So much to do, but loving it!

Happy Christmas Eve to you!!! I am so excited for Christmas. It totally snuck up on us this year. I think it's due to lack of snow. I finished all the last of the errands yesterday just to find out this morning that there are still more things to do! haha. I am not too worried though, because one of those things is to finish off the Christmas cookies I've already started to make. They are so yummy (my favorite). I had made them for the wedding (Moose Balls) and there were so many left over so I gave my brother a bunch (they're his favorite too). When he was down to his last seven he had strategically placed them on a plate and put them in the fridge. Safe right? Wrong! His friend was over (I won't say which friend to keep privacy) and decided he had to go for a shower. While he was in the shower his friend ate all but one of the cookies. My brother was so sad and asked me if I could make him more...I said maybe for Christmas and waalaa I have made them...well almost..I'm half way done. They take two days to make just because they have to chill over night.

Another thing I get to do today is go to the dreaded Wal-of-the-Mart. I have to go and pic up a few pictures and then Hazaaah my Christmas shopping is complete!

I so enjoyed the gift my sister and her family gave us this year. They bought a sheep and delivered it to a family in need! That's right, THEY delivered it. And what made it even more special was that it went to a family I personally know! I am so touched and I'm so glad it brought the family so much joy!

I am feeling so blessed this year! Our first Christmas as a married couple. I am finding that my husband is very much a child inside still and I LOVE that about him! We are having so much fun getting ready and playing and just being plain old silly! I am also enjoying spending time with family! I love this time of year!!!!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Season's Greetings!

Merry early Christmas. I love this season! It's one of my favorites. I love the baking and the family gatherings. I love that people come from all over the place to just be together. Tonight is Brenton's Christmas party. I am really looking forward to it because it will be my first taste of the Christmas season this year. Hopefully it will put me in a Christmas shopping spirit..I don't know why (maybe it's my lack of joy for already) but shopping this year has hit the back burner. It's not that I don't have a million ideas of what to get people, trust me I'm thinking about it constantly through the year, but I just don't want to have to shop for it. I'm the male type of shopper..I go in and get it and leave. I don't care to window shop or graze around, I'd rather be at home sipping on some hot chocolate while I work on a cross-stitching picture.

The other day Brenton's work decided to cut out "Christmas" and re-insert "Holidays". This is offensive to me. The "holiday" is called CHRISTmas! It's our christian celebration! It makes me sad. I don't ask those who are Jews to call Hanukah anything other, or Muslims to call Eid anything other. I don't have a "Holiday Tree" set up in my house, I have a Christmas tree set up! Grr...I'm extremely frustrated at my offensed state. That's my second rant of the day.

Let's go 3 for 3. I have a stupid cold! I call it stupid because I don't think it's very smart! haha. It started out as a really sore throat, like someone had taken sandpaper to it. The second day was like knives were in the back of my throat and every time I swallowed it would stab (which surprisingly felt better than the sandpaper feeling). The third and worst day I woke up and didn't say much to Brenton as he left for work because my throat was so sore...but as he left I went to say "I love you, have a great day" and it was like a dying frog had entered into my voice box and took over. He gave me a really strange look and said, you should go back to bed. And that's what I did for the whole day. I slept. Yesterday I woke up with a cough but felt much better and became more productive than I have been in the last 4 days. And today I still have the nasty cough, which I give until noon to dismiss itself, and then a party tonight :)

I've been looking over my blog for the last while, yes it hasn't been updated very frequently(my bad) but it is also lacking in pictures. I feel as though I must fix this soon.

One of my favorite Christmas Memories: I remember going to my Grandma in the Yellow House's house and watching the movie "Annie" and jumping into the heaps of snow outside her door and reading her "Homemade Remedy" book. I loved reading that thing. Also playing the game "MasterMind". I loved that Grandma in the Yellow House loved playing games. She would sit with us for hours and be undistracted. It was absolutely wonderful!

What a pain in my head!

I see what you're doing! Yes you! You're sitting there, staring at your screen aching for some entertainment. Something to draw you in and escape your own reality. Maybe you're looking for something hopeful to consume you. Maybe you want to read something that will make you stop and think. I don't think you will find that here today. I am just battling a headache that I've had for 3 days now. Some may strike it up as not consuming enough water. Let me tell you, that's not the problem, my frequent washroom visits attest to that! Another argument, my diet. It has not been very nutritional, however, I did have a good dinner last night and still a headache today. I wish it would just dissolve. I am going for a massage today and I'm hoping that the sore spot on my lower skull is the cause of the headache and she can work it out for me :) That would be epic!

Yesterday I was able to sleep in! The first time in weeks! It was amazing! I didn't wake up until quarter to 10 in the morning! It was so wonderful to see any number other than 4 or 5 on the clock! I almost cheered out loud when I saw it, almost in disbelief I got out of bed and emerged out into the living room where my husband was sitting. We had a good visit before we took off to the hockey game. The hockey game was so much fun! We witnessed two glass panes shatter from the impact of a puck. It was a great game with the score of 2 to 1 for the Rockets! We won!! I like how when you go to a game and you say "we" won as if the spectators did anything to help, haha. I also like how grown ups are yelling at these kids who are out on the ice playing a game! haha. It makes me laugh, especially random yelling guy. He wasn't there yesterday afternoon, so I took over his mission and yelled random things out, such as, "Make it an oreo" or "It's time for some pickles" haha. Brenton and I would also make commentary for the fights, we thought we were halarious.

