chillin on the reserve...

Just so all of you who aren't on Facebook know... I am still alive... hanging out on the Ojibway reserve for the past few days... and a few more days still to come... its soo nice to be back with my old roomie - Jillybean... feels familiar... although I definitely can't say that I had it rough at AJ's... her family was so great to take me in after the Dominican!

So that is my life right now... smiles... takin er easy and definitely getting excited for my trip to Greece... and yes looking forward to sharing all the pictures and memories with all of you - if I ever get enough time to update this thing then we'll be golden...

Love ya's all - squishes

Home sorta...

so much for keeping up with the blogging! ha ha ah... I have to agree with you Tams... vacation is no time for blogging! There wasn't a moment where I could break away... here, there, everywhere... and not a lot of sleep!

So I sat around the first day... didn't get too much sun - just enough! AJ on the other hand... burnt to a crisp on day one! (there are pictures that will NOT do justice of her burns...) Also on the first night we made it out to the show - wonderful dancing and fire breathing... and we met people (little did we know these people would be our week long friends)

I then got my hair braided the next day... count with me for just a moment - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and yes one more... nine hours!!! I had the extensions put in and the lady was super slow... I would have been totally bummed to have spent a whole day doing it but AJ needed a break from the sun and I was able to sit and enjoy the scenery... how incredible the scenery is...

The next day we went on a Jeep Safari... it was incredible! We went all over a local town - we visited a local one room school house....

and then to a typical dominican countryside house where we were able to walk through and see what their home was like... there were tons and tons of kids... some little boys had some turtles - I got to hold one!

After this stop we were off to a cacao plantation... where we got to tour around and even try the cacao before it has begun the drying process... its really quite interesting (thats me reaching for a cacao been from the pod...

A lunch break where we had pina coladas made right in the pineapple... they were soooo good!

Next we went to different beach for a dip in the ocean before heading to the blue lake...

our last stop on the Jeep safari was at a waterfall where some locals jumped off and scurried back up the sides like spiders...

There are way too many pictures to be posting... smiles... that was only the first excursion... more pictures to come... and of course more stories!!!

Hola!

Words cannot describe the beauty of this picture! I am sitting here now sipping a pina colada... have already had numerous dips into the gorgeous atlantic... hours basking in the sun... and been given a gift by one of the locals! (a beautiful blue bracelet...)
AJ and I arrived late last night to find that her sunscreen and shampoo had burst open and covered the majority of her clothes so we spent a while trying to get it all out... poor AJ!! But all is well... and when we opened our blinds this morning before our meeting with our resort representatives we were completely taken aback by the absolute beauty - and how close we were to the beach!! WOW!!

I will try to continue with the updates... we get 15mins/day internet here included in our package... hope all is well with everyone!!
squishes n prayers!

honoured and celebrated

Talk about being honoured... it was absolutely incredible the treatment that I received last night - my last shift as a student nurse...

Sonja (my preceptor) and the other nurses brought in a ginormous platter of fruit and dip, veggies and dip, crackers and anitpesto, cheese and a huge 'Congratulations Carin' cake... it was incredible! And then I had my final evaluation as well... words spoken were so incredibly honouring and humbling to me - I pray that I one day will live up to all of the confidence and kind words... you know the saying 'go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated'? Well... I definitely feel celebrated here!

And to top it off... Sonja gave me the most incredible gift ever! I took a picture just moments ago and it is gorgeous enough that I had to take the time to speak of this last evening and post the picture for all to see...

There are no more words to describe the beauty of that quilt... She said the colours and patterns reminded her of me when she was making it and thus decided it would be a perfect graduation gift... I couldn't agree more!! I will miss everyone at Mills over the next two months... they have become another 'family'...

SO that said, today I depart on the red eye flight to Toronto! I will then spend the day and night in TO with my friends Graham and Somer... before returning to the airport on Friday to head off to glorious sunshine and happiness!

Spending today packing some last minute stuff, laundry, meeting the notary, some other errands (gotta get that benadryl-can't believe I forgot that one! thanks Gwen!)and then having dinner at the Hot House (thanks to Henny's introduction to the place!) with some girls from the hospital... oh and if all goes well maybe a quick nap in there somewhere?! sooo tired as I didn't really sleep before my shift last night... sigh... too much excitment and stuff to think of!

I will update as often as I can... and I will miss you all... Chan - I can hardly wait to see you!!!!! Excitement that cannot be contained for much longer!!!

For Tams...

THE OLOGIES
MOUTHOLOGY
Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. homemade

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. Tim Horton's... coffee!

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. East Side Mario's - oh I can't even wait to go!

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. no less than 20% - people count on their tips...

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick off of it?
A. Peanut Butter - my favourite ever!

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Ham, pineapple, and cheese

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. Peanut butter of course!

Q. What is your favorite type of gum?
A. cinnamon or this mintberry blast stuff...

TECHNOLOGY
Q. Number of contacts in your cell phone?
A. too many to remember - thats why they are in my cell!

Q. Number of contacts in your email address book?
A. over two hundred, not sure of the exact number!

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. a collage of pictures with friends in them...

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. 4

BIOLOGY
Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Right

Q. Do you have any weird markings?
A. I have some wierd looking spots on my face, some people call them freckles... and some other birthmarks in places

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. teeth... horror

Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
A. touch

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. probably right now!

