Melissa's Matters

Hey all!

My trip has been going awesome! I've done a lot of fun stuff in the last couple days but the blog and video is going to have to wait a few more days! Ben is off now for the weekend and I leave Sunday evening so my main concern is spending as much time with him as possible and I'll get to the final blog and video covering the last 4 days after that. Heading home Sunday night if all goes well with flights and weather and then back to a SUPER busy week which might give me another cool thing to blog about. Until then!

It has been a very busy couple of days! I was just so tired yesterday after my adventures that I could not sit down and write about it well enough. I’m going to give it a go now although I’m up and excited to get going!

After I blogged Monday morning and put up the first video I decided to make my way up to the National Mall area and wing it. I didn’t have a plan because the first few days here proved that I shouldn’t plan everything out that much and I should just do what I can when I can to maximize my experience. I decided to try taking the bus though because there was a stop right outside Ben’s house so I didn’t have to walk 15 minutes to the metro - I knew I would be doing enough walking when I got up there! The bus was exactly on time and it took me right where I needed to go - gotta love Google Maps!

When I got to the area I decided I would go to the National Gallery of Art first to try to find the three Durer pieces they had and see whatever else they had to see. The NGA has two buildings that are connected through an underground tunnel. I started in the first, and smaller of the two, the East building. There wasn’t a whole lot to see in there but the architecture and instalments were very modern and intriguing. The tunnel was possibly my favourite part of the whole gallery. It has little lights flashing throughout it - it’s very hard to explain but there’s a couple of seconds of footage of it in my video! It’s very cool!

Ben came over from the embassy for lunch which was nice to get to see him during the day. It certainly broke up the 8 hours alone during the day and it was super easy for him because the embassy is right across the street from the NGA!

After finding Durer I decided to move on from the NGA. I did browse some of the other rooms but it just wasn’t the same as the galleries in Italy and I’m not sure much can compare to those. The nostalgia was bothering me and there was also the fact that I don’t have THAT much time to do A LOT of stuff so off I went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Natural History was cool! I would have enjoyed it much more if there were less people there and my feet didn’t already hurt but it was still awesome to get a quick look at the big draws all the same. I can see how children would really love it there - I tend to be a child at heart with this stuff, hence my astonishment with the Zoo the other day. There was lots of colourful and engaging stuff everywhere! The T-Rex skeleton was awesome and I also really liked the hope diamond. There’s a live butterfly pavilion on the second floor but I didn’t bother to go in there because it was a separate cost, there was a line and I’ve done it before (not that one but the one at the insectarium in Deer Lake).

After the Museum of Natural History I moved on to the Museum of American History. It was pretty cool but as the name implies it is all about Americans and their accomplishments/inventions. I enjoyed the exhibit about the First Lady’s, they had all of the inaugural ceremony dresses and a set of the china that they chose while they were in the house. It sounds a bit demeaning to focus only on what she wore and her china but they did include interesting facts about how each woman made the job her own and got her hands into the political side of things so it wasn’t too bad.

By the time I was done at American History, Ben was off work! So we met at the National Archives to take a look at the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. That was kind of cool but I imagine even cooler if you’re an American.

After that visit my feet were just about ready to fall off and the snow had started so we got the metro back down to Ben’s neighbourhood and got some Five Guys Burgers and Fries for supper. When we got home we found out that everything in DC was shutting down tomorrow because of the so called snowstorm! It was calling for 15-20 cm overnight and everything had already announced it was closing for the day on Tuesday including the federal government offices. It was be nothing to even blink an eye at at home but because it doesn’t happen often here they don’t keep all the equipment on hand to clean it up as quickly.

I was crossing my fingers that everything wouldn’t shut down because I came here to do things and can’t do that when they all shut down!

When I got up yesterday morning the buses were not running but the metro still was so that was good. I had an appintment for a tour at Ronald McDonald House Washington DC for 10 AM and I made it there but I was just a bit late. They knew the state of the roads and metro so it was no worries. The DC RMH is gorgeous! Theirs is just 4 years old so its a new building and they have 25 rooms, 4 of which are isolation rooms for patients who have undergone transplants and things of that sort. I had a great time at RMH and then made my way back to the metro to meet Ben for lunch.

After lunch Ben took me on a tour of the Embassy - another beautiful building! It’s in a great location and there’s an awesome view on the top floor or the capitol building. I got to see where Ben spends his days working away so that was cool too.

Ben had to work for the rest of the afternoon of course so I went on and did my own thing. We were supposed to do the Washington Monument at 12:30 PM but it was closed, as were all of the galleries and museums unfortunately so I took the chance to just walk around the national mall and see what I could see. I went to the Monument anyways and it was a beautiful day with gorgeous blue skies so a nice times to see it and get a glimpse of the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial from there. I made my way up to the White House to see if I could say hi to Barack but no dice, LOL. Although he was home! By the time I did that walk Ben was off work and we met up to go find some food and explore Chinatown.

Chinatown was…. interesting. A very aggressive woman grabbed me trying to get a dollar so that was a little frightening. We walked a little down the road and decided we would see what movies are playing and perhaps go see one. Ben wanted to see Kingsmen and at that point I just wanted food and a warm place to sit down so away we went. The movie was absolutely awesome! It was the perfect blend of comedy, action and it even pulled on your heartstrings. I think most anyone could enjoy it! After the movie I grabbed some Salted Caramel Ice Cream at the Haagen Dazs store downstairs - yum - and then we came home and that was it for that day.

Half the day is gone now but we needed a little rest, all the walking is hard on the legs and back!I must go get ready now though as we’re off to another few museums to see what we can see!

