one month later...

ok well it's been a month since my last post...time flies when you're stressed out!! Anyway, i believe I am in a slight period of "calm before the FINAL school storm" right now, which means i have time for a quick blog update.

my new place is pretty much unpacked and organized, likely as organized as it's going to get for a while. Finally got my pictures up on the wall and my internet working properly (oh telus how i came THIS close to really really really being mad at you and never using your service again).

Anyway....here are a couple pics of my living room area ......ps my least favorite thing about renting is WHITE WALLS EVERYWHERE

Well that's about it for now........talk to you again soon

i would like to sleep for many many days...

well hello there blogger friends. i'm sitting here surrounded by boxes, watching "are you smarter than a 5th grader". it really makes me feel dumb. anyway, boxes you ask..why boxes? well because i am moving. ah yes, like life isn't busy enough, why not throw a move in the mix? I'm not making an extreme move, just from the east side of town back into the middle of town. I knew this move was coming, it was just a matter of when. I'm living in a bsmt suite, and the house was for sale and just sold, which means bye bye basement renter (that would be me). it's all good though, i'm moving to an apartment, and though life is busy, this is a good time to move because i can get settled, focus in and get to work preparing for my big important thesis-like exam (it's in June). Besides, I get cable included in my rent price. sweet.

Here is my tip of the YEAR.....COUNT YOUR CHANGE!! I found some rolled coin as i was packing, apparently i just never bothered to take it to the bank to get cashed in. Then i decided why not collect all the other change i could find in my house, purse, etc and roll it too. well much to my surprise, it really does add up...those pennies are worth something (though it adds up faster if you have lots of quarters). ANYWAY, i DID go to the bank this time because i had exactly $100 in change......!! how crazy is that? so, moral of the story, collect your pennies.

practicum is going fantastic! My clients "graduated" on march 9. it was a very proud day for me! I had started with 10 men and ended up with 8, which is pretty good if you ask me. They were all doing really well at the end of treatment but I know a couple of them are struggling already. that's the sad thing about the disease of addiction. After my clients finished treatment, i took a week off to catch up on homework and do a bit of packing. This week I was back at practicum and did initial assessments with all my NEW clients!! I start my new group on Monday and i am very excited!!

Anyway that's what's new with me. i'll add some St. Patty's day pics to this post just for fun. I was down in Seattle for school and my friends and I had some fun. Like i always say, i will try and check back in soon with another update....peace

in the midst of the busy week...why not have a party?

Pammer's birthday was last week...sure, why not throw a party in the middle of an already overly busy week!! Nah, it was fun and i got her the BEST cake in the world. Ever since she was little she always wanted an ice cream cake from DQ but never got it...until this year...check it out (by the way, she's a hygienist, hence the image i got on the cake...)

In other news, I'm ready for spring. I guess that's not really news, more of a statement. While i certainly enjoyed scraping the windows of my car this morning as the sun shone down, i like hot sunny days better...

slacking again...

hey all......i apologize again for the huge time gap since my last post...life is just too busy these days...i am trapped under a giant stack of homework...what else is new...there's not much else to update at this point. Things are going really well at my practicum though i am quite exhausted by the end of the week. And what can i say, all the new seasons of my favorite reality tv shows are starting up again, so i plan my homework breaks accordingly!!

i'll try to check back in soon....

finally an update!

i know, i know......i have been slacking big time with the updates. That, and there isn't too much new to report. I did manage to stretch my birthday celebration into about a 3 week span...seriously, that's the way to go....you are allowed to celebrate one week before and one week after your birthday week. So I did. Towards the end of the 3rd week it was more like Pam and i were hanging out and were too lazy to cook something for dinner so we'd go out for sushi "because it was my birthday"!! lol

I am back into the swing of things with practicum and it's going really well. I must say that after having 3 weeks off, it was a little hard to go back (i really like sleeping in...). However, from now until June (when i finish practicum) i have a lot more responsibility than i did in in the fall. It's sweet!! Last semester i did a lot of observation of other counselors in group counseling, and would just "borrow" clients now and then for individual sessions. But I now have my very own group of 10 clients with whom i will make treatment plans, have individual counseling sessions, and do group counseling 4x/week with them. Today was my first day with them and it went great! I think they will be an awesome group, and am just keeping my fingers crossed that very few (hopefully none) will decide to self-discharge from treatment early....I have them for about the next 8 weeks, and would love to see all 10 of them "graduate"!!