After the game we went out for dinner with B's family. It was his momma's birthday and we went out to celebrate. Dinner was so good and full of laughs and good times. After dinner we headed over to his Aunt and Uncle's house to have cake! It was such delicious cake!! We also played games. There were two games going and the one B and I tried out was "Ticket to Ride".

We actually have this game at home but have never played it. It was so much fun! Very strategic game and just a funny time overall. B's one cousin's intention for the entire game was to mess up everyone else's plans. haha. It worked, haha. So much fun!

Then we came home and went to bed pretty much straight away! Well, I'm going to leave the brightness of the computer screen to give my eyes a break and hopefully remedy the headache that still exists in my head. Until next time

Michelle

Be silent, be still

Just another manic Tuesday! I usually have house cleaning day on Tuesday's. Today is no different, except I don't seem to have the motivation. Actually lately I haven't had the motivation to do much. I am sinking in my desire to get into the school district and begin my career. I so badly want it! I am starting to loath going to work because being there is not my desire. I know it's a season and this too shall pass, but when! I want to be passed it now. I may complain about it endlessly but it doesn't mean I don't appreciate having a job. I enjoy the people I work with, for the most part :) It may just me, but when I'm on my break I enjoy solitude, quiet and drown out my surroundings by losing myself in the paper and reading about what's going on, mainly in Vancouver. However, I seem to find when others are in the break room at the same time they enjoy to talk. I become eternally annoyed while carrying on the conversation. Other times I find myself reading the same line over and over praying that they just stop talking. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a great conversation and being social, just not so much when I'm trying to escape my reality.

Tonight I have plans to go to my brother's girlfriends work and help her out with her Gala night! I am looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun.

Newly Wed, not Dead

Hello all! I haven't written on here in a long time so I bet nobody even comes to this site to read any more. That's ok though, cause I enjoy just getting my thoughts out of my head and this is a good way of doing it. I am now a married lady :) The wedding was so much fun. We didn't realize how quirky it was until after it was done. From B walking down the aisle to the pink panther theme song, then having the slide show after the bridesmaids walked down, but before I walked down (and I'm so glad we did it that way because my sister made me cry just before she turned to walk down the aisle.) When my dad and I got down to the end of the aisle and we waited for the song to end, right after he gave me away we took a self-photo with his camera(the picture turned out great! I'll have to post it on here sometime). Instead of having a unity candle or sand we had a box with a bottle of wine and two glasses and we each put a love letter into it and sealed the box by nailing it shut, for it to be opened on every anniversary with a new letter and bottle of wine to replace it for the following year. So romantic! Our ring bearer, my nephew, carried our rings in on a penguin from club penguin, the rings were on the penguins arms. Just before we had our first kiss we did our secret handshake that we've been doing since our second date. And after we signed the registry Brenton pressed the Easy Button, you know the one from Staples. We also had a group photo with everyone that was present at the ceremony, such an awesome idea and I can't wait to see the pictures! Our officiant is the chaplain of the BC Lions football team and he sported a "Go Lions Go" cheer on the back of his jacket (He missed a game for us, which is a big deal and we are so grateful!) It was just an all over really fun time and I hope everyone who was there enjoyed themselves. I have only given you a little bit of the picture for the ceremony, maybe next time I'll tell you about the tea and then the reception.

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote on here, I guess I'll chalk it up to being a newly wed =) Until next time
Michelle

Evacuated

This weekend has turned into one hectic weekend. I had a couple of to do lists that were pretty much accomplished (which is happy news to report). Then on Saturday I finished work early because it was quiet. When I left with Brenton we took my car back to my house so we could use just one car (more efficient on gas). His parents happened to be around the area with the truck so we called them and asked them if we could use the back of it to move my big chair out. They said yes and came right over. I watered the plants outside and then Brenton and I were off to Fabricland on the mission to find a certain button. As we turned the corner to come down Dilworth mountain we saw a big cloud that just didn't look right. I asked Brenton if that was a tornado (remember I lived in Manitoba for 6 years) and he said, no that looks like a fire. As soon as we were done at fabricland we went to the mall and did a couple more errands and then we headed over to his place. We started packing a few things, just in case, and it's a good thing we did, about an hour and a half later he was evacuated. I have never felt that way before. As I stood there looking at all his stuff I didn't know what he would want (he was busy running around the building finding the right people to get to turn off the vents that were sucking in smoke from outside). First thing I grabbed was all his pictures. Then some clothes for him to take. Then all the wedding stuff (it had to be moved to a different location anyways). Then it was off to Brenton's parents house which is where he's staying in the mean time. At this time there are 3 major fires on the go and hopefully they can be contained in a short period of time. The emergency people are doing an amazing job! (I will post pictures soon)

Looking Forward

It's another baking day. I am really enjoying the baking, but so close to the end is starting to feel a little over done. I have 4 or 6 things that I plan to conquer today. I don't know if I will bother with the other two. They sound good, but it means a trip to the grocery store. It's 10 am and I have already finished one item and started on the other two. They both need "cooling" time in the fridge so I find myself at a stand still in the baking department. So I thought, hey why don't I go update my blog. So alas here I am.