Yesterday was a pretty good day but also fairly uneventful. It was absolutely freezing outside so we couldn’t do anything that required us to be outside for a long period of time. We decided to head to a mall with Olive Garden next to it so we could spend the day shopping and then go to dinner. We went to the Mall at Prince Georges in Hyattsville, MD. It was just about 30/40 minutes away by metrorail so it wasn’t bad at all! It had so many stores! I was excited to check out Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx, JC Penney, Macy’s, Old Navy and Target. We had (or had) Old Navy and Target at home but I wanted to see if they were any different, and they weren’t really aside from Old Navy being completely ransacked here. Ross, Marshalls and TJ Maxx are all pretty much the same thing and very much like Winners. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all owned by the same company. Ross is definitely the cheapest though and it’s pretty much the only place I bought anything. I got a nice classic pair of black Nine Wast pumps that are easy to walk in a stylish. Something every girl needs!

We had lunch there and had to try some Taco Bell. Even though we had had Taco Bell in Halifax in November it just wasn’t like a real Taco Bell here. We had a deal with three different kinds of Tacos and I was probably least excited to try the Doritos taco but I was pleasantly surprised! It was delicious. We had a Cinnabon for desert and off we went again.

After we were done our shopping and the mall was almost closing we made our way over to Olive Garden. They have a deal of 4 courses for 12.99 so I got that and we both had some of the unlimited salad and breadsticks to start and then shared risotto bites which were pretty good! Ben had stuffed chicken marsala for his main and I had spaghetti with 5 cheese marinara - yum!! I even got desert with my deal but I was too full to eat it there so I brought it home.

We made our way through the cold to the metro and back to Ben’s. Then I ate my yummy strawberry white chocolate decline and had a chat with mom. Ben needed a hair cut so I did that too.. for my first time I don’t think it turned out too shabby!

After doing a bit of school work we headed to bed because Ben has a super early rise in the morning - 6:45 AM! He is a changed man from the one who could not function before 10 AM LOL! He was up and out the door by 7:20 AM and I was debating going back to sleep but I think I’m up for the day too! I’m gonna get some food, get ready and head out possibly to the National Gallery of Art. Might as well take advantage of the day before the snow starts this afternoon. Apparently I have brought the winter with me! There’s supposed to be snowstorms tonight AND Saturday.. so I’ll have to enjoy what I can while I can no point in doing too much planning.

Well, I’m off to eat, get ready and maybe post the part 1 video of the trip!

It’s technically day 2 but I’m not going to count travel days so buckle up and get ready for 8 days of (for the most part) jam-packed Washington, DC fun!

It’s only day 2 (well, day 1) and this trip has already been a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs for me. Wednesday evening I realized that my sore throat was not just your average sore throat but most likely a case of Strep Throat given that my tonsils had blown up and there were no other signs of a head cold. I spent the night waiting in the emergency room, because I knew doctors offices would be closed for snowmaggedon, and got some antibiotics. Pretty much every flight out of St. John’s was cancelled Thursday and Air Canada had a travel alert out for Friday so I was really trying to not let myself get too excited because I didn’t know my chances of getting off the island - which is the biggest feat, once you’re in another province you could probably reroute some where/way. I mean, Air Canada can completely cancel your flight with no notice whatsoever because they feel like it so with this travel alert staring me in the face I felt like my chances were slim to none. I did a little detective work and found the flight from Toronto of the plane that was to be mine and decided I would get up and get ready to go to the airport if that flight made it out of Toronto. And so it did! I made my way to the airport and forgot my licence, which I needed because Ben and I had planned to rent a car to go to Philadephia, and then Mckinnon so kindly brought it out to me. So after a second, much longer, go through security (I was not letting anything get to me) I boarded the plane and with a 45 minute delay we were headed to Toronto. At first it didn’t seem like long and it was no big deal but it soon dawned on me that I would have about 40 minutes to get off the plane I was on (in the back of course) and find my way out of the secure area, to US connections, through their customs line, through security AGAIN and then to find my gate and board. It was all good though, I made it! I even had time to use the washroom. It’s the little things.

The flight to DC was a short one. I could always see the ground, or rather the water, because we didn’t have time to make a full ascent. Before I knew it I had landed at sunset in Washington, DC and I was so happy to be there. We landed early and Ben hadn’t even gotten off the metro! So I made my way, using the signs of course, to the metro station to meet him. So happy to see him again! I decided then that I would buy a 7 day unlimited pass for the metro which was $60 but then I didn’t have to worry about paying individual fares at all. Bought that and off we went. The DC metro system is pretty easy to navigate. Maybe its from seeing them on TV all my life but I love metros. When we got off at the stop closest to where Ben lives down here we went to the Safeway that is about 10 feet in front of it. If you read my blog from Italy you know I LOVE seeing the different products of different countries and how brands change their products to please people of different cultures and traditions and grocery stores are one of my favourite places to observe that. There was some different stuff there but not a whole lot, pretty similar to home! Canada and the USA aren’t that different anyway so I wasn’t expecting much.

After Safeway we went back to Ben’s and crashed, I had been up since 5:30 AM DC time (7AM NL time) and we knew we had a long day ahead today.

This morning we got up, ready and made our way to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park  or as I like to call it - the zoo!!! I was so excited. Honestly, this was one of the things I was most looking forward to as I love seeing live animals! It was super easy to find it and free admission! We had great weather too. Many of the animals weren’t out because it’s winter but lots still were! I don’t have time to write about all of the animals I saw but I’ll tell the highlights. Owls, of course. I saw 4 owls! 2 big ones and 2 little ones, so cute! They didn’t really do much, just sat there perched but I just wanted to take them home! The flamingos were a highlight for sure. They were freaking out and squawking, turning their heads, opening their wings.. it looked like they were doing a synchronized dance! So funny. The gorillas were super cool, I’ve never seen anything like them in person so it was interesting and incredible to see how big they are and how they move. Not an animal but there was an animal carousel at the park and it’s super childish but we had to do it, well I wanted to do it and Ben HAD to, LOL. I think he had fun though! It was a super fun thing to do on valentine’s day! It was also my first experience at a Zoo and I really enjoyed it.

