Moving to Guelph!

We are finally moving to Guelph. We bought a 1 bedroom condo in the Mill Lofts near downtown Guelph. It's a small place but everything is new and shiny. After 4 years of being homeowners i think we are ready for a bit of condo living. No more shoveling snow or raking leaves. The downside is no more gardening or barbecuing. We will have to content ourselves with burgers cooked on the Griddler. i'm ready to brave the hour long commute just for the chance to be home more often, and to spend more time with friends. it won't be easy but i think it will be worth it in the end. the Guelph house search will continue but the pressure is now lifted for us to find the perfect home before Christmas. instead we will wait for the right house before we consider giving up the condo life!

the maiden voyage

after 2 years of ownership, we finally got to take our canoe on a trip! it was one of my lifetime dreams to own a canoe that i could portage myself if needed. when my opa died, he left me some money and i used that money to make my dream come true. my canoe is a beautiful blue Swift Kipawa. this canoe has been on trips before, since we did lend it to Kyle once for a trip that we weren't able to attend.

we had beautiful weather on the September long weekend, considering the crappy rain that was the norm this summer. this was my first trip to the north part of Algonquin. we met up with everyone at the campsite on Friday night and spent the first night at Kiosk. then we headed out across Kioshkokwi Lake, down the Amable du Fond River, and camped our first night on Manitou Lake. the second night was spent on Three Mile Lake, after a paddle through Manitou Lake, North Tea Lake and Biggar Lake. the final day started off with a 3km portage back into Manitou Lake and back out to Kioshkokwi.



it was a great trip as usual. joanne always ensures that we feast like kings on these trips, with gourmet sandwich factory offerings, delicious vegetarian and meat dishes, and of course dessert and snacks.

the maiden voyage of the blue canoe was successful and i hope we can put it to use again next year!

Melinda Street

i was recently downtown for a birthday party and i was walking along, looked up and i was on Melinda Street. how cool is that? not just anyone has a street named after them!

twilight obsession

ha ha ha i can't believe how obsessed i am with twilight. normally i mock people who get obsessed over books and such, but i guess i was the same with harry potter. i actually avoided reading it until i finally decided i would see if it was worth all the hype. and it was pretty good. same thing with twilight. i think i have read the books twice now in the last 2 months, and i have watched the movie like 5 times. or at least the good parts of the movie, the ones with Edward lol. i even made my own twilight playlist on Playlist.com (awesome site by the way). the new moon movie comes out November 20, i am totally going to have to find someone to go with me. the only thing i hate about the obsession is there is really no way to satisfy it now that i have read all of the books.

"Going Under"

Now I will tell you what I've done for you -
50 thousand tears I've cried.
Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you -
And you still won't hear me.
(going under)
Don't want your hand this time - I'll save myself.
Maybe I'll wake up for once (wake up for once)
Not tormented daily defeated by you
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through
I'm going under

Blurring and stirring - the truth and the lies.
(So I don't know what's real) So I don't know what's real and what's not (and what's not)
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through

I'm...

So go on and scream
Scream at me I'm so far away (so far away)
I won't be broken again (again)
I've got to breathe - I can't keep going under

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through

I'm going under (going under)
I'm going under (drowning in you)
I'm going under

biking at Killbear

we did our first hot weather ride last weekend. two hours and 45km later, sweaty and suprisingly dirty, we cooled ourselves in the waters of Georgian Bay. nothing like a short swim to refresh and bring back that energy.



another highlight of the weekend was the Blanding's Turtle that we rescued from the side of the road. she and i had a little photo shoot before i took her to safety. no rattlesnakes in sight, but that didn't matter because the Blanding's made my day.

my new bike

i just bought my first road bike as a belated birthday gift to myself 2 weekends ago and yesterday alex and i went for a 30k ride. it was awesome. my butt hurts from the seat but i can't wait until the next ride.

