Home is where the heart is.

Kamloops.

The best/worst day.

Something I never missed from when I worked at Tim Hortons, was the roller coaster ride of emotions that you would go through on a daily basis. It's the truth.
Somehow, during every single day there was a moment of pure happiness but making it's way all the way back to anger/tear/general frustration.

When I started the job at the hotel, that's the thing  I didn't miss missing the most.

But today changed that.
I don't know, there is something about being at the point of complete stress and then flipping back up to happy with dancing to Taylor Swift and eating chocolate covered fruit, that makes it that much more enjoyable. If I hadn't been to the bottom, of course I wouldn't be able to appreciate the top as much!

Today was the worst day. But it was also the best. And I wouldn't change it.

                      I went on two separate walks today, folks. It's a Christmas miracle!

My warning to you.

This is my warning to all the young people out there, who think that moving out is a great idea, and that it will be fun times and parties every day all day.

Maybe it's like that for some people, and I do have to admit that it can be pretty sweet being all off by ones lonesome. But the compromise ain't great.

I ate popcorn for dinner.
Does that sound like a balanced nutritional meal to you?

Making a meal these days is a luxury, most of the time it just comes frozen, or from a can in the pantry. I don't like to buy a lot of vegetables, because it makes me sad knowing most of them will go bad in my fridge before I get a chance to eat them.

Sure, sure, I could get organized and plan things, and spend an hour a day preparing food, with another hour of cleaning it up (fact: I don't own a dishwasher.)
But my 22 year old mentality does not see it as worth it yet. Give me a couple years.

Anyway. Just my little piece of advice for today.
Stop dreaming of moving out of your parent's basement, and go eat a nice big plate of your mother's spaghetti. And think of me and my bowl of popcorn while you do.

content.

First of all, I wanted to mention that this book, which has been the bane of my existence just thinking about it the last 10 months, has become a real problem now that I am actually pushing myself to finish it.
I can't say I'm right on track with where I should be. But the fact that I'm still keeping up with it at all slightly amazes me. I keep telling myself that I want to read all the classics and greats, but if they are all like this, then I'll be happy sticking to my chick lit, thank you very much.

Now on to contentment.
I have been enlightened today.
I have discovered that I am happy.

Now this might seem like a silly thing, or an obvious thing, but really, how much of the time do we as humans live in ideal circumstances, and yet find reasons and ways to have problems because it keeps us entertained. Maybe that doesn't sound right, but maybe there is some truth to it as well.

But today, in this moment, I am aware that I have a good job, a lovely place to live in, no financial troubles, no health afflictions. Life is good. And I think it is important to know and appreciate that when you can.

Pictured above is my new little plant, Steve. He was 1.50 at Rona, and he is filling me with delight.
I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because he is tiny, maybe because I always love cheap things, maybe because the nice lady gave me a free pot to go along with him. All I know is that a tiny plant named Steve is making me smile every time I look at it.
And if I can smile at that, my life must be pretty perfect.

Fallin'

Today was a blur.
I am sitting on my couch at the end of the day, trying to blink away the sleep long enough to post this, and then read 40 pages of Les Mis. I can't possibly make it!

So much went on today that I'm glad that I managed to snap two pictures when I had the chance this afternoon, or else I would have been looking for inspiration somewhere around my bedroom tonight. It wouldn't have been great. 

I am not in the head space for writing tonight, so I will just leave you with the colourful beauty of Fall until tomorrow.

Just breathe.

Day 3.
It's amazing how time can fly when you are running errands.
One moment, I was leaving the house, and it was 8:30 am. Next thing you know, it's 1:30pm and I wasn't even back yet.
But the feeling of getting some procrastinated things done made it all worth it.
At one point today, in the middle of my car-store-car-drive-store-car-drive etc workout, I was suddenly struck by how cool and fresh the air was. And how walking outside can be an instant pick up sometimes. I always appreciate being outside in the spring and fall more than the other seasons.

Today I was looking around for pictures to take, and I kept thinking of close up "macro" shots that might look good. Macro is my thing.
The thing that's great about it is, it focuses on the details, rather than the whole picture.