After the zoo we went across the street to the seven eleven and I had a hotdog and a big gulp. Just another thing I HAD to do.. I hadn’t eaten a whole lot anyways. The hot dog was actually delicious, it even compared to Costco’s. We walked to the metro station and decided to get the metro back near Ben’s place, check out another grocery store and head home because we were so tired from all the walking. The grocery store was cool, found some other interesting items there to try! The walk back to Ben’s was nice and we had to pass Nationals Park - the base ball field - and you could see the capitol building and Washington monument in the distance.

When we got back to Ben’s he cooked me a lovely valentine’s day dinner and we spent the rest of the evening planning out our week. Apparently I have brought the snow and cold to DC because a few centimetres fell tonight and it is gonna be FREEZING tomorrow. So our plan changed from exploring Georgetown and U Street to heading to a mall and Olive Garden, and you never know that could change again! Gotta go with the flow!

Well it’s been a long day - I’m off to bed!

So.. it’s 2015! It’s second day of the second month of 2015! Wow - how the time flies! This is my super-duper-late Top Ten Moments of 2014 blog to go with my 2014 recap video which you can find here: www.bit.ly/MM2014Recap

2014 was a hell of a year for me and here’s why (in no specific order):

1. The babies turned 2!

The twins are such a huge part of my life. They’re so sweet and they’ve made me an auntie - I couldn’t imagine life without them and I can’t believe how fast they are growing! They’re walking and talking, soon enough they’ll be starting school! Before them I had never really had the experience of being close to an infant or toddler for extended periods of time and I have learned so much from them and I continue to be amazed by how much they learn from us.

2. New Job

I got my job at Ronald McDonald House - this was a huge deal for me. The not for profit sector is where I see myself going and being able to work on the front line of an amazing organization while finishing my degree is the best thing I could have hoped for let alone have it happen! Especially considering it is a charity that I have put so much into since its inception here in NL in 2009 to its opening in 2012 and so forth. I love the work that RMHNL does and I was so extremely excited to get a job there that really signified the beginning of my career because I am no longer hopping around between retail and part time jobs but I am learning skills and knowledge about NFP that will be beneficial throughout my career.

3. Related to #2 but yet a totally different topic - the 3rd Annual St. John's Red Shoe Crew Walk for Families

It was my 3rd year coordinating the St. John’s Red Shoe Crew Walk for Families in support of Ronald McDonald House Newfoundland and Labrador and we raised more than ever with a total of over $15,000.00. It was an exciting day as I could see the improvements that I had made over the years and I could really see how much I have grown and my organizational skills have improved. It also meant I had lead the way to approx. $45,000.00 being raised for RMHNL since 2009 through various fundraisers I had lead and organized. Pretty cool day for me indeed!

4. Ben’s Internship

Ben finished his degree in December, as semester before me, so he was scrambling all fall to figure out what he would do come January. In October he got the news that he had gotten an invitation to do an internship at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC. Pretty frickin cool!!! Although it mean Ben would be leaving me in January for 4 months, it was definitely a highlight of my year, he was so excited and of course I was too!

5. URock Volunteer Award

In 2014 I won a URock Volunteer Award from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. I had been nominated for my work most specifically with the CFSNL/MUNSU, RMHNL and the Boys and Girls Clubs of St. John’s. I was so ecstatic to find out that I won but I sadly wasn’t going to be able to be there to accept the award. I was away in Europe (see #6 for more on that) but I got to watch live via webcast and my mom went and was texting me pictures the whole time - technology is amazing! One of my tweets was even mentioned during the live show because I was tweeting the host as it was happening - pretty cool!

6. Europe Trip

I spent 2 weeks in France and 4 in Italy. It. Was. Amazing. What more can I say? We got to go to Beaumont Hamel while in France which was a really cool experience as Newfoundlanders. It truly felt like a part of Newfoundland there in France. It was a moving experience - one I’ll never forget. My 4 weeks in Italy were incredible. Ben was there too and we did it as a part of the Communications Studies program at MUN. We met some awesome people and got to see, eat and drink some amazing things. It was a month that I’m not sure will ever be topped.

7. My first car!

After coming home from Italy I got my first car! I shopped around and got myself a red Nissan Micra. She’s a tiny little thing but all I need! This was a big moment for me because it meant I was able to afford to do something like that which I never really imagined being able to.

8. My 2nd Tely 10

In July, just after my 22nd birthday, I ran my 2nd Tely 10! Running/walking/crawling 10 miles is certainly a challenge but it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done! I hope to do many more and encourage everyone to try it - if I can do it, you can!

9. My Halloween Costume

This halloween was my first working at Ronald McDonald House and it caused a me to have a renewed love of halloween. The job and my lovely little nieces made the holiday fun again! I got my creative juices flowing and made my own gumball machine costume which was a hit! It was a great costume but more expensive than you’d think! It cost me about what it would have to buy a full costume but it was much more unique!

10. We Day

Last but certainly not least on the list is We Day. In November, Ben and I made a trip to Halifax, NS to volunteer for We Day Atlantic Canada. We Day is a concert/conference type day of music and inspiring stories that reward secondary school aged youth for their volunteering efforts and impacts throughout the year. Tickets are earned through their volunteer efforts! It was an amazing experience!

I hope you had a fantastic year as well! I hope to blog some more about all the changes that are sure to come for me in 2015 (graduating, entering the professional world, possibly a big move, etc). Keep an eye out for my trip to Washington, DC in just 11 days! I plan to blog each day but depending on how busy I am it might be every couple - it’s sure to be an interesting trip!

This year Ben and I decided to change it up a bit and have a sober New Years Eve instead of one that involves drinking like we usually do. We decided to try this for a few reasons. I had to work today and I really didn’t want to be hung over for a 12 hour shift so that was a big one, and Ben has a very limited amount of time left here so we didn’t want to waste the whole day hungover and recovering from who knows what adventures could have occurred. Being 22 we were definitely made ourselves the minority within our friend group by not drinking but I really enjoyed it! 

