Brittany and Brandon had been dating since February and I knew that they would be getting engaged any day. I had also been toying with the idea of going on an exchange to Russia for months and months and just couldn't decide if I wanted to commit to it or not. It would be a 6 month exchange where I would go and live in Russia for 6 months, and teach children how to speak English. All for about $2000. Which was really cheap and exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do.
When I finally decided that I was going to do this, I told Brittany. To which her response was probably something like "I'm getting married, dude."
I was then faced with an extremely difficult decision...
Should I stay or should I go?
Could I bear missing my best friend's wedding? Could I deal with seeing photos of her, all in white, with the man of her dreams, without me by her side? If I did leave, I could only do so half heartedly; knowing that I would miss her wedding and any planning involved. I even thought of going on the exchange and coming home for her wedding. That plan was short lived... It would have cost me about $2000 in airfare to get home, not to mention the hours it would take to arrive in Canada.
I told Brittany that I hadn't decided but that I was still heavily considering going to Russia. That I would love to be there but that if she chose a date from September to December, I probably wouldn't be able to be there. With that said, there was a long awkward pause. Brittany then piped up and said that she would just... not have a maid of honor. She made it clear that she wanted me to be there but she knew that I could not place my life on hold for her one day. But the fact stood: that if it wasn't me, then there wasn't going to be a maid of honor.
In that moment my brain and heart just turned into absolute mush. All I could see was:
That's what really did me in. I couldn't leave when she so desperately needed me to pull off a fabulous wedding. Haha. But I told her I would have to think and pray about it. Regardless of what mother and sister told me, the answer was stay. The thought of not being there was unimaginable for both myself and the bride to be. Also, I knew that I would be terribly lonely on wedding day being away from her and all the excitement.
Stay tuned for more wedding details from the maid of honor's perspective!
I love children. They are so funny! And what is the best part about hilarious kids? They never know that they're funny. They just do what their parents tell them, or believe it blindly. It's so fantastic. I miss shows like "Kids Say The Darndest Things" because kids are SO innocent, they could be saying or doing something totally inappropriate and they would NEVER know! Which makes it so much better then adults who just do it so blatantly to make people like me feel super uncomfortable. (Myself being somewhat of a prude.)
I've come to the realization that youtube is the funniest thing ever. EVER.
I went to the dentist about a month ago for a routine check up. It went great, no cavities! But I had had a wisdom tooth coming in for about a month at that point. I informed my dentist of this and she took some x-rays and confirmed that that was the case. There was good news though! Naive me, thought that it would be great news like not needing surgery... But she informed me that I only had wisdom teeth coming in in my top row of teeth. These wisdom teeth, apparently, are way less painful and cause way less swelling then the bottom two teeth. (Which was somewhat of a relief.) I had had a friend just recently go for an emergency surgery and I was definitely terrified of what my future would hold.
Not my actual teeth, but those big bad boys on the top are basically what I have. YAY!
My dentist set an appointment with the specialist on December 16th and I advised my work that I would have to leave early that day for my consultation. It's been about a month since my appointment has been made and I'm getting splitting headaches ad aches in my jaw. I could wait but apparently if they come in they'll move all my other teeth around. I have nice teeth! They do not need to be moved around in exchange for any wisdom!
I was driving home from work today when I drove down my street and saw an elderly gentlemen walking his wife to the door. Not only was this adorable, but the woman also used a cane and he left the car doors open so that he could walk her into the house. I'll make the assumption that he then return to close the door after he had her settled in the house.
My heart was putty is this man's hand.
He reinforced my belief in true, eternal love. That when you get married, you can have a relationship that won't end in divorce. You can grow old together and still have the same love that you had the day you got married. Or even better, a stronger love then you did when you got married. That your relationship becomes so much more then the superficial attraction. I love old couples. I loved living with my grandparents this summer and seeing the love that they have for each other. 50 years in May 2012! How exciting is that?! I love them so much.
He demonstrated that chivalry is not dead. Nor will it ever be. I am so tired of hearing girls my age say that chivalry is dead. Uh hello! It is only dead because you let it be! As long as we believe that it is possible for men to sweep us off our feet, they will aspire to reach that expectation. So, set a high bar ladies and PLEASE. PLEASE. Never settle. That just breaks my heart.
