Distant Reverie

Flu Season

2007-11-08T17:29:00.000-05:00

Flu season is upon us.
Influenza is an Italian word described by Hippocrates that means ‘influence of the cold’.
That means, the hospital has begun advertising it's Flu Clinics and urging those at risk to get their annual flu shot.

I hate flu shots.
I got mine today.
Make sure to take some Tylenol first.
But I guess it's worth a sore arm, cause I hate the flu more.

I recently was researching online and came across a WebMD article with a headline that stated something like: 15 places to avoid, to avoid the Flu this season.
I thought brilliant, I'll check it out.

Here is the list:
1. Grocery carts
2. Elevator buttons
3. Your house (kitchen counter tops, cutting boards, toilet seats, cleaning rags, etc)
4. Escalator handrails
5. Coffee pot or mug handles
6. Workspaces (office phones, keyboards, desktops)
7. Public bathroom stalls
8. Sharing lunches with others
9. Kissing
10. Traveling on airplanes
11. Doctor's neckties
12. Public transit
13. Doorknobs and all inanimate objects
14. Your nose
15. Shaking hands

So this year, don't get up to drink your morning cup of coffee, you'll definitely catch the flu.
Don't go into work.
Don't share with ANYONE.
Don't buy food.
Don't touch others, AT ALL.
Don't leave your home.
Wait, your home will surely infect you.
Don't touch ANYTHING.
And DON'T go to your doctor when you're sick.
They will just infect you.

So basically the article is scientifically proving that living gives you the flu.
Brilliant.

Freakonomics

2007-11-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

I'm reading the book I bought Nathan for his birthday, Freakonomics.
It's awesome! He is starting to wonder who I bought the book for.

It's so good, I wanted to share what I am reading...

The book has three main underlying themes:
1. Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life
2. The conventional wisdom is often wrong
3. Dramatic effects often have distant, even subtle causes

This short excerpt from the book, focuses on the first theme.

Freakonomics begins by asking readers to imagine the are managing a day care centre.
The policy clearly states that parents are to pick up their children by 5pm.
But parents are often late.
What should you do about this dilemma as manager?
Well, a pair of economists offered a solution. Fine the late parents.
Why should the day care centre take care of these kids for free?
The economists tested their solution by studying 10 day care centres.
The study lasted 20 weeks.
The fine was not implemented immediately.
For the first few weeks, the economists recorded data on the number of late pick ups.
On average, there were 8 late pick ups per week, per centre.
In the fifth week of the study, the late fee was introduced.
Any parent arriving more than 10 minutes late, would be subject to the fee.
The fee was set at 3$ per incident.
After the fine was enacted what do you think happened?
Parents smartened up and picked their kids up on time?
In fact, it was the opposite.
Before long, there were as high as 20 late pick ups per week, per centre.
More than double the original average.

Economics is the study of incentives.
Incentives regulate responses, both positive and negative.
For example, if I score a goal in soccer, my dad will give me 5$, but if I don't clean my room, I get grounded for the weekend. My actions are now based on those financial and social incentives.

If an incentive is a means of urging people to do more of a good thing and less of a bad thing.
Why didn't this incentive work?

It is because there are three main categories of incentives: social, economic and moral.
The Freakonomics book goes into more detail here, that is worth the read...

In the case of the day care centre, the 3$ tax was too small for a financial incentive.
For that price, parents could afford to be late every day, paying only 60$ extra per month.
As far as baby sitting goes, that is pretty cheap.
But there is a second problem.
The economists substituted an economic incentive *the 3$ fine* for a moral incentive *the guilt parents are supposed to feel when they are late*
For just a few dollars each day, parents could buy away the guilt.
Furthermore, the small size of the fine gives the impression that late pick ups are not that big of an inconvenience in the first place.

In the seventeenth week of the study, the fee was eliminated.
However, the number of late pick ups remained consistent at 20 per week.
Now parents could arrive late, with no fee and feel no guilt.

Brilliant.
There is more to come I am sure.
The next few chapters are entitled:
What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
How is the Klu-Klux-Klan is like a group of real-estate agents?
Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?
What makes a parent perfect?

I'm excited to keep reading...

Nathan's Sleep-talking Rambles

2007-10-31T15:30:00.000-04:00

Nathan talks in his sleep.
It is so annoying.

I remember Margie telling me about how Pernell once (fully sleeping) rolled over and said "I just love my Jesus" or something to that affect. I laughed, cause it's Pernell, and it's funny...but I honestly had a hard time believing that people sleep talk to that extent.
Well, I should have NEVER doubted my friend Margie.
Because it's true.
Maybe it's just church planters? Or maybe it's just people who've got a lot on their minds? Or maybe there is no trend whatsoever...but Nathan is a sleep talker!
A serious sleep talker.
He can't stop.
He'll yell out.
I will, of course, try to get as much information as I can, while suppressing laughter, and then he'll fall back asleep and remember NOTHING in the morning.
Sometimes he doesn't believe me, so I'm thinking of trying to record him...

Here are some of his latest comments:

"Everyone should plant a church, it's awesome"

"Apples will save you time"

"I love corn chips, they just fill up my plate"

"Watch out Parker.
Natalie, you're going to shut Parker's fingers in the invention.
Watch out Parker, Watch out...
(Parker is a 1 year old baby we know)

"Save my books. They are getting all wet. (I move the imaginary books out of the imaginary puddle) Thanks babe."

"We should work towards that. (I ask what that is) Sharing a car, with everyone."

"My bag is ruined!"

It's getting so bad, and I make fun of him so relentlessly that now he is starting to become more aware of it. He'll yell something out, and when I try to get more information from him, he'll just say, I can't tell you, you'll use it against me.
Smart man.

I'm writing them down because I'm sure I'll have more to add to the list sooner or later and they are too funny to forget.
I love sleep talking, even if it does keep me awake, it's totally worth it.

for joe

2007-10-29T22:56:00.000-04:00

Me: Hello sir, I need you to take these pills for me please.
Older gentleman: Only if you marry me first.

Breakfast
Me: Here is your breakfast tray.
Older man: How much do I owe you?
Me: Not a thing, it's free.
Older man: well what do you know!
Lunch
Me: Alright, lunch time. Are you hungry?
Older man: A little, what is on the menu.
Me: Well, it's pretty much what is on this tray.
Older man: Oh, a set menu. Okay, what do I owe you?
Me: Nothing. It's 100% free.
Dinner
Older man: Another free meal? You're boss must be out back. Next time I'll pay cash, dear.

Me answering a call bell..
Hello, what can I do for you?
Older lady: Hi dear, I'm actually looking for a nurse.
Me: well, my name is Rachel and I just happen to be one.
Older lady: That's impossible, you'd have to be at least 18.

Man: Can you take me home?
Me: I'm sorry I can't do that. You're not feeling well and you need to get better first.
Man: I'll pay you anything. Just hand me my wallet.

Woman: Hi, are you the new secretary.
Me: No, I'm a new nurse.
Woman: Wow, they're getting younger every year. You look twelve.

Older man: You're a rookie aren't you?
Me: What do you mean?
Older man: You're new, I can tell.
Me: You can?
Older man: Yeah, you answered the bell right away...

Lady: What kind of place is this anyway?
Me: Well, we're in a hospital.
Lady: Ha, a hospital? I felt worse since I've been here. And who are you?
Me: I'm your nurse for today
Lady: Oh god.

Poor Miss South Carolina

2007-08-28T13:52:00.000-04:00

I wonder i f she thinks she nailed the question?

I bet she doesn't have a map.

whew

2007-07-21T02:07:00.000-04:00

I JUST found out that I passed!
Today I am officially a REAL nurse...
No more worrying.

I can sign my name, Rachel Colquhoun, RN.

Whoooooo hoooooooooo

Q-Tips

2007-07-15T07:47:00.000-04:00

So Nathan and I finally made it to Paris!
I have been waiting my whole life to see the Eiffel Tower so needless to say I was pretty excited to arrive on Bastille Day (the French version of Independence Day)
There were fireworks galore and it was like they were being conducted because the whole thing was set to music: from Moulin Rouge to James Bond themes. The whole thing was quite beautiful.
I love Paris so far. It is everything I hoped it would be. Today we are going to Versailles for a picnic.

Okay, now to my story.
So the a few points throughout the trip Nathan has been asking me for q-tips.
Whining and pleading.
Saying that he would not have enough and that his ears would get all gross.
He was really tugging on the heart strings.
Needless to say, I shared. Of course I did, what good wife wouldn't?
If anything to stop the whining.
Well today I find out that Nathan is a liar!
He has secretly been stashing the q-tips either that or not using the ones he brought to make sure he had enough for himself!
I was steaming mad. To think, my caring nature had been played by my selfish, greedy, ear-waxy husband. I promptly chased him around attempting to retrieve my lost q-tips.
To no avail.
He did end up sharing but only when he tried to tell me we had an even amount (4 each)...then I reminded him he would have NONE if I hadn't shared!
You know what was worse, he told me this was all part of his plan and then laughed at me when I caught on...(weeks later, I am a bit slow I guess, or hopelessly gullible)
Anyway, I am angry in Paris, sacrificing days without using my q-tips to save them until the trip's end, while Nathan revelled in his q-tip stealing scam!
Watch out for Nathan. I guess he is not as dirty as we all thought, or at least his ears are sparkling.

Places I have Paid to Pee

2007-06-28T10:37:00.000-04:00

* England (20 pence)
* Amsterdam (50 cents)
* Zurich (it was 2$ in the train station but only 50 outside in a private toilet building/box thing, seriously, it even self cleaned.)
* Vienna (80 cents)
* Salzburg (50 cents and they unlock the stall for you)
* Munich (can't remember how much, maybe 50cents)
* Venice (70 cents)
* Pisa (60 cents)
* Florence (70 cents)

Trains are free, so if you can hold it, you can just pee on the train...but sometimes you just can't wait.

Nathan and I figure we've spent about 7-8Euro so far just to pee.
Peeing is expensive in Europe.

Greece has been free so far...we'll keep you updated :)

Note: Prices are per pee
Money is in Euros or in Switzerland it was CHF (more costly than CAD)

Happy Birthday to my Dad in Amsterdam!

2007-06-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

Nathan has been blogging alot more than I have because the internet is so expensive.
Day 7
Day 5&6
Day 4
Day 1&2

I'm journalling most of my experiences on paper, so I'll be sure to post them when I get back or when I get a chance here.

Happy Birthday to my Dad!! He's 50 today and we can't be there to celebrate, but the second best place if not with him would be to be in Amsterdam. I'll be posting again soon.

England--Ireland

2007-06-15T05:59:00.000-04:00

Day 1 in Europe.

Nathan and I finally arrived after a LONG flight.

I was so excited, until we realized that my backpack was no where to be found.

I cried and had a bit of a mental breakdown.

Luckily the English are so nice!

They were WAY easier to work with than when the exact same thing happened coming home to Detroit Airport in December.

4 hours later, I had my bag and we were on our way.

We walked ALL over London.

Seriously. From Victoria Station in the south to Camden Town in the north en route to King's Cross to catch the train to Luton.

We had to head way up north to the airport to catch our early morning flight to Ireland.

Which meant, a night on the airport floor.

We were suprised to find so many weary travellers curled up on the floor right next to us.

So far, I haven't felt unsafe.

But I am glad Nathan is right next to me :)

We landed in Ireland this morning around 730am and have been walking around in the rain.

That kinda put a damper on the mood, but we are so happy to have a roof over our head, and the promise of a hot shower and a clean bed!

