When I Was Your Age...

What is it with old people jumping to the assumption that people they've just met are interested in their entire medical history? I'm sympathetic to the fact that many seniors endure a lot of pain in simple daily tasks, but honestly, HONESTLY... and I mean this in the nicest way possible... I do not need or want to know about your hernia operation, poor eyesight, chronic back pain, or high blood pressure. Working in this office we have a fair amount of aging clients come in on a daily basis, usually complaining about their insurance rates. I've heard vivid, often disturbing stories from old men and women about strokes, diabetes, heart problems, numerous hospital visits and how they are going to die soon. Now how am I supposed to respond to that? "Oh, man that sucks!" Call me incompassionate, but I just don't think it's necessary to enlighten me on your life on constant suffering. Tell me I'm young, tell me that I'll live a great life and die happy. I wish for all seniors that old age didn't involve pain and suffering, but I can't change that, and it makes for awkward, uncomfortable conversation. Stop making me depressed already!

Smile.

Sometimes you just can't help but to smile.

I've got everything a girl could wish for.

Photo credit - My super talented boyfriend, Ryan!

Camping Trip # 3!

Another long weekend has come and gone. August has arrived and the end of summer is approaching much faster than I'm willing to accept. That said, I'd rank 2009 pretty high in my list of "Best Summers Ever" and we still have a month left.

This weekend was another epic 3 days. On Saturday morning Ryan and I packed up the Neon and set out on a camping adventure. We took a slight detour, stopping at a camera store in Calgary. Having just purchased a new camera body, Ryan was in search of a perfect lens. He tested out several of them, convincing me to pose for photos despite my obvious disinterest. Oh, the life of a photographer's girlfriend. We spent 2 hours in that store before I finally persuaded him to spend only $1000 as opposed to the $3000 that he was ready to charge to his credit card. I do love cameras, and I having a growing interest in photography, but 2 hours was a bit excessive. I was hungry. He reluctantly left the store and it was onwards to Peter's Drive In, where we dined on amazing burgers and a chocolate-strawberry milkshake. Finally, we started heading west towards the Rocky Mountains.

I was born and raised here in Alberta, only a short drive from the mountains. Despite this fact, it never fails to amaze me when I first catch a glimpse of the giant rocky peaks. We drove down the beautiful winding roads, stopping around what seemed to be every corner to get out of the car and take photos. We were so preoccupied with our cameras that we forgot to stop for gas in Canmore, and were faced with a nearly empty tank and 70 km to our destination. Luckily we were able to find a small gas station in the middle of nowhere, with an old fashioned gas pump and ridiculously overpriced fuel. It was expensive, but it beats being stuck on the side of the Trans Canada highway on a long weekend. It was 10 pm when we finally made it to the campsite. We set up our tent, ate some dinner, and snuggled up inside warm sleeping bags.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and cooked bacon and eggs over the fire.... a change from my regular marhmallows and hot dogs. Perhaps I should go camping with Ryan more often! Sunday also marked the day that we'd been dating for 2 months. 2 entire months, and we still like eachother?! This for me is a huge accomplishment. We were kissy and cuddly and all sorts of romantic couple on a romantic mountain getaway sort of stuff. I'm so used to being single that displays of affection normally make me roll my eyes or mutter sarcastic comments... but I'm finding that even commitment-o-phobics such as myself can have trouble resisting romance once in awhile. This boy sure has a strange effect on me. We ventured to the Columbia Icefields where I was mesmorized at the sight of a huge glacier on a hot summer day. The one issue that I have with camping is the lack of showering. I'm okay with not wearing makeup, but being in the dirty, dusty mountains and not being to rinse off is a bit hard for me to deal with. My hair was greasy, my clothes were dirty, and I was wearing no makeup... but that didn't stop Ryan from taking far too many close up photos of me. Oh well, it just goes to show that he still likes me even when I'm at my worst.