In other news: I bought a new dress today. Photos will be posted on Saturday-ish. Also, Funny Friday tomorrow will be spectacular! I am very excited!
Sometimes, I feel a little Molly Mormon. This is one of my Molly Mormon moments.
The wikipedia definition of Molly Mormon is...
Molly Mormon is a term for the popular stereotype of a female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A Molly Mormon is thought to be the "perfect Mormon woman" - an attractive and chaste woman whose life revolves around the family and marriage and the social demands of Mormonism, like bearing multiple children, and who embodies the cheery, chipper and domesticated female in Latter-day Saint culture. Typically, a Molly Mormon would not dissent against her husband or the priesthood and supports Mormon social and political views unconditionally. Peter Priesthood is the male version of the same term, though used somewhat less frequently. Many "Molly Mormons" are stereotyped as being consumed by their life within the church, and as gullible and out-of-touch with the reality outside it.
One of our activities at church a few months ago asked us to complete a profile for the mormon.org website. It took me ages to phrase everything perfectly so that I didn't sound like the stereotypical "Molly Mormon" summarized above.
I've been waiting for weeks for my profile to go up. I wonder what people think when they read my profile. If they feel inspired. If they feel it's insincere or just the textbook answers. I wonder... It has finally been put up!
There's also a link on my mormon.org profile bringing people HERE! There are also links to my facebook page and twitter!
I miss lifeguarding. I've said it. Pheew. I miss my fantastic coworkers, being out in the sun all day. I miss that accomplished and pissed off feeling you get after jumping in for someone. I miss the sun. Oh my gosh. It is getting so cold! I'm not saying I could handle the July heat (40 degrees plus) every day... Because I know I couldn't. But not having to lay under blankets every day would be really nice.
Anyways, over the summer with my twitter, I would tweet with the hashtag #lifeofalifeguard. This made it insanely easy to track down every tweet about guarding ever posted by myself, or that someone else posted that I shared with my peeps. (It's called retweeting for you n00bs out there.)
Cheers to a throwback!
Is it a pair of sunglasses? A wallet? Oh... It's weave...
My bed time is 10:30pm. Staying up past midnight is a bad idea.
Half asleep. Imagine someone dying at your pool. Twitch and you're suddenly fully awake.
Honestly... I just want to sleep right now. Swimsuit still on. Whistle still on. Covered in dirt. (I ended up actually doing this... I was really tired...)
I just realized how many boobs I see in a day at work... #notintoit
My hair is so fried... It feels like 3 month old walmart weave. #wah
No matter how long I lay on the beach these tan lines won't go away.
There should be an age limit on bikinis lol my eyes are bleeding!
YOU! DROWN! i can't just stand here all day! #its2hot4that
Clean as a whistle... Does not seem so clean anymore.
Money first, safety second. (I did not say this, some coworkers and I were mimicking the owner of our park.)
My nose is more tan then the rest of my body…
I'm so hot but I don't want to further damage my hair by getting in the water.
I seriously messed up my tan today... :( (Never apply your own sunscreen to your back. Ever.)
Pretty sure I pulled a muscle when I pulled a 30 pound kid out of a slide a few days ago…
Friends who save together, stay together.
The top of my legs have like no fat left on them after walking up 160 stairs everyday all summer.
I think I'm as tan as a person on Jersey Shore.
You talk to your fellow guard friends about how much hatred you have for pants.
Going up stairs does not phase me anymore.
Everytime I exfoliate a part of me dies inside. #tan
Everytime I watch the first scene of A Walk to Remember, I freak out inside.
Saving lives one band aid at a time.
People always complain about lifeguards not doing their jobs... You try guarding 100+ people for an hour...
I might sound rude. It's my job to watch people swim... But if people weren't so careless with their LIVES, no one would need lifeguards.
Indians really think it's funny to drown and have the lifeguard go in and save them... Really?
I want to go back to the days I was a lifeguard when I used to get paid to chill..
I wish everything was easy as being a lifeguard
Dear non-swimmer in the deep end, stop telling me you're okay. You're gonna freakin die. MOVE BACK. Sincerely, the lifeguard who's yelling.
I have to pee SO bad. But I don't want to take off the 1 piece...
