the calm AFTER the storm

It's been quite a year so far. I've made a complete career change that took just over four months, my best friend got married, we bought a trailer, and I can't seem to come up with enough examples of being busy to actually justify the ridiculous level of exhaustion I've felt so far.
I started working two jobs in January. The station from 5-12, and the health region from 1-5. That lasted until early april when I gave my notice at the station and 'put all my eggs in one basket' as a coworker put it. I was temporary full time until mid may when I applied for my job officially, had the interview and was hired full time permanent.
It's been a huge weight off my shoulders to actually have some solid job stability.
Immediately after being hired officially, I left for my week in penticton. When I came back home, it suddenly dawned on me that for the first time all year, I actually don't have a ton of commitments on the horizon. I can relax! And relax I have!

My Best Friend's Wedding

My dearest best friend, Mare is no longer a Miss, but has become a Mrs. She's officially adopted the last name McGoran as she married a good man on Saturday.

I flew to Kelowna on Friday the 15th to spend a week with Mare and Jeremy and hopefully help calm some of the stress and take care of some of the tasks that needed taking care of leading up to their wedding. While I was there, Mare's brother Sean and his wife Karin came to stay with them too and brought their little baby girl, Quinn (Quinn, you're a two-blog girl now!!). They were so much fun to spend time with and I felt like I already knew them just by what Mare had told me.
It was a busy week and I'm afraid I didn't do much to keep Mare's stress level low, I just hope I didn't add to it. We had a fantastic time at the Bridal Shower, and the Stagette was a riot.
When the wedding arrived, we had a great morning getting ready as Leanne did all our hair. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful at Linden Gardens and I was so happy to have Kleenex tucked into the strap of my dress to dab at my eyes as they recited their vows.
The reception at Pine Hills was a great time and the hall looked fantastic (as it should after we all spent Friday afternoon decorating!)
I feel like there's more to say, but I still can't process it all. So I'll post some pictures instead.
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Spa day in Summerland to help ease away some of the stress leading up to the day
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The BBQ on Friday night before the wedding. Mare was all dolled up in her fabulous pink dress, and Quinn was completely adorable in her stripy red and white sundress!
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The Bride and her Ladies at the BBQ - Me, Erin, Mare, Shan, and Leanne
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Shan, Me and Erin in the limo after the ceremony at Linden Gardens
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Brad drove up on Thursday to come and help out in anyway he could (and was a HUGE help decorating on Friday). This is us at Pine Hills where the reception was held
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Mr. and Mrs McGoran deeply in love for their first dance
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The bridesmaids rocked it out
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I'm so honoured to have been a part of the wedding, and I can't describe how touched I am still to have been her Maid of Honour.

A Campin' We Will Go!

Brad and myself (and Ollie) have become the proud new owners of a 2001 Dutchmen Folding Trailer (or tent trailer to the less couth RVer, *phah phah phah*)! We decided a while ago that rather than take a honeymoon to somewhere really hot in the middle of August (already really hot, not to mention hurricane season) we would buy a trailer and do some camping and site-seeing. We've had our eyes open for a while looking for the right model at the right price and finally a couple of weeks ago spotten this one parked in a driveway a block from our house. Next thing we knew it was posted on swiftcurrentonline's classifieds. All the pieces fell into place and it's now parked in our backyard (don't worry, we paid the guy...it's pretty big and he'd probably have noticed if we made off with in the middle of the night).This is the double bed on the back end. There's a seating area in front that also pulls down into a bed

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Looking at the Queen bed, dining area, stove, counter, and fridge. There's also a little sink next to the stove. The kitchen table also folds down into a bed.
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Stove and sink. The stove is indoor-outdoor and runs off propane
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Ollie's ready to go, and has picked his bed.

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P.S. Hooray Hooray, the First of May....

Fun Fun Fun!

It's been a busy few weeks, but with so many fun things going on, it's been a good kind of buys.

Frank and Christ came to visit last weekend, which was such a blast! I had Friday off, so we spent three days hanging out together. Not nearly enough, but I'll take what I can get!
I took them for the Swift Current tour on Friday, showing them the sights and shops downtown. We ordered pizza and played Wii games all night.
Saturday Frank helped me to get Scoots all tuned up for the spring (SWEET!!!), and took it for a spin around the block.
We went for supper at the Akropol on Saturday night (thank Mum and Da for the treat!)

