WOW! Time flies!!! I can't believe it has been a year already! I can't believe I am still here!! To all those who thought I would leave before Diane...you were WRONG!!!!  

I still really like it here...what I don't like are the bugs!!! I don't think I really noticed them as much last summer. Plus we have an infestation of moths thanks to the infestation of catepillars from a few weeks back. The streets looked like they were moving from the catepillars...now it looks like blotches of beige paint on the sides of buildings from the moths...ugly buggers they are!!

Still have a few great friends up here...thats all I really need. Lost one last week to cervical cancer. (Love you Erica!! RIP!)  Tried doing the dating thing...didn't work!! Those of you who know me...well you know me and dating...lol. I guess I just don't have the time...and it really isn't high on my priority list. I am too busy getting my life in order and getting to the point where I am happy with my career (Yes CAREER not JOB!) Relationships can wait. (tick tick tick goes my little clock inside my head!!) lol.

I was working in a preschool from January-June and will be back in there in september. I love it! I love working with that age group! I am still working at the hotel front desk, and i will be starting my second year of school in september as well....busy busy busy.

We got a couple more great concerts up here...surprising for such a crappy little town! I saw The tragically hip last week. Next week I am going to the Rock Island Festival where Great Big Sea, Paul Brandt, prarie oyster, jeremy fisher, craig moritz and a few others I haven't heard of are playing. Should be loads of fun!!

hmmm what else to write about....

One of my dreams was to see more of Canada....working in Victoria I never had the chance or $$ to make that happen. In the last year I have not ony see parts of Alberta...but I have been to Winnipeg and Regina also....hopefully in the next year I will get to see more!

Wel..I think that is it for now...I'll write more in a couple months...maybe by then I will have fallen madly in love..haha ya right!!

Well it has been almost 9 months....6 months of that has been winter...and still got maybe another month left to go. I am very sick of the snow...but I would rather this weather than Victoria weather....I will take sun and snow to dark, cloudy and rain anyday. I went to Winnipeg for my reading week to visit Sherri. She is a very good friend of mine I have know for 13 years. The trip was awsome! I needed a week like that! We went to art galleries, movies, a conservatory, saw where my grandma grew up, visited lots of historical buildings, and drank lots of tea. It was a pretty relaxing week but probably the best time I have had in a long time!  

 

St paddy's day wasn't so relaxing...haha. Went out with my friend and classmate melissa...and ended up coming home at 7am. Been a while since I did that! I think I am getting too old...lol...the recovery time seems so much longer than it used to. It was still a very fun night tho! Met some really fun and interesting people.

 

If ya wanna check out pics there is an album.

Love ya all!!

xxoo

Well...I can't believe how fast time has gone! It has been 8 months already! I am still loving school and still have some great friends here. I had a bit of a depressing birthday, missed my family and friends back home alot!

If you look at my photo album of class field trips, preschool and friends you will see alot of recent photographs. I always say my program is like an adult kindergarten. We play with clay and drums, build things with recycled material, paint and go on field trips! We just went to the Oil Sands Discovery Centre where you can learn about how they extract and separate the oil from the oil sands. It was really neat...they have a big Heavy Hauler Truck that you can sit in with a simulator that makes you feel like you are driving it, a kids area that is fun and interesting for adults as well, and many different displays of the different stages of the whole process. The trucks are HUGE as you can see by the tire I am standing beside. That is an older version of the truck, I have been told the new ones are even bigger! I have seen pictures of pickup trucks beside these trucks and they look only go about half way up the tire!

There are also pics of some of the projects I have had to do. They are all Play provisions for the children where I have to introduce something new into the preschool. There are pictures of the water table that I turned into a fish aquarium (with plastic fish) this lasted 3 weeks and was very popular with the children, I also introduced corn syrup painting- very sticky but also popular with the kids. Now I am doing a science provision also in the water table with bubbles and straws, ping pong balls and a few other objects. It is really alot of fun seeing the reaction the children have to these new activities! And I am learning alot...like corn syrup painting is REALLY messy...lol.

