market time

source

ahhh it is spring. i hear the birds chirping, the canadian geese coming home, the sun is out, and the breeze is cool (but not overbearing). i love it!

off to the farmer's market this morning to meet anita. maybe do a little jewellery shopping (eek), and buy some fresh produce....and i am thinking maybe some pretty spring flowers! :)

wish me luck!

love

food is the new crazy

i love to eat. i love spicy, sweet, sour, hot, cool, creamy, basically i love food!

recently (maybe more within the last year) i have become slightly more concerned with my health. i have been one of the fortunate ones to never worry about my weight. i am not very skinny but athletic and have never really had weight issues. due to good genes, high metabolism, and my love of working out i thought i was fine and could eat whatever i want. cut to my annual physical last year. for my age group, i have high cholesterol. i was shocked. due to my genes, poor eating habits, and my growing age, food has finally got the better of me.

it isn't only me. it seems like everyone (or maybe they all had and i just started listening) have gone healthy. i hear about food factories, eat organic, don't buy cans, avoid salt, sugar, and butter or is it margarine: regardless avoid both!  food....like real food has become the new craze! within this age of technology, where faster is better, immediacy is desired, and "i can't stay and eat, i have to go" is the philosophy, i wonder is our culture able to (or can) adapt? i hope so!

i (and whether mark has noticed, he has) made some friendly food choices. just to name a few:
1. always eat breakfast, and have flax seed in the am
2. when it comes to using canned veggies vs fresh...always choose fresh
3. substitute butter for apple sauce (believe me it really works)
4. whole grains are my friends: embrace them!

i am hoping that with these small lifestyle changes i will be able to continue and move forward with further products that will enhance my health. let's face it i will always love the spicy, sweet, sour, hot, cool, creamy. i won't give those up! however, with moderation i will be happy with all my foods and most importantly HEALTHY!

love

me night

mark is going to his friends tonight so i am planning the perfect alone night:

1. get into my comfy housecoat and spend the night in it

2. do a little bit of homework/research for my paper

3. give myself a pedicure

4. rent a girly movie...maybe two

5. relax

sounds fabulous!

love

great friend

let's talk about case...just because!

initially, i met case, in jr. high. apparently all she remembers of me was my long pink sweater that i thought was hot...and apparently was not (side note: why do we seem to remember each other's clothes...must mean first impressions are important!) regardless our friendship did not take off in grade 7. she moved at the end of the year.

we met up again, in high school as she was in the same social circle as me. i remember one of the first times i hung out with her. it was in her blue firefly, going to christine's. when we talked we found out that we shared the same chapstick, were close to our moms, and (when we would go) shared the same church. that was our initial bond. and it stuck! casey was always (and still is) up for anything. i remember i wanted to jump in puddles on a rainy day just because. she was there in a full body rainsuit splashing around with me! we would always try to do things like bike rides or go to the gym but spend half the time on the ground laughing, or talking...or going to mcdonalds! she was my consistent bar partner, as we acted foolishly, and danced to violent femmes and dee-lite. i would go over to her house (or her to mine). we ordered ham and pineapple pizza and jalapeno ranch dip, and watched endless television/movies. i would sleep through them, she would wake me up, in her casey way, i.e."TRACEY, WAKE UP!" and tell me what i missed. our greatest movie bond, and greatest sense of nerdom was lord of the rings. i had the first two extended versions...we watched them back to back and then went to see the last movie. i don't think i have seen those movies since that time! :) she is fearless, energetic, and extremely social. i love and admire each of those qualities. that is what makes her a special friend. i had the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding. a wonderful day that was so intimate and compiled of so many people that love her and her husband. she is also the reason that mark and i are together (you can read it in a different blog post). she is a wonderful human being who will always be one of my bestest friends!! BONUS: she is a wonderful mom!

love you case!

i have one more thing to say

ahhh a nice relaxing evening for st patrick's day. had some really good green food today. started my day with two green suckers, then had cucumbers, celery, spinach dip, and guacamole, with two green cookies. ended my night with some green milk and green pancakes!...ahhh if you can't enjoy it through food it just isn't worth it!