We started off the night by going to supper at Jack Astor’s with some lovely friends. Then we made our way to a friends party and hung out there for a while and then it was off to Quidi Vidi Lake for the fireworks! It was a great show - 15 minutes! - and we were super close! After the fireworks we made our way back to our friends party to celebrate for another little while before heading home, watching a bit of the CNN New Years Eve coverage and heading to bed. 

I really liked being able to drive to different places and see a lot of people/things throughout the night instead of being confined to one place (unless you’re gutsy enough to walk or try to get a cab - $$$). We were even able to help out Ben’s parents at the end of the night by picking them up. So we saved money on alcohol and cabs for not only us but them! Win, win! 

The fireworks were honestly a highlight for me. I don’t think I’ve ever gone down to the lake to see any fireworks, for Canada Day or NYE. I’ve seen them from other places around the city but being right down by them, and I mean like 50 feet away from where they were being set off, was awesome. I was worried that it wouldn’t be as exciting as an adult but I loved it!

THE best thing about having a sober New Years Eve is that I got to make the most of it AND I remember everything/regret nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t get too crazy when I drink but I’m pretty sure everyone can say or do something they wish they hadn’t when under the influence. And things definitely slip your mind. I didn’t have to deal with cabs and the ca$h they cost last night, and the being outdoors in the snow and FREEZING cold waiting for them. And today, I don’t have to deal with a hangover! 

Having a drink, especially on New Years Eve, is usually a good laugh but I’m happy to learn that I can have a great time without it. 

Check out my quick 2 minute recap of my New Years night here: www.bit.ly/NYE2014-2015

The second half of our trip to Halifax was not near as exciting as our first! Saturday we spent the majority of the day at the Mic Mac Mall. There was ongoing Black Friday sales so that was hard to stay away from! As was Cinnabon, YUM. The smell of the Cinnabuns go all through the mall and it’s pretty much impossible to leave without getting one. 

After a long day at the mall we caught the bus back to the hotel and relaxed there for the night. On Sunday we slept in and walked around downtown for one last time. We went to supper with Ben’s cousin at a restaurant called The Stubborn Goat. Ben and his cousin had burgers which they both really enjoyed and I had the tomato mac n cheese which was amazing, and such a big serving! For a starter we all shared a bean dip that was my favourite - so delicious! If you’re ever in Halifax, I suggest you check them out!

Soon after that it was time for us to go to the airport so we went to the hotel to get our luggage and before even leaving I found out that our West Jet flight home was delayed.. of course. That’s just our luck! Regardless, we go our stuff and headed to the airport. I’m still amazed at how great the bus system is in Halifax, the buses are always on time! Our bus ride out to the airport cost us $3.50 each and took about an hour. When we got to the airport and checked in, the wait began and finally after being delayed an hour, it was time to board. The planes are shrinking, I swear. When it’s at the point where you can’t even full open your laptop and type, it’s pretty bad. As if it’s not enough to have to pay $25 to put your bag on the plane now.. 

And 1:00 AM we finally made it back on the ground in Newfoundland!

Everything started again full force for me on Monday, hence why this blog is not being posted until right now! It was back to work, school and final papers! Just a couple more weeks until my second last semester of my degree is over! YAY! 

Must get back to it, although I hate to wish away my time because the faster it goes, the faster comes the time for Ben to go!

My video from We Day Atlantic Canada is done and up on Youtube, I’m going to post it right after this blog! 

Myself and Ben came to Halifax on Wednesday morning and a lot of you will be wondering why, apparently that’s a common reaction.. people seem to be underwhelmed with Halifax. I, however, just like travelling and seeing new places. I love a new adventure, wherever that is. I have been to Halifax before but I was a wee one then so I don’t remember much besides Theodore the Tugboat and getting to see the Halifax Tattoo. This fall Ben and I decided to come to Halifax for 5 days for a few reasons. The first was, well, we needed a break - or maybe we wanted a trip, I know I did! I have had a severe case of wanderlust since my return from Italy and this was my way of pacifying that at a relatively low cost for the time being. The second reason was to come volunteer at We Day Atlantic Canada, if you don’t know what that is I’ll explain a little later. And the third reason is made up of the combination of Taco Bell, Forever 21, H&M, the fact that it’s the last real alone time Ben and I will get before he leaves for 4 months as well as the trip being reasonably cheap given that we got it on Air Miles and got a great hotel deal. SO - that is why we came to Halifax!

With that out of the way, I wanted to discuss how incredibly similar Halifax and St. John’s are. Downtown Halifax is JUST like downtown St. John’s. It’s mostly on a hill, given not as steep. There’s a bunch of hotels, the stadium is down here, it’s right on the water.. and the other day there was sun, rain and snow in the span of 10 minutes! I could definitely live here, it would feel just like home. Except with a better bus system, better stores and increased access to Starbucks. 

We caught a flight here on Wednesday morning, super early in the morning. It was a West Jet flight to Halifax/Toronto and the flight attendant was super funny. He joked about if we needed anything could we please keep it to ourselves because he woke up at 3:30 that morning - too funny. We were lucky enough to have the 3 seat row to ourselves. I’m pretty sure everyone else on the flight was headed to Alberta. I just wrote a research paper about fly in/out jobs and Newfoundlanders working in Alberta so it was interesting to see all the men, young and old, load onto the plane with their Syncrude and Suncor hats, jackets and backpacks. There was like an instant brotherhood between them, because they knew they all lived the same life. I overheard a couple of them talking and you would think they knew each other since birth and then they would ask where the other is headed and I realized they’d never met. Maybe there is a camaraderie research graduate degree in sociology for me in there somewhere.. Anyways, when we got to Halifax we weren’t sure how we were going to get to the hotel but I had read that there was a city bus you could get for $3.50 versus the $17 for the shuttle we would have had to wait another hour for. City bus it was! And it was easy - the driver was kind and helpful! Got to the hotel no problem and our luck continued - we could get in our room at 10 AM! We took a nap and then before we knew it, it was time to head towards the We Day Atlantic Canada volunteer orientation and grab some food on the way. We Day is an awesome event that Free The Children holds to reward youth involved with their organization for their work and effort to help change the world as well to inspire them to further that change. The tickets don’t cost anything, but they aren’t free. School groups earn them through the work that they do year round. The event features inspiring speakers, music and information about other ways to make change in the world. Ben and I signed up to volunteer to help but also because we wanted to experience the day and see exactly what happens there because Free The Children has always been an organization I’ve liked and I very well might apply for some of their jobs when I graduate in May. Volunteer orientation was great! We got posted to the Education First (EF Tours) kiosk on which we had the job of helping teachers to enter to win a trip for them and 3 students to the Amazon with Me to We by scanning their electronic bracelet. So learning the ins and outs of that was easy enough! 