I quit my one job. It wasn't giving me enough hours and it feels so good to be out of there. I don't normally complain about my job but a couple of the managers there were extremely unprofessional and it really bothered me. I am just happy to be done with that part of it. The rest of the job was fine, I loved the people and the job itself was very easy.

I have started back at my first ever job. I went back and talked to the manager there and she took me in no questions asked. It's been so fun being back there with a few of the original staff that I worked with once upon a time (10 years ago).

That's about all. I haven't started to go crazy yet with planning, but I'm sure that will come. There are just a few last ends to tie and then we can party like it was 1969!! :)

Feel like I've been hit by a car...oh wait! I have!

Well the last few days have been really clumsy to say the least. Last week I tripped going up the stairs and hurt my left foot. The toe beside my big toe was a pretty purple colour for a couple of days. I sported a beautiful array of scrapes up the centre of my ankle and it was beautiful. Then yesterday I decided that it had healed enough to do some more damage to it (yes the same foot) as it got caught under the couch (don't ask how that happened cause I don't know) I tried to remove it again, thinking I had I took a step with my right foot. As I did this I realized that no, my left foot was still stuck and as a dead tree I fell to the floor. Did I try to break my fall with my hands? No! I just fell, literally straight down to the floor as though I was a solid tree. If that wasn't enough I was on my way out the door and forgot something. I threw my keys to an unnamed patron (I know who it is) and asked this person to start my car for me because it's been making a really annoying squeal when it starts and hoped that by the time I came back the squealing would be gone. When I came back into the garage I walked down my arch nemisis (the stairs) and walked towards the drivers door (this placing me left side of my body to the bumper) as I stepped down the last step the car lurched forward and threw me 2 to 3 feet back up the stairs and into the wall. What happened you ask? My friend had thought the car was in neutral and when releasing the clutch (the emergency break doesn't work so well unless it's really all the way up) the car jumped forward causing this reaction. My first reaction - pain. Then I started to laugh. Did this really just happen? Right after (and I mean within 15 minutes) falling to the floor in the living room. It was just so spastic and halarious. Only because no one was severely injured. I walked away with a bruised ankle and sore left side of the body, and my friend with a bruised ego. It was a freak accident! And I guess that's what I am right now :) haha. Just plain o'l clumsy.

One Month Left

Only one month left until the big day. People keep telling me that I'm really quite laid back and not very stressed. I think I leave the stressing to the other people. In fact Brenton told me that I was more stressed about school than I am about the wedding. It's not because I don't care, trust me I care!, but it's one day. I'm more excited about the marriage that follows. I can't wait to start this new chapter in our lives. The wedding will come and go and most people won't remember the details of it. So I'm not going to stress too much over them. I still want them, and I will work hard at getting them all done, but if something isn't right I'm not going to cry over it. I love Brenton and that's all that matters. I'm thrilled to have anyone come in and join us in our celebration of our uniting.

Baking progress: I have about 7 more things on my list to make (2 of which can't be made until the week of the wedding) and 1 of those things is a two day event all alone :) But they are my favorite and I'll probably make extra to keep at home to share with my soon to be hubby. The other day he asked me if I would make extra of everything so we could start our marriage life out with a full freezer of goodies. I was like how about I make those extra's at a different time. haha. Yesterday I made 2 more 9x9 pans of raspberry coconut square. It's so yummy. Today's adventure will start once I get off my butt and go to the grocery store and pick up some icing sugar so I can start making some more yummies. I hope to conquer 4 items today. At 6:30 tonight I start a fondant decorating class. That's right people I'm decorating my own cake but need help in knowing how to do things. It's going to be so much fun, and if it doesn't turn out, it's just cake. It will still taste good.

School update: I just got my mark back from the "hardest exam I've ever written". The mark I got on my exam was 52/60. Making my final mark for that course an 88%.

Life.

Today is a great day to start something new. A new attitude, a new lifestyle, a new life. I am not getting enough hours at work so I will be going out on the town today with my resume in hand. You might think I'm crazy for trying to find a new job while in the midst of planning a wedding. I do too! However, it's been clearly stated that I need to do something about not working so I will conquer that bull too. I am feeling torn in many directions, however, with school finally being done I have more time available to bring in some coin.

I am also doing the baking for the tea at the wedding. Yesterday was fun and I was able to scratch off 5 items off my list. I think I only have 12 or so more things to make, 2 of which can't be made until the week of the wedding. I love to bake, and I love to watch peoples faces and hear their comments (as if I came up with the recipe..haha...yeah right, I just know how to read and follow instructions).