anyways...had a great scrapbooking night although still am really crappy with the photo taking. but here is my spread. it was in 2008 on valentine's day. casey, jeff, and i decided to do action shots as the camera person yelled out a word. needless to say it was endless laughter.

happy st patrick's day again!

love

this is all i want to say:

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

love

short and sweet

i went out for dinner for a co-workers birthday
it was a good dinner
i had great laughs
i went out for drinks after
they were good drinks
i had greater laughs
what a fantastic night

thanks for the fun everyone!
love

thanks dad

while i was working the other day i noticed snow valley from our drive back to program. snow valley is one of the city hills in edmonton that i have been to twice in my life. usually (coming from a semi-skiing family) we would trek to the mountains rather than go here...ski snobs as you would probably conclude. anyways, the two times i went to snow valley were on school field trips when i was in grade 5. i thought about my dad (a die-hard skier). he would take the days off work and chaperone/ski with me. i totally forgot that he did that until i saw that hill. we would usually stay later than the kids from school and ski. he would buy me a chocolate bar and we would talk about things in my grade 5 mind. so this is a shoutout to my dad. thanks. i had tons of fun and enjoyed our late afternoon skiing. thanks for taking the time. love you!

scrapbook night

i love to scrapbook

and i love my friends

not quite that good at the picture taking and don't own a scanner so this is what you all get. in reality, i don't think it is quite that crooked ;)

love

spring cleaning

with the creation of facebook i see into the lives of many friends all at once. spring cleaning is what everyone is saying today. i love a clean house. sometimes, when i have a million things on the go, i.e. grocery shopping, studying, paper writing, working...i will start cleaning. stress? maybe, but i just love organization and i love the finished product.

cleaning is something that mark despises. when i look at him, i see mass chaos. yet he seems to survive quite well, better, without my underlying ocd need to create order. that was one of the most difficult things we had to adjust to when we started living together. my difficulty in "letting go", realizing not everything is an emergency and i can function. his difficulty and wonder of why i need things the way they are. it was very hard and stupid fights would ensue. yet with fights you learn and love. our relationship grew and we accepted our differences.

NOW that we have adjusted to living with each other compromise has begun. mark helps me clean even though i know how much he truly utterly dislikes (maybe even hates?) it. yet he chooses to help. i on the other hand, let go of the need to nag and harass him to do things that really are not important to him. in the end it is just a stupid dirty dish.

isn't it amazing what a little spring cleaning can get you thinking about.

love

my pick of the night

if i was invited to the oscars this is what i would wear. beautiful.

love: part 1

my mom had been volunteering at the mustard seed for awhile. i was searching for something so i decided to join. i enjoyed it immensely. i felt like i had a purpose. a higher goal in life. with that volunteer job, there was a tiny itty bitty feeling to do so much more for these community members and others that were just as vulnerable. the mustard seed was also when i had my first encounter with mark. my mom always liked him (somehow i think she wanted to set us up but did not know how). he didn't talk much. neither did i. i was not looking for love, lust or anything remotely similar. i was striving for happiness within myself. so for a year, he was just mark, the mustard seed volunteer.

enter casey. after volunteering for a year, casey expressed interest in joining. i, welcome at the idea of having a friend doing this with me, pounced at the opportunity. casey, being casey, fit in right away. the volunteers and community members fell in love with her outgoing personality, humor and beautiful smile. and casey, being casey, was never shy making friends. she immediately latched onto mark. that is how he became part of our little group of three. four months past. we started giving mark rides home. i became slightly intrigued yet self protective. i knew little about him besides being a volunteer. however you can count on casey unravelling the puzzle as many questions were asked. it became casey's sole purpose to get us together. karoake was the doorway. a bunch of us were going to go singing in the millwoods area. i was struggling to get casey to come. mark overhearing this expressed interest. the opportunity came! casey said she would be there if mark was there.

that is how our relationship started. karoake became a scrubs marathon, became a movie date, became a home cooked dinner date, became long distance texting to this: a loving adventure three years later.