Yesterday I was so grumpy and tired I thought I was going to catch a flight home.

Then I remembered that I've been wanting to do this my whole life, and I can't let my sore feet stand in the way of a life time adventure :)

Now we are at our hostel waiting to be able to check in and get access to our room...

the staff is so kind! Seriously, our room wasn't ready so they made sure we had a place to put our bags and a couch to sleep on for the time being! We slept on the couch for a bit and then the guy at the hostel let us in to the room early so we could crash.

While we were at the front desk, my sister called. The guy just handed me the phone! How crazy is that? She got stranded in Belgium so they won't be able to get to Ireland until later this evening, but at least they are on their way :) and we have two places to sleep and food waiting for them when they arrive!

We're excited to be in Ireland!
We're going to go exploring in Dublin tomorrow, we'll let you know how it goes.

Eurotrip

2007-06-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we are leaving to go to Toronto.
We fly out of Toronto on Wednesday afternoon at 1335om
We'll arrive in London, England on Thursday morning at 0630am

I am so incredibly excited.
I'll be updating this blog throughout our trip and checking email/Facebook.
Nathan is going to carry his laptop around Europe because he can't part with the internet.

I can't wait to tell you all about our trip!
See you all soon.

Red Map Goals

2007-06-09T12:45:00.000-04:00

create your own visited country map

My friend had this map function posted on Facebook, and I got jealous of her red countries.
So I made my own map and now I'm going to beat her. [She knows of this]

I may have preemptively coloured in the European countries I plan on traveling to in 4 days.
I just got too excited and couldn't wait.

Hopefully in the next few years I'll add more and more red.
The next continent will definitely be Africa, perhaps Kenya.
I'll keep you posted.

My Valedictorian Speech

2007-06-08T10:18:00.001-04:00

Good afternoon.

Honoured guests, faculty, family, friends, fellow nurses.

My name is Rachel Pede and I feel so privileged to be speaking today on behalf of the McMaster Nursing graduates of 2007.

I believe you will agree that in front of me today sit some of the most talented, creative, intelligent and beautiful men and women ever to enter the nursing profession.

Last night, as I sat reading over what I had prepared for today, I couldn’t help but wonder how I could use words to convey the degree of inspiration, encouragement and love that many of you have given to me over the course of our four years at McMaster. And even after four years of reflecting, I struggle to find the words and emotions to communicate this message…

However, be assured that what I have to share with you today is from the bottom of my heart. You graduates have made an impression that will never be forgotten and withstand the test of time.

In order to begin, I’d like to share with you a few words we’ve heard or spoken many a time since the beginning nursing school at McMaster University. The acronym I am about to use to outline my speech may shock and appall you, but be assured; I’ve changed the words that the letters represent and hopefully the meaning as a result. The acronym is: P-B-L., Yes, PBL.

For some of you, just the sound of those letters makes your ears bleed, yet for others it was the setting of our most valuable educational experience. For those of you non-nurses, many of you have heard us complain about these letters the last four years, tirelessly.

Today, I hope to inspire you with a different approach to these letters.

I remember in first year writing a silly poem ‘Ode to PBL’, since I was already pulling an all-nighter to finish the Learning Binder final assignment. It seemed fitting to conclude our first year of nursing school in this fashion by sending positive PBL vibes into the nursing universe.

So it seems perfect that I should conclude four years relating back to this experience. Plus, what kind of a good McMaster nurse would I be if I didn’t incorporate its use?

So what do these letters stand for today you ask?

Passion.

P represents the basic desire to enter into the field of nursing. The element that all of us possess but that is at times difficult to express. The realization that we were created to be nurses.
That today isn’t just another step in a random scheme of events, it is the result of dedicated students, striving to be skillful nurses.
Florence Nightingale believed that for her, nursing was a divine calling, a life mission, a vocation, and not simply a career. For some of us, this feeling may be true, for others it is work in progress, while still others may not share in this ideal.
But whether this feeling is prevalent among the graduates today, the undeniable fact remains that we want to make a difference in this world.

Recently I attended a lecture by Stephen Lewis. It was in celebration of the School of Nursing 60^th anniversary. While he was speaking I have never felt more excited to be a nurse. His words exuded confidence in the nursing profession. I felt a spark, like never before, a spark of hope, reviving my passion for nursing. I will never forget two phrases that Stephen remarked during the lecture. The first being that “nurses are the anchor for social justice and equality in society.”

I have an elderly friend that would say, “if that doesn’t light your fire, then you’re wood is wet.”

Stephen was able to inspire a room full of nurses with this simple phrase, but in the absence of passion, these words would have been uttered in futility. These words not only inspire, but they demonstrate the responsibility of the profession to the public. It conveys a sense of accountability to humanity that is mind boggling. A duty to advocate on the behalf of those unable to do so themselves. A voice for voiceless of sorts. Nurses have the potential to fill that gap in society and must continue to mobilize its forces to progress toward change.

While this might seem a bit overwhelming, Stephen continued. His second comment was that “he would lay down his life for the nursing profession.” Not only did he believe nurses possessed the skills neessary to make a difference, but in this short phrase he added a sense of worth. Meaning. Value.
A statement so powerful that his life itself was worth the sacrifice for the nursing profession causes many to reflect to the core.

Passion is beautiful.
It is inspiring.
It is what the world needs more of.
Let passion radiate through you as you leave this place, a graduate of the nursing program and embark on your nursing career. Shine brightly where you are to expel darkness. Serve as a beacon of hope. An agent of change. Let this pin today serve as a reminder of our dedication, commitment and desire to the nursing profession.

We move onto B.
B represents the element of belief
Belief in oneself and belief in others.

Perhaps changing the world involves changing ourselves. Starting with our values, beliefs, attitudes and perceptions. If we are to really become the change we want to see, the process begins here and now and has in fact already begun.
I have never spent more time examining my own values and beliefs than these last four years in the nursing program. I have never felt more frustrated or confused, misguided and lost, yet at the same time reveled in the experience of the journey.
Despite everything, I think I would much rather stand confused at the crossroads, than waiting at the starting block for the gun to go off.

It is this discovery phase that exudes potential.
And potential sits before me today.

While, nurses may have varying personal beliefs, but there is common ground.

Margaret Mead, a famous anthropologist, once stated that a group of committed individuals has the power to change the world, and is in fact the only thing that has ever done so. This belief is crucial to humanity.

And Mac nurses are not just dynamite, they are an explosion of energy, catalysts for change.
I believe in that wholeheartedly.

But allow me to come back to this letter a little later on…and move on to the last letter, L.

You’re going to hate me for pulling out another nursing cliché for this last letter, but before you protest, let me explain.

L stands for Life long learning…

But not just continued competence, workshops, evidenced-based literature and conferences. Deep questioning that shapes who we are as people and professionals.

On my last first day of PBL, my professor inspired us with a quote. It was about physicians, but my professor eloquently added nurses into the mix. The quote from a physician editor of the British Medical Journal expressed the desire to be cared for by doctors and nurses who everyday question their actions, and worry about their weaknesses. He seemed to state that there is value in admitting the possibility for greater understanding, for growth.

We have all had this special professor, the one who seems to make learning effortless. To those of you who have encouraged us throughout these past four years, thank you. From all of us. To those professors who provided that extra ray of sunshine, and who we will want to stay in contact with forever, you know who you are. You made the difference in the lives sitting before you today.

Graduates. Continue to challenge yourself to greater heights. Question. Adventure. Seek. Grow. Learn. However, the journey does not finish here with this degree, or this pin, graduation is simply beginning

And I’ll make sure to creep on your facebook to find out what you’re up to…

So there you have it: Passion, Beliefs and Life Long Learning: A new kind of PBL.

But before I begin to conclude, I’d like to go back to the letter B.

Believe.

With these last four years, our careers as nursing students, I can’t believe the obstacles many of us have overcome: stress, failure, all nighters, grief, procrastination. I’m sure many of you can relate to these experiences and probably can add to the list… And yet without this seemingly regrettable suffering, our successes would not seem as sweet.
I’m slightly embarrassed to tell all of you this story of defeat, but I can’t make my point without it. So, my pride suffers for the greater good…

I remember one fateful day, only one month into nursing school. Thanksgiving hadn’t even rolled around yet. It was late Saturday night and there was a party going on in my residence. A full out bash.
But I wasn’t at the party, I was at my desk. Studying. Why? Not totally because I tend to err on the geeky side…but because the nursing program had four midterms coming up. In three days.
Four midterms, three days.

I remember sitting at my desk, trying to study anatomy, psychology, biochemistry and gerontology.
All at once.
I can see now the flaw in my attempt, but at the moment studying by osmosis seemed like a brilliant solution. I’m sure we’ve all made that mistake at one point.
Anyway, it’s obvious that a full fledged panic ensued.
At around 9pm, I decided that I’d had enough, the sense of homesickness was ensuing and a fear of failure looming overhead.
I decided to place a phone call.
Luckily my mom answered. I don’t remember what exactly was said, but I do know that at that point, after self-pity and an episode of tears… I no longer believed in myself. That I couldn’t cut it, that I could be a nurse.
Two hours later, I got a phone call. It was my parents. They were sitting in the parking lot.
I couldn’t believe they drove all that way. The one thing I will always remember is what they brought to cheer me up. A pineapple.
They believed in me, in my moment of weakness.
They inspired me with the ability to believe in myself.
That pineapple sat there over the course of the next few days and was toasted the completion of the week.
Forever the pineapple will serve as a reminder that I succeeded. That I was good enough. That I could believe.
Today I would like to give you the gift that my parents gave to me.
While I may not be able to give each and every one of you an actual pineapple fruit. I have something that might last a bit longer.
A picture pineapple, to remind each and everyone of you to believe.
To believe in yourself, to believe in others, to believe in the world around us.

In the form of a bookmark, I hope this pineapple serves as a lasting reminder that I believe in each and every one of you.
That when you walk onto the ward as a real nurse for the first time, when you’re faced with an emergency situation, when your moment of disbelief surfaces…that you will remember this moment, this pineapple, a belief, in yourself.

Because we have grown, we have learned, we have laughed, we have loved, and we cherish these memories, because they are now a part of who we are. Today we sit here, different people than when we sat in Health Sci 1A1 our first day of orientation. We are nurses.

In conclusion, I’d like to leave you with a quote from one of my personal heroes, Mother Teresa, that I believe beautifully encompasses the nursing profession. “In this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love.” Let each day of our future career be full of great love.

Congratulations graduates.

one month

2007-06-05T14:38:00.000-04:00

today Nathan and I have been married for one month :)
i have a test tomorrow :(
i have graduation on thursday :)
we're going to hamilton in an hour :)
our car broke again :(
i love nathan :)

Artwalk

2007-06-02T12:50:00.001-04:00

Today is Artwalk.
A big artsy (obviously) festival in Sarnia.
Nathan and his friend Barry have a photography booth.
I hope they sell a print.
Natalie (Barry's wife) and I made the booth look quite snazzy and took care of all the extras while the boys worried about the pictures.
We've hung out so much this past week we pretended we were the same family: The "Milkehouns"
It does look pretty cool, but when I left at 11am, nothing had been sold yet.
I am heading back now with some lunch, so hopefully sales picked up :)

study break

2007-05-31T23:43:00.000-04:00

So I'm tired of studying.
my exam is this upcoming Wednesday...
to be honest, I'm actually excited, because that means the studying will be over.
AND, I get to stay at Melissa's house.
AND, we get to have a fun party to celebrate being done tests with Sam.
I'm happy for that.

