belly laughs

i love to laugh.

i love being around people who love to laugh and make me laugh till my stomach hurts 

the best is when you make someone else laugh so hard that you can hear it in their belly.

like the anticipation of getting tickled or doing the tickling.

it makes me laugh even harder.

a long time to succeed

so i decided (all along) that after my first degree i was going back to school. i went straight to university right out of high school. i really had no clue what i wanted to do (maybe an inkling was felt for healthcare). i first enrolled in the bachelor of science in engineering. my father was an engineer, i enjoyed science and was supported by numerous family and friends. but i just could not see that being my big picture. i ever so slightly (in my very dramatic way) freaked out and my father ended up calling the registrar and getting the info to apply again.
i applied for a bachelor of science degree. i really had no idea what to enroll in (being that the options are endless) so my dad, helping me out registered me in: chemistry, biology, genetics, computing science, calculus, and my required english. needless to say: YUCK!

getting a footing for this whole university experience, i dropped the next semester's computing science and took a psychology course. YES, this is where i needed to be. i fell in love with the scientific intricacies of the brain, classical conditioning, and the art of information processing. my hardcore nerd-dom came flying through. i minored in linguistics with the idea of going into speech pathology. i said all along that that was my intent to my friends and family but the drive really wasn't there. there were exams to take going into grad school and i continued to miss them feeling an impasse of what was really in store for my life. i loved psychology, but could never figure out how to integrate that love into a "lovely" career.

i thought i found my calling in occupational therapy. i worked really hard to get into u of a (four times in fact) and got rejected each time. frustrated with my lack of progress, yet determined i looked at other routes and strategies that could get me where i wanted to go. then it came to me. in the back of my mind i wondered what it would be like to go into nursing. my mother had always told me that i did not have the stomach for it. at the time, i whole heartedly agreed. but as time progressed from graduation to the present my jobs were centered in the healthcare field with a focus on nursing. my stomach seemed able and willing to handle it all. my mother retracted her statements and with her support (plus many other proud family members and friends) i enrolled at both universities in my area. being accepted by both, i felt gleeful and somewhat vindicated to reject the u of a that had dismissed my application 4 times previous.

now here i am in my second year. a thirty year old student, with a little bit of life and education experience, going through the motions again. this time i feel like i really belong. i have my drive and it feels fabulous!

happy moment

well i am just on a roll...two blogs in two days! how does that even happen?? :) i am sure this is just a fad.  its like the beginning of a exercise program - BUT, i have managed to keep that up, so this too may stay!

really i just wanted to write about a small, itty bitty, moment i had yesterday with mark. we have been together for 3 years now, and living together for a year in a bit. in that time, i think we have eaten together, at the actual dinner table 5 times (if that). AND it was all in the beginning of our relationship. you know, when your eyes are only for each other. since then we have recieved a beautiful table from mark's grandad and 4 equally beautiful chairs from mark's parents. yet, we still would eat supper elsewhere. i would be in front of the television, and he would join me or be at his computer. well yesterday marked a milestone. i had made slowcooked stew from the morning and bought a chocolate cake after school. when i got home i served us up some supper. i debated watching curling yet the chairs seemed to be calling me, enticing me to sit in their loveliness. so resigned and sat down. mark watching me from his "office" came over, poured us some milk and sat with me. we talked about school, olympics, and any other thing on our mind. it just felt so NICE (i know such a simple word, but a perfect one all the same). our little family (just me and mark...oooo and kitty) had a very simple yet beautiful moment together. we really should do it more!

I am back

after a long hiatus i am back and have changed the formatting of my blog...just a wee bit!  i will see how it goes from here. but i thought it woud be easier (since this blog has my name and everything) just to make this about my life.  not that i really have one (hardy har har). 

this is a pretty significant year for me. it is my 30th (or i guess depending on how people look at it my 31st) year.  i made a list back when i was 26 (and before that made a list for when i turned 25) of things to do before i turn 31.

Accomplished goals were:

-scuba dive the Carribbean
-move out and be happy: and with lots of work and love continue to be
-volunteer for something i feel passionate for: lucky me, found a person i am passionate for too
-eat healthy, be healthy, and feel comfortable about who i am and who i am going to be: that hit me on my 27th year, aren't the late 20's fabulous...so much self-discovery and change that is sooooo good
-do something that is extreme and thrills me!: frankly that is something i should strive for everyday, but all in all, i do many things that thrill me whether they be in the form of an adventure, a relationship, or a career change
-ski somewhere other than Jasper or Banff: not that there is anything wrong with those...i love those hills with a passion! however this year we were luck enough to visit Fernie, a 'beautiful, down to earth, have they really heard of tourists' town...it was a great place to relax from school, and watch the olympics begin in vancouver..."hey do you know if canada has won a gold medal on home soil yet?" (jk)
-go to Mexico and have a blast with some friends: yes i did go...and maybe had too much of a blast, (if possible???)


Goals in progress this year (some with crossed fingers):


-New York, New York: this will be happening at the beginning of may with one of my dearest friends, a very exciting girls trip planned of shopping, sightseeing, eating, and girly debauchery (if there is such a thing )
-surfing in Tofino, B.C.: i fell in love with surfing in Australia, and have been craving waves ever since.  Alberta, being alberta, does not have an accessible ocean like B.C. so that is hopefully where i will be heading this summer with mark (he seems excited too, although more on the hiking aspect)

Other goals that (most likely) won't be accomplished are more places that i dream to travel.  but those are endless, and i will get to them in my lifetime, not in just a 5 year list. my grandmie told me once that in her lifetime she wanted to see the AB Rockies. she saw them when she was 70.  so places are a lifelong goal! :)