My roomates and I did a gift exchange at christmas..I got a nice bath kit and an oil burner. 

I am going to Winnipeg at the end of this month to see my good friend Sherri! I really can't wait...it has been a couple years since I last saw her...and I get to see another small part of this country I live in.

Well that is enough for now...more to come later :-)

well..besides freezing my ass off I am still loving it here. A little stressed out with school right now because I have 3 huge assignments due this coming week and a mid term...but I will manage. So far I am so impressed and proud of myself with my marks! I have got a few Cs and C+s but mostly Bs and As...and 98.5% on one of my mid terms!! I can't believe it! After 10 years of not going to school and being scared shitless that I would waste my parents and my money by failing! Guess motivation and no sleep really does pay off...now I just need to decide if this is really what I want to do...or if I want to continue and get a higher degree. I like what I am doing...but I don't LOVE it.

My friend Kelly just had a baby boy yesturday, he is so cute! I can't wait to finish this week and go spend moretime with him!

Living in rez is ok...Rez is a big purple building called the purple palace...it is made up of a bunch of 6 bedroom apartments which have a huge kitchen/living/dining room, a big storage closet, and 3 bathrooms: 1 has a toilet and sink, 2 has a shower and sink, 3 has a bath, shower, sink & toilet. It really isn't too bad here. My roomates are really nice girls. 

I can't believe what a small world it is I actually graduated from high school (in Victoria) with one of my roomates, and one of the ladies in my classes used to babysit my old roomate Janel when she was two and living in Mackenzie BC! crazy eh!

well I gotta go get some sleep.

I miss every one!

See you all soon I hope!

Andrea xoxoxo

 

well it has been almost 3 months...for those of you who thought I would be back YOU WERE WRONG!!!!! I am loving it here!! I am going to school to be an educational assistant. 7 courses, a practicum and working full time...I am getting pretty worn out but learning lots! I am doing my practicum in a pre school on monday and wednesday...the kids are so cute!! and some of them attached themselves to me the very first day! my classes are good too...lots of reading and almost $1000 in books! and thats just for the first 4 months! some of my classes feel like I am back in a sort of adult kindergarten...lol..we sing songs and do some art work and have stories read to us...its all teaching us how to play and take care of kids tho I guess...lots of fun too!

well..I gotta go read more :-S I will add more soon!!

For those of you in Victoria...and on the Island... I will be home for christmas!

So I have been here in fort mcmurray for almost a month now...and I am still here to many peoples amazement. I will admit I am VERY home sick and miss everyone...and my cat... alot but I am starting to make some friends so I'm sure things will start getting better. Jobs aren't as easy to find and don't pay as much as everyone told me...but I still found a job working at the front dest of a pretty nice hotel making $14.50/hr. I am really enjoying the job so far. For alittle town fort mac sure has alot of concerts! I saw Dr. hook in the casino and I just went to an outdoor weekend concert where Sam Roberts, the trews, stabilo, the novaks...and a bunch of other bands I had never heard of played...it rained for most of it but was still alot of fun. I have an appointement to see a career councellor at the college here...gonna try and get into a educational assistant program for september...if I do I am gonna stay for the winter...if I dont...who knows....

 

for those of you in victoria I will be home for the night of aug 11 so if ya wanna come party let me know!!!

 

love you all!! Marf! whhooooaaaahhhh!!! Bullet!!! Chickenhead!!!! xoxoxoxox

Andrea

Well...its not quite across canada...but I am finally going to get out of Victoria.  Don't get me wrong...I love this city...but I need to try somewhere else for alittle while. sooooo.....I am moving to fort macmurry....which I have heard alot of good...and bad things about. I am taking a 2 month leave from work and going there with a friend of mine...we got a cheap place to stay..about $500/mth ( rent is normally $1800 for a 2 br) and I have been online looking at jobs...I can make anywhere from $13/hr working at mcdonalds to $25-30 driving trucks or working in some camps...anyway I'm gonna try it out for a couple months if it works out I might stay or maybe move to edmonton or calgary...if not I'll be back. I am planning on leaving june 28th...wish me luck!! lol