A week in my life

I love love love my summers. This is going to be the one thing I will miss once I start really working again. Although I guess I am still working now but it's different. Only cause I know what it feels like from before. He he. But anywho, summers are always the time I do many things. Mainly not caught up in a studying or researching. Frenzy.

Like this week for instance. I worked and worked another job. Then I ran and to increase my endurance a bit more I ran again with some strength training in between. I even got a chance to scrapbook! Eek I have missed that. And of course had to do one wedding thing, that license.

In between all that stuff I get to hang out with my wonderful and beautiful friends. Whether going out for dinner to some homemade Nepalese food or having a hot dog at a stand and going to a fun tiny candy store. Even attending a birthday party of someone you don't know and getting hilarious images of Borat at that party. He he he.

I love summer and what a wonderful week.

Love

love you till the end

i seriously love this song...it was what i kind of wanted our first dance to be but i had another one too and mark picked the other...he said these guys had weird voices...lol. but i seriously i love it!

so maybe if you are thinking of a first dance you should consider this one....



love

wedding happenings....

Well what can I say on the wedding front. I have to say I am at the point where I am enjoying it. Why you ask? Because its craft time! Something I love doing.

The cricut and my scrapbooking skills have taken on double duty. With the fabulous help from my mom, and absolutely fantastic bridesmaids we have done the invites, favors, banners, and other little things. This part I have to say has been fun. Especially the favor bags because I went a little wacky with the paper choices. He he.

It seems to be little things now. RSVP's are coming in daily. While Mark and I have to get our marriage certificate and refine some small details. Probably will be refining those details till the of the wedding.

Fun girlie stuff is coming up for me. An adult bridal shower. Tee hee. And getting my hair, make up and dress fitting. Love being a girl.

All of it is getting rather exciting I have to say!

Thats all for now.
Love

will me make so happy for the rest of my life...let me sleep on it

i don't know what this says about me but this is one of my favourite meatloaf songs...he he he


love

city chase

so i did something this weekend that i have wanted to do for the last five years. yes that is right...FIVE. when i first started dating mark we met up one time on a saturday in the summer time. we went for a walk around the city from mec, to an ice cream shop back to churchill square. during that said walk i saw many many many people running around in shirts looking for checkpoints. i didn't know then that it was the city chase...basically an amazing race in edmonton.

cut to me finding out about it three weeks ago. i was pumped and determined to do it. it took a little convincing on my part to get mark to do it but we did. AND IT WAS AWESOME! we found mark's cousins there and thankfully they were as we would not have been able to do it without them. their smartphones, knowledge and their buffering effect to prevent us from having a fighting meltdown proved useful. PLUS THEY WERE FUN! :)

what was it that we all did?? mark ate a worm, i held a snake, we climbed twelve flight of stairs, sculpted, did sit ups, played jack and jill with a bucket of water, rode segways, canoed to a quote, found a stranger to give a wagon ride, and i directed mark in the right direction blindfolded in a pool. it was fabulous and fun. perfect day, perfect weather AND i can't wait to do it next year! seriously it was awesome.

hope your weekend was just as fabulous!
love

grandfathers

with the wedding coming up you start to think about some of the people that won't be there. i have talked about my grammie often and it does make me sad that she never got the chance to meet mark. but two other people in particular that i have been thinking about are my grandfathers. both died before mark even came into the picture but both meant the world to me in some very different ways.

first there is grampie with the pipe, or grampie. he was my buddy and i was his. i loved him so much. he was always around to spoil me with strawberry pie, ice cream, or other sweet treats. when we went to visit them over the summer he took us to a local swimming hole in tay creek. he was always there to give me some penny money for candy or buy the family some doughnuts to eat with jam at the small conerstore. he read me stories, or just gave me cuddles when i was not in the right frame of mind like below. 

 

some of my favourite moments that always come to my mind when i think of grampie is sitting on the veranda at night. we would just sit, talk, watch the lightening bugs and listen to the night creatures. sometimes there were crickets, other times their were moose calls that would be made...but not by the moose, by my grampie. of course other memories included the tickle fights that would ensue when i sat in "his" chair, or having breakfast with just him when i was 18 years old. but the veranda moments were special and something that i will always treasure.

next is grumpy. i named him this after grumpy the care-bear. i don't know if many would have been offended but he was not as the name stuck with all the the other grandkids that followed me. he he. what comes to mind when i think of him is boundless energy. he seemed like he was always on the go, gardening, going to the market, chatting up a storm with anyone that he met (seriously there are videos of a train ride to prove as he met every single passenger). the off chance you would see him sitting he would be knitting. and he was an amazing knitter. i still have the last sweater that he made that i got a christmas time.