Q. What is the heaviest item you lifted last?
A. box of 0.9% Sodium Chloride 1000mL IV bags...

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. do not believe so - I am a tough bugger

BULL[CRAP]OLOGY
Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. I don't think so... that would take the joy out of living...:)

Q. Is love real?
A. Yes

Q. If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
A. hmm... I like my name

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. light ocean blue

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. I am sure I have... can't think of it right now though

Q. Have you ever saved someone's life?
A. I have helped save many lives...I am a nurse

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. Yes. He's quite amazing really...

DAREOLOGY
Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. I like my baby fingers... but I might be pursuaded...

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. Never!! (yeah I probably would -there are other sites to journal in! :P)

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. um, not likely!!

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. definitely not!

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. couldn't do it...

Q. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?
A. sure I would!

DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: nada

Q: Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: never saw it...

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: hardwood and linoleum

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: Stand... maybe when I am older I will have to sit...

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: I have... now I live with family! yikes!

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A. I really couldn't say...

Q: Where were you born?
A. Bowmanville - I was their first Christmas baby...

Q: Last time you had a run in with the cops?
A: yesterday - they came to the hospital...

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. when I grow up I want to be like Jesus.. :P

Q: Who is number 1 on your top 8?
A: Tamara is my no.1 on my top blogger list...

LASTOLOGY
Q: Friend you talked to?
A: Chandra

Q. Last person you hung out with?
A: Mark and Ruthie

Q: Friend you called?
A: Justin

Q: Person you hugged?
A: oh dear - I can't remember! Someone hug me!

Q: Place you went:
A: Home after a VERY long and busy day at the hospital

FAVORITOLOGY
Q: Number?
A: 16

Q: color
A: orange

Q: Season?
A. I like them all!!

CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A: I am always missing someone

Q: Mood?
A: frazzled - why am I doing this?! when I should be packing!

Q: Listening to?
A: silence - time to crank the tunes!

Q: Watching?
A: computer screen...

Q: Worrying about?
A: What if I forget to pack something important?! ok.. I have my passport and credit card...

OK - so now that I spent 10 minutes in needless ranting - although it was rather fun! :P I must continue with my packing... and then nap before nights tonight!! ONE MORE SHIFT AS A STUDENT!!! (after tonight I never have to work for free again - unless its volunteer!)

only two!

Only TWO more shifts as a student nurse!!! I can hardly comprehend the reality that this presents to my life... wow - time to grow up and really step into the role of responsibility... for real!

Ok. I'll put that off for a while so that I can travel and celebrate with friends... tee hee - priorities peoples priorities...

Speaking of priorities... I have waaayy too much to do in the next 2.5 days... Packing of course being one very important thing! I went through all my summer clothes with Heather the other day... ugh - so hard! How can I pack 2months worth of stuff into one bag?!? and pack for two weddings, the beach, sailing, exploring, a bachellorette party and graduation ceremony... did I mention in ONE bag?!

So I also need to go to the notary public to get my temp RN license application notarized... bank to withdraw americano dollars... umm, complete my final evaluation at clinical, oh and did I mention PACK?! And I have two more shifts to put in at the hospital - days tomorrow and nights on Tues... my flight is on Wed!

HELP: anybody who has any ideas of what to remember to not forget to pack! I have some gravol (got queasy on the cruise ship - so anticipating it on the yacht in greece)... seriously - I am so frazzled with busyness, I am worried I might forget something... so lists of things that I should remember or might be helpful... :) would be MOST appreciated! :)

muchos gracias!

Life events...updates...

First off... a BIG thank you to my darling Gwen who made all the necessary changes for me with regards to my flight back to Toronto! It almost became a big scare when I couldn't fly out on the 12th!! (my flight to the dominican leaves from TO on the 13th!) But Gwen of course rescued me and got me a seat on the 11th! (a day early I am sad to say but I will still make it!) Also leaving a day early kind of impacts my final evaluation for my clinical work but - I already contacted my faculty advisor and all is well!!

Life has been so busy and so full I don't even know how to catch everyone up! So I will add some highlights!

- The HUGE snowfall we have just recently encountered in our spring loving Terrace! We (Heather, Aaron and me) built a snow fort outside - inside would have just been a little too messy! oh and by the way - Aaron did most of the work! I was too busy throwing snowballs! It was their first snowday of the year - talk about craziness!! I love it!!

- Lunch with Henny at the Hot House!! My very first ever butter chicken tasting in the form of a butter chicken wrap, my first ever veggie samosa, AND my first ever Pakora? (SP) But of course the best part of all of that was being able to just enjoy Henny's company - she is such an incredible woman! I can only hope to be half the woman she is... :)

- Boarding with Birke... for this there is no words... I will post a picture of us at the top of the black diamond run that I, yes I, dominated!!

- cell group... I so enjoy going to see that group of 'family' each week... the playing of wallyball, the discussions and teaching, the conversations of randomness, the shared excitement over life events, and the love that is shared between all... Thanks to my cell for last night - the prayers and words of encouragement will go the distance I am sure! :)

- oh and one mustn't forget the birth of beautiful baby Isaiah Stuart! I loved being able to visit him in the hospital! "Jenna, that boy of yours is beautiful!"

WELL... today is going to be a full day of sorting and packing and should be homeworking, taxes and Grey's (going to a colleagues to watch!)... add in a little hazelnut coffee (ma fav) and some tanning to prepare for this impending luxury vacation and we have a wonderful day!