i guess thanks is given to my mom and casey. to my mom for her very subtle pushing and getting me started at the seed as it gave me more opporties than i can count. and to casey's lack of subtlety and for her just being her.

love

oscar night

so tomorrow is the oscars.

i used to be a fanatic about these things. even as a kid, i would stay up late and watch the academy awards special. i remember when billy crystal used to host and do all his spoofs. when whoopi goldberg was the first african american women to host the academy awards. i remember steve martin, david lettermen (uma/oprah), chris rock, and john stewart. i remember ellen degeneres with that ridiculous swan costume. i remember the outfits. i loved the dresses, the glamour, the make-up, the illusion. the big party where everyone would dress up for one special night. i always wanted the invite...but only if i could dress up too! and the wins were my favourite part. when roberto benigni jumped all around the seats after his name was announced. when matt damon and ben affleck were in disbelief as they randomly shouted words/names as they clung onto their statues. when little anna paquin hyperventilated (just a little) before her speech. when hilary swank forgot to name her (then) husband for a beautiful yet small movie. and when james cameron declared he was "king of the world" for a beautiful yet large movie.

it was an event i shared with my mom. that one sunday we would sit, and watch certain musical numbers, wish for certain winners and be intrigued with certain movies that we never took note of before. when my mom was away, i took my oscar fix to my very awesome(est) friend casey's house and would sit with her, her mom (my mama b), and her aunt. we would watch musical numbers, wish for winners, and wonder about movies all the same. when i was away in australia, my travelling commrades and i staked out the television in one of our hostels up the northern coast. in our little shelter, under the pouring rain, with a feast for plenty(liquorice, tim tams, chips, candy, much more) we watched muscial numbers, wished for winners, and planned on those movies.

in the last couple of years i stopped watching the ceremony. i still cared as i would hear about the winners on the radio the next day. i would admire the dresses in the magazines the next week. i would see the movies in the video store the next month. i still love the idea. it is that one magical day, where those selected actors/actresses get a chance to be in a fairytale.

i think i will watch them this year.

love

just like that

i went to michaels last night...
spent a small fortune...
just like that...

now the scrapbook creations begin

love

Jeaninne Date!

i have a jeaninne date today! very excited! jeaninne has been one of my very good friends for about 14 years now. I saw her first in 10th grade and admired her fashion sense...she laughs now, but i thought her blue track pants with a white line down the legs were extremely cool. ahhh what were we both thinking? 

we were meant to be friends. she had a love of dance and we had a fair share of dance parties: backstreet boys, spice girls, paula abdul, and darren's dance grooves. west edmonton mall was and is still our marathon. we love the same music, sometimes really bad music. AND just having good old fun! frankly the girl makes me laugh like no one could, and she is one of the few whom i can cry with. she never judges, always listens, and we have such good girl talks. Plus its like we have our own language as she can talk in tangents just like me. she is one of my greatest friends. we have shared so much: clothes, laughs, tears, graduation, life ponderings (thankfully not boyfriends). and done so much with each other: camping trips, toured italy, summer festivals, skiing, karoake++++, shopped till we dropped in montana, movies, going to new york (may 2010...eek!) and so MUCH MORE! AND i had the privilege to be a bridesmaid in her wedding (let me just say: not one bridezilla moment. she says there was one but i think she was awesome). 

so needless to say i am pumped to see her tonight. we don't see each other as much as i would like (i would like to blame school, and my two jobs, and her busy job for the reason...more my stuff then hers) but i talk to her atleast once a week...and frankly couldn't imagine my life without her. she is fantastic!