 

there are many stories of grumpy. apparently i ate his prized tomato when i was just three. but my favourite memories of him was when he came to visit us when i was around 15-16. he took the train up and we had an amazing week of fun. we played boggle and introduced him to spoons. a game that still gets us laughing as he loved it and loved the competition between jimi and him. he also took time out to look at my sketchbook. i think about it now and love that moment even more as he was legally blind and really couldn't see very well. BUT he made sure to compliment each and every drawing that i did. it still makes my heart go soft thinking of it.

those are just a few memories of two very dear men that i loved. i will be thinking of you...when i say i do...*wink wink*!
love

a shower of fun

last month i was lucky enough to have another shower thrown for me by mark's auntie jane. it was incredibly sweet of her to do it AND it was nice to see so many people come out to have some fun with games, food and such. it was nice to introduce my mom to a lot of mark's family, since she had rarely met any of them. it was a really great time.

here are a few of the happenings of the shower....from toilet paper wedding dresses, to bridal hats, to a fun drawing game!

 

thanks to all of you that came out. you really know how to make a girl feel special and loved! :)

love

how will i know...

its almost over for the season so of course i had to make a little shout out of this one....



love it

the image....

wow...some intense blog posts as of late...this will probably be my last one as i am all thought out for the time being and i really need to de-stress from the "school" studies....

the issue i want to talk about is something that has been bugging me for awhile. it started in first year and has progressed to now. i am sure many other careers have the same issue...it is none other than the image of nursing. a few months back a fellow student posted on facebook: "what do you think nurses do?" one response hit me hard. it was simple really. nothing to get mad about, as this was their perception, but basically the reply was "to follow physician's orders". argh.

it then got me thinking what i thought nursing was when i first went to school. many of my impressions were the "skills" they do, the giving of needles, the operating equipment. i didn't have a good perception of what the hospital was like...i had some ideas of what a nurse was...but it was vastly different to what i ended up studying. obviously i was very ignorant.

with that said rant mark mentioned today that the same things i get frustrated about regarding my career choice is something he has experienced with his.....like i said others are surely feeling the same.

so what can be done to change it?? i think to truly understand something one must educate themselves on the "said" issue. when it comes to working all the jobs i have had, i have gained a vast amount of experience and knowledge on the "said" work. for instance many people will have no idea what it means to live a "whole life" when working with the population that i work with. they may not understand them, while i know how valuable they are to the people and society in general. people need the education and understanding to further grasp what this population needs (and they do need so much yet so little).

with that being said...i hope and wish to see the image of nursing change just a little while i am working. i believe it will happen and i hope i am part of that change! :)

love

my philosophy, my tangents, my message

i found this years theory involved a lot of thinking. what are my views, what are my beliefs, what is my personal philosophy and how do they coincide with what my potential career will be. although sometimes it left me wondering why the heck we were doing the things we were doing...it was valuable.

one particular course that i found fascinating, although didn't know it till i was in the midst of it was philosophy and philosophy with regards to healthcare. 8am was hard to get up to, but i always loved the debates that would occur when listening to how others think and articulate what they value.

AND a particular topic was the right to adequate care. it seems quite obvious, yet i find i can wander off into tangents as really what is adequate care and what is adequate in our society? it seems that as people become used to not having certain things, then it seems to be "adequate" enough to not include them. i remember hiking last year and staying in one town that didn't have drinkable water. the expectation was that everyone was to purchase it. my hiking companions wondered why i was so upset by this. however i don't think it is reasonable to make people purchase for such a necessity. i mean its WATER! :)

it then makes me consider other things as really the people that get this "adequate care" are the people that speak up, make themselves heard. what about those that are not heard. i have worked with one of the most valuable populations. this is a population that contributes so much to people, yet are completely taken for granted. this population cannot really voice their concerns. they do have advocates, and believe me, those people work hard to make sure their concerns are heard, but it is sometimes a hard process. some people do not know the political ropes to write to, protest to, make themselves heard. they fall though the cracks. their right to "adequate care" gets determined yearly, as certain medications are deemed no longer necessary for their ability to function, or certain supports are now extra money. it is disheartening in my eyes.

philosophy has helped me discover my views and my passions. i am going to be a great advocate for the people i care for. i can say this with certainty. i feel i have done things already, not even knowing i was doing it, and i will continue to care. especially for those that are who i truly feel are oppressed and in need of so much more than me. i am such a lucky person to be here, have the opportunity for education not just once but twice, to live in a home full of warmth and love, to be able to be frivolous at times with regards to my spending. i think i have it too good sometimes. 