I also decided to make the wedding cake myself. I may need the grooms help in constructing the cake topper, but the baking part I'm going to be doing myself :) Talk about a project. It will be interesting to say the least.

Let's see, what else can I tell you? Oh, right I started working out with my brother's girlfriend last week. We did one session of a 20 minute bootcamp and lets just say I forgot how much that guy makes you sweat! haha. What fun. Within 20 minutes we had done more than 100 pushups (when i first started last year I could hardly do 10). We did countless burpees, and these weird jumping jack things in the form of a pushup. Do I have to say we were doing our upperbody workout? And 2 days later my arms are still sore to move. haha. It's a good sore though. You would think that we were dead after that workout but we decided to go for a 20km bike ride afterwards. So not only were our upperbody's sore, but our bums and legs too.

Yesterday I was running back into the house for something and thinking I was cutting corners by opening the garage to run in rather than turn off my car and use the key to open the front door I tripped going up the stairs and landed on my left foot and my left wrist. I scraped my ankle and my toe beside the big toe got really banged up (huge purple bruise surrounding a cut) and my wrist was all red for the remainder of the night. Talk about being clumsy. I am just glad no one saw that. As I limped into the house, holding back the tears, I climbed up the stairs to my room and grabbed the one thing I had gone back into the house for.

That's been my last few days in a nutshell. Please pray for me as I am stretching myself into many directions and as I search for a job for the summer time with a needing of 3 weeks off.

Angry/Confused/Upset - Pick one

Am I going crazy? Simple question right? I feel like I am the craziest person right now. I am overwhelmed with so many emotions that right now I am so angry. I am angry at all the emotions that are swirling inside me not making sense of anything. I wish my brain would just process one thing at a time. I had a conversation tonight that really upset me. It's when one person takes all their frustrations and grumpiness out on you and you're left standing there saying WTF was that all about. When someone has built up so much resentment and frustrations and just pours it all over you at once and you leave not knowing the exact reason they are upset because there was just too much laid out.

I'm left hurt and confused and super ticked off.

Congratulations

Good evening or very early morning to you. Today was a fun-very-busy day. Aaryn and Tifni were married today at 1pm. It was a beautiful wedding and watching the two of them take this step in life was wonderful to watch. It felt very surreal and I teared up a few times. She was a gorgeous bride and he was a very handsome groom. The speeches that were given by the family members were well thought out and well delivered. I don't know what to say except that it was a fantastic day. The weather co-operated and was nice and sunny yet not too hot. An outdoor wedding gone completely perfect.

Congratulations you two! I wish you nothing but everlasting happiness

Falling apart, but so in Love

Hello everyone. Today is Saturday and I'm suppose to be baking. However, my back is so sore that I can hardly stand. What is up with that? I feel like a little old lady. And the worst part is the robaxacette drugs have worn off and it's only been 20 minutes since they started working. What is up with that I ask you? Please someone take this pain away. It's so deliberating! Enough whining Michelle, just suck it up.

Well I started some baking the other day (part of my contribution to the wedding) and I have to tell you it's been fun! I really enjoy baking. It's not even hard to resist the temptation to eat it while I go. I continue to think of the dress I must fit into so "snap peas" are my new best friend. I love the crunching sound they present. It's like they are announcing their deliciousness....yum! Let's take a moment to celebrate them. *Pause*

Ok, that's enough time! They're snap peas after all. I am really looking forward to this Monday. Brenton's brother is getting married to a wonderful girl! I'm so excited for them both! I think it's so romantic when two people decide to spend the rest of their lives together. It's like the joining of two villages. Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic (ok, for those of you who know me well know there isn't a maybe needed in that sentence) but I really enjoy the union of two. When she walks down the aisle and their eyes lock....oh...so fabulous!

I look forward to the day when Brenton and I are old and gray and still poking fun at each other. When he reads to me or I to him, I long for the days when we are so intune with each other that we don't have to say anything but understand exactly what it is the other needs. It's romantic, it's love, it's us.

Girls Night Out

Last night I went to my future-sister-in-laws bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun. We had dinner at a really nice restaurant. I had a green salad with a poppyseed dressing (very yummy) and mac and cheese. After dinner we went over to the bride-to-be's sisters house. There we had a glass of wine and played a game. If she was able to answer the question (that her husband-to-be had given answers to) then she could open a gift, if she got the question wrong, however, than she would have to chew a peice of hubba bubba gum and keep adding to it. It was a lot of fun, yet near the end we changed the rules to that we could just play the games and do the gifts later on because it was taking away from the joy of the gift (she had a lot of gum going on). It was really funny. After the game she opened her gifts and we all just sat around and talked to get to know each other a little bit. Good times.

I always feel awkward when people ask me about my wedding at someone else's wedding shower and such. I want to keep the focus so badly on them but I don't want to be rude to the person who asked me the question. What is the proper protocall for that? Am I a bad person for answering? I try to change the subject back onto the person we are celebrating.