Other than that, i guess it's just the crazy weather that keeps stressing me out!!! So far my one trip to Seattle has been no problem, luckily the snow and ice have at their worst in the early part of the week and have been clearing up by the end of the week.....i guess there's only so long that my luck will hold out, but so far, so good!

Anyhoo, that's about it for now....i'll try to update again soon!

happy new year!

well....i didn't do so well at keeping you updated while in winnipeg.....in all fairness i said i'd update once i took pictures, and i didn't really take that many pictures...oops! anyway, i'm back in BC and figured i'd better get an update done before life gets crazy busy again.

Christmas was really good - pretty mellow, spending time with the family. We went skating once and x-country skiing once, and of course played lots of ping pong.

I came back to BC for New Years, which ended up being the MOST mellow evening one can imagine...lol...but that's ok, i don't really care all that much about new years.

Tomorrow is my birthday and of course i will be stretching that celebration into as many days as possible!

Well, here are some pics from my time in Wpg...enjoy!

We begin with ping pong -- i must say, for not playing on a regular basis, i actually did quite well against the other members of my family, especially my dad and brother, who somehow manage to put fancy spins on the ball...though i think i have concluded that my ability to beat them both was mostly due to their errors, and not so much due to my amazing shots....here's an action shot of my mom and brother
Stockings stuffed full on christmas morning....the best part is that my brother and i have those giant ones on the end, and my parents have the much smaller version...lol
always time for a fun family photo....
And here we are again!

winnipeg......

i do apologize for how much time has passed since my last posting. The end of the semester was really busy, i got sick for a bit, and then suddenly it was time to pack and jump on a plane. So here i am in Winnipeg. I flew in last night, and have already slept most of today away! I'm home for 10 days, so back in BC for New Years. I'm looking forward to spending some relaxing time here at home with my family. And of course, a few rowdy ping pong tournaments will be thrown in i'm sure!

I'll be sure to post some pics once i take some!!!!

christmas decorating!!

So while I was down in Washington for school this weekend, the girls and i decided it was time to decorate for christmas. However, we really didn't want to go out and chop down a tree. Hmmm....what to do, what to do...?? Well we're creative and crafty, so we decided to make our own tree! But a tree wasn't enough...so we needed a fireplace too. I mean, you need somewhere to hang your stockings, right?

We cracked out the construction paper and tape and set to work.

Here's Carrie working hard on the fireplace

Veronica sets to work on the tree. We not only used green construction paper, but also Mountain Dew cases....worked like a charm...lol
And of course, the naughty kitten started eating the decorations....

and the final product...

So our fire is almost done, so i took the opportunity to warm my hands....

The kitten was being naughty and eating the decorations so it was time to throw her in the fire....don't worry, she learned her lesson...
carrie and veronica warming themselves up by the fire. note the stockings hanging, ready to be filled
And here is carrie and veronica by the tree!

winter storm!!!

it's snowing! it's snowing! it's snowing! first of all, i'm glad i don't have to go anywhere today. there are far too many hills around here, and i'm pretty sure my little car - albeit a Manitoba native - would just not do too well. The extent of my venture outside has been to walk up to Pam's house, and then back to my house...that's only 10 houses up the street, but in this wind, it feels really far!!!

Doesn't this look like it should be Winnipeg??? but it's not....!! it's Abbotsford! This was taken this afternoon.

This was last night, as the snow had just begun to fall
always time for a snow angel....
...and a good old fashioned face wash...
And then, as you can see, this afternoon, i got bored..........so i decided to hang my head upside-down and hair spray my hair...pretty sweet, eh!!

Well i'm really enjoying this snow.....but only because i can stay at home and watch most of it through the window!! I guess i could always pull out the old cross-country skies and head down the hill if i need to!

'tis the season

Well since I spend part of December at home in Wpg, i like to start the season early out here in BC, so that i have a few good weeks of Christmas decoration enjoyment. I myself do not put up a tree out here, though i do put up a few decorations. However, Pammer and I decorated her tree a few nights ago. We tried to set it up by candlelight....in honour of our recent 36-hour power-outtage....

Our festive evening began with some coffee and ice cream, as you can see below

Here is the tree, all nicely decorated
And here is Pammer showing off the wreath for her front door
Good times! So now i have a good month to enjoy the tree, the lights, everything!

boring, but something...

ok i know i have been slacking on my posting....and i really have nothing interesting to report. I haven't taken many pictures lately, except of Carrie's cats......so i will post pictures of the cats because i have decided that posting pics of the cats is better than posting nothing at all. You may disagree, but really, it's not up to you.