AND i still think she has impeccable fashion sense! :)

love

wake up in the morning

i have consistently been going to the gym five days a week for the last 3.5 months. in the beginning i was eager, ready to sweat away all the excess sugar i was consuming over my birthday and christmas. mid january i started to falter but pushed through. my idea is once i start making excuses not to go to the gym, i will stop going. experience has taught this to be true. well today: wednesday, march 3 ,2010 looked to be that day of failure. my alarm went off twice: 5:50, 5:55. i laid in the bed fairly still. evil thoughts entered my head, "i'm tired"; "i didn't get any sleep last night"; "i can work out at night"; (something that has taught me to be untrue). just as i was starting to believe my lies. WEDNESDAY, popped into my brain.

every wednesday morning at 7:45am a co-worker teaches yoga (for free) at my work. she believes that every workplace should have some form of a health program and since ours doesn't have one, she generously took it upon herself to teach us yoga. having experienced injuries in my life, and being hopelessly flawed when it comes to stretches after workouts, i keenly attend her classes without fail. it leaves me feeling refreshed, walking straighter and longing to enroll in more yoga classes. yet it is no joke, my body is constantly challenged by how far i can stretch almost teetering out of balance (darn you dance poses!).

so i would like to say thank you to that lovely lady! you are the reason i ran on the treadmill today. as all i could think about was how great i would feel in one hours time.

love

battling addiction...REPHRASE: SCRAPBOOK ADDICTION

ahhh, to scrapbook. what can i say. i am an addict, been one for about 17 years now. my mom started working for welcome wagon and came across a sponser who did creative memories. she rehauled all of our albums (my brothers and mine) and compiled a baby book. me being me, was not satisfied with the progress she was making (even though she was rasing a family, working a job, and doing countless other things). so i took over my album at 13 finished it. mom, seeing my interest, bought me a scrapbook travelling bag, filled with all things that would delight a crafter: glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, endless stickers and all other necessities to make my own albums. so the scrapbooking began. now 12 + (?) albums later, i still continue the NEED to scrapbook. my travelbag is now a room. the glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, and endless stickers are in abundance. also some helpful additions have fueled my addiction even further. THE CRICUT has helped me escape the need to die cut paper for hours. the brads, eyelets, ribbons, glitter, and chipboards have ehnaced my pretty little scrapbook pages (what i believe) into works of art.

ahhh to scrapbook. the only problem is there really is not enough time in the day to do all i want. i am currently (although) slowly working on my album from 2008 (yes you heard it right), a wedding album for a bestest friend (i love you case) from 2006 (i know i am horrible friend), and an album for a very dear lady i work for. there are definitely worse problems!

ahhh to scrapbook.

love

hopewell rocks

so as i study for my midterms i look over at my picture screen saver and can't help but stare at the one's of hopewell rocks.

hope you enjoy! :)
love

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! :)

An Incredible Journey Into the Backcountry World

I lived in Jasper for 4 months in 1999 and enjoyed many things. I was never too extreme. However i saw plenty of wildlife (bumped into a black bear and cubs, plenty of sheep, elk, goats). I spent most of my Jasper culture, out of the bars and on the road biking, and day hiking.



Little did i know what I was missing in the mountain universe. The BACKCOUNTRY! A different beautiful outlook of the world and what Alberta possesses. The endurance is a testament to your strength: moving you forward. The food is a testament to the fuel: allowing survival. And the lack of showers is a testament to your vanity! The accomplishment at the end is euphoric! The idea that you hiked with the clothes and food on your back for a 3 day period amazes me.



I was introduced to hiking first in 2007 starting at the Sunshine Ski Lodge (a place I am fairly familar with in the winter). It was fantastic! I have continued on with many adventures and hope to continue in the future. But my first had many memories that I will always treasure :)

Trip to Stanley Part Deux

so when i was in new brunswick last year i had another blog. i recorded the memories i wanted to take with me back home. i love you grammie!! i am thinking of you...and i know where ever you are you are giving them your spunky attitude!! RIP

Friday, February 09, 2007

random things
okay so of all the things i have done down here, one thing has not changed, grey's anatomy. but i must say, with all the hype from the preview, i really could not get that into it. agree? and you know the person in the "cliffhanger" ending is going to be okay because of the previews for next week.

i have had my molasses and brown bread and mom and i have had our lobsters. apparently grammie doesn't like lobsters so while we ate those, she had pizza (which again, she apparently doesn't like but she likes the cheese). and remember how i used to say that the lobster scream when they go in the pot, i got that tidbit from my grandma. my mom still denies that there is screaming, and i agree as our lobsters were rather quiet.