One other thing that made me happy was that today Nathan and I ate steak for dinner, no potatoes, no salad, just a piece of meat as big as my head.
Sorry to all you vegetarians out there, but it was delicious.
I'll do my part to better the world tomorrow.

Speaking of bettering the world...I was at Shoppers today just to photocopy something quickly so that I can apply for my CNO (nursing) registration, and some guy asked me to give money to a charity that looked a bit sketchy, and then gave me the worst look when I said "no thank you, not today."
I felt like the worst person in the world. He gave a mean scowl.
I wanted to say, I SAID NO THANK YOU.
Come on buddy. I could have said, "get the BLEEP out of my way and don't BLEEP bother me.
OR, I could have listed all the better ways to raise money for the charity, or told him about all the wonderful things I do to rationalize not putting money in his sketchy box.
Anyway, I was disgruntled.

Nathan is reading a book right now called "The Road to Hell" it's about how humanitarian aid hurts the world. Sounds interesting. I'm going to start a book similar to that called "The White Man's Burden." I'm curious as to what they are going to say...

I like learning. As much as I complain about studying, I do love it.
It will be weird not to have to study.
I think I will probably just take more classes and make up excuses to learn.
Because that is who I am, a big library loving nerdy-nerd.

I am eating ice cream cake right now.
Nathan and I got the best wedding gift from my room-mates. A bunch of envelopes with different dates in them, tonight we cashed in the free ice cream coupon. But, instead of just a cone, we bought a whole cake.
He's not home right now so I'm scarfing down.

I'm glad he's not home, that might sound mean, and I'm sorry to you Nathan, but I'm going to try to go to sleep before he gets home.
He is officially the worst sleeper.
He snores, he talks-tells stories even, rolls around until he is COMPLETELY comfortable, hits me, tries to steal covers (granted that I did steal in the first place), pokes me in the eye, slaps me on the head. All by 'accident'.
A few nights ago I was so mad, I kicked him.
I was so mad because after he woke me up, he just went right to sleep and I was lying there awake. Then I got so mad that my kick did nothing to bother him, so I kicked him again, harder.
I felt better after that.
Nathan doesn't remember a thing.

Tomorrow I have nothing to do, except study, so I'll probably sleep in.

I've decided....

2007-05-30T16:59:00.000-04:00

After a few days of mulling over the job offers, I've arrived at a decision.
Thankfully that decision was confirmed when I got a call today saying that I'd gotten the job I wanted.
It's with the Cardiac Care Unit in Sarnia.
The other offer I received was for the ICU, so it was a real tough decision.
I feel at peace with the choice though because I chatted with the best nurse in Sarnia, scratch that, the world.
She said that she thinks I'll really like it there, learn tons and grow in my abilities as a nurse, which is exactly what I'm looking for.
So, the job is for 7 months. And it is one of those government jobs that guarantees temporary full time work. It's a sweet position because it is pretty much like a 7 month orientation into the nursing world. I get to start slow, with a preceptor/mentor and learn the ropes without being thrown into a situation I can't handle.
After that, the manager talked to me about keeping me on and hiring me part-time. Which is exactly what I was looking for...so it was exciting to hear they weren't just going to ditch me after the orientation.
The best part is that after talking to the managers they are totally cool with me leaving to go to Europe so I don't have to worry at all about not having a job when I get back.
I think I start toward the end of August, so I might even have some time to rest and relax after backpacking before I jump right into my nursing career.
I'm super excited today.
We're going to the Mielke's house to celebrate.
:)

New House, New Job

2007-05-29T09:44:00.001-04:00

So I'm on my way to my 4th job interview in a week.
It's not even the interviews that are making me nervous.
It is the full time work. The big life decisions.
Nathan keeps telling me that if multiple jobs is my biggest worry I need to stop.
But I can't help it.
First of all it's scary to grow up.
Second, this is now my career. I can't just leave after the first semester and switch to a new placement. I'm actually a nurse.
I have to leave now or I'll be late, but I'll let you know when I get a job.
Hopefully today.
*Fingers crossed*

The Last Volvo

2007-05-27T12:22:00.001-04:00

This is our new house.
You can tell, because it has a Volvo in the driveway.
All good Pede's own Volvos.
At least that was what I was told growing up.
As a little girl I'd curse my parents and pretend to drive a convertible.
But now...I love my station wagon.

Yesterday I found out that my dad just sold our last Pede family Volvo.
I now own the only remaining Volvo in the Pede world and I'm not even a Pede.
Well 'technically' I am since I haven't legally changed my name yet, but I'm married, so Nathan keeps reminding me to say Colquhoun.
All that's to say, I'm keeping my Volvo for as long as it will run.
And I love my new house!

New house.

2007-04-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

I love my mom.
I love Nathan's mom.
I love all the people that helped us move and clean.
We moved (well Nathan moved) into our new house.
It's so beautiful and we are so excited!!!

I had my first shower on Monday and I was totally overwhelmed.
All the ladies from my church showered (haha) us with gifts.
It was amazing. We got strainers, pots, pans, shower curtains, dishes etc.
It was so neat to put all that away in our new house!!!
I was so thankful.

I have another shower this Saturday with Nathan's Mom.
Should be fun!!!

Nathan and I will have to have everyone over for a BBQ because I don't think pictures will do our new cozy house justice. Can't wait for you all to come over!!!

unreasonable?

2007-03-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen seized a busload of students and teachers near Manila's city hall while on the run after a holdup today, police said.

Hostage-takers scribbled on a piece of paper, visible through the bus window, that they were holding 32 children and two teachers and were armed with two grenades, an Uzi assault rifle police and a .45-caliber pistol, officer Mark Andal said.

They said they were demanding housing and education for 145 children in a day-care centre.

Is this really an awful request? Not at all.
I think this action speaks volumes to the state of affairs in our world today.
Would anyone fault Aladdin for stealing that loaf of bread because he was starving and needed some food to eat? No way! Especially not after he shares it with those hungry street kids.
Why was the movie John Q so compelling.
Because these characters speak out against injustices.

While they may not go about it in a moral way, can one fault them for their action?
If the intention is good, could the means justify the end?

If these gunmen never mean to harm the children, and only desire an education for their family, should this be considered a crime? Or is it a crime against humanity that millions of children are still illiterate and many will never recieve formal education of any kind. Which action is worse?

So in speaking out against this injustice, can these gunmen become heroes, or should they be locked away forever?

fat camp?

2007-03-27T21:34:00.000-04:00

A recent article from CBC reports that about one-quarter of Canadians aged two to 17 are overweight or obese, and they are expected to live shorter lives than their parents.

The excess weight puts children at risk of a myriad preventable health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, susceptibility to heart attack and stroke, joint problems and mental health issues.

"It has been said that obesity outranks both smoking and drinking now in its effects on health and health costs," said committee chair Rob Merrifield, a Conservative MP for the Alberta riding of Yellowhead.

"For the first time in recorded history, today's younger generation will live shorter lives than their parents. Yet parents, and this is, I believe, the most alarming statistic that we found, do not recognize the problem."

According to a survey by the Canadian Medical Association, nine per cent of parents identified their children as being overweight or obese.

Rates among aboriginal children are worse, with 55 per cent living on reserves being overweight or obese, compared with 41 per cent for First Nations children living off reserves, said the report.

The report calls on the federal government to immediately:

Start a comprehensive public awareness campaign.
Mandate standardized labels on the front of packages.
Remove trans fats from the Canadian diet and replace them with an alternative low in saturated fat.

Full Report

Canadian Food Guide!

Bird Flu

2007-03-26T11:11:00.000-04:00

Interesting article.

my global footprint

2007-03-25T13:04:00.000-04:00

Thomas Malthus estimated that human population would eventually outstrip its ability to sustain itself directly causing poverty...
Since 1900 the world population has quadrupled and could easily reach 9 billion by mid-21^st century.
In fact, some scientists relate the human species to a cancer, invading the planet.
But in addressing the issue of population, Malthus failed to account for consumption patterns.
Carrying capacity is the maximum population of a species that an environment can support.
Paul Ehrlich estimates in his video ‘Population Bomb’ that the Earth’s optimal carrying capacity may have already been exceeded. Thus, I=PAT (impact = population x affluence x technology) proves that a focus on resources is critical to understanding effects of population.
Although economic models believe that larger populations can be beneficial leading to larger tax potential and more creative brains to solve problems, they are not equitable with reality. Developed nations are huge consumers. Specifically, a globally projected ecological footprint developed from North American consumption patterns, would result with the need for 4 planets to support the same population.
On a global scale 20% of the developed population uses 80% of privately consumed resources while the poorest 20% consume 1.4% of resources. Does this make sense to anyone???
An even more sobering fact is that although food production has kept pace with population growth, millions continue to suffer from food insecurity.
The average citizen of a developed country creates 2kg of waster EACH DAY as landfills are becoming full to capacity. Our planet is full of waste.

Until global efforts are put forth to equalize consumption of resources, within and between countries, poverty will perpetuate.
Increases in consumption of resources cause both direct and indirect health complications!
Population health research suggests that the healthiest societies are ones in which there is an equitable distributuion of wealth. In fact, studies show that poverty pockets among the urban wealthy ultimately affect the health of the rich as well. So, even the most selfish of humanity should care about poverty, if only to impact/preserve their own health!

Poverty should not exist in our world.
It breaks my heart to know that my selfishness is hurting other people.
I'm going to strive to reduce my own ecological footprint:


	CATEGORY	GLOBAL HECTARES

	FOOD	1.2

	MOBILITY	0.2

	SHELTER	0.6

	GOODS/SERVICES	0.6

	TOTAL FOOTPRINT	2.6

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 8.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.4 PLANETS.

Calculate your own ecological footprint...

glow worm?

2007-03-23T14:46:00.000-04:00

This was on my professor's office wall...

I wish I was a glow worm.
A glow worm's never glum.
How can you be sad
When light shines out your bum?

Hilarious.

8 days til I'm done working for free as a student nurse...

Can't wait.

Two Happy, One Sad

2007-03-19T19:45:00.000-04:00

HAPPY

1.
Nathan and I have a place to live.
We'll post pictures soon.
We paid first and last months rent and are super excited to have a home.

We get to have our townhouse April 1st, a month sooner than we hoped, but it will work out perfectly for organizing life.
That way we can transition for a whole month verses a crazy move in four days before the wedding.
2.
I'm officially done school April 10th.
My exam time was posted today.
I can't wait to be a graduate.
A real nurse.

sad

That means that my time in Hamilton is almost up.
If I'm home for Easter and then back for my exam...
my last Sunday will probably be either April 8th, or maybe the 15th? I dunno.
But all I do know is that it is coming up :(

Sorry to end off on the sad note.

Two months today

2007-03-05T00:14:00.000-05:00

and we might have a place to live.

cross your fingers...

Jillian Drouin

2007-03-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

My sister's childhood best friend is a track and field superstar.

It's funny that they say "All American" when she is Canadian.

Way to go Jilly!

Giving up meat

2007-02-25T18:35:00.000-05:00

is tough.
I miss meat already...

I can't believe Jesus fasted for 40 days!!!
What a man.

for lent...

2007-02-24T14:37:00.000-05:00

I am giving up meat.

and boy do I love meat.

I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian...

so I'm trying it out for lent.