After training we took our time going back to the hotel and stopped in to Freak Lunch box. Funny enough, we have this store in NL but getting downtown to go shopping isn’t something I get to do often. Bought some yummy stuff in there - Ben got a case of Vanilla Coke, so he was stoked on that! When we got back to the hotel we vegged out and enjoyed the pool and hot tub! 

On Day 2 we got up and got the bus to the Mic Mac Mall, which was about a 20 minute bus ride away, also pretty easy to manuever with the help of Google Maps. Did a little shopping but nothing too crazy. Then we made our way back to the hotel and then on to Ronald McDonald House Halifax. As most of you probably know, I work at Ronald McDonald House Newfoundland and Labrador and absolutely love the organization. So I thought I would try to come and see the Halifax one while I was here and thanks to RMHNL’s lovely Executive Director I got that chance. Ben and I went for a tour of their house and even the Family Room in the IWK. It was awesome to see how they are different and the same in many ways. The Family Room was a big highlight for me, if you don’t know what it is, it’s basically a room in the hospital for the use of all the families in the Children’s hospital. So the goal is to be a mini Ronald McDonald House really. It has a kitchen for the use of the families, dining room area, living room area, shower, and other amenities that vary depending on the resources of each Family Room. I think it would certainly be a lovely addition to the Janeway, maybe in time! 

After our awesome tours we ended up going out to the Halifax Shopping Centre to scope that out, once again on the bus, and once again it was easy! If only Metrobus were that easy (and on time), I would use it all the time! After checking that out we got the bus back to our hotel and then walked to Cafe Chianti where we were having dinner. We had scoped the place out online and made a reservation. It was supposed to be an authentic Italian restaurant but they had box pasta which made me a little sad, with that said, everything else was awesome! 

Day 3, today, was a super EARLY rise. Had to be at the stadium for We Day 7:15 AM which was a little unnecessary for us because of our specific post but I understand why they just told ALL volunteers 7:15 AM, it would have been way too confusing to tell everyone different times and after having run a few events that need volunteers myself, it’s better for volunteers to be there early than too close to the time or too late. We manned our EF tours kiosk and did our absolute best to get all the teachers we could to enter to win the trip, it was actually pretty fun because it wasn’t trying to sell them anything, it was a total win-win! After that booth closed down we got to stick around and watch the rest of the show which was about a solid hour so it was cool to see what we did - Amanda Lindhout, Kweku Mandela, Craig and Marc Kielburger.. and I also got a glimpse of Amanda Murphy who has an amazing story! Look up those names if you want to be inspired, such incredible people.

After the show we went down to the harbour front and explored a little bit. Took a selfie with Theodore the Tugboat who is all decked out for November, ya know, the usual. We went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which was actually way cooler than I expected it to be. I learned about the Halifax explosion which I vaguely had heard about but it was interesting to hear the full story, there was artifacts from the Titanic like pieces of the gorgeous stairwell and a sun chair from the deck which was really cool, and they have a Parrot there named Merlin! That was super cool and he even said Hello to me! 

Once we were done at the museum we came on back to the hotel and have vegged out ever since. Our feet are gone! I’ve walked more than 10,000 steps everyday since we got here (according to my phone, so its approximate) and 14,000 yesterday alone! My usual is around 3000/4000 so that’s a lot for me! But it’s good because I’ve been doing my best to be healthier, besides the delicious chinese food we ordered in tonight LOL but seriously, I even got a workout in on day 1!

That’s pretty much it for Part 1 of my Halifax journey, I’ll be doing a video of it all when it’s done of course, probably two separate ones, one for the week and one for We Day alone. Thanks for reading my uber long post and look out for part two which will likely be up Sunday or Monday night! 

I love owls but I never once said I wanted to be one. Okay, I might have debated being one for Halloween but the nocturnal lifestyle is not for me. But alas, my work schedule being an overnight or two each week, I have become a night owl. So I am writing this in the wee hours of the morning. I should be spending this time doing schoolwork but I’m taking a break to share with you all my summer vacation video and blog that is long overdue. I think I held off so that I could do it when Fall has begun so maybe we could pretend that it’s still summer and I did all this last week.

At the end of August my family took a good ol’ fashioned road trip. We went to Port Blandford and spent a couple days as toursits in central. We spent one day at Sandy Pond beach and the Terra Nova Park touch tank. Sandy Pond is an awesome place to go on beautiful summer days! The water is shallow until very far out so its safe to let children go free while keeping a close eye, the sand is actual SAND - so nice! You wouldn’t know the difference between down south and Sandy Pond if it wasn’t surrounded by beautiful evergreens. We had a blast at Sandy Pond and then made our way down the highway to the Terra Nova touch tank. We all had a good laugh there.. you’ll have to watch the video (www.bit.ly/NLVaca2014). The babies were fascinated that you could touch and pick up the crabs and starfish. It’s a great place to go for the young and old!

The next day wasn’t anything spectacular to write about, we drove for most of the day to small communities to visit family and friends. The weather was completely all over the place - rain, sun, rain, sun! But we got a beautiful rainbow out of it. 

