working Woman

This is me.
Today was my first day of work.
It's official.
I am a working woman.

So the hygienist I am taking over for went into labour Sunday. Yep. The office found out about this Monday. Due to my broken phone and lack of being at home yesterday, Lauren wasn't able to track me down for the receptionist until about 3:00pm. I called and they said they had already cancelled all of Monday.
I now start Tuesday at 9am.
Done.
I was not ready.
I had been counting on going in Tuesday morning and just shadowing the hygienist for a couple appointments just so I could see how she did everything so that if I had questions about something she had written or done I could ask her before she wasn't around. Too late. I was counting on having two more days to brace myself and recondition my body to go to bed at a decent hour and wake up earlier than 10am. Too late. So I tried to find my cheat sheets and notes. Couldn't. So I re-wrote my anesthetic and x-ray cheat sheets and read my scriptures and said my prayers and tried to go to sleep at 10:30, but that didn't happen. I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but it was after 11:30 I'm sure. Oh well.
I gave myself plenty of time in the morning to get ready and eat and get there. 20 min early. Perfect. And then the day unfolded as thus:
Patient - Cancellation - Patient - Lunch - Patient - 30 min lag - Patient - Quittin time!
So it was a good day to break myself in a little. I don't like feeling not good at this. But it will come. And I didn't have to take any x-rays today. They too will come. (and when they do they will slow me down and take away from my precious time...)
Well just like I read in my Christmas present from Melissa, "Oh, Lord, I am yet strong. Give me one more mountain." Bring it on. Good big or go home.
(I can talk big now, but last night and this morning I was not near as confident, though don't be fooled - I'm still not.)

Before:

Afraid. Nervous. Anxious.

I could not even fake a smile. I was so nervous.

After:

It was a good first day.
Tomorrow may be another story.

Just call me Lady Luck

Day 1: Write resume and cover letter.
Day 2: Google and go through 900 dentists in Edmonton and pick out the 50 closest to my house.
Day 3: Print, staple, and sign resumes and plan route of attack for taking out resumes.
Day 4: Spend 3 hours dropping off resumes. 15 min after dropping one off at an office, the receptionist calls back to schedule an interview.
"When could you come back in for an interview?" she asks.
"Now! I can come back right now! I'm not that far I'll be there in less than 5 min!" I think. But of course I keep my composure and simply say, "Oh whenever is convenient for you. I can come back anytime today, or tomorrow. Whatever works for you."
"Alright, let's see, how about noon tomorrow?"
"Sounds great, I'll see you then. Thank you so much." I reply, while thinking, "Perrrrrrfect. I can sleep in and still have time to shower and get ready!"
I hang up the phone and cannot stop smiling. SO happy. I cannot even believe how happy. I screamed and whooped and celebrated for a solid 15 min. And played my music really loudly. But I told myself I should finish handing out my resumes to my listed offices because an interview does not mean a job. So I did. But I was thrilled and didn't really care about those last 10 offices very much.
Day 5: Interview. The dentist is really nice and the interview was short. He essentially just wanted to know when I was available, what kind of hours I was looking for, what days, and for how much. All questions I could easily answer. He has a hygienist going on mat leave who works mon-thurs. Perfect. He showed me around the office a little and said he believes in taking the time to do a good job and really take care of the patient (just what I wanted to hear as a new grad. Take your time and do a good job). The office is also an old house converted into an office, which he likes because it gives a more welcoming and family and friends kind of feeling - I completely agree. The whole time it seemed like I pretty much had the job. But I did know he had another girl to interview because he told me so. So I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. He said he'd call me in a couple days.
Later that day my phone broke. Just up and stopped working. Dead. Forever. I was devastated and so paranoid that an office was going to try to call me to offer an interview and I was going to miss out on potential employment. Worse yet, I was paranoid Dr. Chai was going to try and call me back to offer me the position and I wouldn't get it because he wouldn't be able to get ahold of me. So...
Day 6: I wrote a little note that essentially said:
Hi Dr. Chai, my phone broke yesterday so here is another number you can reach me at if you need to in the next couple days, you should be able to reach me on my cell phone again hopefully by Monday or Tuesday. Thanks again for the interview. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of your office and the caring and fun attitude of yourself and the others in the office. I would love an opportunity to work in your office. Sincerely, Cathy.
I dropped it off with the receptionist and went skating.
When I was done skating, I got back in my car and looked at Bonnie's phone (because I had stopped by her house and borrowed it because she's in Dubai and not using it) and saw two missed calls from numbers that weren't in her phone. Then I read a text from Lauren (the only person that knew I had Bonnie's phone) that said that Dr. Chai was trying to call me! Ahhhhh who knew he was going to call THAT day?! I shoulda just stayed at home and sat by the phone! And then I got a text from Lauren that said, "You got the job!" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I was the happiest person alive at that exact moment. I laughed and screamed and whooped and almost cried and said a hundred thank you prayers and then I cranked my music and dance partied all the way home. I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 7: I went over and discussed things with Dr. Chai and sealed the deal. Count it. 7 days! I am the luckiest girl alive. I am so so so so ridiculously blessed. I must have done something right after all.