We'll see how it goes.

brotherly love to the big apple

2007-02-23T20:39:00.001-05:00

So yesterday Nathan and I drove from Philly to New York City.
It extended our driving time but we were hoping to have some fun in the Big Apple.
It turned out to be an awful day. Pouring rain!
And all that driving around in Manhattan traffic wasn't the best experience.
We wanted to park and walk around, or take public transit, but with the weather, that wouldn't have been much better.
However, I did get to see the Empire State Building, Madison Square Gardens, the fashion district, Times Square, Grand Central Station and the Statue of Liberty. Not bad for a few hours in NY. We even parked in the U.S. Homeland Security area with our Canadian plates just to get a picture of Lady Liberty. It was pretty freaking hilarious. Parking is simply a night mare and after driving around and around for what felt like hours, we were willing to risk it at that point.
I made sure to get an I heart NY t-shirt, like a good tourist, while Nathan just laughed at me.
After what felt like hours in rush hour traffic, we finally made it off the island and back to Jersey, heading north to Syracuse.
The weather was really bad so we had to pull over, but at least we were safe!
I was sad not to be able to stay in Scranton again like last time, just because I love The Office so much!
All in all, the two cities are completely different, but I was glad we went to both NY and Philly, but after sooo many hours of driving, it is nice to be back home.
After two more hours tomorrow, I'll be back in Hamilton.
Too bad I have to work nights.
Oh well, it was a wonderful vacation.
I'm looking forward to many more roadtrips with Nathan.

Thoughts from Philly

2007-02-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

Whenever Nathan and I go somewhere, he always beats me to the blogworld, so I guess I'll just have to link you to him...

and then share my own perspective.

Last night I bunked in with two awesome girls here taking the same program as Nathan's friend Chris.
I was a bit nervous because Nathan was going to be staying with Chris and I had no idea what I would be walking into, but it was so awesome to be welcomed so warmly. Not only are they super kind, but they are super smart. One of them went to Tyndale and so we chatted about school, Toronto etc. And the other went to Mars Hill before starting here in Philly, so we bonded over our mutual love for Rob Bell sermons.
Their program is so small (15 people) that they call themselves the cohort. I love it.
They study together, encourage each other, help out with homework, eat dinner, have fun, challenge, pray, fast: live life.
It was inspiring to say the least.

This morning we woke up early to go with Chris to some 'photo shoot'.
I thought we would be volunteering to help in some way or just along for the ride...
Basically, Nathan and I were fake students for the morning and are stars in a new promotional video for Eastern University and the Masters program specializing in International Development.
I don't think neither Nathan nor I realized that we would be sitting right next to Tony Campolo as he talked about their program and what it meant to them as individuals and as followers of Jesus. We introduced ourselves as the random visiting Canadians and it seemed to be okay. We got to sit there and listen while some students asked Tony questions and he gave answers regarding economics, globalization and the kingdom of God. Neat.

Then Nathan and I decided to find Geno's and seek out the famous 'Philly Cheesesteak'. I felt like it was the Hard Rock Cafe with pictures of famous people everywhere, all eating the sandwich. Across the street is the other famous place 'Pat's'. We didn't try both to decide which was best, so unfortunately, if you go to Philly, you'll have to decide for yourself...
I was suprised, I didn't think I would like it at all, despite its fame.
However, there is no way that sandwich was worth 7$ American.
Like, it was good but I wouldn't HAVE to go back again...
I would much prefer a pita that Erin made me from Pita Pit.
But maybe that's just me?
However, we did manage to get Joe a cup and pen, but couldn't find a t-shirt. Oh well, at least we got something...

Lastly, we weaved through the confusing streets of Philadelphia to find the Simple Way.
For those of you that don't know about the Simple Way check it out!
These people are super cool and really down to earth.
I was worried they would think we were crazed fans from Canada, just looking for Shane.
But we met Rob, and he welcomed us in right away...
He gave us a tour of where they live and it was awesome.
It was really simple, yet beautiful at the same time.
Then Rob took us to see another house down the road that houses their afterschool program and we met Tim.
The four of us sat down to lunch and chatted about life, community living and what that looks like in the places we find ourselves.
Nathan and I wondered what that might look like in Sarnia.
The Simple Way couldn't be transplanted into Sarnia and function as brilliantly as it does in the Inner City of South Philly. But what kinds of things could we do in Sarnia that are building into the kingdom in a similar fashion? It was alot to think about...
I loved it there and would love to visit other communities similar to that (ie. New Jersualem, Camden House etc.) to see different and equally inspiring examples of what it might mean to live life together with a greater purpose.

Right now we're ready to go DOWN TOWN Philly to seek out Water Ice and pizza, or whatever meets us! We've got a map this time so hopefully we'll get home without driving around in circles this time...

Nathan is freaking out, so I better post this and go...

More later.

Philly

2007-02-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Nathan and I are in Philly, PA today.
Finally.

I'll post more later.

the what if

2007-02-18T14:16:00.000-05:00

So I worked nights at the hospital the last few days.
I hate working nights.
There are a couple nice things about it (it's quieter than days, less chaotic, there's time to do homework-usually, I can learn a lot more because people aren't so busy, I feel more like a real nurse because I get to have more patients *I'm up to three by myself)
But I really dislike sleeping all day and working all night, probably because I have such a hard time sleeping, but mostly because it throws my system all out of whack and I spend a few days recovering.
On Friday morning after my shift was over it was time for midterm evaluations.
All I wanted to do was sleep, but I had to sit there and list my strengths and weaknesses.
Not something you want to do at 7am on a good day let alone after working a few night shifts in a row.
Anyway, my preceptor (the nurse I work with on the floor) was very encouraging in her evaluation. She was honest and really aspired to have me grow as a nurse.
My tutor (School of Nursing prof who ultimately passes me) decided to give me all satisfactory in every area except one, leadership.
I don't know why this bugs me so much, or why I can't stop thinking about it. I mean, it's really not that big of a deal. She probably just had to pick one thing for me to work on after midterm and that was the one she selected. Who knows?
But I continue to doubt.
I've always thought of myself as a good leader...positive, encouraging, attempting to role model, admitting mistakes...etc. It's tough when the things you believe in are questioned.
Last week I had someone tell me I'm too passionate about global issues (ie. Aids in Africa). The same thing happened to me, I thought about it all week, wondering if I need to change.
It's tough to be criticized on the very things we think our positive in our life: passion, leadership, a desire to see change. And as a result I fall into a cycle of self-doubt.

I guess at the end of the day I'm left with a few choices...
I have to stop internalizing every little thing that people say about my character and be strong in what I know to be true.
I can let the people who love me and know me best help me to change because they truly are able to identify the areas that need work.
I can know in my heart what needs improving continue to try to be more like Jesus everyday as I pursue change.
Easier said than done at times.

I guess it's the doubt that always gets me. The second guessing. The what if.
What if they are right? What if I'm missing the point? What if I'll never measure up?

I'm constantly plagued with the what if.

sarnia.

2007-02-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm in Sarnia.

It's Reading Week.

A few updates:

I played Cities and Knights, a bigger more confusing version of Settlers of Catan last night.
To be honest, I think I'll stick to Settlers for now.
I might give it another try before I make my final verdict, but Settlers is definitely still number 1, hands down.

My parents changed their answering machine. It now says "Hi you've reached Liz and Geoff, leave a message" Instead of "Hi, you've reached Geoff, Liz, Rachel and Danielle..." Weird.

Dave asked me to sing at frwy and I'm sad I can't be there. I had a blast with Kev and Jaci last week. I'll miss you all. Seriously, I'm sitting here thinking about it and I'm getting that "I've been picked last at dodgeball" feeling.

Amazing Race ALL STAR is starting on Sunday!

I miss Erin Stanley.

Nathan and I are going to Philadelphia on Monday.
We're going to visit one of his friends who is currently in a Masters program at Eastern Seminary.
And we wanted to go see what Shane Claiborne and his friends at the Simple Way are all about. I loved Shane's book! I am really excited to find out more about his community and the way the choose to live life.
For those that don't want to drive to Philly...Shane will be speaking at the Evolving Church Conference March 24. It's all about justice! You should go.

I'm stressed out right now. I'm like Kevin Chen. So many papers to write and not enough time (or desire) to write them...too bad he was out of the country, we could have had a paper party.

I'll be back in Hamilton soon (definitely in time for church Feb 25)

My sister: graphic designer extraordinaire

2007-02-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

My sister is going to graduate from graphic design soon.
She rocks.

happy valentine's day

2007-02-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

looking fine valentine. (that was a cheesy saying off a valentine I got this year, awesome)

Krista Jefferson is brilliant.
I love all the pictures she took for us.
If you need pictures, you need Krista.

ps. happy snow day too

wedding crashers: the office style

2007-02-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

oh my gosh.
if you don't watch the office, what is wrong with you...
but this past week's episode was awesome.
check it out!

another hero

2007-02-11T16:15:00.000-05:00

i want to be like her.

stephen lewis

2007-02-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

I recently when to the McMaster School of Nursing 60th anniversary celebration.
Despite my obvious passion for nursing, the only reason I went was to hear Stephen Lewis.
I have read his award winning book Race Against Time.
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan.
However, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of his passion, his vision and his desire to see change, not just a plain 'ole Stephen Lewis groupie.
I loved every minute of his eloquent novel and challenge you to read it too, it will cause you to think twice about well, pretty much everything.

However, his lecturing is brilliant.
He captivated the audience (mostly nurses) with stories of nurses on the front lines every day working to reduce suffering in the world.
He reinforced why I am in the nursing profession and made me feel like I was worth a billion dollars.
Stephen Lewis made me feel like I could change the world.

Two quotes from the lecture:

Nurses are the anchor for social justice and equality in society.

I would lay down my life for the nursing profession.

Amazing. Talk about empowering.
I can't wait to be a real nurse.

Oh, and I'm getting married at the beginning of Nursing Week.
How cool is that?

what would you teach your children?

2007-02-09T13:06:00.000-05:00

I think this is ridiculous.

How is human anatomy offensive?

Shenanigans.

Less than three months to go...

2007-02-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

and all three girls have a beautiful dress to wear for the big day.

Erin's dress (in cornflower blue)
Naomi's dress (in raspberry)
Danielle's dress (not quite a perfect match...and on this website it's kiwi, but her actual colour is sage)

they are going to look gorgeous.

pbl

2007-02-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

So as most of you know this is my last year, last semester of nursing school.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... less than two months to go!
The McMaster program thinks it is brilliant, for many reasons, but one specfic reason is a class called PBL. Short for 'problem-based learning'. This is one class that you can't get away from. It's in every semester of every year. And it's at least 3 hours long! It's no wonder why most students call it 'pb-hell'.
The idea of the class is that students can learn in small environments what they feel is important.
Sidebar-why the heck am I paying McMaster thousands of dollars to teach myself?
Anyway, as critical as I am of PBL in my final year of nursing, this semester is different...
My professor is so passionate about nursing education you can't help but care. Not necesarily about what he cares about, but his passion is so contagious I'm beginning to truly find out the things I am passionate about too.
In a 'normal' PBL class we have a problem, obviously, and then we discuss discuss discuss, support our points with the most current, up to date research and bore the heck out of ourselves coming to a solution and ultimately resolving the issue. It helps if this problem relates to clinical or some health care experience...
In my neo-PBL group this semester we debate controversial topics concering humankind. We are talking about AIDS in Africa, global warming, the doomsday clock, the health care system, bureaucracy and politics, the apathy of young people today, spirituality/religion and oh yeah, nursing. I'm constantly challenged to think on my feet. YES, think.
It's a crazy concept that I might actually think at University.
I feel like the last four years of school have been spent memorizing textbooks or quoting journal articles. In fact, I don't think I've had a unique thought, or at least expressed it, in PBL.
This new PBL is quite refreshing.
I'm critically thinking to my heart's content.
I love it. I love the challenge. I love figuring out what I believe in and the person I want to be, the nurse I want to be.
I love that I have a professor who cares what I think and wants to challenge me to my very core.
It's my last semester of nursing school and I'm thinking for the first time. So I'll say something I'd never thought I'd say: thank you PBL.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. -Soren Kierkegaard

remember this painting?