with the election coming tomorrow, i really would love to implore to anyone that may come across this, (whether you have an election or not) to vote (when the opportunity comes to play). it really is important. get involved in politics. it really isn't hard. if you have a complaint OR words of encouragement just right a simple letter to your political representative. it is how we can make change and i really do believe that we can do this! just think of your own philosophy and what you deem as important to yourself and those you love around you, and even those you don't know because everyone deserves "adequate care"

love

thanks kony, i have learned many things.

i know you have all heard it. the story is probably as good as dead. with the success of the kony videos, came the truth of the kony videos. then the downfall of a producer. it is all quite sad but i still have some positive thoughts on this whole thing...and now i have the time to say them! it may still be an issue as the upcoming "painting the town red" may still occur (and i will state it now i will not be participating in)

i first came upon it on facebook (like many others). i watched the video. the story didn't seem very original (sadly) as i have heard this kind of thing many times over in many different countries. little was known. but i found the video remarkable, not for its message per say, but how it inspired others. with that i mean, i was impressed so much by the youth backing this cause. going to washington, getting leaders signatures. for people that say that our youth is apathetic and doesn't care, this message seemed to contradict that very thought. this is especially prevalent in the days of a provincial election, when we need the youth so much more! it touched me and i thought whats the harm...so i passed the video on, on my facebook page.

then came the many others who passed on the facebook message. then came the media. then came the onslaught. "it was an old message. more money was being used to promote rather than to do. etc. etc. etc." BUT i think that kony showed us so much more. as previously mentioned: youth care. i know people think that it is wrong for them to care for such a message that is wrapped in american values and looks to be a propaganda piece but they do care. and with this they will learn, become more aware, and advocate with a bit more responsibility in the future. it was like this kony video ignited a spark. i had a similar kind of spark when i was young. i wrote a letter of protest (it really isn't important regarding what it was about). but after that letter i became more informed and i still believe i will make a difference and that i can be a true advocate.

another aspect that i found remarkable was how powerful social media like facebook has become. maybe others knew this, but i for one, did not realize the great power of it. for people trying to change the world, make it better, facebook can be used. videos, pictures. this opened my eyes on how we can captivate audiences in a whole different way. i for one, would love to change the image of nursing, something i believe has many different perceptions to many different people (another blog post, i know). why don't we as collective base unite others like the people in the kony video???

so really this is to say thanks. i know kony isn't what people hoped it would be. some were sorely disappointed. others may become jaded. others may find a passion ignited in what they saw. i for one am grateful to see two very positive things that came out of this very controversial video! :)

love

a little youtube fun

so, here she is again. i really enjoy this girl. always seem to laugh at her stints like from here. and now this. silliness that seems to make me laugh when i need it the most.



and if you want to check this clip out. it made me laugh so hard that i cried. what i do during my schooling breaks....

love

the hunger games

so i jumped onto the crazy fan base of the hunger games. i don't know about the movies but the books are most excellent! it has an interesting premise with people fixated today on so much reality television (i most certainly can fall in that category with certain shows). that along with war, power struggles, PTSD, and politics, it is definitely worth the read. especially for teen fiction! wow. definitely like this verses the others out there.

of course there is the tween romance component. but mark (who i forced, but who then loved the books) saw the romance differently. there are two men; one is a representation of peace, another is a representation of war. something i never thought of when reading about them, but it is true. needless to say, she picked....I AM NOT SAYING.

but i will say that i am totally a team peeta gal!

he he he

pick them up. they are worth it!

love

marriage counselling

so at the beginning of the month mark and i embraced (this is my sarcastic voice talking) premarital counselling. our thoughts were along the thinking that we had been together for five years. we have talked about a lot of issues within those years, i.e. having kids, not being able to have them, budget planning, where we see our future, etc. frankly we thought we knew it all! he he he

well we were wrong. isn't that kind of the nice thing about relationships. i mean, to realize that we don't know everything about each other and there are still plenty of surprises to unravel even now?? AND hopefully we find that continues in our lives. :)

basically it wasn't the what stuff on what we have communicated on (we actually do talk a lot). it was the how. in particular, what we both enjoyed was our communication strategies AND what kinds of affirmations make one another grateful and happy. i can honestly say that i enjoyed it a lot! some of it was hokey, and some of it we may have to really practice (we both can already be set in our ways). BUT some of it was extremely useful!

it was also not just about our relationship in particular. what i got out of it was about the people around us too. i think that when you spend your life with people you tend to take them for granted. you always think they will be there and you just let life take over. however, when you start to reflect on those people, you truly appreciate what they bring to your life, how they enhance it and make it brighter. i think we are all guilty of it. sometimes people like to dwell on the bad, no good, down right ugly things in life. just twisting that focus to look at the happy things can make a world of difference not just for the people in your life but you as well.