I had a coworker tell me "you look so different in civies!" today, when I showed up to pick up my brother... #relief
Dear Hair, would it kill you to look pretty on my day off? Sincerely, Lifeguard.
The worst part of working at an outdoor facility is how your feet look at the end of the night. #lifeguardtroubles #returnofthetrenchfoot
Dear Swimmers, please be prepared to be put on a backboard if you play dead. Sincerely, the lifeguards.
Dear old men at my swimming pool, please stop wearing tiny speedos. NO ONE likes it. Sincerely, lifeguard.
My waitress asked me today if I was a lifeguard because I'm so tan. SOOOO HAPPY!
If you ever feel that your life is just perfect, if it could just stay like it is in this moment then everything would be perfect... Buckle up. Because life is about to throw you a curve ball.
I came across this fantastic song in my country music fanaticism. I don't know why I love it so much... I know it's about love and not about my current situation. But there are so many phrases that I just think "yes, that's exactly it."
My apologies for being a slack blogger lately. My friends and family and church callings are (as always) keeping me extremely busy. The new job is also keeping me busier then anticipated. Busy all around. Maybe once there's colder weather, I'll be able to imagine myself knee deep in the water somewhere. Comment if you know the second song reference!
In preparation for my first day on the job, I went out with my friend Shop Girl to get some new clothes. I needed some dress pants and black flats. I can say that we had a great day shopping. She was looking for some maternity pants because she is having a baby girl and she's at that point where it's difficult to get off our couches without assistance. Hahaha.
We went to Old Navy and I suddenly remembered why I don't shop there anymore... Their pants are way too short for me. I am not even that tall either! But Shop Girl had great success there, she got the maternity jeans she was looking for. She even avoided the mom jeans that are in rich supply at Old Navy.
After that, we went to a few other stores one which was Reitmans. I'm not usually a huge fan of Reitmans because... well, my mom shops there. And it feels weird going to stores that my mom shops at. But I needed dress pants. So, I sucked it up. I found a great pair of pants, they were just a little small around my waist, so I asked for the next size up. They didn't have any in the entire store! I tried on the long in the size up... But I am not THAT tall.
Pants - Reitmans
They called the location closest to my house, no luck. They called the location down the street, success! They would hold it for me for the rest of the day! So happy! I then found a sweater for my mom, that she obviously loved. I bought the sweater and we went on our merry way to Payless. We tried on some shoes and didn't really find what we were looking for.
We then moved on the H&M where I found this lovely piece.
Scarf - H&M; Long Sleeve Shirt - H&M
The shirt is old, I've had it for years. But the scarf... SWOON! I have a friend Sara who bought herself a scarf somewhat similar to this in Spain that I have been seriously coveting. I've been looking for something similar since I first laid eyes on it. I finally found my Canadian version of Sara's scarf. My wardrobe does not have enough outfits for this to go with. I seriously want to wear this gem every single day.
I literally skipped and danced over to the register and as I went to pay, I realized that I didn't have the sweater I bought my mom anymore... I turned to Shop Girl, "Where's the sweater I bought my mom?" She instantly began to brainstorm ideas for a solution. "Do you know where you left it? Do you want me to go back and look right now?" I was sure I left it in Payless so I calmly paid for my scarf in H&M and we walked across the hall to Payless. There it was, sitting in the aisle. Turns out I am my mother's daughter after all. She loses her wallet and keys ALL the time. It's at the point now that when my mom loses her wallet or keys, no one freaks out. Because it's really not a big deal.
Then we went and got Chinese food in the food court which was absolutely magical. I seriously love Chinese food. Thinking about it right now is making my mouth water a little bit.
I've been shopping a lot lately, aside from this specific outing which was a lot of fun. Why you ask? Well, do we all remember the BFF Brittany? She's getting married this Friday! I've been putting together all of my accessories for this wedding. And you could say that I will be the second prettiest girl there... :)
These are the shoes I bought for the wedding!
Shoes - Winners
I also got a clutch to hold everything, up to and including the kitchen sink, all of which a good maid of honour needs. Feel free to comment with some ideas of things I should bring!
Click to enlarge.
Clutch - Random Store (hahaha)
Lastly, I haven't bought anything for me in forever... I've bought things for the wedding, I've bought things for work. But not very many things for me. So I splurged and got myself a pair of boots. I didn't even spend a lot of money, I just really liked them. It felt like I spoiled myself.