2007-02-07T22:32:00.000-05:00

My beautiful and wonderfully talented Grandma Mo painted this! I posted about it on my blog awhile go because I thought it was so cool. It gets cooler. My grandparents live on Manitoulin Island during the summer months...so, my Grandma Mo decided to enter this painting "on a whim" (using her words) into a contest. The contest winner gets their painting on all of the the Manitoulin Art Tour maps that will be in Ontario info centres, the Chichimaun, in Ontario Tourism magazine. Guess who won? My Grandma Mo!
So, if you're going up to Cottage Country this summer, or riding on the Chi-Cheemaun take a look for the brochures... My face and Erin's favourite sunglasses!
Frigging sweet.

An Inconvenient Truth, take 2...

2007-01-31T19:50:00.000-05:00

This was in the paper today. So was this.

The IPCC report is the fourth to be issued by the UN-organized group of scientists, and draws on contributions of about 2,000 top experts from around the world, including many from Canada.

The first report suggested global warming might be happening. The second, in 1995, said it was likely to be under way, while the third, in 2001, had a tone that indicated scientists were pretty sure they were seeing humanity's fingerprints on changes in climate.

Quotes from the newest report on Global Warming:

Humans have already caused so much damage to the atmosphere that the effects of global warming will last for more than 1,000 years

Moreover, 11 of the past 12 years rank among the warmest since humans began taking accurate temperature measurements in the 1850s, a record of extremes so pronounced it is unlikely to be due to chance.

The future is bleak, scientists said.

The report will be released to the public on February 2

Human Trafficking

2007-01-30T21:07:00.000-05:00

This video made me cry.

sidebar

2007-01-24T10:26:00.000-05:00

Last night Erin and I played basketball.
I have been playing since second year with my nursing girls.
I'm going to say it, because it has to be said: we rock.
We even won the intramural league our first year.
Last year we were beat out in the Semis.
Not only are we pretty good, but it up there with the most fun I have all week.
They are awesome girls!
I played well, but boy did it hurt to run up and down that court.
It's fun to have something to look forward to at the end of a long school day.
Oh, and our team name: The Fab Foleys.
That's right. google foley people, look for a nursing related word and you'll get it :)

Life stress

2007-01-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

I'm over-tired, over-worked, and over-whelmed today with life.
I think it was probably from not sleeping all night long.
I have a big problem with not being able to sleep when things are on my mind. And, I have a problem not being able to let go of things easily. It's a rough cycle. I can't sleep because there is always something pressing on my mind. I can't let go of the things on my mind so I will never sleep peacefully.
I even try to take gravol to knock myself out! Unsuccessfully of course.
Some days it's worse than others. Lately, it has been really bad.
I feel bad complaining because I know there are people going through way more than I could ever imagine...
I guess I am taking one day at a time, making to-do lists, checking things off, and chipping away.
Help remind me to be thankful for each day.
Help remind me to have a positive attitude.
Help me to focus on things other than myself.
That might help me sleep.

Beautiful Dreamers

2007-01-23T04:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still not sleeping...
Tonight was a night of dreams, despite a lack of sleep.
I'm excited for FRWY.
Sitting with friends talking about a dream for our community gave me the desire to dream for myself too..
.

Dreams for 2007

February
* live with The Simple Way in Philidelphia for a week
* get through midterms without caring about grades
March
* volunteer at the Evolving Church Conference:Restoring Justice
* finish classes at McMaster University
April
* survive this transition month
May
* get married!
* move into my own place (with Nathan)
June
* backpack through Europe
* graduate
July/August
* volunteer at day camp
* apply for my first nursing job
September
* run the whole 10km Terry Fox Run (in memory of my Uncle)
* continue my education somehow
* join a new club, event, league
October
* be working part-time as an RN
* make a new friend
November
* invest in my community
* meet a neighbour
December
* have almost all my loans paid off for a fresh start in January...
* celebrate the holidays with all my new family
* able to say that I am not the same person who wrote this post

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2007-01-23T04:08:00.000-05:00

I can't sleep...
I'm too stressed out.
There is too much on my mind.
I want to sleep.
But I can't.

And so I blog.
I'm turning into Nathan....

FENDER BENDER

2007-01-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

I was driving home last night from FRWY and I was stopped at a red light on King Street. Right near Caroline..(I think, to be honest, it was kinda a blur. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do, I wasn't thinking straight)
Anyway, it was just before Jackson Square...near the Burlington bus stop connection.

The roads were pretty slippery, but I didn't think it would end up in an accident.

I was fully stopped at a red light, and the car behind me drove right into my bumper.
The back of my baby is broken.
My poor Volvo needs a new bumper.

I don't think there was any damage to his car. His shiny silver Lexus SUV. Goodness.
Why my car? Just because it's ugly and old? Not fair.

Anyway, the guy tried to tell me there was no damage. I laughed in his face.
Then he tried to lift my bumper and put it back on the car, as if to say, there's no problem here. As he lifted my bumper, he broke off a piece. Smooth.
I laughed at him again and told him that there was definitely damage and that it needed to be fixed.

In that moment, I froze. I didn't get his driver's licence, his insurance information...I wrote down his name, on a scrap piece of paper. I got a cell phone number. And that's all he was going to give me.
Luckily, I'm not a complete idiot, and managed to write down his licence plate number and the make of his car as he was driving away. That's right, he told me he was late for a wedding (at 8:30pm on a Sunday) and proceeded to drive away.

Before he drove away I told him that I was a poor student and couldn't afford to fix the bumper and needed to know he would be trust-worthy to fix it. He assured me of the fact that my car would be fine.

I'm too naïve.

After a long night of phonecalls to the police, my parents, Nathan, insurance agents, and Pernell and Margie...I'm ready for bed.
Thank you guys for talking me through it...

Hopefully I'll have a better morning and get all this cleared up without too much hassle.

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER

2007-01-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

Melissa just emailed me to say that on Feb. 18, Amazing Race is having an ALL STAR show!!!

AMAZING. :)

Chit-chat

2007-01-14T16:02:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up, late, mid-afternoon to be exact. But I do have a recovering-sickness excuse card to play, so I'll use it.
It was great to wake up to see Erin Stanley. That girl makes me smile. I love being around Erin.
But I woke up and dragged my sweatpants over to where Erin had plopped herself on the couch. We just chatted for the good part of an hour, maybe more, it was great.
Throughout the conversation the subjects ranged, but one stuck in my mind on a personal note.
I mentioned to Erin some thoughts.

You know what Erin, all the things I aspire to be in my life don't have anything to do with physical appearance. I want to be patient, kind, compassionate, thoughtful, loving, understanding, less cynical, optimistic, the list goes on for ages and ages. How come, if I could snap my fingers right now, the things I would change would be about physical appearance? Snap. Skinnier. Snap. Taller. Snap. Why am I so caught up in materialism that even though the desires of my heart are to be kind, I'd pick skinny instead?

Erin just kind of listened. I appreciate good listeners. Erin is a great listener. I need to be more like her :) I chat too much...but that's beside the point.
Anyway, she pointed me to the Audrey Hepburn quote on our mirror thanks to Randy.

Beauty Tips.
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, reclaimed and redeemed.
Never throw out anybody.

Beautiful.
I know some may scoff and say, well Audrey Hepburn can say that, she's drop dead gorgeous, but I'd reply that you've missed the point.
So do I at times...
but I'm working on it.

N is for Nathan

2007-01-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

Nathan is gross.
If all my patients are like Nathan, I'm beginning to re-think my future.
No wonder there is a nursing shortage.

However, Nathan did make up for all the sickness by making sure I was totally cared for the whole time I was sick. Naomi said that you know it's love when the other person can stand your puke. I like Naomi.
So, I'm thankful for Nurse Nathan inspite of the disease.

In other news, the countdown to my birthday is at 5 days...

First day at school

2007-01-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

What is education? Is hould suppose that education was the curriculum one had to run through in order to catch up with oneself, and he who will not pass through this curriculum is helped very little by the fact that he was born in the most enlightened age.

Soren Kierkegaard

3 days

2006-12-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

what would you do if you were told you had three days to live?

things are not fine...

2006-12-29T13:19:00.000-05:00

please pray for my family.

Inspired

2006-12-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

Awhile back I made a list of things I wanted to do before I die.
Since the list was written when I was in high school some of the things on it were pretty funny. I have been adding to it and editing for almost 7 years.
I thought I would post so I work hard to live each day to the fullest rather than sleeping life away.

In no particular order here is my list:
1. sky dive
2. get married
3. learn to speak another language fluently
4. get my degree and then get accepted to medical school (since then changed to nurse/nurse practitioner)
5. write my own song and sing it
6. scuba dive
7. ride a ferris wheel
8. learn to play piano (or guitar)
9. prove that money doesn't buy happiness
10. Read the whole Bible
11. Get my nose pierced
12. See Reliant K in concert (totally in grade 10 when I wrote that one)
13. Be in the Amazing Race
14. Adopt or be a foster parent
15. Go to Paris and drink a café near the Eiffel Tower (café, I think was supposed to mean coffee)
16. Live in another country
17. Cure a disease
18. Be on TV
19. Learn to not procrastinate
20. Write a children's book
21. Learn what it means to be a good friend
22. Go to Egypt and explore a pyramid (if possible with a camel)
23. Have Christmas family dinner at my house and make the whole dinner myself, and have people eat it, and like it.
24. Swim in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans
25. Win a championship
26. Set up a medical clinic in Africa
27. Make my own clothes
28. Learn to ski to prove I'm not an accident waiting to happen :)
29. Beat someone in a foot race
30. Learn sign language
31. Swing dance a routine and have everyone else circle us and clap like a movie
32. Stop biting my nails
33. Learn to relax, de-stress, Sabbath day it up? :)
34. Go white water rafting
35. Save a life
36. Go on a big road trip with friends
37. Be in the majority of all Nathan's pictures
38. Become a patient person
39. Be President of something
40. Join a soft ball league
41. Throw a surprise party without the person it's for knowing about it beforehand
42. Take a picture of an elephant on an African safari
43. Rebuild a home
44. Sponsor a child
45. Go backing packing in a foreign country (preferably Europe)
46. Sing on Broadway (or if that's not possible, just go see a Broadway show)
47. Go para-sailing
48. Raise $1 000 000 for a charity
49. Win in BINGO
50. Learn to follow Jesus...

I'm sure this list will grow as time goes on...

Holy Crap.

2006-12-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

The countries included below are currently experiencing a crisis.

- Afghanistan
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Colombia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Republic of Congo
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Haiti
- India
- Indonesia
- Islamic Republic of Iran
- Iraq
- Kenya
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Niger
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Russian Federation - North Caucasus (Chechnya)
- Rwanda
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Swaziland
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Timor-Leste
- Uganda
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

For more information click the link above...

COUNTDOWN

2006-12-05T02:19:00.000-05:00

...5 months to go as of today...

Christmas Magic

2006-12-05T02:17:00.000-05:00

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old."Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus."Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA O'HANLON.115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measure by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest man that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood

Interesting.