Countdown Queen

Now that school is done I can turn my attention to the excitement that is held within the summer to come. I have a group of countdowns on the go and I look forward to each event with great anticipation! My countdown looks something like this:

1. Aaryn and Tifni's wedding---------------------4 sleeps

2. Running the 5km------------------------------6 sleeps

3. My best friends Karen's birthday--------------8 sleeps

4. Karen and Tims 9 year anniversary-----------11 sleeps

5. Cameron's birthday----------------------------14 sleeps

6. My mom comes to town-----------------------33 sleeps

7. The Blocks come to town----------------------36 sleeps

8. I get married to the love of my life------------42 sleeps

9. Christmas-----------------------------------182 sleeps

Not that I'm counting :)

To cheat or not to cheat

Moral issues. How do you handle when a student from your class blabs all the details about an exam to the class who is to write the exam the next day? Would you call this cheating? Please leave a comment on how you would handle it! I would call the prof to make sure the other class had a different exam in order to keep the cheating irrelevant. Would you call this cheating?

The Project

As mentioned earlier, I said I would post pictures of my project. It was a large project so instead of taking pictures of the whole thing I just took a couple pictures from each section. I had a lot of fun while putting the information together. There was a lot of sweat and tears poured into it, but all in all it was worth it for a 100% mark. I was a little choked though when my teacher was marking it because it took him 5 mins to mark when it took me over 20 hours to put together. So without further ado I will allow my pictures to speak for themselves. I will just mention that each section had a theme to it and it was used through out the entire thing. (Remember this is only a mere fraction of the entire book)

Exams are Over!

Well! School is officially done! Praise the Lord! Don't get me wrong, I loved school, I had better seeing as I will be working in the school setting, but with the summer coming up with so much going on, having school out of the way frees up so much time. It also takes a lot off the mind and the to do list. No more assignments and no more exams! I'm so excited if you can't tell. Last night I had my final exam and let me tell you it was a doozy. It was the hardest exam I have ever written. Question number one scared me as soon as I saw it was worth 25 marks. The exam was out of 60. I skipped that question and moved on. I jumped to question 3 which was also worth a substantial amount and that question alone took me about an hour to answer. It was a long just over 3 hour exam. It scares a person to look up after answering one question to see that an hour had already gone by! What about the rest of the test my mind screamed. I quickly went back to question one seeing as it was going to take more time to complete it than the rest of the test and since it was worth almost half the test it would be best to pour my energy into it.

After the exam was over Brenton texted me to see if I was coming to bible study. My response was "k". That's all I could muster. When I arrived I could hear the people talking but nothing and I mean nothing was computing. My brain was so fried I couldn't even understand my mother tounge. I've zoned out before but nothing like this. I was still alert and trying to participate but it was like everyone was talking a different language. Needless to say I didn't bring much away from that Bible study (it was over by the time I got there anyway, it was the social part I arrived for).

When I woke up this morning I was so relieved! The entire time I slept...or at least the only part I remember, I dreamed of writing that exam. It was like it never ended, almost on replay over and over and over. Any time I thought I was done I would turn the page and there was more to complete. Do you think I might be over-thinking this exam a little? haha. I was so happy when I woke up (early on my sleep in day) to relize the exam is over and I don't have to think any more. haha. Happy Summer everyone. I am looking forward to everything involved!

What are you doing this weekend?

Good day to you! I don't really have an update...more of just a jump in to say, hey! I'm still alive! Now as school is coming to a close I find it harder to get myself to class. It's like, isn't this over yet?? haha. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy what I'm taking it's just been a long hull and I'm ready for a break. I'm very much looking forward to August :)

I finished my projects for my one course. And as of 9:30 pm tomorrow evening one of 3 courses will be complete. I am so excited. Than I can turn my attention to my other 2 courses and get those next 4 assignments done :)

Yeah, like I said, not much of an update, more like a checkin' in. I hope you are having a fabulous day, please leave a comment and tell me something fun you're going to do over the weekend.

Changes

So the wedding plans have started! It has been fun so far with only a few tears shed. The first week or so I was in a daze. If you asked me to complete a thought or put an idea together you could have been waiting a very long time for a response. I round it up to excitement and nervousness and allowing reality to settle in. For the next couple weeks I started dealing with reality in that this is a lifelong decision, and it's not something to just go along with. Yes I had thought about it before, but not to this depth. It was scary and nerve racking and really exciting all at the same time.

Wedding planning for me is hard. I'm very easy going and just go along with the flow. However, in the position of the bride you're called on to make major decisions. I am so fortunate in that my fiancee, Brenton, is so eager to get involved and wants to be a part of the planning and decision making. Having "Pow wow" chats to get out any thoughts I may be having (even if it's just a random thought that I don't have any intention on using, but just have to get it out of my head) heard, when it comes time to make a call on something, he's there to back me up in what we've already discussed and we both agreed on.