I have been ready for change for a little while now.
It occurred to me a couple months ago that I had been living in Kelowna for almost a year already, and I still didn't have many connections except for those through my job, and my boyfriend.
Going from living in a town that you have known all your life, to completely immersing yourself in a new place can be very difficult. I am to the point where I want to be able to know people and have plans and be a part of something. So I took a step out of my comfortable little shell, and I contacted someone from my Church about volunteering.

Now, we have been going to this church for 1 whole year. Do we know anybody? Well, we know the associate pastor that was very friendly and tried to set us up in a small group, but we turned that down, so our connections kind of fizzled out there.
And this is not something I'm used to.
I'm used to being the girl that knows everybody, even the people that don't know me. It is WEIRD being on the other side.

Anyway, getting back to the macro of it all.
The man I talked to about volunteering(coincedentally, it turned out to be the pastor we had shut down before), asked me what were my strong suits, and where my skills would be most applicable.
I said details.
I sure do not want to be the one speaking in front of a crowd, but I'll be the one behind the stage organizing the event. So we'll see what happens. I'll be glad to just have something to do.


P.s. Did you notice my watermark?
For those of you who are new to the photo community, the watermark is the little name I have in the bottom right hand of my pictures. It's something that photographers put on their pictures to keep peoplle from stealing the pictures without giving credit where it is due.
Just another thing that I had been procrastinating doing for a while. I couldn't figure out how to make one by myself, but this handy little tutorial on Pic Monkey really helped out.

Keep calm and have a cupcake.

Things I love Thursday: The weekend.*

This week was a little hectic at work. We were one person short in the back, which meant the girl at the front went to the back, which meant I was all by my lonesome to try and keep the home fire burning.

On top of that, I picked some sort of bug along the last couple weeks, or perhaps all of the not sleeping caught up to me, because I came down with something.

Put that all together with the regular every day stress of my job, it was nice when 5:00pm came around today. Just coming home and flopping down on the couch made me feel ten times better.

Oh, and the mint chocolate cupcake. That helped in the healing process.


*the rest of my TILT list.
2. getting mail two days in a row!
3. These colder days that make it all the more cozier to
snuggle in the blankets in the early hours of the morning.
4. Living so central in town that it never takes me long to get anywhere.
5. My little pal Jeffery. It's been a year now, and he's still alive and kicking...or whatever those beta fish do in their little bowls of homes
6. The new sensation that I am learning to enjoy. The art of relaxing. 

Sitting, and being. It feel so good.
7. Getting to take a new picture for my id tomorrow after living with a horror of a photo for the last 3 years.

31 days.

So many different topics, so many ideas.

Three different titles I came up with.

1. 31 days to bettering myself

2. 31 Days of pictures.

3. 2 days of pretending that I could blog 31 days in a row before I realize the inevitable truth.


Which one appeals the most to you?

A couple weeks ago I was thinking of my new year resolutions.
I know right?
Probably one of the few that think about those past January 15th.

And something that is bugging is that book that keeps taunting me. Les Mis.
I will to whatever I can to finish that book this year. But it's so hard with all it's references en francais and the general old language of the 1800's.

But I needed a plan. And the plan involved pacing myself. Because there is no way that is a book that you pick up and read in a day. There is strategy to it.

So originally I was planning on dividing into the days of November, and make it into a spoof of NaNoWriMo or NoBloPoMo. (it would be almost as difficult).
But that didn't really give me much time on the other side just in case I slacked off and needed to cram on the other sided. Yes, I don't consider a whole month of December to be enough cramming time.

Which is why it turned into the month of October. Then my creativity ran wild and decided I should add more complex rules to this month of accomplishment.
Taking pictures, reading more books, discovering new music, going outside of comfort zones, learning, all of the good stuff. Following through.

all of this shaping me into a beautiful person for my 22nd year.

I don't want to become stagnant and routine.

This will be a trial and error kind of thing.

31 days? No problem.

The summer update.

It's funny, really, how much I don't like writing.
I love blogging...in my head.
I can honestly say that I compose blog posts in my head at least twice a week, sometimes even once a day. But as you can see, they never make it to the page.