It's going to be fine...

2006-11-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

My mom emailed me some news.
My uncle has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
By recently I mean this week.
He went into the hospital for an emergency MRI yesterday to see if surgery is an option.
I'm not sure my family members realize the potential seriousness of this situation.
Everyone keeps saying that the cancer is in the early stages so "it's going to be fine."
I'm so thankful it is the early stages, but the specific cancer he has is typically not diagnosed until it progresses significantly. I'm sketchy on the details.

As a future nurse I have so many questions, but I'm scared to ask them...
What if I get an answer I'm not expecting or don't want to deal with?
What then?

It's so easy to go to the hospital every day to care for people that you don't know. Reassuring them, comforting them, even showing love. It's easy to distance yourself when at the end of the day you go home from the problem, leaving the cancer or heart disease far behind.
It's completely different when the sickness, whatever it may be is affecting those you love.

I don't know how to deal with cancer when it's affecting my life personally. There's only so many times you can reassure yourself. It's scary. I wonder why there is such a fear attached to the word cancer...
I guess I'm understanding more of how my patients and their families must feel. Maybe that's a good thing.

I guess I'm still idealistic.
I haven't seen alot of death.
I still believe that the people I see will get better.
It's tough to realize that sometimes comfort is just as important as a cure.
It's difficult to face the reality of death.

I guess that's why they teach us in nursing school not to say "everything's going to be fine." Because sometimes it's not fine.

I'm not trying to be dramatic, pessimistic or cynical. I guess I'm just trying to face the reality that things somtimes aren't fine. I'm learning to deal with the fear, learning to find the words to say, learning to accept.

I'm heading into clinical this weekend. Shortly. (Nights)
Tonight I want to care.
To make a difference.
To do whatever I can to ease pain.

I want things to be fine. Even for a moment.

A day of thanks

2006-11-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

Today was yet another 12 hour shift. November has been packed full of them, but I'm learning so much, it's tough to complain.

I know it's not a Canadian thanksgiving, (shout out to the Kevin Chen-inator for the upcoming American thanksgiving)but today was a reminder to be thankful.

Today I cared for a little toddler who has so much medical history it would be much too lengthy to list it...but the thing that hit me hardest was the fact that she will never speak. She will never be able to scream, laugh, cheer, shout, giggle, whisper...

Yes, she could show me a smile, or a tear stained face, I could understand her emotions, we could communicate...but she will never speak. Ever.

Today I was thankful for the gift of my voice. How often are we thankful to speak? To voice our concerns, to share a secret, to muffle a laugh...so much we take for granted. I know I do. My beautiful little patient today taught me how important it is to thank God for little things, like simply speaking a simple little phrase: "Thank you"

déjà vu

2006-11-08T21:40:00.000-05:00

It's another Wednesday night and guess who has another essay due tomorrow.

Guess who is just starting the paper after they finish writing this blog...

You'd think I would learn, wouldn't you?

Guess old habits die hard.

VICTORY

2006-11-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

I got my first IV insertion yesterday at clinical.

Today I feel like a real nurse.

Clinical again tonight...hope the streak continues.

p.r.o.c.r.a.s.t.i.n.a.t.i.o.n.

2006-11-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

I have a paper due tomorrow. It's 10pm. I have 1 page.

I think I've turned into Kevin...

And now I am even procrastinating by telling you all about it.

I even tried to rent Season 4 of Scrubs and 'reward' my essay writing devotion with one episode of Scrubs per page. To restate, it is now 10pm and I have 1 page, I've watched 9 episodes of Scrubs.

But I can't take this out on Scrubs...JD needs me. I think I'll watch 1 more episode before attacking page 2.

I'm hopeless. :)

A FINE LINE

2006-10-25T08:30:00.000-04:00

?

2006-10-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

I was on campus walking up the steps to get to the 3rd floor of the student centre. The concrete steps are by no means a beautiful sight, but something about them caught my eye. As I was walking up to the second floor, one of the concrete walls screamed "YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL" with black permanent marker graffiti. A self-esteem booster is always welcome, so I thanked the wall and continued up and on my way. The next flight of stairs had something to tell me as well. The next concrete wall yelled “YOU’RE ALIVE.” I breathed in deeply and thanked the wall for the reminder of how great it is to be alive. Feeling both alive and beautiful, I continued my climb. The last set of stairs before the top floor got to the point. The wall demanded something of me in return for the information it divulged to me. The concrete seemed to roar, bellow, shout…“QUESTION”!
I’m not sure who put the graffiti on the wall or what the purpose of it was, but it certainly sent a message to me. All of us are created to be special and unique. We are continually learning what it means to be more like the person we’re meant to be.
In the past I’ve felt like I had things all figured out. It was easier to accept everything you were taught at face value and then preach the same thing to others. It’s easy to feel confident in what you believe this way. For the last few years I’ve started to question, to wonder, to dream. To ask why and search for my own answers! To not be satisfied with a spoon-fed response and start to dig deeper.
At times this process is so frustrating because I often feel more confused and ignorant than when I started. It’s easy to feel lost in all the questions. However, I never want to be complacent, satisfied with the ordinary. Plus, the drab, concrete walls reminded me that I’m alive, I’m beautiful and it’s important to continue to question, to search, to seek out truth. Thank you walls for this reminder!

Upstairs and downstairs

2006-10-18T17:04:00.000-04:00

People are constantly changing. Some people are changing for the better and others are changing for the worse. Some change might be stuck in process or yet to be labelled. Change can be something scary (especially if you’re a Baptist) or it can be refreshing, and sometimes change can just rock the boat.
As most of you know (especially those of you who helped) Erin and I recently moved into a new house, in a new area of Hamilton. Well, I guess it’s no longer recent, but during the summer, it was only Erin and I living here. Since the beginning of September it has been a whole new ball game. There are three others that we’re living with on a daily basis, two of which we lived with at the other house on Pearl street.
Now these are wonderful, lovely, caring girls, don’t get me wrong…but we just don’t seem to mesh. Erin and I mostly keep to ourselves, trying to fit each other into our busy schedules, while the others are inseparable. This is so drastically different from years previous where friendship seems so natural. Living on Pearl Street we dubbed ourselves the Pearl Girls and had a grand ole time. But this has recently become a thing of the past and it’s sad that this once natural friendship is now forced and awkward.
It’s weird how all of a sudden, a slight, gradual change in individuals becomes extremely evident.
My close friend Chris told me that she loves change because if she didn’t see evidence of it, how could she possible evaluate growth. She told me that she was recently thinking about how much we’ve all changed since first year, some more than others. She told me all the ways she thinks I’ve changed, and I had to agree. I know I’m continuing to grow and figure out who the heck I am and want to be in this world. It’s just a weird realization to face that change in people changes friendships. I guess with personal change comes interpersonal change? Meaning, as personal priorities and values are changing, this directly affects how you’re able to relate to others on a deeper level.
It’s just an awful feeling to feel constantly lonely in the place you’re living. To feel like a stranger to those you’re surrounded by on a daily basis. I don’t feel I have a home. How can you feel homeless when you’re writing this in a living room? I feel great once I leave and connect with friends and people who care, but this house is a gloomy place for me, despite Erin and my lovely room.
I’m learning the importance of friendship and the value of investing into other’s lives. I’m learning to let go, to realize that it’s okay to change and to not have to force relationships.
I’m learning what it feels like to be lonely.
I’m learning to grow despite all the negativity and continue to build relationships outside these walls, with anticipation of a future home.

What comes before Part B?

2006-10-12T00:50:00.000-04:00

More to come...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2006-10-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

to Nathan!

Nathan is 22 today!

He doesn't like birthdays but I looooove them, and so we will celebrate in style!!!

Happy Birthday to Emma tomorrow.

and a Happy Birthday countdown begins for my crazy sister who's been counting down her birthday since last October...21 days to go Danielle.

Hooray for birthdays.

The Engagement Story

2006-10-02T18:13:00.000-04:00

Okay, so to avoid having to mass email out my story to all my friends, I'm just sending them a link to this post, sorry if you were there on Sunday or have heard this already.

So Nathan lied. He told me that he would be stopping by for a visit around 10pm after Frwy (my church service) and after Amazing Race. Needless to say, I didn't get to see Sunday's episode, and I couldn't be happier.
Melissa lied too. But it's okay, she was just lying for Nathan. She told me that she needed help with the kids downstairs in the Zone. I spent all church playing relay races and learning Bible verses. She really didn't need help, but that's okay. That gave Nathan time to show up at the Frwy. Not only Nathan, but all my family, his family and many special friends showed up to make it super special.
At 7:15, Erin Stanley came downstairs and threw Nathan's sweater over my head, I must say I was sneakingly suspicious that something was going on...
Erin and Melissa led me up the stairs as all the kids raced up to beat me. When I got upstairs, there was Nathan, sitting surrounded by all the children, reading them a story. Our story. Nathan made an amazing story book about us and read it to me (and the kids, and the 50 people or so there too) After the story was over Nathan asked me to marry him, and I didn't even give him a chance to get down on one knee before I leaped at him to say yes. YES!
Everyone there started to take pictures and celebrate with New Years horns, it was great. It was at that point that I hugged Erin and then realized that there were many more people to hug. What a great suprise. I'm so thankful alot of the people I love in the world were there to experience one of the best moments of my life.
Nathan's grandparents were even there from Florida!
I'm so excited today. I have a ring on my finger (which to honest, really means nothing to me, because I have the best fiance ever! FIANCE! Holy shoot...)

So everyone, make sure you keep May 5th open on your calendar. We're getting MARRIED.
I couldn't be happier.

HOW COULD I NOT BLOG ABOUT THE FACT THAT....

2006-10-02T13:17:00.000-04:00

Nathan and I are ENGAGED!!!

It's funny because Nathan made me a story book for the big day, and I made him a scrapbook for his birthday this week. Crazy.

Keep your calendars open for May 5th, that's kinda what we're thinking for the wedding day. WEDDING!

Thanks to everyone who came down to Hamilton for the suprise.
Thanks for keeping it a suprise the whole week/month etc.
I'm so excited.

Hiatus

2006-09-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

This blog is taking a vacation.
Just so you don't check it and get annoyed with me.
I'm too ________(something) to write.

one more day

2006-08-31T19:22:00.000-04:00

I can almost breathe a sigh of relief.
I'm going on vacation tomorrow.

Back to school soon enough.

I learned to lie and other fun things

2006-08-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was my first real vacation.
On Friday after work I waited anxiously for Melissa to pick me up so that the Frwy camping trip could begin. It was exciting when both Amber and Jenn were there too, but the car ending up resembling a circus clown car with all our gear. We finally arrived in Valens and were ready for the fun to begin. It was fun to watch all the tents going up around our group campsite. There was about 40 people that decided to camp and a few visitors that joined varying days. It was great to be away from life and to just relax and chat with everyone.
I loved campfire time, cooking marshmellows, trying to avoid the mosquitoes, and mafia. Nathan and I love mafia and luckily Amber knew the game too, so between all of us, we taught the Frwy how to play mafia, and the lying began. Unfortunately, I can not lie. All I could do when someone asked if I was mafia was smile and nod, waiting to be voted out. But, by the end of the weekend, I was actually lying! I even convinced Natasha, the human lie detector, that I wasn't mafia! But I couldn't convince Carolyn, she was too good. It was so fun to learn more about people as we played the game. I have to say, my favourite mafia player was Mark Jefferson. That guy is good.
The only thing I didn't enjoy about the camping was the early mornings...but I guess we got to enjoy the ENTIRE day. The beach was great and the kids had so much fun playing and swimming. It was great to chat with the Church family. They are cool people. I heart Laura and Nick too. Laura, Natasha and I stayed up late talking about life and it was great! It was also fun getting to know Steve and Louise better too. Louise is a great bocce ball player, too bad we lost right at the end of the game. Another thing I loved watching was family dynamics. I loved watching dads playing with their kids, especially Marshall, what a great dad. I think family is super important and it was wondeful to watch awesome families interact all weekend long.
Thanks to everyone who helped out with organizing, especially food. Thanks Natasha for the singles food, it rocked being single this weekend.
All in all, it was wonderful to get to chat with everyone there! I had a great time, but I need to come back from my vacation and catch up on sleep. I need another vacation. Unfortunately I'll have to wait til my job is over (3 weeks and 1 day) but I wouldn't trade camping for sleep. No way.
Thanks Frwy for the super fun camping weekend.