Boots - Marshalls
How are we feeling about my purchases? I love them all SO MUCH! I'm so excited to get my first paycheque and buy myself some new clothes again! I'll have to put clothes into my budget. I cannot just binge and purge on my clothing diet.
Most people don't know this about me, but I played the saxophone in high school for 3 years. I was in the concert band and everything. Yep, I was a band geek for a long time. But that alone, makes this so much funnier to me.
Last summer, after I finished working at Canada's Wonderland I spent months only working part-time at Cineplex Odeon. My parents were less then impressed with this. There were countless arguments about my employment, wasting time, not making enough money, etc. So this year, when the lifeguarding season came to a close... I was extremely nervous. I didn't want to be in the same position that I was last year.
Monday afternoon, I received a call from the woman who had conducted the 3 hour interview on friday and told me that I needed to call a representative to have an assessment of my bilingual skills. I've done a fair few of these assessments and usually they get you to read and write some stuff and make sure that you're coherent in the language. I called this man on my cell phone while I was parked in a Price Chopper's lot and he asked me where I learned my french. I explained that my mom was born and raised in Cornwall. So, she had learned french in her home and community. She thought it would be beneficial for her children to learn french. All of us were placed in a french speaking school and when I reached high school, I went to the local french immersion program. We ended the conversation and that was that.
Apparently he told the hiring agency that he thought I had better french then him. Best feeling ever! (Because I was totally thinking it when I was talking to him on the phone.) The hiring agency decided to set up an interview with the company on Wednesday. I went expecting a 30-40 minute interview, another 3 hours later...
I was hired and filling out papers!
The job itself is at a call centre, which I know kind of sucks, but because I speak french I make 2 dollars more then everyone else. (THANKS MOM!) My mom works at a call centre for Pitney Bowes and she's been there for 3 years. I figure I won't be there for anywhere close to that long, but it'll make me some great money for school.
Anyways, that's the big news with me.
October 6th is my first day, wish me luck!
I've had my 101 list for over a year now, and as I read through it from time to time I think the 17 year old me was far too ambitious for her next 1001 days. So, for the last few months I have been toying with the idea of updating my 101 list.
Why?
Because every time I look at my list there are things on there that I don't want to do any more, or simply can't do in the next 411 days. It's mostly my travel section that needs to be downsized. It is really expensive to travel and I don't think my little self realized that when I made the list. Also, when I made the list, I anticipated myself being in university when I was finishing up the list, not beginning it.
All I know is that time is ticking, and my list is looking far too intimidating for me to be able to complete it.
I have decided to restart the Funny Friday posts because I honestly love making them and also, because this is just too funny NOT to share.
I have never been extremely impressed with company's attempts at humour in their commercials. Usually, I find their humour distasteful. And I'm no prude.
These commercials are exceptionally funny. Meet Mayhem. I've posted some of my favourites, but there are many many more on youtube.
My uncle had tickets for a NAS and Lauryn Hill concert in a VIP section that he suddenly could not attend. He messaged my sister and she gladly accepted the tickets on our behalf. She called me from work and told me that we were having a date night Thursday and I was beyond excited.
Let me make this clear, I love Lauryn Hill. She was in Sister Act 2, one of my all time favourite musical movies. I get chills watching that video above. All over my body. My mom always listened to her when we were growing up. I also have a friend who often tweets quotes from her music and it always amazes me how intricate her lyrics are. I love her music! But her concert last night did not leave me with that "YES! I LOVE THIS ARTIST!" feeling that I usually have after concerts. And now I'm going to tell you why...
The concert was held at the Molson Amphitheatre, which I liked when I saw The Killers there, but I just need to say, there is no parking even remotely close. We payed 20 dollars for parking at Ontario Place (the home of the amphitheatre). Elise and I were pulling up to the pay station and we were thinking it would be 5-15 dollars. Which we had! Not 20... We shrugged it off though, we were excited for Lauryn Hill. We even discussed which songs we'd like to hear on our way to the amphitheatre.