I always have every intention.

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This summer has been really great. I have to say that is has been the first summer that I really enjoyed fully, and made things happen to create a memory for all time.

Things that pop out in my head are

1. Wakeboarding for the first time. Actually the whole weekend that I was out at the cabin when I had my first wakeboarding experience was a delight.

2. Going to Kamloops for a very exciting adventure of staying in the hotel that I helped build, with some of the loveliest ladies I know.

3. Road tripping down to Bellingham, WA to have a reunion with almost all of the students from my bible school trip in Greece 2012.

4. And lastly, this past week, which was a mixture of enjoying the Shuswap with my family, and camping this long weekend with my boyfriend's family.

In just over a week, it will be the 1 year anniversary of moving to Kelowna. I mention it now, since with my track record, it will have come and gone by the next time I'm back on here.

My first reaction whenever people ask me how Kelowna life is, is always wishy washy. I haven't really made my mind up about it. The biggest challenge is not having friends and family to hang out with. The place in general is quite likeable, although I haven't explored it's full potential yet. I'm really enjoying the new place that I've been in for 3 months now.  My job is becoming easier and more enjoyable as the days pass. I no longer finish work one day, just to go home and stress out about having to go back the next day (it really happened, folks). For the years leading up to this move, I always dreamed about moving away from home just for the adventure of it, so I'm trying to keep on keeping on through this, because I don't want to be that person who always goes back to the normal and comfortable because everything always seemed too hard.

My goals for this fall are to find ways to better settle in, to find routine, and to branch out all at the same time.
Not that I can tell you what all of that means yet.
Maybe volunterering, maybe taking a class.
If you have suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

There, I'm going to stop myself here before I get burnt out and start typing fluff.
Maybe if I keep my posts simple and don't force them, they will come around with more frequency?

"This week on Fuller Ave."

On Sunday, I moved into my new home.
It's a really cute little place, and so far I haven't noticed anything that will be a problem.
Unless having a ton of neighbours that are friendly poses a problem. I haven't decided yet :).

I have never lived in such close quarters with people. Sure, we all have our different spaces and houses. But I walk out the door, I see people. I open a window, I hear people. It's a different experience for me.
Growing up, I lived on a farm, and even moving "into town", we had a large piece of land with a neighbourly sense of community not being high on the list.

So, I going to try and revive this poor little blog.
And renaming it is the first step. Hopefully I will have something at least once a week to share with you.
Maybe something going on at home, on the street, at the place of work, or everything and anything between there.

Like the silly little story that happened at the library today.

The several times I have been to this library, the fiction section has always been up the stairs, to the right, past the computers.
So that's where I went today. I don't try and kid myself. I read books for one reason. To entertain the shallowest parts of my mind. I pick them up and devour them. It has to be light and happy to catch my attention. That's probably why Les Mis is still hiding in the darkest part of my closet right now.

I walk up the stairs, walk to the right, past the computer lab, and there is no fiction. There is a row or two of books on tape, and some magazines, but nothing more except rows and rows of empty bookcases.
I was perplexed. Are libraries going out of business? This would be a tragedy for me.

But I couldn't admit that I had mistakenly walked to the wrong area, so I pretended to be interested in those books on tape for a while, before wandering over and pretending to be interested the magazines.
Once satisfied that nobody would think I was a silly confused girl, I walked past the stairs to the left side of the floor, thinking that maybe they did a major turn around, and the fiction was now where the non fiction used to be.

Or maybe not...

The non fiction was still non fiction.
But you know me, I had to fake my way through that discovery for about ten minutes.
There are a lot of boring books in that NF side. And yet, there are also some fun books on that side too.
Who knew?
I grabbed one. Something about learning how to declutter your house.
And they have cookbooks over there!
This was a great realization for me.
I think I might just have to visit that scary non fiction side more often.

But, don't worry, I found my non fiction section a little bit later.
It wasn't even up the stairs.
They really threw me for a loop.

Hello, old friend.

You would think that I had forgotten about this blog, since it has been acquired so much dust these past few months.
But that is not the case, I actually do see it every day, at least once a day, when I check to see if there are any new blog posts from people on my side bar list.
How can I be so demanding of other people to have prompt and entertaining things for me to read, when I let my readers go hungry?