I have a brother (in-law)

2006-07-31T08:59:00.000-04:00

Saturday July 29th was my little sister's wedding day!
I can't believe that Danielle is married. She is now Danielle Robb; Mrs Robb!
What a weekend. I feel like everything went by in a blur.
An outdoor wedding is quite a lot of work, but definitely very beautiful

The wedding took place at Mike Weir Park in Sarnia (Bright's Grove). We had the ceremony on the beach and then the reception under the pavillion that we so beautifully decorated.
Danielle looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress, and I finally got to wear my dress. Even though it was so hot outside I didn't mind wearing black.

The ceremony was great and I didn't mess it up on any of my parts. I didn't realize that I was responsible for taking care of a ring and luckily I didn't lose it...like I normally would. It is probably the first and last time I will ever be a maid of honor and so I wanted it to be perfect for my sister. I thought everything went beautifully and soon the ceremony was over and they were officially married!
After many, many pictures (Danielle married a photographer) we finally got to get the party/reception started. I was excited all day for delicious steak. The cake looked great too, they designed the whole thing to look like a sand castle. Cute.

I was super nervous for my speech and I practiced in my head the whole dinner. One thing that was a bit weird at the wedding was looking out at the guests and only knowing half of them. But just a lot of more fun people to get to know I guess.
Anyway, after the dinner and speeches, Danielle and Aaron had their first dance as a married couple. It's funny because neither one had ever really danced before.

Nathan did a great job as the emcee for the evening and I was glad he was there. He was a huge help and just a heck of a lot of fun. He posted all the pictures he took on his blog if you're curious to see more.
Looking forward to hanging out with the newly weds when they come back from their honeymoon up north at a cottage. All in all, it was a busy but great weekend with the family, and I finally have the brother I've always wanted!

Money Money Money

2006-07-20T13:14:00.000-04:00

Last night I was lucky enough to barista at the Frwy while the Socially Responsible Investing Discussion took place.
For those of you that were unable to make it, you for sure missed out, and not just on the free dessert/coffee.
To be completely honest, I wasn't able to catch all of the discussion due to my barista duties, but Randy pretty much summed up what they talked about for me afterwards.
The discussion lacked powerpoint, portfolios, documents etc, on PURPOSE. There was no catch, no sign on the dotted line, no pressure.
The whole night was a time for everyone to just sit, chat and ask questions about investing money in companies that are concerned about where that money is going. It was informal, personable and easy to understand. I got to talk to Terri Rice, the main speaker afterward and she was inspiring. She told me that it's not often she gets to speak to the actual clients, usually she just works with brokers. She said that it is awesome to see people actually concerned with ethical investments and it encourages her to make sure people are aware of this decision when starting to invest their money. Scott Reeves was also there and his office is located in downtown Hamilton, because he wants to be there! He was a super cool guy. I was talking to him after the discussion too about people like me, with not alot of money, but wanting to do the right thing once the pay cheques start coming in...He told me that it doesn't matter if you have 100$ to invest or 100 000$, he's into people who are into socially responsible investments. He'll take time to walk you through what's best for you whether you've got lots or a little bit of money.
I was blown away by these people and their desire to use their job, the business they are in, for good. To make sure that money is being used properly and not contributing to things like sweatshops. They are really people who are making kindgdom investments. I was inspired by their work and their attitude towards life. So for those of you who missed out, if we are able to get Scott and Terri to come back for a second discussion night, you don't want to miss it!
Make sure you know where your money is going...

I broke my blog

2006-07-19T14:01:00.000-04:00

All I was trying to do was add Kevin, Kaelyn, Jason etc. to my 'Friends' list and I ended up deleting half my blog.
How ridiculous is that?
Nathan managed to save all my posts, but all the cool design is gone. Sad face!
The worst part is that Nathan, Pernell AND Kevin are all away so my blog will stay broken until they return.
I guess you never really appreciate things until they are gone, sigh.

It's a girl

2006-07-18T15:30:00.000-04:00

I stopped my preaching rants this afternoon.
And put my VISA where my mouth is.

Today I sponsered a beautiful little girl.
Her name is Paola and she is from Honduras.

Paola lives with her mom and dad as well as 2 other siblings. Her mom and dad are occasionally employed. Paola works at home caring for their animals as she is still too young to attend school. She loves to play dolls, hide and seek, and attend Bible class.

Her birthday is the same day as my sister Danielle, and my family recently returned from a missions trip to Honduras so that's why I chose Paola.

I'm glad I get to be a part of her life.

Feed me?

2006-07-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

I haven’t been eating very well. I pretty much live off of the Frwy Coffeehouse grilled cheese sandwiches and Union Market bagels. It's my own fault though, a combination between laziness, a busy lifestyle and poor cooking skills.
I was feeling inspired to take better care of myself today when I remembered a conversation I had awhile ago with one of the girls that lives in my house. She’s quite a nice girl and was telling me all about her recent purchase. A membership to a weight loss centre to aid her goal to get in shape and feel better about herself. This membership was not free, and came at quite the price. Many hundreds of dollars were spent to help her eat healthy and to inspire motivation to exercise. I’m really proud of her for having the self discipline to eat healthy. It’s expensive and difficult when all you’re craving is ice cream (and she informed me that ice cream has way too many points!)
I know I’d have a hard time dieting.
But this got me thinking…not to get picky, but it’s amazing to me that our North American culture spends so much money on exercise, dieting and weight loss, while half the world is starving. I know I am not an ideal body weight, Erin and I always joke about our extra little wobbly chub, but I know I’m not fat. It’s easy to think that though in the culture we live in. Thin is in and many of us suffer the consequences.
However, today I didn’t start to rant about the media, worry about anorexia or even wish I was skinnier secretly in my head. Today I was struck with a realization that half the world is starving themselves while the other half is starving. What a confusing world we live in today. So many campaigns to alleviate world hunger, while at the same time we’re spending millions to get thin.
In 1996 the World Food Summit set a goal to potentially eradicate world hunger by 2015. According to their statistics, currently 852 million people are chronically undernourished. EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO MILLION PEOPLE. An even more staggering fact is that one BILLION people in this world are living on less than one dollar per day! This is unacceptable. If this global number doesn’t make you cringe, here’s a more local example. In Canada, in 2/3’s of single parent homes, the parent reports not eating in order to have enough food to last the entire week. That’s almost 70% of single parent households that don’t have enough to eat on a weekly basis. Food is a luxury to these people. A luxury! I think of the definition of luxury and somehow a visual of bread doesn’t immediately surface.
I ache inside that my desire is to lose five pounds while people around the world are praying for their next meal. How as a culture can we be so selfish, sit back and do nothing as people go to sleep hungry? Food is a basic human need. All people should have access to this ‘luxury’ whether rich or poor. Food is a right, and this is something that is non-negotiable.

It's getting hot in here...

2006-07-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

I was searching on my computer for a specific document and I came across an old essay I wrote in grade 9. It's funny looking back on your writing from 6-7 years ago. Thankfully I have progressed since then, but what I had to say wasn't that bad. Interestingly enough, my essay was about global warming. Nathan just posted about the fact that we went to go see The Inconvenient Truth at the Westdale Theatre. Depsite my cynical suspicisions of a political ploy, Al Gore had some great things to share. The movie was powerful and a definite must see.I learned so much from this movie and re-reading my little essay it would be tough to share it all. But I'll venture to leave a few comments.
Global warming is a big deal. It's not just something scientists, university students and environmentalists should talk about. Everyone needs to do their part to be informed on this global issue. Why? It's our fault! The way we live is creating a consistant temperature increase that will have devestating effects on this earth if we don't pause and choose to do something about it.
It was so interesting to me how I could write this essay for school and a mere 6 years later, forget about the words I so passionately shared with my peers. We tend to live in the moment don't we? It's so tough to break into our long term memory as a people. Things like 9-11, the tsunami, hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, they are remembered mostly because of their immediate devestating effects. Or have you forgot about these disasters already? It's easy to forget. However, events like these usually etch our memory and fill the pages of history books, while things that are brought about slowly with minimal short term damage are overlooked. For example, what about the crisis in Darfur where millions of people are dying? How many of us are informed or ready to be moved by this? Not enough. The time has come to stop living for today and start thinking about tomorrow.
An illustration that really put things into perspective for me was one about a frog. If a frog jumps into a boiling pot of water, it will jump out immediately. It recognizes that the water is too hot and that it is dangerous to remain in that situation. On the other hand, if a frog jumps into a lukewarm pot of water and the temperature goes up gradually, the frog will happily stay in the water unaware of the imminent danger.
We are like that frog. We're sitting in a boiling pot and we're lazily basking in our hot tub of relaxation while disaster awaits. But this disaster can be avoided. We as a concerned people can decide to take action and hop out of this pot.
I was challenged by this movie and my grade 9 science essay to re-evaluate the way I live and to be responsible for the way I live.
Go see the movie, hopefully it will change your actions too.

Whew...

2006-07-12T22:32:00.000-04:00

I'm officially done summer school today.
Enough studying, presenting, researching.
I'm ready for a break.

But first...sleep!

Happy Birthday to My Friend Pam

2006-07-01T12:17:00.000-04:00

Paging Nurse Rachel

2006-06-30T20:32:00.000-04:00

During the last few months before school ended, I took to watching Thursday night television with my lovely roommate Kristen. She loves the CSI and while I agree, I think I started to enjoy ER...
This is actually a good thing because today I found out that the tentative fourth year nursing clinical placements were up onine.
When I saw the message my heart stopped and I held my breath until I scrolled down to see my name...
This is a huge deal folks. My last year of nursing, these last two placements are critical for developing skills, getting experience and learning to become a REAL nurse!
Unfortunately for me I had to scroll down three pages before I finally found my name...
I'm at McMaster hospital in the Emergency Room!!! What an amazing opportunity.
And not only that, but it'll be awesome only having to get up 15 minutes before my 7am 12 hour shifts because I live so close. I'm extremely excited and looking forward to the fall!
I can't wait to be Abby from ER.

In exactly 2 592 000 seconds...

2006-06-29T09:00:00.001-04:00

or 43 200 minutes, 720 hours, 30 days, 4 weeks, 1 month...
my little sister will be married.

Oh my goodness.

In exactly 2 592 000 seconds...

2006-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

or 43 200 minutes, 720 hours, 30 days, 4 weeks, 1 month...
my little sister will be married.

Baby Got Book

2006-06-28T14:32:00.000-04:00

This is funny.