We booked the church in the first week. I also talked to my mom about 3 weeks ago about her trip out here. We talked about going wedding dress shopping and how she's really excited to go along with me. She asked me what I was looking for and I had no idea. So I told her I would go out the next day to just see what was out there. When I got into the store reality started to hit that I wasn't out looking for someone else's dress, but my own. I guess I was breathing funny when the girl came over to see if she could help me. I told her that the gown I was looking at at that moment was beautiful but it was a little off in some areas. I told her what I was thinking and she went away, returning with exactly what I had just described. It was amazing. The next best part was it was on the sale rack! (My Scottish bones rejoiced!) She asked me if I wanted to try it on and I said, "NO!" Then I explained that my mom was coming in a few weeks and I had to wait for her to come out to go shopping with me. I went home and called my mom. She wasn't home. So I called her again the following day and she was home. I told her about the previous day's events and she told me to go back to the store and try it on.

I walked back into the store and there it was, just sitting right on the front of the rack, calling out my name. I asked the lady if I could try it on and she said, "You have to try on more than just ONE dress!" I responded, "Oh, do I?" haha. So I picked out about 10 more. I went into the room and tried on the dress I really liked first. It was too small. So I hung it back up on the hanger. I proceeded to try on the next dress and didn't like it one bit. So I pulled it off and got redressed to go out and take in the next 2 gowns. She came over to me and asked how things were going. I told her about the issue with the first dress being 2 dress sizes too small. She said there was enough room in the seam allowance for it to come out that much. I proceeded to try on the next couple dresses, snubbing my nose at them. In the meantime she had taken the dress I still liked away. I tried on a couple more dresses and was like, really I want to try on that other dress again. So I snuck it back off the rack and back into the dressing room with me. I climbed into it and came out of the room. The lady saw me and proclaimed, "that dress is very nice on you, aren't you glad you tried on more than one dress!" I responded, this is the first dress. She looked slightly confused, 1, she hadn't seen me sneak it back into the dressing room with me and 2. She said, "I thought you said it was 2 sizes too small?!" I said, it is! And she said, no honey, it's maybe 1/2 an inch too small. So I bought that dress while talking to my mom on my cell phone. It is amazing, it's exactly what I had in mind even before I knew conciously what I was looking for.

The only time I've really cried during the planning so far is when it comes to cutting the guest list. I cry because I want everyone to be there. However, reality is that it's not possible to have everyone there. I just want everyone in my life to know that everyone has played an important role in my life and I don't take any friendship for granted! I cherish every single one. I am an introvert. Meaning I don't have many friendships, but the ones I do have are deep and significant in my life. Therefore, cutting anyone feels as though I'm cutting a part of myself. For those who aren't able to come I will visit you sometime, which might be better because than we can have one on one time. Anyone who knows me knows that I thrive on that time.

I'm just babbling now, so until next time.
Keep on Truckin'
Michelle.

Some pictures that go along with the last post.

So here is an update, I know so quick! I had a couple of people ask me for some pictures. So here are a couple, I hope you enjoy.

Good Friday: April 10, 2009

Happy Easter Monday everyone!!! I hope everyone had a great weekend remembering why we celebrate it! Last week at school was very mentally draining. Who knew grade 4 would have such an affect. By the end of the week I was extremely pooped! B had told me that he was planning on having a fondue party on the Friday night and that I should invite some friends to come along. But before we could do that I had some errands to do. And so did he, he asked my brother if he could help him with getting something from Pick and Pull, but because my brother can't drive right now, due to a broken thumb, I suggested that my brother come with me for my errands, then we can meet up for lunch and then he can continue on with B. So that's what we did, we met up at the mall for lunch in the food court and my brother's girlfriend and one of my friends who both work at the mall, joined us for their lunch break. While we were having lunch B asked me if I could dress up really nice for the fondue party. I was already wearing a skirt and a cute top and I asked him if I could just wear that, he said, no and that we should dress fancier. So I reluctantly agreed. Then he asked me I could come over earlier to help him clean up his place because he had fallen behind. Again, I reluctantly agreed. After lunch we stopped at a dress store and that's when B started to get agitated like it was a big deal that we were taking a bit longer than previously thought. I didn't understand what the big deal was. So he left and my brother went with him, I bought a pretty dress:)