Birthday Reflections - Age 33

i have been perusing the internet for reflections written by people in their 30's. most of these tend to focus on things that people have achieved and goals they have reached, as well as things that they are thankful for. as l am looking back across my years, i wonder whether any of those things really apply to me. what have i done with my life and where will i be next year??

goals i have achieved
- completing school up to the masters level, and enjoying it
- obtaining my gis certificate
- getting a permanent job with mnr
- paying off all my school debt
- getting married
- buying a home

these all seem like great accomplishments. for the most part these things were goals that took me a long time to achieve and i am proud of them. but as usual in my life, things are tainted and coloured by the things that i have not achieved or are not present in my life even though i want them to be.

things that are missing from my life
- a secure and loving relationship
- children
- a real home (where i live, not just visit)

i am definately thankful that in my life i do have
- my health
- great friends
- a job that i love (finally)

and considering i am 33, i look pretty damn good! all in all, its been a melancholy birthday, a few welcome surprises and birthday wishes, and a few regrets and disappointments. just like my life.

if it was my dream birthday i would have sushi, creme brulee, all of my friends present, birthday wishes from everyone i know, sunshine, long island iced tea, and i would not have to work unless i wanted to. maybe achieving everything on that list should be my goal for next year.

Our trip to Hatteras

Hatteras was great. we feasted like kings. we tanned. we geocached. we drank a lot of "champagne". i even tried to surf...that didn't work out too well though! here is a link to our pictures from the trip. i am also posting a video of some of our friends trying to surf. i hope we go again next year, although if we do, i am bringing shorts!

going to Hatteras

we are leaving tomorrow for a week long vacation to Hatteras, NC. this is where we are staying.



not sure what it is going to be like but i am happy to get away from work for a week!

U Want Me 2

you walk on by
clueless and so high
following your aimless path
away from us

you're so far away
and what can i say
cause i can't be the one
you wanted me to be

so tell me how do you feel
its so confusing
if you let it all go it will fall apart
do you want me to stay and say
"i still want you"
you want me too dont you?

(ba ba ba)

so what are we saying
our edens a failure
a made up story to fit the
picture perfect world

the one with "i do"
and "I love you"
and "we are made for each other"
is forever over now

so tell me how do you feel
its so confusing
if you let it all go it will fall apart
do you want me to stay and say
"i still want you"
you want me too dont you?

I hope theres forgiveness
in the distance between us
can we make the lives ahead of us
a better place to be

so tell me how do you feel
its so confusing
if you let it all go it will fall apart
do you want me to stay and say
"i still want you"
you want me too dont you?

irritation

why do small things sometimes irritate me so much? things like:

1. people who say "anywho" or "whatnot"
2. laziness
3. being sick
4. people who print out emails
5. nosepicking in public
6. inane phone conversations
7. this pink stuff that is all over my desk (WTF?)

maybe it is just the tylenol cold speaking...i am sick.

algonquin winter weekend

we went up to algonquin with some of my coworkers last weekend. friday night we drove up and arrived in time for beer, veggie chili, and wolf howling. it was really cold out and we didn't really hear any wolves. we socialized and hung out at the wildlife research station.



on saturday we had a pancake breakfast, packed a lunch and headed out for a hike to Chit Lake. it was a 5km hike in to the cabin at Chit Lake, and it was our first time walking that far with snowshoes. it was also about -20 or something.



it was so cold at lunch that people barely stayed at the cabin at all ("cabin" is a loose interpretation as the "cabin" was open to the air). we built a fire and SOME people drank. when we got too cold from standing around, we decided to walk back. i don't think that my hip flexors have ever been so sore before. but we made it back.

on saturday night we had some delicious lasagna. but then i got into the wine, and the wine killed me. at about 9pm i went to lie down "for a minute" and the wine and the snowshoe hike caught up to me and killed me. so i could hear everyone else laughing and drinking but i could not get myself out of bed. so i feel badly that i missed out on some good fun. i will have to try NOT to do that this weekend at Jay. i hate being tired but i also hate missing out on good times! i can always catch up on sleep later.

skiing at Glen Eden

for the last 4 weekends, Alex and i have been taking ski lessons at Glen Eden. it's not the biggest or best hill by any means, and it is ridiculously busy, but it was great to get out skiing. since we are heading to Jay Peak again this year, we decided to get in some practice. going to Glen Eden for 4 weekends has got us used to skiing again and i think we are going to have a lot more fun at Jay this year. i just hope the temperature is warm because Jay can be really cold at this time of year.