i have concluded that the game of scrabble is a horrible game meant to show off literary geniuses extraordinary vocabularies. i suck at it. my grandma said i didn't do too bad but when you have your mom and grandma helping you and you still lose...and really the opposing player giving you a hand??

and lastly my twang has come out. my mom was making fun of me just now! atleast my speech seems intact! :)

well i will see you all soon! i must go onto ebay and bid on a cigarette roller for grammie!!
Posted by Tracey at 6:10 AM 6 comments

Thursday, February 08, 2007

relaxing and a little drunk...
i love stanley. stanley is one of those extremely small towns where i think everyone knows everyone else.

yesterday i spent the day relaxing/reading and stayed in my pajamas till about 12:30. it was freaking awesome! first, there is a school down the hill from my grammie's house that woke me up by singing "o canada"(i love small towns!!!)...i watched a bit of the morning talkshows with mom and grammie until they turned on jerry springer...seriously people have you watched that lately? i remember back when i did....BUT NOW there is a bell that they ring as soon as the people start fighting (like in a wrestling match) and a live band plays (with trumpets, drums) while the fight goes on!! it is insane!!

me and mom went for a walk into town (which is 5 minutes away) and i was once again told i look 19 but i am partly blaming (sorry jeaninne) the bunny toque, i love it, but i think i have a more youthful look when i am wearing it! :) lol...or maybe i just look 19, whatever.

more people came to visit...my mom's cousins came and left. then grammie's good friend doris, her boyfriend marty (mom's age) and freda (her daughter used to babysit me) came over so i decided to have some beers with them...and 4 beers later i was a little drunk. lol. and that is all i am going to say on that! actually no, i will tell you that a police radio was brought out and conversations occured that i wouldn't dream of eg. how suddam is not dead.

ahhh that is it for now guys, here is a little trivia for you to ponder: an elephants is the only animal that has four knees!
Posted by Tracey at 7:02 AM 3 comments

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

My Grammie
okay...frankly my grandmother cracks me up and i think its because i never know what is going to be coming out of her mouth. it has actually been quite interesting looking at the family dynamic with my mom and grammie as i am seeing way to many deja vu moments (its my future, or my present???...ahhhh)

anyways some funny (cute) tidbits about my grandmother:
1. she likes mean girls so she bought the dvd

2. she has a stuffed moose but insists it is a beagle with antlers

3. she got a really cute stuffed hippo for her bday but she will not sleep with it because it is a girl and my grandma does not sleep with girls

4. and watching the notebook with her i never realized what a comedy that movie was, instances:
-apparently alley was asking for trouble when she went walking with noah alone at night on their first date, but then it was alrite b/c she was being coy, and it looked like a nice "courtship"
-cut to the "seduction scene" (as she put it) and how disgusted she was as alley is going to get pregnant and ruin everything.
-noah is apparently doing it all wrong b/c he was suppose to take off alley's clothes (i seriously was laughing way too hard at this point)
-ooooo and when alley started talking to noah during the great seduction, grammie was shouting at the tv, "don't believe anything he says, they will tell you anything when your in that position, damn fool"

ahhh grammie...i love her! :)
Posted by Tracey at 5:45 AM 6 comments

Monday, February 05, 2007

3 Hours Ahead
hello everyone!!!

well i am finally in new brunswick! i flew in on friday and had a cool moment as i was flying into the sunset (geek moment right now) and you could watch the sky around the moon go darker and darker by the second...(geek moment over).

also had a layover in montreal (thank goodness i had jeaninne's dvd player and "how to lose a guy in 10 days"~sidenote~freaking hilarious movie). my flight was delayed in montreal because i guess the plane hadn't arrived yet and then when i got on the plane they de-iced it...that has never happened to me before so i was worried that the plane may freeze in the air but many people have assured me i was fine and it isn't straight water they put on the plane and yeah i am still alive!!

the party was at my aunt beth (mom's sister) and uncle rino's house. my grammie was surprised, shocked, and i think a little confused as she at first thought i was heidi (my cousin). then proceeded to tell us that we were stupid miserable good-for-nothing stinkers (something like that) for keeping secrets. ahhhh grammie, i love her!! i think she had a lot of fun. it was actually cute because two of her friends that she went to university with were there so there was some unb alumni from the class of 1949.