Selfish.

But I'll tell you what it is like.
It's like that friend that sends you a message.
And you read it right away.
But...for some reason you don't reply right away.
And the next day comes, and you don't reply then either.
Then it gets forgotten.
Until two months later you remember about it, and it's too late, there is no coming back.
It would just be awkward at this point.

Maybe you have never had an experience like that.
But I'm a terrible communicator, so it happens to me all the time.

Can I tell you about my life?
It has been a mini whirlwind since we last talked.

I 'graduated' from college.
That whole thing was a neat experience. I had never gone to school before, but it was easy to slip into.
Only two classes a week, and barely any studying. I got to know a couple girls really well, and it just felt good to finally have some learning and skills under my belt.

Unfortunately, finding a job after that was next to impossible.
It's one of those annoying chicken/egg scenarios where everyone wants to hire someone with experience, but you can't actually get the experience unless someone hires you.

But I'll be honest, I wasn't trying that hard.
I wasn't in the frame of mind to dress up nice, and go hand my resume's in, and call back a week later.
For the most part I think my mindset was that it would be a lot easier than that. But it wasn't. Well, not at the time at least.

I came home to Kamloops one week for a visit, and I stopped by my old job at the construction site. It must have made me nostalgic, because I started getting all sorts of crazy ideas. Like "why I am I still living in Kelowna, making minimum wage at Sears, struggling to pay rent, when I could be working here, living at home?"
Sometimes I take an idea and run with it.
And that is exactly what I did.
Because it was only about 3 week later that I did just that.
I packed up all my stuff and moved home. And it was good.

It has been a lovely working vacation of working at my old job, living at home, hanging out with friends, meeting my beautiful new niece. But I shouldn't have let myself get so comfortable.

Something crazy kind of happened next.
I got a job offer. In Kelowna.
It plopped into my lap (pretty much).

It was an impossible situation of really not wanting to move away from Kamloops again so soon, but knowing that an amazing opportunity like this wouldn't come around so easily a second time.
So I took it.
And 2 months a 3 days after moving back to Kamloops, I was starting my first day at my new job in Kelowna.
Which pretty much brings us up to real time.
In 3 days I will be moving into my new place.
And I will be settling down.

Because that is the scariest part of all.
Permanency.

I have been a wandering ship for quite some time now.
The idea that I went to school for this and it is my supposed "career", to be carried out for the rest of my days, is a scary realization.
And that is the thing I have the hardest time dealing with so far.
That, and the fact that I have to go back to making my own food. Which means it will be the taquito diet again. Good luck, stomach.

There is a little snippet into my life and mind.
Once I get my camera up and running(a story for another time), I hope to update this page a little better, and give you some nice things to look at.

Bye for now.

This just in.

I am here to tell you that...
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Do you ever float through your days and weeks with nothing really going on, and then all of the sudden *BAM* ten things happen at once. And they are all good things, but you feel unprepared and rushed, and as if you can't enjoy them to their full potential.

This weekend is one of those.

Not only did I have Valentines day, but I had a Birthday party to plan for and host the next day, but I also had a final exam to study and prepare for, plus the actual birthday of my lovely man friend.

The fact that I have made it here, this being the eve of exam day, surprises me. Everything so far has gone off splendidly, and I'm halfway through.
Do I feel very unprepared for my exam? Of course. But I am assured in the knowledge that even if I almost totally tank this test, I will still pass the course. But that doesn't mean I'm not going stop studying for it.

After weeks of nothing going on but several short work shifts in a week, my brain is in an overload. But it's okay, because in a few short days I get to go home! And I couldn't be more excited. I think this is the most excited I've been for a visit home as of yet. The uncertainty of what is next in my life makes me want to curl up on the couch at my parents where Hannah has no responsibilities at all. It's a lovely feeling.