When I got home my brother was in the garage and I was really confused and asked him why he wasn't with B at pick and pull. He told me that B had said that he was going to go on Sunday instead because he had gotten tied up at his parents house. I went inside the house so confused but too tired to put any energy into understanding. I went inside and got ready, I phoned B to see if was ok that I wear my new dress, he said, sure. So I headed over to B's house and when I opened the door his place was spotless. I was delightfully surprised! Then he said that I looked really pretty and that I should come and see what his mom bought him. I cheered, "Patio Furniture" cause he had told me that they had gone furniture shopping. I went over to the patio door and asked him if I could open it. He said yes, but had disappeared into the office. I was like, ok, so I opened the blinds and saw the whole balcony decorated with plants and white Christmas lights and candles. My first initial thought was, why are the candles already lit when we have to go to the grocery store to pick stuff up. Then my second thought was there was only one chair, so I yelled out to him, "There's only one chair?" (which later he revealed there was a whole set). Then out of the corner of my eye I saw someone bent over and I thought it was a neighbour on the other side of the patio railing (thinking someone was on their deck) then I realized, that's not a deck and I know her. It was my friend Sherena. My next thoughts were why is she here cause she said she couldn't make it because she was sick and why does she have a camera. Then it clicked when our song came (How does she know, from the movie Enchanted) on and Brenton came out and asked me to stand on the other side of the cushions he had set up. He got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. I nodded. Then he said, I had to say something and I said yes. We hugged and kissed and had our moment. It was exciting, scary, surreal. We took a lot of pictures and then started making phone calls. After about an hour of phone calls B told me that we still had to go get stuff for the fondue. I was like I thought you said you did that already and he told me that he lied and was caught up in the moment. So I was like, ok. So in one hand I'm talking to my dad on the cell phone, I'm on a mission in my mind of getting to the grocery store(which is a 2 min walk) to get some fruit, and I'm engaged! When we walked out of the building there was a limo parked there. I was still on my mission to get to the grocery store and B reached out to open the limo door. I yelled at him, "What are you doing?" and that's when I caught on that the limo was for us. We drove to his Grandma and Aunt and Uncle's house to let them know the good news! Then we drove over to his other Grandma and Grandpa's house, but they were not home. Then we went back to B's place and had a great fondue party. B's parents, B's brother A and his fiance T, My brother and his girlfriend, and Sherena were all there. It was so fun. It was such a whirlwind. Very surreal and nothing really sinking in. The entire night my brain couldn't complete a thought fully. I was very giddy and on cloud 9. It was a very good Friday indeed!

Just Another Manic Monday

Howdy everyone in blogland. I don't really have anything too exciting to write about. I just thought I would drop in and say hello. My practicum just started last week. I started off in Kindergarten with two children on the caseload. It was really interesting and so fun! There was one little boy in the afternoon class who came up to me and said, "I forget your name, what was it again?" And I told him what it was but he could call me "Ms. M" if he forgets again. So for the remainder of the week that's what he called me. On Friday when we were all saying goodbye for the weekend he said, "We'll see you next week Ms. M". The little girl behind him in line piped up and asked him who Ms. M was. I said, that's me. And she said, "No, you're Ms. Mckay". So proudly the little boy told her our arrangement. It was so sweet. This week I'm in grade 4. There are 3 children on the case load. Today was the first day with them so getting to know them is still new. There are 2 girls and 1 boy. On our way back to the classroom after gym we were standing in the hallway waiting quietly. That is where the little boy stared me down trying to figure me out. It was quite funny. I know it's going to be a challenge for me to figure out the boundaries. It seems to me, only because I'm not actually in the role, or have the relationship with this kids already established, that there are lines and I don't want to cross one that would be inappropriate. Does that make sense? I know there have to be consequences, but being a practicum student am I to come up with them. I just don't know my exact role, I don't know when I should step in, or when I should completely back off. It's a balance I'm still trying to figure out. Tomorrow I meet up with the resource teacher for the first time. I'm really excited to meet her.


Throughout our day today there was one little girl in the class who was quite upset. This kind of had a domino affect and another little girl became upset. Then I had a bit of a coughing fit and it brought tears to my eyes, the guy I'm working under looked at me and asked, "Are you crying now too?!" haha. I told him, no I just have a cough. haha. So funny. Poor guy thinks he's surrounded by emotionally charged women.

On the other side, for the last few days I've been really feeling drained, and under the weather. I wonder if it's because I've been stressing myself out over my assignments, going through the grief process, and getting use to a new schedule. It has just put my system out of whack, hopefully a good night's rest will help. I know the cough syrup in the cupboards helped relieve the cough I had through the night. I never get coughs so I knew it was actually something.

Devious Plans Unite!

As I sit here, basking in the glory of having all the research done for my project, I am content. Even though the entire project is not finished, just having the mass majority of it complete makes me happy. "Happy" being pronounced like the old man at the beginning of the movie, "Monty Python's Quest of the Holy Grail". "I'm not dead yet, I am feeling happppeee". Just like that. That's how happy I am. It turned out to be a much longer, drawn out experience than I had first thought. I thought, oh yeah, I can finish it in the first week of my spring break. Remember that? So innocent, so naive I was. As I got into the first subject I thought, ok, that one only took me a long time because I didn't know what I was doing. HA! Yeah right. That was the same as every other subject I looked up. It was an average of an hour and a half of research per subject. There were 15! You do the math because quite frankly my brain is fried. Now it's just a matter of putting the information into a colorful presentation. I have, what I think, are some really fun ideas on how to put all this information together. It's going to take a while but I think the end product will be worth it.

