Monday, March 30

Summer is coming!!!

Where I live, 
we get 18 hours 
of straight sunlight 
on the day of the
summer solstice 
(July 21).

I thought it might be 16...
but I was wrong ;)


I LOOOOVE summer!!!
Summer in Newfoundland too!!
Can't wait!

Sunday, March 29

Paper due...

I have exactly 17 hours to finish this paper.
And then the real 'fun' begins...
After that, I have to start my two final projects 
for this term.

Lickity split!




Here are some new neck and finger goodies:
I will now have to wait until I get home 
to see my other goodies =)


Friday, March 27

Opa! = turkey thighs.

OMG. 

I had the souvlaki platter meal yesterday at 
"Opa!" 
(fast-food Greek place in the mall)....
and just found out that the whole meal 
is ~1018 calories!! 

Holy mother of a stuffed turkey!
This is NOT a good thing for my thighs!!

Good thing I only eat there once a year or less... :/



-----------------

Some pics:
I can't wait to be able to post pictures
of her and I 
TOGETHER!







Turquoise posts.

Ok.
So I have been searching for 
turquoise stone post earrings all over the place
after someone swiped 
(yeah I'm sure they even know or care, right?! hehe) 
my fave ones on Etsy
that I obviously waited 
too long to decide to buy...

I even resorted to ebay...(ughhhh!).
But (thankfully?) they didn't ship 
to Canada (of course, right!).

I just need some really, really pretty ones =)


----------
PS - I forgot to mention that part of this difficulty 
stems from the fact that I bought a cute pair 
of handmade turquoise earrings 
in a little store in the mall yesterday
and ended up coming home without them! 
(???)
What is wrong with me?!!
I NEVER lose things!
Arghhh!

19 reasons...

So I just asked one of my Profs today
if I could take the last exam for that class 
on an earlier date.

The original date is scheduled for April 15.
And I am done everything else,
so I really, just really, 
want to be on the road on that date
and eating jelly beans, chocolate 
and coffee keeping my brain thingies alert 
during my dreaded, yet exuberant 
17 hour drive HOME!

I gave him the regular reasons 
of which you are all aware of by now ;)

Hopefully he says YES 
and does not ask me an endless 
20 more questions...
Otherwise, I will have to give him 
an endless bout of 19 more reasons!!
Because, Lord knows, I have that much 
and plenty more and am desperate 
to GO HOME!!!

So cross your fingers for me
that he says YES...

Thursday, March 26

Jelly beans make everything all right again.

I used to HATE jelly beans.
And now, well...
They're just ok.

But the little mini ones....
Ohhhh, those are GOOD!!!


Tonight is a jelly bean night...

I look like a mess, 
I'm tired as hell, 
but I got me some eensy teensy mini jelly beans.

I'm gonna be a-ok.

2 birds...

21, 20!!

Tuesday, March 24

Sleeping again...

So I'm finally sleeping somewhat peacefully again...
Now my problem is not being able to
 get up at 6am to go to the gym...
But I think I am still catching up to last week's 
horrible, horrible lack of sleep. 
I have, since, found comfort in my humidifier 
which makes a fantastic monotone noise at night 
(and drowns out noisy roommate phone talking issues)
:) 
So, I'm a happy, well-slept bee!!!


But.
I need help for a question in my stats class...
What does this equation mean:
 
y = βο+λ22y+βx+ε

???





Ok.
No need to answer...
I think you get the point ;)

Monday, March 23

Houston, WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!!!

I'm so happy, I could just BURST!
This morning, I just got approved 
for my RESEARCH TOPIC/THESIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, after 3 years of coming up 
with numerous ideas that never panned out.
Now I have something concrete to work towards 
for my final masters degree paper!!
The light at the end of the tunnel!!!

It's a very cool topic too!
Although DO NOT be alarmed when I mention it...
It's strictly wildlife related.

I will be modeling and mapping the natural distribution of 
bovine (bison, cattle, deer etc) anthrax in Canada.
I live right beside Wood Buffalo National Park, 
the world's second largest national park, 
and so anthrax in the free-roaming 
bison herds that live there
has always been a concern.
It's all related to the soil because the bacteria (b. anthracis)
are able to lie dormant in certain soils 
until favourable conditions 
(such as increases in soil moisture)
and when hooved animals breathe the spores in.

Anyhow, I will be contributing to a relatively new field of study 
called Spatial Epidemiology!!!
It may sound like a crazy topic, 
but I'm FLIPPIN' excited!!!!