The next day Ben and I headed out to Burlington for The Gathering which I did a separate post about. My Nan and Pop live in Burlington so after all The Gathering fun was over we got a delicious Sunday dinner cooked by my lovely grandmother. We also got to see her huge garden with so many veggies! Makes me want to start growing my own - someday, hopefully! 

After dinner we made our way further west to Pasadena to spend the final days of our trip with my awesome Aunt, Uncle and two cousins. They’re the people I am closest with in my fairly big and extended family so time with them is always awesome but unfortunately it doesn’t come easy as we live on opposite ends of the province. We helped them do their ice bucket challenge and we did some family photos of them. They definitely needed some new ones because we did some just a year ago but Amanda, my aunt, has undergone a huge and healthy transformation. She has lost over 150 lbs and you can read her incredible and inspiring story on her blog here: http://www.amandasquiresstory.blogspot.ca/

We took the boys, my cousins, to the Newfoundland Insectarium in Deer Lake. It was an awesome activity for all of us! There was so many insects alive and dead and you could even touch and hold some! My favourite part, by far, was the butterfly pavilion. Such an incredible place. The butterflies come perch on your hand, leg, head - anywhere they can get! It’s so peaceful and beautiful to see all the butterflies flying around. My favourite was the owl butterfly, it looks like an owl face for camouflage reasons - so cool!

And sadly the trip was over and we had to make our way back to St. John’s with some short stops along the way to eat and visit with friends! I love road trips across NL, it really reminds me of the beauty that lies in this province.

The third annual Gathering took place in Burlington, NL on August 22, 23 and 24th of 2014. I had the pleasure of attending it for the very first time. The Gathering came to be out of Shaun Majumder’s vision to bring the tourism industry to life in his home town of Burlington. His idea began with Majumder Manor and from that came the reality television show by the same name on the W Network. The Gathering aims to showcase the beauty that lies in rural communities such as Burlington but also Middle Arm and Smith’s Harbour, the next door neighbours. You can learn all about the journey that Shaun has been on for the past few years and the progress he has made at thegatheringburlington.com

I was super excited to get to go to my first Gathering because Burlington holds a special place in my heart. My nan and pop live in Burlington and I have visited the town many times throughout my life but it became a significant place for me at the age of 13 when I met a group of extremely friendly and fun people, some of whom became great friends who have helped shape my life. Many of the young people I met nearly a decade ago have left the community in hopes of finding work, something that Burlington is lacking. I strongly support Shaun’s initiative because I think it would be incredible if my friends did not have to leave their home to find work but also because Burlington is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

We made the trek from St. John’s to Port Blandford and then on to Burlington from there. I got more and more excited every time I saw a ‘The Gathering’ sign and after each and every (there’s a lot) turn in the Burlington road. I was so excited to see hundreds of people embracing one of my favourite places. We got there and went to the town hall to register and then on to ‘Tent City’ to set up camp. There was at least 20 tents or more setting up to spend the night in beautiful Perry’s Cove overlooking the harbour. What a spot! 

After getting the tent set up and the air mattress pumped we made our way to Middle Arm to check out the Community Potluck at Middle Arm town hall. That was madness so we decided to go on over to Chuckwag’n for some food. After a nice poutine we went on up to MSB Regional Academy to get in line for the comedy show. For us, this was the event we had been waiting for. Don’t get me wrong, we knew Sam Roberts would be good, but Shaun Majumder, Mark Critch and Matt Wright for $35 in a small school gym? Can’t get much better - oh wait, there was the added bonus of Colin Hollett and John Sheehan who I didn’t even know were going to be there! The comedy show was incredible! We had front row seats, surprisingly now one took them first so we snagged them and we couldn’t have been happier. Mark Critch and Shaun Majumder’s Open Line bit had to be my favourite. It was ‘Top Shelf’. And I’ve loved Matt Wright’s stuff since the first time I saw him (hosting the 2014 U Rock Volunteer Awards - I was a recipient) so I was super excited to see him again. Colin Hollett was new to me and I’ll definitely be going to another show of his! John Sheehan was also hilarious, I had seen him once before but I didn’t realize how good he was! 

After the comedy show was done we made our way back to Tent City and there was a bonfire going on and people playing guitar so we relaxed with friends and enjoyed the evening before getting some rest for the next day.

Saturday morning we got some food and met up with family and friends and made our way to the Gathering Grounds. The Grounds were great, there was vendors and it was all right by the water with a gorgeous view. You could go look around the Hummock View Greens - Greenhouse that was a part of the Majumder Manor project. They grow and sell produce. There was live music all day by some lovely performers. Delicious lunch and supper was served by incredible chefs. There was quite the wait for both meals if you weren’t there right at the beginning, lucky we were for lunch so we got a bit of everything but by the time we got around for supper there was only fish left which I am not a fan of. 

After lunch, we did a little sight seeing around Burlington and I took my friends to the brook and the Falls in Middle Arm, two of my favourite spots. Then we ran over to Baie Verte for something to do and came back in time to see the end of Steve Poltz set. That man can sure put on a show! I honestly had never heard of him before but he made a fan out of me very quickly, he is an incredible story teller. After Steve Poltz did some funky stuff and crowd surfed, Shaun Majumder and Mark Critch came on to introduce Sam Roberts. They did a hilarious freestyle rap and some other funny bits and then on came the headliner - Minotaur, Sam Roberts. He was wonderful as expected.

Sunday morning we popped into Burlington Town Hall and Community Centre for breakfast and had some sausage and french toast. Then we went to the brook to relax a bit. We hadn’t intended to go to The Gathering Grounds on Sunday but my aunt Amanda Squires was singing at The Praise Gathering which you could attend for a separate fee of $10 so of course we went to that. I absolutely love hearing my aunt sing, she had such an amazing voice! You can see one of the performances from that day here: http://bit.ly/AmandaSquiresLoveSong All the performers were great! 