This is Matilda sitting pretty (and then lounging pretty on the computer)


And here is the sophisticated Dr. Bombay doing a little evening reading...


I will try and come up with a better post next week...

pumpkin carving THIS year!!!

So last year i decided that I could be a master pumpkin carver....so i downloaded a pattern off the internet and after a long evening, produced the superb Jesus pumpkin you see in the next post. This year i had to carry on my tradition of masterful carving.........

In memory of Steve Irwin - the Crocodile Hunter -

pumpkin carving last year.....

And this is my Jesus pumpkin from last year (i think it looks better if you look at it from a bit of a distance).

what a delightful day...!

i chose these lovely cartoons to illustrate the things involved in my day.....

This is my one weekend in over a month that i have not had to go down to Seattle at all...it was nice to sleep in this morning and then settle in for some homework...

Also part of my day was laundry....i really didn't feel as miserable about it as this cartoon lady does, especially since i washed my sheets and i'm SO excited to sleep in a nice clean bed tonight!

I also watched some tv....i find it to be a nice study break. My afternoon programming of choice included Take Home Chef and Trading Spaces
And the reading...the endless reading....i was not as enthused about it as this little gaffer seems to be.......perhaps that's because it seems to be never ending.......
And finally, I talked to the mumsie....always good to check in back on the homestead to see how the parental are doing...
anyway now i've abandoned all homework notions for the evening and have settled in to watch the Canucks game....ahhhhhhh delightful!

another weekend in seattle

well i was in seattle again this weekend....and i kill time by taking random pictures. as you can see, my coffee was a nice little prop....i was going to make a whole collage of starbucks pics, but i thought that people might think i have an addiction or something crazy like that....lol

 

wedding fun!

Calvin and Elisa - friends from life group - got married this weekend. It was a pretty fun wedding, despite the fact that as a life group, we got ropped in to a heck of a lot of set up and take down responsibilities...ah well, someone's gotta do it and a few late nights won't kill me (they'll just make me tired..lol)

i'm looking forward to seeing all that was wrapped up in big boxes and pretty paper....they're so lucky...they get to open a whole lotta gifts!!
 

more adventures in everett

first of all, i'm trying a new collage mode in picasa...second of all, let's talk about the fun times in everett this weekend. So we went to Target, always a good time. Carrie got very excited to wander through the Halloween stuff and clearly found a mask she liked. Also fun...well, not really fun, but something we did, was take kitten to the vet for some shots. Kitten did not enjoy the exprience so much and looked very concerned on the car ride there. However, she was a real trooper and it was nice to have a somewhat subdued kitty around the house in the evening!!!!
 

flower fields forever....

So lately i've been a little obsessed with taking pictures of flowers...that, and using the macro mode on my camera...lol. anyway, i finally have put a bunch of my pics in a collage (have you notice my other new obsession....collages??!!) for you all to enjoy!!

 

ahhh seattle....

so i had some fun with my camera while i was in seattle this past weekend. of course there are the ever so popular space needle pics that need to be included. there's this little garden thingy full of flowers right across the street from my school, a little bit of green in the middle of seattle cement.....it's called the p-patch as you can see below and a few of pics i've included are from there. also you will see the loverly cruise ship that i stare at while i eat lunch....every time i'm down for school the ship is there, taunting me, saying "ha ha you don't get to go on a cruise..."

anyway...enjoy!



 

sunset in everett

I took these pics a few days ago while in Washington for school....I stopped at a park near where my friends live and while i just missed the sunset, the sky was still pretty cool....and i love that there was a lone sailboat out for an evening ride 

elk mountain

pam and i took advantage of the amazing weather this long weekend and challenged ourselves with a hike up Elk Mountain. Whew did we get a workout.......but it was well worth it! the views were amazing, though i must apologize for the lack of clarity and the foggy valley below us.....welcome to the smog that settles in the Fraser Valley after many straight days of sunshine.

After dragging ourselves to the top of the mountain, we had lunch in the shade (the birds would come eat right out of your hand....see photo above), lounged around a bit and then gave our quads a good workout coming back down (thank you chad and theresa for letting us sit in your hot tub last night.....)

what a great day!!