I feel like I'm 23 years old again!!!! ;)
(I'll give whoever, brownie points if you've notice what I'm doing)



In any case, now for some showing off of some new jewels:

A lovely, feminine neck charmer from Jillian.
It goes with ANYTHING!


Two rings (on left) from Jessi and 
a feather ring AND necklace from Allison!!!
LOVE them all!



And holy good GOSH, 
this necklace made by Emily is a KNOCK OUT!!!
It knocked me right out with it's FABULOUSNESS!!!


And to that end,
CHEERS!!!
I am going to celebrate my current success  
with a nice glass of wine!

Sunday, March 22

Random notes.


When I was 24, I was 1 year into my new marriage and 
hadn't even lived with the hubby yet seeing as I 
was living in another city so that I could
finish up my bachelor of science degree.

(Some things never change, right.) 
;)



Saturday, March 21

Great positive things!!

25 things I am grateful for!!!

1. My daughter!!! She's the cutest, most beautiful and cuddliest little girl in the world!!! :)
2. My hubby!! He's the BESTEST EVER!!! HANDS down!
3. My family: they support and love me till no end!
4. My hometown....no matter how far away I get and how much I complain about it, it's always, always nice to go back home. It will be hard to leave if we ever move...especially now raising a child there.
5. My friends; they ALWAYS welcome me back as though I haven't even left!
6. For my country, CANADA! BEST country in the world!!!! I am so lucky to have been raised in this great northern country of ours! Eh!
7. For my job; in this economy, I am VERY grateful that I do have my job to go back to after school. And it's a great and meaningful opportunity to!
8. Great and caring people who pay it forward. Makes me feel full of hope and that people are good after all!
9. Common courtesy and good manners in young people...and respecting your elders philosophy. This still exists...thank God!! I will be instilling it in my children.
10. Common sense!!! I need not say more except, AMEN!
11. Voting/democracy.
12. Dancing and music! We take many things for granted in this country.
13. Jewellery, especially rings!!! I have welcomed my new love affair with jewellery in the last few years and I've never looked so fashionable! hehe
14. Chocolate! Mmmmmmmmm.....lately it's been Laura Secord's mint chocolate squares!!! oooooh Heaven!! 
15. Coffee!!! Oh, good Lord, I could not live without this valuable and delicious commodity!!! Latte's are EXTRA good too!!! YUM!
16. My health! Yeah, I'm doing it!
17. Higher education (although I wish it was like many Scandinavian countries and FREE!); I am able to expand my horizons and learn more about what I LOVE!
18. For the gift of travel: I LOVE seeing the world in a different light and experiencing other cultures!! I'm ALWAYS amazed!
19. Oceans: what a wonderful thing!!! I am so peaceful when I have ever been near it (only a few times in my life and only swam in it near Hawaii and omg, it is EVER salty!). 
20. Mountains: I will live near the mountains one day...with my first ever glimpse at the mountains when I was younger, I felt them. They are at the centre of my being.
21. Technology: Phew! What would I do without the internet and my palm pilot?!!
22. Again, my daughter and my husband...they are making me a better person every single day and I want to pay them back by giving them all my heart!!!
23. Compassion and empathy: what would humans do without such feelings?
24. Etsy!!! Need I say more about THAT?!!
25. Life. It is precious.

Friday, March 20

Interesting things....

I have many interesting things on my mind lately...some of which should not bare merit or even be worthy of my valuable time or well-needed brain energy thingies. But of course, some of which, should. (like my research projects, per say)

I will not go into specifics because, Lord knows, I'm a roller coaster of emotions lately and am probably just rolling around in the frustrations further because of it (think of a dog rolling around in a buffalo's doo-doo, gross I know, but my brother's dog does this ALL the time). And well...it probably has something to do with the lack of sleep that I've been getting due to my first-ever insomniacal life experiences no doubt from the fact that my heart is aching over being away from my child. Oh. And also perhaps due to the frequent, very disturbing and never-ending, noise-till-the-early-hours-in-the-morning, LOUD interruptions (you don't say!).....

---

But.
In spite of trying to remain positive and kind and open-minded...
I sometimes just don't understand people. 
And how they can be so disrespectful.
I could go further into serious issues of scandal and misconduct...
But. 
With finally getting a decent sleep last nite (~5 hrs).
I won't.
But I just wanna say...
That sometimes:


I just DON'T GET IT. 





But.
I guess that is a good thing too sometimes.
(Less brain energy thingies to be killed)

---


So, aside from this rather useless post (with very well hidden complaints, I might add!)....