so close yet so far

This is the story of the immoveable couch.

Nikki offered us an old couch that she wasn't using and was just sitting in her sister's garage. Of course we accepted because we accept all couches, loveseats, and arm chairs we can get our hands on. This couch in particular is intended for our basement that I spent an afternoon clearing out so that we can pimp that space. I figure if you're going to have plenty of space, you might as well make the most of it.

Darren was kind enough to lend his services and truck so the two of us went over to pick up the couch. To my pleasant surprise a matching armchair was thrown in. Back at the house, the armchair made it in the side door and downstairs easily - obviously. And then we tried to bring the couch in. Tried being the key word. Dang old house with narrow stairwells, sharp corners, and sloped ceiling. Darren and I tried in vain for 45 minutes, pushing, pulling, lifting, kicking, and sheer forcing it. To no avail. We got it repeatedly wedged very tightly on every side and just inches away from in. It was immoveable. So frustrating. We were SO close, so many times and it looked like we should be able to just tweek it and drop it down the stairs. Such was not the case. And I had to run away to meet with my new boss... I felt bad leaving Darren there alone... but I couldn't stand up my new employer - that's just a bad idea. When I came back 45 min later, Trevor and Jason had come to help Darren get the couch back out - because we had successfully gotten it stuck neither in nor out. So it was now successfully back outside... unfortunately. Trevor thought we could get it downstairs fairly simply; he just had to go through the same thought process and experience that Darren and I already had. He soon realized the couch was simply just that much too big. Disappointing. So it's now in our study. We'll see what becomes of the immoveable couch. It may never move from this spot.

too little too late

We have been really excited to crack open this coconut.
Bethany especially.

There was a lot of great coconut milk inside... excellent.

Sadly though... it was rotten.
Bethany may have taken a bite out of it to discover that fact.
Poor girl. It smelled awful.

Sad day.

the Cooking Corner... make that the Uncooked Corner

It's the inaugural use of my Vitamix! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the greatest present I have ever received! I love my parents. This blender can do it all: grind grains, make smoothies, soup, ice cream, and knead bread dough! Last summer I stood and listened to and watched the Vitamix guy at the stampede for like 30 minutes straight. I sampled soup, ice cream, and smoothie all in that 30 minutes. Seriously so great. My mother knows how much I love this machine. So she bought one for me for my birthday/graduation present. I have never been so surprised or thrilled by a present in my life.

So the other day we busted it out and made the first smoothie...

Just look how delicious this is going to be. And the wonder of the vitamix is you can put vegetables in your smoothies and ice and not even tell they're there because you can put so much whole fruit in too!

Let's do this.


So delicious.


We now make smoothies daily.

Just can't stop the beat.

So the whole eat, sleep, party, repeat mantra of my life hasn't stopped. I'm back in Edmonton and the good times just keep rolling.

Maybe it's because I'm just that kinda girl.
Maybe it's because I'm not in school and I don't have a job.
Maybe it's because it's Frost Week.

First: I love dancing.


Second: I love friends who rearrange schedules so they can come be my friend.


Third: I love onesies. And I love skating. Put them together and I love watching.


Fourth: I love flying.


Fifth: I love being random. and I love making people laugh - which this did.


Sixth: I love being tall enough to ride the rides. Love.


Seventh: I love being a third wheel.















Eighth: I love rides.


Ninth: I love starting a trend.




Tenth: I love candids. (Willie). I also love my roommates.


In short. I love life.