after the party, my cousins, mom, aunt, and i played the longest game of trivia pursuit in my life (4 hours of never-ending trivia)!! and it was the kind i have played before (pop culture dvd edition) dear gosh i think i now know how jeaninne feels playing that game...lol!

another side-note heidi has a long haired cat named lucy that likes and it even slept with me at night!!...the second cat in my lifetime to like me!!!

well i do not want to get too long with this post but in other news i spent the night with my nan and we celebrated her birthday with my dad's brothers, their wives. i finally met my little cousin ewan and of course hannah. apparently i say hannah's name wrong as i don't "twang" it with my western accent (see i am western after all). and in some slightly distressing not so distressing news...when ewan is 25, i will be freaking 50!!! AHHHHHH.....

i will blog another post later....i miss you all! luv ya!
Posted by Tracey at 8:56 AM 1 comments

i love the weekend!
Hey everyone...

I'm gonna say that my lack of posting just means that my life is pretty boring right now. Yeah...that's it. Jane, hopefully you're having a nice little vacation with Grammie!

HI GRAMMIE!!!!

Did everyone catch Grey's Anatomy? I can't mention much about it because I don't know if Tracey has watched it yet, but it was such a good one! I especially laughed out loud when Alex said "now you're Callie *beep*!" Do you know what I'm talking about? Tracey, did you watch it yet?
Anyway, I saw this trailer for a new movie with Katherine Heigl in it, and it's by the same guys that did '40-year old Virgin' so you know it's going to be one of those dumb movies, but the trailer is really funny!

BE WARNED: IT'S GOT SOME OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE (F-BOMBS) SO TURN IT DOWN IF YOU'RE AT WORK OR WITH GRAMMIE!
Posted by casey at 8:39am 1 comment

faced with fear

i have always been a big fan of the water but i NEVER had an inkling of a want to scuba dive. when planning the big trip to oz one of the major expeditions for my travel companions was to scuba dive the great barrier reef. for me, a person who had never snorkelled before, i couldn't understood why. as a kid, i hated my swimming lessons~ back and forth, back and forth throughout the length of the pool. why would i want to do that underwater?

here is the story of my first open water dive:

the day before
tense
couldn't speak
silent.
when spoken too i would break into tears
too much anxiety/pressure/everything!
secretly hoped/wished/willed that i would be unable to go
wanting to fail the medical
get stuck in another place
sleep in
but to no avail.
i was on the boat!

our first dive,
put air in my pfd
put the regulator in my mouth
jumped
let out the air out of my pfd
my body would not go underwater.
i willed it not to
definite hypervenilation
underwater now
i took a breath
then two
three, four, and many after!
it was okay
fantastic
fell in love

JAWS: the clownfish

their home

okay so this is not real although we did see a shark but it was night, so picture is unavailable. looks pretty realistic though hey???

ladies and gentlemen i would like to introduce...

...WALTER THE WOLF SPIDER!!!!

set scene: a fun filled day of shopping and attempting to learn to boogie board; three girls needed a night of relaxation in a local pub, with great food and drinks.

what happened?: Cheeky Monkeys! a backpacker's bar where competitions include "the dirtiest positions", where you win pitchers of beer for nickels, and end up dancing on tables.

cut to Walter: met him in the bathroom! the biggest living creature that crawls on walls that i have ever seen. he also just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! knowing that some person under the influence of quite a bit of liquor may not feel the same love we felt for the spider, we retrieved the bouncer (hey it's a big spider, a bouncer is the only one that could handle that kind of job!). he followed us to the bathroom and retrieved the little/big guy in a cup, and released him into the wilderness of byron bay (or a sidewalk).

so walter lived happily ever after (in my eyes) from that day forward!