When we got there, NAS was on stage... Until last night, I had never even heard of him. He was... interesting. Elise and I bobbed along for a little bit and then gave up and sat down. This was probably at 9:30pm. NAS rapped up his act and left the stage. (Ha, excuse the pun.) He left at approximately 9:45pm... Now, my understanding of concerts is that the point of having an opening act is so that your audience is pumped and ready for your show. This being said... I don't understand why Lauryn Hill would even HAVE an opening act if she was only going to show up to the building itself at 10:55pm. That's right. Elise and I waited over an hour in silence, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for Lauryn Hill. It was 11pm, Elise had work in the morning and we didn't want to leave without seeing the person we had come for...
Finally, at about 11:10pm, Lauryn Hill walked out onto the stage. The crowd went wild. We were all excited for her to finally be there. Elise and I had agreed that if it was good, we would stay for the whole show. If not, we would leave at 11:30pm. I have never even thought about leaving a concert early... And I honestly didn't want to leave. I had been hyping up this concert in my mind for days. I knew that if we had just waited over an hour to see her show, Lauryn Hill knowing this, would perform her absolute best.
Oh my gosh. Was I ever wrong.
Her music was more than double the recorded speed. (Recorded at roughly 95bpm, performed at roughly 175bpm.) Her rapping was difficult to understand and the beats got lost in the acoustics of the amphitheatre. I had a really hard time connecting with her. She just seemed so... off. She kept making big arm motions at her band to start and stop at different places. Didn't you go over this in rehearsals? Or did you show up and hour and a half late to those too? Then she kept yelling at tech to turn the lights down. I can sort of understand that, the lights at my high school were hot and we all know, those are not the cream of the crop.
I couldn't help but think the whole time that she was just another celebrity who does not care about anyone but herself. The snobby, snooty artists who know that the entire evening revolves around them. The ones who go into stores and say things like "Do you know who I am? I am Lauryn Hill. BOW BEFORE ME, MERE MORTALS!" Then I tried to make excuses for her. Maybe the lights were really hot. Maybe she was having a really rough day and she just didn't want to go to work. Maybe she left the stage to go get a glass of water because she was so hot. Maybe she'll come back in like 30 seconds.
That's right. She left the stage. After performing 4 songs. FOUR. SONGS. Elise and I looked at each other and left. I felt like I had been used and cheated. I wanted a refund and I didn't even pay for my tickets! This is when I started feeling like I just got out of a bad relationship. I started saying things to Elise like I could never do that to someone, as a human being. I don't know why I stayed for so long. I feel so used and dirty. I still tried to understand why she did this to me. Made me wait an hour and a half to see her and then left after 30 minutes. I decided in my mind that she had really had a bad day and that normally, her concerts were not like this.
I got home, listened to some country music and went to bed. (Had this been a good concert, I would have listened to Lauryn Hill...)
This morning, Lauryn Hill was a trending topic on twitter... I read some of the tweets. I read some articles. And I am so glad we left when we did. Elise told me that apparently she did the same thing at her Detroit concert. Except that they had to wait THREE HOURS before she came on stage. Her friends at work told her that apparently it's normal for an R&B concert to be left waiting... While rock artists know better than to disappoint their fan base. *cough*
The article that stood out to me most today was the one that said this:
Anyone who was unlucky enough to be in the audience on Thursday didn’t just see a bad concert. They watched one of the most influential female artists of her generation vomit all over her legacy.
When I was making my list, I always imagined what it would be like to complete each of the items on my list and it seems that they never go the way I anticipated. This particular goal was so different because I had been living in the Ottawa area for 3 months, and I had not gone into the Parliament or even to the grounds until late July. I must say, once I had been, I fell in love with the beauty of Parliament Hill. Seeing it and walking the grounds made me feel so patriotic.
I had gone to Mosaika with Jenna for her birthday and my mind was absolutely blown. I felt SO proud to be Canadian, they displayed our history in such an amazing way that could be appreciated by all ages. I'm going to post a video so you can understand how amazing this was...
After I had gone to Mosaika, I knew it was time to go inside the parliament buildings and do a walk through. But when? I worked every day. So, I decided to meet up with, Jenna, who is going to school at OttawaU and go there with her and my brother on my moving day. This was a very bad idea.
I spent the entire morning packing all of my stuff into the car at my grandparents' house. Then I drove the 45 minutes to downtown Ottawa, met up with Jenna, walked to Parliament. It had already been a long day. I was sleepy just driving to Ottawa. But as we toured the building, I got really excited! We went around the back of the building first to look at the bridge and the look off I went to with Jenna the last time I was there.