I know I usually save my LOVE lists for Thursdays, but its been awhile, and I have an abundance of things that I'm loving at the moment

1. Old movies.
2.Weddings.
3.Accomplishing that task that has been on the to do list for weeks.
4. Being warm, relaxed, and comfortable.
5. Learning french with friends.
6. Nice old ladies.
7. The food channel.
8. The happiness that has been this weekend.
9. The fact that I will be an auntie in March! (A fact that I don't think about enough).
10.The nice lady at work who took my shift so Matt and I can go to a dinner theatre on Thursday.
11. Being done school tomorrow! Its been a lot of fun. But it will be nice to have my Monday and Wednesday evenings back.

Wish me luck!

The Art of Napping.

I'm a big fan of sleep, which mean that I'm an equally big fan of the nap.

Lazy days.

So, my hours at work got cut drastically back at the beginning of January.
Drastically not being an over exaggeration at all.

10 hours a week?
Sure, that will pay the rent.

But, I tried not to think about it. Assuring myself it would pick up, and that I could use all that free time to do so much!

Hah.

That's how the first two days went.
They were great. I did so much, that I ran out of things.
No joke, the list turned into weird unnecessary things like "iron pillowcases". Who does that?
And so at the end of that second day, there was the switch.
The switch from doing everything possible, to....nothing at all.
And that's pretty much where it has stayed since then.

But here's the funny part.

Back when I wrote my resolutions at the beginning of the year, I promised myself that I would not start another tv show series on Netflix, until I finished that pile of books that was number 3 on the list.

So, I couldn't be lazy and waste the time away procrastinating studying by speeding through a netflix series, so what could I do?

That's where my sneaky mind that likes to find loopholes came in.
I couldn't watch TV SHOWS on Netflix, but I never said I couldn't watch MOVIES on Netflix.

I watched a lot of movies. Like. A lot.

That is why I am now declaring that movies have been added to the no-no list as well.
Which probably means that list of books will be done in the next week. We'll see. I'm sure my loophole mind will come up with something else before too long....

2014 has a certain ring.

I can already feel that this year will be great.
Since last year was also great, I will have to think up some amazing things that will be able to surpass 2013.
I've already got some ideas.

But let's review.

1. Read the unabridged version of Les Miserables.
2. Find somebody that I can kiss at the stroke of 12 next new years.
3. Have a 1 month goal for every month.
4. Achieve something that will make the whole year seem worthwhile



It's a little sad that #1 is only only thing that didn't get accomplished this year. And, I can't even say I got close. Unless you consider buying the book to be an acheivment, because that's pretty much as far as I got.
And I admit, I gave myself plenty of time. I bought the book mid November, which should have been quite enough. And I carried that thing in my purse for WEEKS!(no small feat, that book is 1200 pages!)
Alas, every time I set my gaze on it, my heart was hardened, and I went off to do something else instead.
So, that goal has been carried over into this year.

#2. As I mentioned in my previous post, I met a wonderful boy, who was able to help me complete my second resolution.

#3. This one started off great, kinda petered off in March, but I adapted it to work.
Last year( as in 2012) I had gotten to a state where I was constantly drinking coca cola. Realizing how bad this was for my body, I used it in my first goal of #3 to not drink it for a month. Well, I'm happy to say that a month turned into two, then three, and now I can say I haven't had any to drink since last January.
I have not sworn off of it for the rest of my life, but I definitely will be limiting myself, now that the year commitment is over.

And last but not least, #4.
I really feel as if there is a lot to remember 2013 by.
The two biggest that stick out in my mind would be traveling to Australia, especially since it was a solo voyage. And finally starting my post secondary education.
They both will have a lasting impact on my life.

Now on to 2014.

Four was a nice manageable number for last year, so we'll do that again.

1. Travel to my bucket list destination: ENGLAND! the reality of me being able to spend 6 months there is kind of gone, but at least two weeks would be nice.

2. Finish Les Mis (for real this time!!)

3. Along those lines, finish the pile of books/dvds that has accumulated on my desk, quite possibly some of those will be worthy of blog posts.

4. And finally, for that one that everybody always makes, that can't really be proven or finished for sure, but it is a good life goal.
This year will be a year of promptness.. Mostly in the way of correspondence. If somebody messages, emails, text me, I want to reply as quickly as possible, and not have ridiculous reasons for why I let something sit in my inbox for two months when all it needed was a simple reply. )
Also, one that we have semi made as a couple: become Pinterest junkies. But that is certainly for another post.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Boyfriends are fun.