Enough about that all time consuming project. Let's talk about something else shall we?! Let's talk about grumpy customers. Oh yes, don't you love them? I have to admit, I don't really care for them that much. However, B loves to hear about them. As soon I have my first conversation with him the first thing he asks me, "Did you have any grumpies today?" He gets a thrill out of hearing about them and laughing and saying what he would do if he were me. Just the other day I had a man come through my till who was quite upset that we have our debit machine's tied down. "I don't have it that way in my shop!" He yelled, "The information isn't kept in that thing anyways, it's kept in the actual register!" My response was, "Well sir, it's this store's way of insuring your information is kept private and not pirated." "That's Bull****". "Well, that's the way it is." I had already checked out of serving this man because he comes in quite often and each time is with the same pleasant attitude as this encounter. Once he left the lady that had been standing behind him was shocked and asked me why he was so rude. I just told her, it's his deal and I'm not going to carry his issues with me, besides he's always like that. She just shook her head. Yesterday I had the same type of encounter, but with a lady this time. Her response to the debit machine being tied down, "Now you're going to interfere with me keeping my pin number private, what next?" My response to her, "Yeah, shame on us for trying to keep your information from being stolen." Where do these people come from? Do they really think that I sit up late at night coming up with ideas on how to get them today?

Michelle's thoughts at 3 in the morning, "I could tie all the debit machines down to the counter, so when people go to pick them up it doesn't move...mwahahahaha....genious I tell you!!! They will all fall into my plan!" Really?! Is this what people are thinking? I'm a cashier. I don't care enough to plan devious plots. But I wonder what I can do next to get them....any ideas?

Rainbows!

Spring break. Two magical words. Words I have grown to love in the last 72 hours. At the beginning of this semester I really had no ambition and was lacking the motivation to dive into my studies. I went through a really dark time. My self-esteem was at a all-time low. And I had multiple issues surrounding my already sad existence. However, in the last few weeks things have turned around. I realized that with life's obstacles with homework and studying added to it I was overwhelmed. I had a test at the beginning of each class with assignments added to each course. I had to take a step back and realize that the assignments weren't due until after spring break but the exams came before. So I prioritized and decided I would study for them and not even worry about the assignments until spring break began. My exams are done. I am officially on spring break. I have a plan to conquer and destroy my assignments. I will attempt to complete two sections of my 12 section project each night. Therefore ideally my research will be done in 6 days. Then will be the put the project together part. That part I'm excited about because I get to be created. I will attempt to display pictures of the finished product on here when it's all done so you, my critics, can give me some valuable feedback that I may or may not listen to. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in once I've finished it :)

I was thinking about going away for spring break, but seriously who am I kidding? I don't have the ability to get away right now. Even if I did, I don't think I would with my practicum coming up in 2 weeks. I'm nervous and so excited about it. I got placed at the school five houses away from my house. How perfect is that? Talk about an answer to prayer! No gas bill! Woo hoo!!! No worrying about where to park and I can volunteer with the walking school bus! I'm very excited. I want to be a sponge when I enter into that school and soak up any helpful tips and strategies they are willing to share with me.

Well, I hope I have found you in good tidings. 2009 is starting to look up once again! Until next time. Michelle.

2009 bad to good? I hope so!

Hello to all who still read this. If there is anyone. I took a long time off from writing because I was a debbie downer and didn't want to be responsible for being a poopy-attitude creator. Since the last time I wrote B and I have rekindled our romance. School last semester ended well with my grades all in the "A" level.

My job situation has also worked out. I am now working full time as a cashier. I like the hours, Monday to Friday no later than 4:3o. It's actually quite complimentary to B's hours and great for school. I still have my evenings to do my homework and it's great. I'm really looking forward to this semester. However, for the last couple of weeks my brain has not been devoted to my school work. It's been very hard to concentrate due to some of the things life has decided to throw at me.

So far 2009 has been tough. Rewarding at the same time though. The first weekend of the year I found out that some friends of mine had been captured in the middle east. They were released 3 days later. The following week I received a phone call from my uncle letting me know that I might want to get to the coast soon to see my Grandma because the outlook wasn't very hopeful. She has overcome the flu that was causing her the most discomfort and has begun to her path back to health. The following week my kitty cat developed a bacteria infection of the brain and passed away.

If you recall from early, archive posts that little cat has been with me for quite some time. It came as a shock because when I took her into the vet they told me it was an ear infection which didn't surprise me, she's had a few ear infections before. But the next day I got a call from the vet saying she wasn't doing well and I should come in. So I did, but I will save that for the next post which will be devoted to her.

Good news: On the weekend B and I were driving to his place and he read the sign in the blockbuster window "Buy 2 movies get 1 free". So I turned to go in. He asked me what I was doing and I answered "I thought you wanted to go there, cause you read it". And he said that he was only reading signs. Well, since I was already turning off the road I continued and told him we were going in. Once we were in we found some movies that i liked and went to stand in line. Once we were in line I noticed the pile of wii games such as "rock band" and "guitar hero" and those type of things. Well, I've been in search of a wii fit since they came out last year sometime, but they're so hot that it's near impossible to come across one. Anyways, B saw the pile about the same time I did and looked at me and said, "stay here, I'll go check it out." So I stood there not expecting anything when I heard him say, "Do you want one or two". I apologize to the random man in front of me who had to deal with me standing behind him. It took every ounce of my being to contain my real excitement. I could hardly drive afterwards...I was so excited that it was actually in my car. We got back to B's place and he asked if I was going to break it out. At first I shyed away from it. I know crazy right? And finally he convinced me to embrace my new friend. So much fun. I think I should name it. Any suggestions??