After the Praise Gathering we had Sunday dinner at nan’s and then our time in Burlington was done and it was off to our next destination! The Gathering was a great event and we can’t wait to do it again next year, there’s so much more to do that I couldn’t this year like Chef Hikes and the Brook Picnic! Kudos to all involved in organizing the weekend, it was a job well done for sure!

Please excuse me for any spelling or grammar mistakes - I wrote this is very little sleep! 

So the #ALSIceBucketChallenge has been viral for the last week or so as I'm sure everyone knows. It has been flooding newsfeeds, twitter, the evening news and pretty much any media outlet you can find. A lot of people have been all for it (hence the mass amount of videos on your newsfeed of people doing it) and some not so much. I actually saw one blog with a title telling people NOT to do it. And I get it, kind of. As a fundraiser myself I get the fact that the idea of the donation being the "punishment" for not doing something is not the best strategy and as someone who has had a close loved one die of ALS I don't like the idea that some might think pouring a bucket of ice over your head is any comparison to the pain of the condition. BUT the thing is, neither of these things are being focused on. Most people donate AS WELL as doing the #ALSIceBucketChallenge, and even if they don't - they're helping by spread the word! Better than doing nothing. I also think people realize that this is not meant to be comparable to the pain ALS causes.

This campaign is fantastic and I give kudos to whoever came up with it. According to the news reports donations are up a HUGE amount to various ALS foundations and research funds. As far as I know, no one has been hurt by it. So tell me friends, where is the bad in this? Unless you're being a negative Nancy and complaining about it jamming up your newfeed in which case you can kindly select the "I don't want to see this." option in the menu that appears when you click the downward arrow on the top right of the post. 

Well friends, that's the jist of my thoughts on the #ALSIceBucketChallenge and without further ado here is the link to my own: www.bit.ly/2014ALSIBC 

And once again it has been a while! The summer semester is over so now I have TIME to blog, and vlog, and read, and relax! So exciting! Few topics I wanna catch up on so this will be lengthy but broken into paragraphs that can be skipped! LOL 

First, I'm going to finish the positives challenge. So, I did one of the seven days and it was three a day. I need to come up with eighteen positives. Here goes:

1. The other day after the Regatta I got 14 chicken nuggets in my 10 nugget meal. 

2. Matt Wright is doing The Gathering Comedy Show - as if Shaun Majumder and Mark Critch weren't enough.

3. I am on holidays in 3 hours.

4. I get to see my awesome aunt, uncle and cousins in a few days!

5. I get to spend the next 3 days with my favourite people.

6. I got to see one of my best college friends today at her baby shower!

7. I have the privilege of having a car.

8. I have an awesome job!

9. I have the privilege of getting an education (and I'm almost done! Come on May!).

10. I have an amazing boyfriend. 

11. I am super tired, but I am alive.

12. Manna bakery made me a not so delicious $7 sandwich, I told them about the problem and they gave me a $20 gift card.

13. I saw the movie The Giver the other day and it was awesome.

14. I'm doing a course called Religion and Disney this fall.

15. My cat was outside today for an unknown amount of time but she didn't run away.

16. Legros & Motti. Nuff said.

17. Ben's parents made us a delicious meal Saturday night - beef tenderloin - yes.

18. I got my new phone to replace the one I cracked on Regatta day!

That wasn't so hard!

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A few weeks ago I ran my second Tely 10! Sadly, this year I did way worse than last year. I added 20 minutes on to my time but there’s a few reasons for that. My knees have decided to turn 80 years old when I turned 22.. so my left one I knew was bad going into it and I had bought a brace for it. My right one started to go 7 miles in and that was just brutal so I switched the brace over and pretty much walked the rest of the way. It was also a SUPER hot day, like 100% humidity. I drank lots of water in the days leading up and during the race which I did not do last year. The heat was so bad that people ended up in the hospital! Like seasoned runners, not newbies. So I’m lucky I did as well as I did. It was most certainly because of my short prep because I barely did any long prep – this method I do not suggest. I drank tons of water in the days before to be hydrated and had some carbs the night before and ate my breakfast early enough and all that fun stuff. I really have to work on running because I desperately want to run a marathon before my knees really crap out. A lot of people say “Oh, I could never do that!” about the Tely 10 but I really try to assure them they can. People walk it in 3.5 hours. I ran/walked it in 2.5 hours. It’s totally doable! And a great confidence boost. You get a gorgeous medal and fans cheering for you on the sidelines like you’re an Olympian! It’s really fun. I made a little video about it and here’s the link: www.bit.ly/2014Tely10

PS. Yes. I was running and filming on phone. #dedication

So I do a bunch amount of work with Ronald McDonald House Newfoundland and Labrador and wanted to just mention a little something about this awesome cause that is so close to my heart. Ronald McDonald House NL is located across the road from the Janeway in St. John’s. We exist to give sick children and their families a home away from home when they have to come to St. John’s for medical treatment. Eventually I will do a post about my journey with the house and why I love it so much. I organized the St. John’s Red Shoe Crew Walk for Families. There are close to 40 walks around Newfoundland and Labrador and we are always looking for more people to host them in their communities. It just takes a few hours a week throughout the summer and then the day of in September! It’s not too late, feel free to email me to see if there’s a walk in your area to get involved one or to start one! [email protected]

 I, unfortunately, eat a lot of fast food. It’s cheap, easy and quick and I have been super broke and busy so it’s perfect! Not. But lately I have been finding that when I’m hungry I really DO NOT want to eat greasy food anymore! And it’s great! I’ve been on a caprese salad kick. My Italy withdrawals pushed me to go to Legros & Motti, a new local restaurant. They make their pasta FRESH each day (amazing) and they have Caprese Salad <3 It’s a rarity in St. John’s! They do it a little differently that you would see in Italy but it was delicious! They use baby tomatos mixed up with olive oil, pepper and salt and then put the mozza next to it where as in Italy it’s mostly layered with large tomatoes. So I saw the way they did it and thought – I can totally do this at home. And I can! And it tastes (almost) as good as Italy! I love it. So quick, easy and healthier than chicken nuggets that’s for sure.