THE END

THANK YOU MONTANA!

okay all i have to say at this moment on great falls, montana is KAROAKE!

i am not really a karoake-er and as i write this i know the company i was with would disagree but i blame it all on montana baby!!

total girl road trip lead us down to the states and into a very empty karoake bar [4 girls (us), and two elder ladies and an elder gentlemen]. when free drinks are offered if you just sing one song, you don't disappoint! a couple of cheap beers, some shots, and a stumble that will lead to a scar (that one will have to explain to their grandchildren years later), you couldn't drag some of us (throat clear) from the microphone.

...and really who has ever seen a karoake joint increase in crowd as the night goes on...not only that but have people dancing to the songs that you sing (okay maybe not the ones i sang but whatever...not the point!)

some memorable songs that were sung:

• baby got back-sir mix alot
• bad moon arising-ccr
• thriller-micheal jackson
• vain-carly simon
• boots are made for walking-nancy sinatra
• teddy bear-elvis presley

i wanna soak up the sun

soooo i should be going for a run right now but my excuses are as follows:

~pizza is on its way and who wants to work out and then eat pizza....
~after eating the pizza, who wants to work out! AND...

~it is amazingly hot out and a great day to just soak up the sun...

...just like this other amazing day i soaked up the sun in cancun, mexico (nice segway, hey?)

mexico was my way of opposing new years celebrations...as my strong feelings about new years is as follows:
~it is such an overrated holiday

~saying good bye to christmas is always so hard

so i fled the the country! unfortunately it was right after the hurricane hit but had absolutely no impact on my happiness as i had a fabulous time enjoying people, dancing, the sights and the weather!

so enjoy soaking in the sun today (atleast if you are in edmonton)! atleast it's cheaper as you don't have to fly away!

lord of the rings

so do you remember the scene in lord of the rings where frodo got stabbed and arwen had to get him to rivendell as fast as she could...then she met up with the ringwraiths trying to cross the river...
...i was there! :)

i did it!

so, when i was 21 years old i made a list of things i would like to accomplish before i turned 26. it was a small list, with things that i just wanted to do. one of them was to go skydiving. in 2004, when i was 24 i got the opportunity to go...or so i thought!

so tired from all the backpacking, my travel companions and i decided on a contiki tour of the southern island of new zealand. meals, accomodations, and fun was virtually set up for us with zero planning involved. queensland, a place that three days were spent, was where my skydiving journey was to happen. three days of rain, wind, and (slight) upset cancelled my plane ride before it could even happened.

however i was not a total spoiled brat wallowing in self-pity. i was in a beautiful country, i have never been and i relished in the mountain air, enjoyed the hiking trails, and the people from the tour were excellent.

new zealand was wonderful...and just when i packed up my list as i figured skydiving would happen in canada, my wonderful tourguide, jo, fixed up a trip for me on the day i was to leave for canada, in christchurch (i think it was three hours before take-off!!!).

not only was the skydive a thrill of a lifetime (was i out of my mind jumping out of a excellent plane that could land me safely to the ground???) i couldn't believe how nice everyone was from jo setting it up (she was a doll) to the guys that made the dive a blast and assuring me in some panicky moments!!

home in a foreign place

1998

spring break

tour of italy

picture taken in:

venice

picture of:

casey

found this place:

walking around

...we found a bit of home...

hotel canada

wtf mate?

sooo, you know when you go travelling and you get suckered into things. you spend too much money on a tour, or you are told you are getting something and end up getting nothing. those experiences haven't eluded me either.

went on a three day tour of the outback.

stopped at this ranch looked over and saw what looked to be llamas.



"tour guide will, are those llamas?"

(think aussie accent)"oooo no, in the outback they breed sheep and camels together, those are shamels."

"what are you talking about?" (fits of laugher) "why would you want to do that, what would be the purpose???"

tour guide will, "no purpose, just something to do."

two weeks later, another country, another tour guide, another ranch and more shamels...

"tourguide jo, you have shamels too? wtf? why why why?"

"wtf? what are you talking about, those are llamas, what the hell are shamels?"