Here is to reminding myself of peace-of-mind and loving others in spite of their differences because you never know what their real life circumstances might be. And finally and most importantly to saving some brain energy thingies for my 17 hour drive back home in 26 DAYS!!! 

WOOOOOOT!

Now back to the endless projects.  
(Which I will proudly do MYSELF.)

Thursday, March 19

*sigh*


Just when I feel like I'm getting ahead...
I find out that I have to write an unexpected paper....
Fun times will be had by all....
Except me, of course.
So much for my weekend.
Oh wait.
I haven't had a 'weekend' in months!!
Wow, this whole grad school thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.
(I honestly want to scream. 
But I won't.
Because that would just be weird...)
Must. Finish. School. Quickly.
Life awaits...

Oh life, hurry up and begin again!
Pretty pleeeeease!


Ok, that's enough whining from me!!

Collage Time... :)


My silly willies:
(Rusty never quite grew into his tongue 
and Lady suffers for it everyday while 
he "chews" or suckles (??)  on her poor ears)



My two favourite people in the whole wide world:


Ohhh, she loves her Shrek!
And Daddy cut her bangs!!
He did a GREAT job, didn't he?! 
Such a multi-talented guy!
Such a beautiful little girl!


And why is it that all daddies want to 
give their children mo-hawks?! LOL :)



My lovely girl :)
That smile/face brightens up my day!


Wow, I'm even missing my 
mumma and papa!
(back during his experimental beard stage)



Sunday, March 15

32!!

32 more days to go!!

WOOT!!! 

Here is what I have left:

- do a quick project for work (this will help me pay some bills!)
- 1 lab project to finish
-1 lab paper
- 1 statistics research project to do
- 1 stats paper
- 1 stats presentation
- 1 remote sensing research project
- 1 remote sensing paper
- 1 remote sensing presentation
- and 1 exam (boohoo for exams!)!!


I am soooooooooooo glad that my list 
has dwindled down QUITE considerably!!!

Now for some pics!

Here is my lil' Buddha in her petite, little size 2 parka (last winter).
Cute as a button!
Dontcha just wanna squeeze her cheeks!? =)

The daily heartbreak:
My little girl has been asking this week 
"where is my mommy?"

Friday, March 13

The lifestyle change...

I just read another blogger's post about dieting and losing weight 
and, ohhh, how I can relate!!

Now that I think about it, 
I think that main reason why 
I actually started this whole blog 
was to create an outlet for me and help me keep track of myself 
while losing weight after my first pregnancy
(and also as an outlet for being a new mom!)

You see, I had just lost 45lbs, 
for the first time ever, 
just prior to becoming pregnant 
(Since adolescence, I've always pretty much been overweight and chubby)
And well.
This blog, has since, 
turned into a shopping spotlight...
Which isn't so bad, I do admit, hehe!
(quite delightful actually, heheh)
But I do realize this is one of my side effects 
due to losing the weight...
And dealing with emotions that I used to eat away, 
are now being bought away.
From one vice to the next, right?!
That is an on-going issue for me 
but atleast I know it's workable 
(as it all is)
and that I am aware of it.

So, on with those thoughts, 
I thought I would give an update on how my weight loss has been going. 
I'm happy to report that I've lost 20lbs since July08.
It's been a rough round 
of working out 5-6 days in the gym
and learning how to cut sugar out
and include MORE food!!!
(read my Eating Clean link for details; 
you do NOT go hungry with this way of eating/lifestyle)

You see, after 6 months of basically starving myself 
of sufficient food quantities last year 
(darn New Year's resolutions!!!)
I was trying SOOO hard in this way but
consequently not losing ONE SINGLE POUND!!! 
I did this for 6 MONTHS!!!
And I couldn't figure out why 
I could NOT lose a single, blasted pound!
(Don't ever do this! It doesn't work!! 
And it's miserable, miserable! PLEASE EAT FOOD!!!!
Just choose healthier foods!!!) 
Thank the Lord for my fitness training sister
who told me straight up
(when I was finally desperate enough to set my pride aside and ask for her advice)
that I wasn't eating enough food
for a normal body to function!!

So anyhow, with her help and my dedication,
I've lost a total of 45lbs in 2.5 years. 
And I'm pretty proud of myself.
I'm currently back to what I was prior to pregnancy.
I still have 20 more pounds to go
but I've come to realize that slow and steady wins the race! 