The Christmas card 'bloopers'.

I thought it might be time to announce my relationship status to my blogging world.

Hey, Everybody. Meet Matt.

Matt is a funny little story that I cannot tell you now, since I am saving that epic tale for our wedding( but don't get any ideas, we are NOT engaged at the moment.)...but it's safe to say the words DATING SITE came into play.

After several years of being single, and going for dinner and movies alone, it's been an adjustment to always have company. But it's a nice adjustment.

He is a smart, handsome man who is a perfect mixture of sarcastic and sweet. And he seems to like me, even though I am a very spoiled girl. So, match made in heaven? You'll just have to hang out with the two of us and find out for yourself.

The last thing I have to say is this. When you find a man who will put up with your least attractive quality, you should hold onto him forever and ever.
There are three that are tied for first in my world. Least Attractive Qualities, I mean, not men. HAHA
1. Listening to terrible music.
2. Taking wayyyy too many selfies.
3. Being incredible needy.
And lucky enough for me, my man puts up with it all.

And there you have it. The reason my blogging has been cut by 50%.
No time to blog when I'm out adventuring with my partner in crime.

Mother Appreciation Day.

Honest to goodness I starting planning a blog post in my head on the way home from work.

Mostly a rant about the troubles of working with a bunch of women.(remind me again why I quit my construction job?)
Drama, and gossip, and silent treatments and tears. Its almost too much to bear.

So that was what I was going to write about. 
And as I walked up to my door, with the five minutes I had to change, and walk back out to go to my next event, I saw the package.

As I have mentioned before, a package is a wonderful thing. But an unexpected package? That is ten times better.
Wonderful presents from the mother.
What a way to make my day so much better.
Thanks, mom!

Boot toppers!

Not actually the whole tree. But the nice little Linus blanket that is wrapped around the base.
Even has 'Linus' stitched into the corner.

The how-to guide to...

Donating blood for the first time and having it go wrong.

DO try and relax and remain calm.
DO appreciate all of the people that are trying to make you feel better.
DON'T let this be the deciding factor in never trying to donate blood again.
DO cancel any plans that you had for that evening.
DO stop and get your favourite comfort food on the way home.
DO change into your pyjamas as soon as possible. And not the every day zebra print one's. This definitely calls for the special, fuzzy zebra print one's.
DON'T freak out and panic when you rummage through your purse for 5 minutes and can't find the bandaid
that they gave you. Chances are, you will see it as soon as you actually stand up and survey the area.
DO silently swear under your breath because your arm still hurts so much an hour and a half after the appointment.
DON'T worry about plates, or cutlery, or normal manners. You grab that take-out box and head straight for bed.
DO take a moment to cry it all out when you have finally settled in bed. Crying is a great release of all your emotions.
And last but not least, DO spend the rest of your evening having a relaxing time of reading, and watching light comedies in bed. Oh, and blogging about your experience of course.


Now, folks. Before you become too alarmed, maybe I should explain the situation better.

"Having it go wrong" MAY not be the best term for it. But, since it didn't go "right", I had no other choice.

Today I went to donate blood for the first time.
Why did I do it?
I. have. no. clue.

Not only does the sight of blood make me VERY queasy, but I am deathly afraid of needles.
BUT it's the right thing to do. And I had this strange conviction to do it.

I went through all the steps and process, and everything was going great.
And then they put me in the chair, and I started getting nervous, but thats perfectly normal.

I won't go into the gory details, since thats not when it happened.

But after sitting there for a couple minutes, maybe 5-7, I started getting lightheaded, and not feeling so good. But I didn't want to quit! Or seem like a baby. So I didn't say anything. I just turned my head to the side, and maybe closed my eyes? I don't really remember any details. The next thing I know, there are people all around me, stopping the machine, putting cold cloths on my arms, and neck, and head, and chest. And I felt sick, and chills, and fever, and dizzy and all those other random fun symptoms.