That evening we stood under the moonlight as he taught me a bit about long exposure and night time photography. I was fascinated and want to try more. For one particular shot, he had me hold down his shutter button as he walked far away, lantern in hand. There I was, all alone in the pitch black as he walked away with the only source of light. I started convincing myself that I could hear a bear in the trees behind me, and stood in fear until he finally returned. The photo turned out great, but that was the last of that. I headed back to the tent, out of sight from the bears that I was sure were out to get me.

When we woke up, Monday had arrived and it was time to pack up and head back home. More photos, more food, and we finally hit the road. It was such a perfect weekend, and I'm such a happy camper (get it, camper? Okay... not funny) these days.

Remembering

2 years ago, the world lost an incredible woman.

We love you and miss you every day Jacquie!

Rest in peace.

Be Back Soon!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Life's good. Weather is beautiful. Like my boyfriend a whole bunch. Found a place to live.

I'm happy. That's all.

Super busy. New blogs soon.

1000

1,000 page views?

Wow, who would have thought that what I had to say was interesting enough to be read by so many people?!

Thank you all, for your visits and comments.

I love you all, forever.

To show my gratitude, here is a photo that I took of a chipmunk. I'm not sure of the relevance, but when do I ever make sense?

Rambling on About Relationships

Ahh, dating. So exciting, so confusing, so cliche.

There is really no topic, organization, or point to this blog, just me writing exactly what is on my mind, as usual. If my boyfriend actually read this, I probably wouldn't write it all due to the fear of scaring him away with my thoughts... I'm starting to think that I have issues... let me know if you agree.

Every girl is a hypocrite when it comes to relationships. Well, at least that's the case in my circle of friends. While single, we protest about our friends in relationships who often cancel plans with us because they need to spend time with their new boyfriend. Eventually they reach the "serious couple" status, and our inseparable days of just the girls are a distant memory.

One by one, we all go down the same route, forgetting that only months earlier we'd vowed never to put a guy before our friends. When we break up, we regain a sense of "girl power" until the next guy comes along and steals our attention.

I feel the need to point out that as of right now, I am an exception to this. Yes, my head is clouded with thoughts of my super great boyfriend.... he really is awesome. Geez I'm lucky. I've got a bad case of new relationship giddiness and I'd love to see him every single day. However, as it's summer and we both are the type who strive to seize every moment of every day, we've been so busy with plans made weeks ago that we've yet to spend a weekend together. That's not a bad thing if you ask me. Sure, all weekend long I miss him and wish that our social lives could intersect, but it gives me something to look forward too during the normally dreaded work week.

Just to give you an idea of how weird it is for me to even say the word "boyfriend"... I should tell you that before I started dating Ryan a mere month ago, I had been single for a whooping 3 years. 3 years, 3 months to be exact. My previous relationship was a poorly thought out mistake... 2 people with nothing in common so desperate to get out of the single life that we decided to give dating a try. Needless to say, that went absolutely nowhere, and we mutually parted a short time later.

I'm so independent that being in a relationship at all is a huge step for me. I love the freedom of being able to spontaneously go on a vacation, or roadtrip... disappear without having to tell anybody. I still can, because I'm fortunate enough to be dating somebody who does the exact same. The only thing is, despite swearing I'd never, ever be one of those girls... I'm turning into one of them. By "those girls"... I mean basically any girl in a relationship. I like him, a lot. I want to spend all of my time with him, and I want to be spontaneous... but with him. It's ridiculously unlike me, and I've been trying to knock some sense into myself but I've slowly come to the realization that I'm stuck on this guy. Maybe it's a good thing to let somebody in for once, but it scares me. I'm witnessing myself change so much and I can't even stop it from happening. How does he do it?? I'm no longer in control of my own feelings... stupid jerk, who gave you power over my emotions? Okay, I'm sorry, I don't think you are a jerk... YOU SEE?! Such behaviour would formerly make me gag. Next thing you know I'll be calling him ridiculous pet names like "Pooky Bear" and "Buttercup". Oh please, don't let me ever use pet names.

When it all comes down to it... the fear of the unknown future, the change in myself, letting somebody in, and falling into the stereotypes.... it's all worth it. I like him, he likes me, and it's a great feeling. No turning back now.

Oh, on a random note, he also hates how I center ever single blog, email, and note. I can't help it.