Anyhow, it's been a long and difficult road.
Years worth of trying and finding out 
what does and doesn't work for me.
But it takes practice.
And perseverance.
LOTS of perseverance.
The keep-trying-and-don't-give-up kind!
 But it does get easier over time.
I still get my little daily treats (mmm, chocolate!)
Just not in as big amounts.
Moderation is a really good tool to practice.
It's my saviour really.
But it still takes lots of hard work.
I have to REALLY watch for when I go back home,
that I don't get too relaxed and splurge on the food stuffs.

And.
Well, I just keep hoping that all of these tools that I've learnt
will stick around for our next planned bundle of joy.
That is my big fear now...
That I will gain it all back again for the next time around.
That is just silly, I know.

I know I can do it.
I really want to be healthy 
and raise a healthy family.
And I think that is all that matters...
I think that is my new mantra.

Tuesday, March 10

moop!!!!!!!

After a year or two of waiting...
I FINALLY got my moop bag!!!!!!
It's beautifully made, FANTASTIC quality, stylish and so, so practical!
Oh, why on Earth did I wait so long??!!!

This bag is AMAAAAZING!!!!!!!
It fits my 15" laptop, 
a textbook or two, 
a stack of notes, 
some articles, 
a fat wallet, 
a palm pilot, 
some other nick-nacks, 
my lunch 
AND my water bottle in it!

WITH ROOM TO SPARE!

HOLY COW!!!
I'm set! :)

PS - This one is The Porter in Providence blue.

Monday, March 9

Post-its


Did I mention he was part cat?!


We've gotten lots of snow this year (up North)


Bedtime snack!




LOVE!! ♥♥♥


Saturday, March 7

Rough go.

So I've had a very rough and busy couple of weeks...
It may not look it with my recent 
hair & sunglass expeditions 
(a girl needs to look her best while falling apart at the seams, am I right?!)
& sister visits; 
(Oh yeah, and being super sick also...)
but trust me, those were WELL-NEEDED breaks!!!

Deadlines and papers and papers and deadlines and more...
All seeming to be at the same time.
Of course, right?!

And among other issues, I have been super sensitive and emotional.
Just feeling like I just want to jump right out of my skin.
And feeling like a HUGE chunk of my heart is missing.
(Why do kids have to grow so fast?!)

So anyhow, I have a tight deadline on Monday,
 but after that I finally feel like I am 'back on track' again
and that I don't need to be in a horrible rush for everything.
Well still kinda rushed but not horribly so.
I am about to breathe a sigh of relief...
And keep on truckin'.

40 more days to go...
Wish me luck!

Thursday, March 5

My future is so bright...

I gotta wear shades!

So, after 2 or so years, I FINALLY got myself some new sunglasses!
(My dog, Rusty, loves to chew EVERYTHING!)
And I finally changed up my 'style' and opted for a bit bigger of an eye piece.
I'm a nerd, I know! haha

Me and my new Ray Bans...
Excellent for my up and coming 17 hour drive home in April!
And for our partial road trip to get to Newfoundland this summer!

Too cool for school?! 
Nahhh...not quite. hehe


Rusty, as you can see, used to be my 'baby' before my real baby arrived :)
I often call him my little red-headed 'shit-zu'! 
(b/c he gets into it alot, heheh)


And, of course, feeling reminiscent and missing my girl, 
I had to post this adorable pic of her when she was just 
5 MONTHS OLD!!!!
Awwwww!!!
Can you believe it?!
I cannot!
She is wearing Papérès fur hat while Rusty sniffs at it intensely. 
YUM! 
Something for him to eat seeing as he's already 
eaten my Dene fur cloud purse, scarf AND pillow!!!
(snowshoe hare fur)
Oh yeah, and my sunglasses too!

I miss these guys :)


Tuesday, March 3

Sisters

My sis came up to visit me for the weekend!
I was sooo happy to see some morsel of family.
And we had a fabulous ol' grand girlie time!

Shopping, coffee, dinner and familiar chit-chat...
What more could a homesick girl ask for :)


Monday Tunages

"Love is a First" song - The Tragically Hip

"The Evolution of Robin Thicke" album - Robin Thicke

"Wikked Lil' Grrrls" album - Esthero

"Everybody is Doing It So Why Can't We" album - The Cranberries

"Road Apples" album - The Tragically Hip

Sunday, March 1

#1 is crossed off...

Finally got my hair done :)
No more greys, yayy!!
(yes, I'm 30, and I've got a full patch in the front! Lucky me, huh?!)