I’m having a rough time dealing with this point in my life. It’s like I’m in some kind of child/adult limbo. I don’t drink half as much as some of the people I used to hang out with and I feel like an adult because I have a decent job, a car, and a solid relationship but yet I still live at home. It’s like in this transition to adult I am losing friends because I just can’t deal anymore. I’m so sick of wasting time drinking and I can’t deal with childish stuff like lying. Apparently I’m not a normal 22 year old. Which is fine, it’s just sad sometimes when someone who you’ve spent so much time with and have so many memories with is not someone you can talk to anymore. Then the memories just become painful. Ah well, I guess it’s one of those situations where you shouldn’t cry because it’s over but be happy because it happened. Yea, I just wrote that. 

This week is going to be super good though. I’m leaving later today for my mini vacation. No, 6 weeks in Europe was not enough for me LOL but seriously, I have been working my butt off since I got back doing 5 courses, 2 jobs and lots of volunteering. It has been hectic! And I am glad to have a week off. We’ll be heading out of town with my whole famjam and then on Friday we’re going to The Gathering in Burlington, a town that I love. I can’t wait! There will definitely be a vlog of my vacation! It’s one of the things I’m most excited about doing. It will definitely be a good break before I have to hop back into 5 MORE courses at MUN.

Well, hopefully it won’t be so long until my next blog! I can probably take some time this week and write a bit and I think I might post some of the papers I just wrote for MUN because they’re actually kind of interesting and I’m proud of them.

My lovely aunt nominated me to do three positives a day for seven days on facebook but I figured I would carry it over to my blog as a way to get me coming on to write each day in hopes that I will write more. I'll then share it on facebook too :)

I'm kind of having trouble thinking of today's three positives.. It has been a pretty uneventful day, very lazy because it's one of the few days *off* I have had in a while! Here go my positiveness!

1. I got to spend the day with my awesome boyfriend and see him feel confident in his photography work this evening. 

2. The weather was beautiful, once again!

3. I had a delicious Dairy Queen Reese's Pie Blizzard Treat and I don't even care! LOL

Yup, I told you I wasn't good at this blog thing! But honestly its not like I've had all that much to write about since I've been home! Being in France/Italy and seeing new things gave me something to write about everyday but being home in St. John's, not so much. 

I turned 22! I've been busy working two jobs and studying to finish the five courses I'm in this summer. I've also been working on organizing the third annual St. John's Red Shoe Crew Walk for Families in support of Ronald McDonald House Newfoundland and Labrador. All of this while attempting to train to run my second Tely 10 road race this coming sunday. 

While doing all of this I have been missing vlogging and blogging so I have been trying to come up with an idea to keep this blog going. I've had a few ideas. One of my favourite concepts is to use this blog to review weight loss/health products. I am looking to lose weight and I would love to share my experiences with other so what better way! I have done Weight Watchers so I could get back on that for so long and review it. I also have the supplies to do the Isagenix 30 Day Cleanse. I just recently purchased a 28 day supply of BooTea, a teatox meant to help weight loss, and can do that also! I have a significant interest in doing Nutrisystem honestly because of the convenience it offers, the price seems reasonable and the food also looks pretty good. If I do decided to do this I will probably start with the ones I already have (Isagenix and BooTea) before spending money on Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem. 

I'm really interested in getting into weight lifting but I just don't have the means. It take time and money for a personal trainer/lessons and I don't have that. I'm kind of getting addicted to running so I will probably continue doing that. I'm about to do my second Tely 10 which is a 10 Mile/16 Kilometre run/walk/jog. Last year I did it in 2 hours and 20 minutes. I would like to beat that time this year but it seems that I'm on track to do about the same. I'm okay with that because I didn't train the best. Hopefully I will continue running after the Tely this year, I didn't run for months after last year's race. I plan to do the Santa Shuffle in December. I have goals I can work towards to in running. I would LOVE to do the Cape to Cabot race here in St. John's but it's 21 km FULL of ups and downs which I am not ready for yet. It will take a lot of training. I would also love to do a marathon someday! I was really never much of a sporty person so I never got a medal until I did the Tely 10. It would be really cool to have a collection of running medals.

So, just to reflect on Italy a little bit. I STILL miss the food, and I will always miss the food. I miss the situation, I miss the lifestyle. I can't say I miss the weather really because I don't want to piss mother nature off 'cause she's been sweet as frickin pie to NL the last month. I miss the bonds that we made with people there. It's easy to be friends when you're all around each other everyday but not so easy to hang out even once a week when we're home. We all have life going on and what not. This is the reason I kept trying to tell myself that the trip was not real life, because it wasn't. Some of the friends I made were awesome and continue to be awesome but sadly some of the ones I had thought I had become pretty close with have turn out not to be who I thought or maybe had hoped they were. It's okay though because I can't say I have that much time to devote to a friendship, sounds weird I know, but I am seriously SUPER busy. I work most weeks over 50 hours, then there's school work to do on top of that and frankly when I get off (whether it's an 8 hour or 12 hour shift) I just want to go home, eat, maybe go for a run and sleep. I don't even have enough energy for a social life unless someone is gonna come run with me or something. 

Anyways, enough of me complaining about being antisocial because I'm working my ass off. Hopefully that will end soon. It turns out I have only 10 courses left to finish my degree, assuming I pass the 5 I'm doing now which, chances are, I will. So I have a couple of options. I could push myself, mentally, physically and financially by doing 5 courses in both the fall and winter semester and get er done. I would graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies with a Certificate in Criminology in May. OR I can take my time and do 3, 3, and 4 over the next 3 semesters or longer. I know I would do better and it would be easier to take my time but man I just want to be DONE with school. Anyways, I'm not going to make that decision yet. I still have a few more weeks although I do have to register for the fall semester in 3 days. Yikes. 

Well, enough of my whining. Time for sleep!