Just a reminder

2006-06-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

Bell City Chase Toronto |June 24 edition|

2006-06-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan has an amazing post about our race!!! I honestly couldn't wait to blog all about it!
The morning of the race Nathan and I walked to Yonge-Dundas square-the official starting line. We got there super super early and I had to sit there with knots in my stomach for like a whole entire hour before the festivities began. I was so excited yet so nervous at the same time, I guess that combination equals a feeling of wanting to puke. Anyway, finally around 9:30 they started a warm up and announcements. Whew, something to take my mind off things. Only Nathan starts acting like a loser-face attempting to Tai-Chi dance and I pretend I don't know him. Only our matching hats that Erin made for us gave me away...
Finally the host got up to speak and we all cheered. I really felt like a camp counsellor could have done a much better job. All I thought of was Sarah, Erin, Mike etc, that would have us racers ready to go camp style. Anyway, at this point, something happened that made my heart sink. Nathan told me that he was going to get on tv no matter what. I sighed thinking to myself, annoying boy...but little did I realize that he was going to rope me into this stunt. The host asks for two volunteers...Nathan jumps up and down, I laugh and then the host says: "okay you, yes you, jumping up and down..." I'm like, shoot. Nathan grabs my arm and pulls me toward the stage, while I mutter, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you the entire time...We get onto stage and the host tells us about a new element called Friend or Foe. Luckily I pick the right card, the one that says 'good news' and we win gift certificates for the RunningRoom, otherwise, Nathan would have been shaving off his eyebrow in payment for his 5 minutes of fame as a result of the bad news card. Silly Nathan. You won't learn will you, at least I am prepared now that this will probably continue to happen throughout life...I'll better prepare myself next time.
Anyway, the race is about to begin and I whisper to Nathan, "hey, we don't have clues yet". The host then tells us that in order to start the race we have to run to one of two fire stations. Nathan and I have no idea where either are and everyone just starts running. I have to say that one of my biggest pet peeves on the Amazing Race is when teams don't figure out clues/directions for themselves and just follow...and what did we do right away? We followed the hundreds of other teams running toward one of two fire stations. Which one did we go to? I still have no idea. But we got our clue sheet and then after staring at it blankly realized we knew NOTHING about Toronto. I glanced at the paper and saw Union station so we took off. We called my mom along the way and got her to google a couple of places, but we could have been sooo much smarter. We should have given her every clue, every location and then got her to plot out the best route with the least amount of time between ten checkpoints in order to make it back to the finish line as fast as possible. However, we just made decisions on the fly and although this was good at the time to keep going, we ended up paying for it in the long run. But a huge thankyou to my lovely mom for helping us out so much throughout the day. I thought I might be annoying her but nope, she told me after that she was so excited to be a part of the race that she didn't even care to give up a whole Saturday to look up clues on google. Love you mom, you're a true hard core racer at heart!
Anyway, the checkpoints were pretty cool. Nathan outlined all the checkpoints we visited so I won't repeat that part. My favourite stations were the basketball station where we rocked out our foul shots while other teams stripped...and getting to meet this eleven year old kid who knew like every world cup soccer team and flag.
The thing was, Nathan and I were killer at all the challenges, we just were awful navigators and our lack of knowledge about Toronto killed us for sure. It was too bad we only finished 9 checkpoints, I know we could have done much better.
One of the girls in my office was in the race too and she is this super athlete marahthon runner, and she got 9 done too, which made me feel alot better. Plus, I didn't want to be the loser in the office that couldn't even finish the race.
Anyway, Nathan and I had alot of fun throughout the day. I wanted to kill him at points, but that went away and overall we had the best time ever. So much so that we'd even do it again!!! And I know Nathan wouldn't do it if I was too annoying as a partner so that makes me happy. We'd really like to get a few teams to sign up to do it with us so we could compete against each other and race our friends rather than just strangers. I've already challeneged my sister and her fiance as well as my mom and dad. Hopefully Mark and Krista will take us up on the offer too...any other Amazing Race fans out there or those I missed...feel free to join us!
Side bar: Anyone interested should DEFINITELY sign up for the next City Chase in Toronto, this August 26th! Seriously, we had a blast.
All in all, I got to cross off a life goal today on my 'LIFE TO DO LIST' and that was exciting...I can't wait until next year, but boy am I sore today. Make sure to start training. I guess Nathan and I will put those RunningRoom gift certificates to good use in order to improve for next year.

Bell City Chase, My Amazing Race

2006-06-21T21:14:00.000-04:00

I'm looking forward to this Saturday.
I'm fulfilling a dream: To be in an Amazing Race.
But since I will never become an American citizen, I will never get to apply for the actual Amazing Race...
And after my friend Brendon and I won Amazing Race McMaster, I was thinking I might be ready for a new adventure.
So, a friend of mine sent me a link for the Bell City Chase with a suggestion for me to enter.
I was intrigued. I emailed Nathan the link and he was almost as excited as I was.
We immediately decided to enter and this Saturday starting at 10am sharp the Bell City Chase in Toronto will begin!!!
I'm putting together some costume ideas but we're still thinking of a team name, any suggestions?
Anyway, I can't wait til this week is over.
I'll make sure to give you an update after the race.
Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday

2006-06-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

My dad turned 49!!!
This is a picture with his birthday present.
What a birthday!
(I would just like to say that if you'll notice there are two other Volvos in the driveway. I think this is the first car in over two decades that isn't a Volvo. The Pede family is branching out and diversifying in the world.)
Also, check out that grey station wagon...guess who's it is now???
That's right, it will soon belong to me.
Thanks Dad.
Happy birthday to me too.

Me and My Painting

2006-06-19T11:40:00.000-04:00

Abby took these pictures at the Frwy
Howard Soar painted these cool looking pictures and named these two after Me and Nathan
The bottom painting is mine!
I wish I had enough money to take these home with me, but thanks to Abby these pictures will make up for the lack of funds! Thanks Abby

Driving Me Crazy

2006-06-13T20:29:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was extremely busy. I went home to Sarnia, mostly for my sister's bridal shower marathon weekend, but secretly for my G license.
My test was yesterday afternoon after a practice session with my old driving instructor. I'd like to say it went well...
Just a bit of background...my sister just passed the test two weeks ago and took me on the exact route, pretending to be the examiner. Nathan took me out practicing to help me, especially with my parallel park. I even practiced alone all weekend long pretending that I was being tested, every time I drove...with all this practicing, you'd think I would be relaxed and ready for the test...
I am actually feeling pretty confident while I'm waiting for my test and I'm not sweating at all (for those of you who don't know me very well, I sweat when I get nervous|awkward|anxious, sorry if you didn't want to know)
I get in the car, the examiner gives his speech about the test and checks my brake lights etc. to make sure I'm ready to go...
We're not even out of the parking lot yet, he tells me to pull up to the road and that we're making a right hand turn. I answer, and get ready for an easy turn. Then, I proceed to drive right over the curb. WHAM. The wheels hit the road and he looks at me. I'm like, "I'm so sorry" Thinking he is going to tell me to put the car into reverse and to give him the keys...He then tells me that he starts marking at the first intersection. Whew. I keep going, but by now I'm sweating like (in Nathan's words) a mamma-jamma. Things end up going pretty smoothly after that, except for when we were on the highway and this truck was not too please that I was going the speed limit. I seriously thought he was going to ram into the back of my poor car to make me go faster. I looked into my review mirror, smiled at the angry truck driver and said outloud, "well truck, I'm not going any faster" and my driving examiner burst out laughing. These were just two of a few amusing incidents that happened during the course of my short driving test.
So after the initial horror of driving right over the parking lot curb, I ended up passing the test with a fairly high percentage. Thank goodness. It must have been the constant praying while I drove, "Lord, please don't let me drive over another curb, please help me to pass"

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2006-06-06T08:51:00.000-04:00

Today is my parent's 25th wedding anniversary.
Hooray...celebration!
I am so glad that after 25 years they still love each other, and even more than when they were married. They are such amazing people and wonderful role models for me in what marriage should look like, through the good and the not so good.
I'm thankful for who they are and the friends we're becoming as I grow up.
I love you Mom and Dad.

FOOD

2006-06-01T12:18:00.000-04:00

I'm on lunch and eating 99 cent noodles.
Right now I'm dreaming about lasagna.
I miss real food.

My new dress

2006-05-31T23:00:00.000-04:00

My mom just picked up my dress for my sister's wedding.
I'm super excited.

PS. The link shows the dress as green, but you change the colour to show black, that's the colour of my dress. And the accent colour is white, but you can't change the pink. I tried :(

Anyway, hope you like it!

Random thoughts

2006-05-31T09:28:00.000-04:00

On my way to work there was a goose crossing the road and I couldn't help but laugh.

I'm thinking about Jaci Robinson today.

I'm wearing dressy shoes today and they hurt my feet but I wore them anyway.

I miss living with a family. Normally in the summer, I'd be at home with mine.

I am not taking very good care of myself, so yesterday I went for a run. Jason would be proud.

I've been working full time for officially one month. I've got paid twice!

In two months, my sister will be married.

Tonight I work at the cafe and I'm looking forward to it.

I open so much mail that the thrill is gone for me when I get a letter at home.

I'm currently updating my life 'to do' list.

Right now I feel like eating chocolate covered strawberries.

I'm learning a tough lesson right now.

I have to go back to work...

Nerdface

2006-05-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have night class.
I'm taking this really easy Anthropology class.
1. Because I absolutely love anthropology
2. It's interesting (Indo-European mythology)
3. I'm guaranteed a great mark

Tonight we had our third test in class.
I've noticed a trend.
At the beginning of the semester, almost everyone goes to school.
Gradually people stop going to class.
We haven't had a test in about a week and a half. And so lately in my lectures there have been 25 people, if that.

Tonight there were almost 100 people taking the test.
After the test was over, I went for a walk to wait for the lecture.
Guess how many people stayed for the lecture? Like 10.
Yes, I was one of those ten.
How ridiculous am I?

I can't help it.
It's who I am.
I will sit in class even when no one else will.
I want to learn.
I am a nerd.
I've faced this realization today.

Distant Reverie

more joe stories.

Flu Season

Freakonomics

Nathan's Sleep-talking Rambles

for joe

Poor Miss South Carolina

whew

Q-Tips

Places I have Paid to Pee

Happy Birthday to my Dad in Amsterdam!

England--Ireland

Eurotrip

Red Map Goals

My Valedictorian Speech

one month

Artwalk

study break

I've decided....

New House, New Job

The Last Volvo

New house.

unreasonable?

fat camp?

Bird Flu

my global footprint

glow worm?

Two Happy, One Sad

Two months today

Jillian Drouin

Giving up meat

for lent...

brotherly love to the big apple

Thoughts from Philly

Philly

the what if

sarnia.

My sister: graphic designer extraordinaire

happy valentine's day

wedding crashers: the office style

another hero

stephen lewis

what would you teach your children?

Less than three months to go...

pbl

remember this painting?

An Inconvenient Truth, take 2...

Human Trafficking

sidebar

Life stress

Beautiful Dreamers

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

FENDER BENDER

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER

Chit-chat

N is for Nathan

First day at school

3 days

things are not fine...

Inspired

Holy Crap.

COUNTDOWN

Christmas Magic

It's going to be fine...

A day of thanks

déjà vu

VICTORY

p.r.o.c.r.a.s.t.i.n.a.t.i.o.n.

A FINE LINE

?

Upstairs and downstairs

What comes before Part B?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The Engagement Story

HOW COULD I NOT BLOG ABOUT THE FACT THAT....

Hiatus

one more day

I learned to lie and other fun things

I have a brother (in-law)

Money Money Money