after the session we agreed that we should think of doing a communication class (or another type of focus) atleast every five years in our life...just to keep on track. i think we will do it and hope it is possible. i like the idea.

that's it.
love

2 weeks and one semester till

it is hard to imagine because it is almost done. i am three presentations, two reading responses, three evaluation assignments, two finals and one paper away from being done my last year of theory. i am only (hopefully...fingers crossed), half a semester away from graduating. AND i have to say. it has been a long haul. i love learning, i love school, but i am defintely getting tired of it. i actually want to work and (possibly) never look back.

this month has sure put a damper on my social life . if it wasn't for my ipad and social networking i don't think i would even have contact with my friends and families. so sad! lol. but i have gotten a lot done too. i have worked hard and (i know i have said it) but i will really be glad when this semester is over.

one little indulgence i have had this month are the books by suzanne collins. i am sure everyone knows about this because the movie, the hunger games, is out. well the books are fantastic. totally teen but i totally love them. my mom and mark even got hooked on them too! too funny!

so that is my little share. i actually have a couple of posts coming up that i really want to talk about. but right now i will save that passion towards the assignments...because those are what need to get done!

love

kitty love

i find this pretty amusing! :) sometimes a cat just wants some love and will do anything to get it! :)

movies

so i started this post way back when...like really way back...in december. when i now look at it i can see the movies are quite old but here are some that i have enjoyed quite a bit. check out the trailers and then if you feel so inclined check out the movies themselves!

larry crowne: i loved this movie. so cute and fun!



friends with benefits: chick flick with some girlies. i love the kriss kross references.



the way back: an extreme hiking movie...if you are a prisoner. we both liked this one but then read up on it some more and was kind of disappointed that it may be pure fiction.



the help: loved this movie and now trying to forget it as i want to read the book because i hear it is busy! so funny!



one day: mixed feeling on this one. loved it but so sad too...sigh.



my week with marilyn: i really liked this movie. i don't really know very much about marilyn moore but after this movie i was slightly intrigued. hence my new addiction to the broadway musical smash...



and the last one i will show is one i loved! moneyball! watch it!



love

My goodness

My blogging has certainly taken a hit this semester. Maybe it's the ton of papers that need to be written that decreases my motivation to write more. He he so far I have done three and I think I have 6 more by the end of March. I say think because it's so many that I really must take this one week at a time.

Between that and applying for jobs I kind of feel like a ball of nerves just waiting for things to happen but not wanting to rush it either. Lol. Life really isn't all that tough, but I know that sometimes I sure can make it tough for myself. Lol.

In other news, kitty has been going on continuous visits to the vet. After a physical, blood work, urinalysis, ECG, and an ultrasound (seriously, I wish I wasn't joking) he can officially get dental surgery. He he, I am sure he is thrilled.

I have been reading a bit more leisurely and have finally gotten the Hunger Games from the library. Casey says its good and with the movie coming out, it intrigues me so I am pumped to start. Also rented a couple of movies (Erin Brockovich, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Wit). I will see if I get to watch them.

Hmmm what else? I have been continuing to work out but this week has taken a bit of a downturn. I am slightly sick with just a chest cold. And really who wants to work out when they are sick?

In wedding news, one of my best ladies found a dress which I am so very excited about. When we went shopping a week previously she was expressing some hilarious interpretations of what she will wear. Lol. But I heard this dress is not hilarious but very pretty. So excited to see it and kind of love that it's a surprise for me.

My one tiny regret that i haven't been doing (besides blogging) is scrapbooking. Sigh. And it looks like I may not be doing any till April. Well I guess I have many things to look forward too. But let's not rush it!

I think that's it for now folks. Enjoy the week and hopefully I will talk to you soon either in person or on here!

Love

a little bit of oscar fun

so i didn't watch this year but i found this little clip. love her. too funny!

Yes I am here!

It has been awhile. Valentines has come and left. I recycled the anniversary gift I got Mark as the balloons are still thriving. He he. Just joking. But, a sidenote, seriously these balloons make my day every morning I wake up! They are still high in the sky!

Our valentines day was good and fun. Since then I have written a midterm and am preparing for about a billion papers that are going to occur in March.

But it's also reading week for me as of right now. Time to see friends as some are going to far off places for a month! So excited for you gals!

Mark has been exceptionally busy this week. Report cards, coaching and committees. Craziness. He works really hard, and I have to say that I think he is doing a good job this year. I know for me starting something new is always so scary but for Mark he just does. Good job, hon!

And that is about it. I know I am one boring chick. Especially since last years reading week was so exciting (believe me I keep thinking about it). I guess I will just have to make summer more memorable ;)




Love