You can barely see it, but to the right of the bridge above the cliff looking thing, there's a statue. You can walk there and look at the parliament buildings from behind. Absolutely magical at night.
I went to put my arm around Jenna for a photo and ripped skin right off my arm! OUCH!
We're cute. :)
We only went to the Peace Tower and the Memorial Chamber. Going to the top of the Peace Tower was so nice, just because when you get to the top you can see the entire surrounding area. I learned a lot going into the Memorial Chamber. I love history, so this was exactly the sort of thing I love. The Memorial Chamber is for any soldier who has ever died in the service of our country. They have all of their names beautifully inscribed in books and each page is displayed at least once a year. They had a book for each war that Canada has been involved in. It's basically the paper equivalent of Arlington Cemetery. They had beautiful quotes and inscriptions on the walls, with stained windows. There is definitely a special spirit in the Memorial Chamber.
It was originally made for the soldiers lost in World War I, but as time passed, there were more wars and more men and women lost. They've assembled books for each of these.
The names are all hand written... I need to work on my handwriting.
The WWI Memorial, which was placed in the centre of the room.
At the entry of the Memorial Chamber, there are sculptures on the arch of the animals who helped in the wars who would often help our soldiers by carrying the soldiers, their belongings, going to see if the area was safe, etc. Most of the animals would die in service. It made me smile that our government took the time to remember the service rendered to us by animals.
Reindeers, donkeys, pigeons, horses and dogs.
All in all, it was a great day. As we were leaving the Parliament buildings, we stopped by the boutique. We really weren't planning on buying anything but Colin and I decided to splurge on matching rugby sweaters. Which have proven to be great purchases.
We're huge losers... But it was so much fun being a tourist in downtown Ottawa. I want to go again and go to all the museums there!
This goodbye is proving to be much more difficult then any other before.
High school was easy.
Cineplex Odeon was (beyond) easy.
Even moving away from home was easier than this.
I never imagined I would be so sad leaving this job after only 3 months... Actually, I hate the job. It's the people that are making this so stinking difficult. I left last year, no problem. I haven't even seen anyone from Canada's Wonderland since my last day there. There have been a few facebook messages and some tweets exchanged, but nothing that gave me a desire to hang out again.
Today was my last day at Calypso and I just don't want to leave them yet. Sure, I was done with the patrons, the labor law confusions and the pure stupidness that happened on a day to day basis. But the friendships I've made with these people are shockingly strong. (It has only been 3 months!) They're honestly some of the nicest people I know. It was actually just a breath of fresh air to have met them.
They've been so fun and made being at work bearable. They also laugh at all my jokes, which makes me ridiculously happy. I love when people find me funny. I remember one day I was stuck at the bottom of Accelerators with Amy, and it was just pouring rain, like borderline torrential downpour. For some reason, I thought it would be brilliant to just start throwing tubes all over the place. Now, these aren't just some single or two man tubes. Oh no. These are four man tubes. They are some next level sized tubes. And I was just pitching them and screaming like a mad woman. Amy was bent over laughing so hard and I had tears in my eyes. These moments are what made my summer absolutely magical. Then throw in some cliff jumping, wings, Backstreet Boys, winks & blinks and movie nights.
It has been so great and I'm really sad to be packing up and leaving.
I'm not worried though. We all know that age old saying... Friends who save together, stay together.
Last night when I got home from work, I laid in bed. Like I always do, and went on stumble upon. This is one of my favourite websites. Why? A) Because it's freaking hilarious and the source of MANY funny friday posts. B) Because I find beautiful photography that is so inspiring - I am a closet photography nerd. C) Because I am bored easily.
I found this last night and I think I have watched it approximately 20 trillion times. Ball park.
Since I've moved to Ottawa, I have noticed the sky so much more. Maybe it's because it's not in the city and there's really nothing to look at on the ground. Maybe it's because I'm working at the top of towers where I can actually look as far as the eye can see. Usually, it'll be trees, trees and more trees and then this beautiful sky. It amazes me every day. I wish I had a camera everywhere I went because the sky is just so beautiful.
Without further adieu, the video that amazes me.
God must be a painter, because he uses so many colours. - Quoted from A Beautiful Mind.