So because of that I got the special treatment, and my two(!) juiceboxes and my cookies were delivered to me in my chair.

The good news is they still use the blood, even if it's not a full portion. So it wasn't all in vain.

All in all, it was a bit of a terrifying experience, but I will go back again.
Turns out I probably just hadn't had enough to eat in the last two hours.

Don't let this story convince you not to go. Let this story make you feel better when your trip to the donor clinic is so much easier.

Welcome "Home".

Hey everybody.
It's time to give you a little life update.

So many things have happened in the last week and a half, it's hard to believe.

Thursday, September 5th, I went out with coworkers in a last hurrah type dinner.
Friday, September 6th, I worked my last day at the construction site, and went to a blazers game with one of my closest friends.
And then Saturday, September 7th, I packed all my stuff into my car and drove two hours to Kelowna, to start my new life.

Although when I say that I packed everything into my car on Saturday, that isn't really true. If you remember, I had been living with my brothers in a different house this summer, and I moved out of there on Thursday. So rather than do all the work of taking it out once I "moved home" for two days, I just lived with a car packed to overflowing for the remainder of my time in Kamloops. It was a fun two days. Think of how annoying living out of a suitcase is, and triple that feeling.

So, I arrived at my little basement suite, and started unpacking. That got boring after just a couple hours.
Now you would think(and I would think) that I wouldn't even have had that much stuff to be unpacked. And that guess it fairly true. But I'm not a focused unpacker. And what could have taken somebody experience only a couple hours, took me half a week.

I waited to take pictures until everything was unpacked, which is why this post is somewhat late. Takes me half a week to do the unpacking, then another week to get the energy to actually take the pictures, and blog about it.

The kitchen. Looking homey with things all over the fridge already.

The living room. A sweet looking fireplace. Not sure if it works or not though :).

A pretty normal looking bathroom. But tons of storage in the closet, which I found out was necessary.

A nice, big bedroom.

Bedroom view #2.

So as you can see, there is quite a lot of furniture and things already in the place. The only thing I had to bring was a bed, which made the whole thing a lot easier. No need to be living out of boxes still, or sitting on cushions on the floor.

All in all, the overall move and living has been quite successful.

School!
Yay for school.
I have been having the time of my life.
It's so fun.
Not so much yesterday, because I just come back from a visit home(to Kamloops), and I was feeling a little sad. But getting a quiz back with this...



Helped to make my mood a little better.

Anyway.
In some ways it is a lot easier than I had imagined, and in other ways it's harder. Example, there is about 162 terms to memorize, and then 179 more terms that are specific to Dentistry.
Flash cards here I come.

My teacher is really fun. And she makes everything easy, and goes to great lengths to prepare us for the quizzes. And brings us snacks, and fun little things.

The Job!
Leading up to the move, I told myself to not worry about looking for a job yet. I'd let myself have a week of relaxation and vacation, and then start the search.
Ha. Ha. Silly joke.
I forgot that without a job I become anxious, nervous, stressed, paranoid, etc.
Which is why on Saturday, the day I moved in, I was already dropping off resumes.
And what a pain that is.
Job searching, just not the funnest thing around.

My last job was such a breeze to get into, it really didn't prepare me for the years ahead of me.

But.

Then something happened. A silly little story happened.
I had seen online that Sears was having a job fair. Not my first my pick of a job. But when I got down to thinking about it, I really didn't have a first pick of job.
So I show up on that Saturday(exactly one week after I moved. To the hour, if you want to get specific.),
and ask about the job fair.
It had been canceled, they tell me, but go ahead and fill out an application form anyway.
Alright.
Oh, but then the manager comes back out and say that once I've filled it out, why don't I come back to her office, and we will do a mini interview right now.
The rest is history, folks.
She hired me right then and there, and I am now employed in the ladieswear department of Sears.

It felt SO GOOD to know that I had a job. And all my stress was just wiped away.

I start my first shift tomorrow(Friday). Without any training, it will be train as I go on the job, so we'll see how that works.

But there you go. That is my new life in a nutshell.
I hoping that I can keep up with the blog, to be able to give you some fun updates and stories about my time here in Kelowna.