(fits of hysterical laughter) "sucker sucker sucker"

the worst is the fixation on this subject for two weeks...the combos that came out~crocaroo (crocodile and kangaroo), kowallabee (koala and wallaby), and on and on....

a tale of two stories

TRACEY'S STORY
in 1996 the robertson family made the big trip to disneyworld. tracey had wanted to go to disneyworld for as long as she could remember. she loved anything disney: the animation, the magical aspect the place promised and especially LOVED LOVED LOVED the rides (you know the ones...the fast moving, upside down with your stomach in your throat ~ giving you that butterfly feeling ~ finishing off with the really big drop). luckily, tracey's father loved the same thrills. tracey and her dad went on all the jaw dropping, finger clenching, adrenaline rushing rides while tracey's mother stode contently on the sidelines.

however there was this one ride that tracey knew her mother would love: it was a show involving the adventures of brer rabbit with a little zip a dee doo dah day in the end. i mean it had a little bit of musical theatre in it, what's not to love? oooo it also had a 5 story drop. there was no line-up whatsoever as they rushed near the closing hours through the maze to get to the floating log. as they stepped onto the tarmack tracey's mom hestitated; she did not want to be in the front row as she did not want to get wet. the ride hosts completely understood. a log cart was pulled out for just the robertson ladies. the ride started and tracey pointed out all the fun things to see. tracey's mom seemed a little nervous but overall looked like she enjoyed it. as they came to the drop the ultimate irony hit them. the ladies did not want to get wet so maybe next time they needed more people on the ride to shield them?

JANE'S STORY

I am in total agreement with Tracey about the excitement of Disneyworld. Everywhere you turned there was something going on. As far as a vacation with my dear family goes this was a 10 plus on the fun scale...except for one thing. Miss Tracey likes hilly rides. Her mom does not. She loved loved loved splash mountain and (to my relief) got her Dad to go on it 2 times. However, she desperately wanted to share this delight with me. "No no no no " I kept saying. "Please please please please" was her response. We were going to another place the next day so if it was to happen it had to happen immediately. Finally to stop her from bugging me I gave in.

Secretly I thought I was quite smart as I fiqured it was 8:50 and the ride closed at 9. We would never make it. Unfortunately, Tracey was thrilled and did a power walk thing to get there. We arrived at the gate 2 min to nine with me very thankful as we were the only customers there and the ride seemed to be closing up. Old Walt would have been pleased with his workers. "No problem," said the crew, they would let us ride. I should have known~this is Disneyworld after all~where all your dreams come true. Darn Darn Darn, my head was saying. Ok, I thought, if I had to go on this stupid ride to please my daughter we must sit in the back so I don't get wet. Not the best plan~with no one in front we were in direct line of a whole lot of water. As the ride strolled along all I thought about was the big drop. Tracey was in happy mode yapping about all the neat things happening around us. I was in stress mode thinking at any minute I was going to drop from this mountain. Gritting my teeth and grinning to excited Tracey I saw it...THE FLASH OF THE CAMERA. This was it...the dreaded moment. I screamed so loud that I don't think it was possible to open my mouth any larger. When we dropped it felt like I was floating above my seat. Tracey was thrilled and so was I...it was finally over.

where's the snow, marmot?

so last year i went skiing A LOT. well maybe not that much, but more than i had ever before as i managed to make it to the mountains six times. this trip was the last one i made (i think it was close to the end of march) in attendance jeaninne, dj, sarah (with still to be born baby liam), brian, and jeremy. woke up at 4:30am left by 5 and home that night (very extreme...smirk).

so do you notice anything lacking?? as we drove up to marmot, a slight panic rose to my throat as there was zip/zero/nilch/nadda snow at the bottom of the hill. i think the suggestion of driving to banff was pleaded many times...i am so glad the driver (brain) did not listen as it was a fantastic day of skiing!! no exaggeration, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, no wind, and the snow was fantastic on the top. i mean so awesome that i skied till my knees started knocking and my skis were crossing left right and center...or the snow got really slushy and heavy because of the sun contributing to the knee knocking and ski crossing (yeah yeah, excuses excuses).

the best feeling was at the end of the day when you are at the point of exhaustion (but not yet cranky), your face feels wind/sun burn, you smell like fresh air, you are regaining feeling in your toes and you are in a supreme good mood after kicking the mountain's a#$ and having it kick you back!