Done

Well, at long last, the day has come.

I stitched up my final dress for costume construction,
I wrote an anthropological analysis of George Carlin's comedy,
I wrote the most pointless history final ever, 
And I completed my undergraduate thesis,
And presented it to a bunch of professors,
And defended it.

And I got a really good mark. 

And now I'm done.

I'm still not ready to wrap my head around the idea of the end of this chapter of my life, leaving that big ol' concrete campus in the coulees, and not being able to sit and learn from some of the amazing professors there... but ending it on such a high note helps a little.

And it feels a little weird to say, but I'm proud of myself for accomplishing something I never expected to accomplish, for sticking it out when my brain felt like it was going to burst and my fingers felt like they had run out of words and I felt completely and utterly clueless (not smart, like I thought I should have felt).

Completing my own research project (and university overall) was quite the adventure.

And maybe now I will find some room for this blog in my life again. :)





(crossing this one off my 25 before 25 list)

I was never a planner...

I say I’m not a planner for two reasons:

1. I don’t really put a lot of effort into making plans.
2. My plans usually fail.

They kind of create a fantastic little cycle of chaos in my life.

But not really chaos. My life doesn’t feel chaotic for the most part.

It’s just every now and then I realize,

 Hey this isn’t going the way it was supposed to...   or    I guess things are changing in ways I hadn’t planned for...

Gavin was one of those... Mason was one of those... Moving to Lethbridge was one of those... 

And my life is really fantastic because of it. So the other day, when my favourite anthropology professor asked me, “Do you want to do an honour’s thesis? You're a good student and I think you'd be really good at it”. 

I was like, Hmm, I guess this is one of those too.

But sometimes I still find it hard to let go of plans entirely... uncertainty - living without the illusion of control - is scary.

So here we are, our little family originally moved here with 2 and a half years in mind, and that time is up. Mason has accomplished what he had planned on accomplishing (getting his Bachelor’s Degree in Addictions Counselling), but it doesn’t look like we’re going home anytime soon. 

He has applied for grad school and I’m throwing all previous plans out the window to do some giant anthropological research project and seeing where it takes me!

Exciting? Yes

Crazy? Yes.

Scary? Yes.

But why not?

:)

PS - this qualifies for a very awesome thing in my 23rd year... click here to see more of my favourite happenings this year.

For Mason

I just wanted to take a moment here to say congratulations to Mason. This week he officially finished up all his requirements for his Bachelor's of Health Sciences (majoring in Addictions Counselling) and is graduating with distinction! This is the second graduation he's had since we've been together (the first was a diploma) and I'm really proud of him. And why not go for another, right? He's applied for grad school here as well, so there may be more "pieces of paper" (as he would say) in his future.

Mason and Gavin at his grad in 2009

A few years ago, I can't say I would have expected this from him. But he's so great at what he does and I can't imagine him doing anything else now.

Congratulations, Mason!

Bad News and Good News

When somebody says they have bad news and good news, which do you like first? I think I prefer bad first, then the good seems very good after the bad. Otherwise, the bad might ruin the good? That's my take at least, so that's how you'll get it.

The bad news:

Bed bugs! BUT not in our apartment. Not yet at least. I just got word yesterday that the people who live next to the people right below us had some bed bugs. I am beyond freaked out. Fortunately, a couple hours later our landlord let us know they would be spraying our place, but they never mentioned bed bugs. I understand that they are probably trying to avoid getting everyone excited over the issue, but it would have been nice if they had filled us in.

So anyways, this is what I did to help myself feel better tonight:

[those are sticky things to catch pests, if you didn't know. those bed bugs will not be coming through my door!]

SO after that yucky bad news, here is the good news...

I won my very first giveaway on a blog! I won a set of Jamberry nails from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. They sound pretty cool and I'm also just excited that I won something, haha. So I'll be showing those off when they arrive. :)

Thanks to Cheri and Jamberry Nails for adding a highlight to my otherwise heebie-geebie filled day!

The Proud New Owner of....

It's day two of Project disConnect. And to be totally honest with you, this is a little bit of old news. I've had so much to post, I put this one off for a couple weeks!

A Serger (aka overlock sewing machine)! It was my Grandma's, but at 94 years old she doesn't use it anymore. It is probably about as old as I am, but it seems to be in awesome condition and works like a charm! I have some learning to do, but I got over the hardest part - learning to thread it! Hopefully I'll be whipping off new projects in no time.

For the Boy

Good Morning!

Today I don't have any new content, except a little celebration of the boy. The boy being my beautiful little nephew (and his fantastic parents)! I was fortunate enough to be able to fly to Regina for two days to see him and I feel so lucky. It's my first time as an auntie and I have totally fallen in love with the little man, he is so perfect. It's so sweet to see my sister and her husband as parents as well. (And somehow my sister still looks ridiculously beautiful with no make-up, little sleep and after just having a baby. How does she do it?)

So welcome to the world, little guy! I can't wait to get to know him. He and Cookie Crumb are only 19 months apart in age as well, so that will provide lots of fun in the future.

Congratulations, Tara and Jacob. You made one super little boy!

(Proud auntie!)

Kind of a Big Deal

Good morning!

Even though I don't know if I have much for readers in Lethbridge, I think this is definitely worth posting because it is exciting. Have you ever heard of a band called the Cancer Bats? Me too! (Ok, I hope you answered yes) Anyways, they are kind of a big deal. Maybe not like Michael Jackson big deal, but they do have over thirty-seven THOUSAND facebook fans! Well, the Living Luca (Mason's band) is opening for them tonight!!! Pretty cool, hey?  I can't say I'd ever be seen at a Cancer Bats show, they are a little too heavy for me, but they have a big following, I have seen commercials about them on tv and stuff, and my boyfriend's band is playing as their opener. It's exciting. :)

Here's the poster:

++++UPDATE++++

I have not even heard about this show from Mason himself yet as I have not returned home and we haven't talked much on the phone, but facebook has informed me that they played a really kicka++ show. Facebook was also kind enough to inform me that Mason got a big compliment from the lead singer (quote: "You rocked the absolute ++++ out of that bass tonight"). I have always known he rocks, but it's really exciting to hear it from people who know more (anything) about music than I do. :)

Here's an article about the show that was in a local online magazine!