And on Sunday we headed to the Saskatchewan Landing so they could see the beach I like to visit in the summer. Ollie went for an unexpected swim in the river when he decided to leap in, so we relaxed on the grass for a while to let him dry off. (Frank may have fallen asleep)

Alright...Da, your turn to come stay at Chez Jess and Brad!! Consider yourself officially called out!

Happy Birthday Mum!

While many poeple are thinking about the work and "going green" on Earth Day, my mind is on something way more important...
Today is my Mum's birthday!!!I know I've posted this picture before, but I can't get enough of it! I credit my Mum with my silliness, and my affinity for creating silly songs and singing them to myself (or to others),. She's the source of some of the best advice I've ever been given ("You can't change the way others treat you, but you can change the way you react to them"). Knowing she's always behind me means the world to me. We've shared so many fun times, and thousands of wonderful pots of tea!
Happy Birthday Mum!

20 Years in the Making!

It took us twenty years, but Vassy and I managed to realize our dream of going to a New Kids on the Block concert! The show was last night in Saskatoon and we managed to wrangle floor seats at the 35th row! I was so thrilled to get the chance and even though we were a ways back, it all ended up totally worth in!

After a few fantastic songs, complete with retro dances to their well known old songs (ie The Right Stuff), the guys ran around the outside of the floor area to the sound board where a piano was uncovered on a rotating stage. The crowd around the stage (Vassy and I included) screamed and reached to touch them. Wrapped up in the excitement of the crowd, I may have screamed "I LOVE YOU DONNIE!!!" with my hand outstretched trying desperately to make my arm grown that extra foot to touch one of their hands. No luck though. But I did manage to get some fantastic shots!

I think the best part of their set from the floor was Joey's gold jacket. AMAZING! Haha!!

Before they come out for their final encore, Vash and I started a chant of "STEP BY STEP!!" to which the entire crowd joined in. The boys (men?) obliged! For the finale of Hangin Tough each guy was wearing a personalized Team Canada hockey jersey. Cheesy? Absolutely! But tell me, what about a boy band doing a comeback tour 15 years after their breakup isn't cheesy?!

AMAZING.

Hard At Work, Clearly!

On Thursday, the Department Heads packed into the station cruisers and went for a drive. Our field trip started at the Swift Current Hutterite Colony. I'd never been to a colony before, and it was definitely educational to say the least. Dave and his sister Matilda (seen below to my right) gave us the tour which started in the building where they butcher the chickens. That was a smell that I will never forget, get used to, or likely get out of my hair. We saw the kitchen and dining rooms, a Hutterian home, the machine shop, many cows, many many geese and ducks, and some peacocks (for fun and show, not food).

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After our tour, we piled into the cruisers again and headed North West to White Bear to visit their famous hotel restaurant. I'm pretty sure that the tourism for the restaurant is the only thing keeping that hamlet viable. We each had a hamburger which was roughly the size of a dinner plate and I believe only one person finished it (I'm looking at you, Ryan!). After our food, the owners came out and chatted and showed us many inappropriate novelty items which delighted and entertained us for a while. One such item was the deer on the wall which comes with a microphone and moves it's mouth when someone speaks into it. Terribly amusing!

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Right before our trip back to Swift, we stopped at the White Bear in White Bear and took some pictures in front.

Oh how I love a hard day's work!!

Grown Up Living Room

This may not be the most exciting post to many people, but I'm damn thrilled about it! Having two jobs has been hideously exhausting for me at times, not to mention time consuming and social-life-inhibiting, but it's also allowed me to have a little extra spending money. So recently I began spending a little of it. I bought a new coffee table, a storage cube, and some curtains and accessories for the living room (see the IKEA part of the Calgary post).
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Brad and I put up the curtains in the livingroom.

- Ollie helped -

- Ollie helped me iron -

-So here's the final product. New table, storage cube, curtains, throw pillows...everything!! -

-And at night with the new paper lamp too-

I like having nice things. The living room finally feels like an adult lives there! Very happy!

Calgary!!

I made a trip to Calgary this past weekend to man a booth at a career fair on Sunday. Yes, it does make for a long week of work, but the perks FAR outweighed the resulting tiredness.
First and foremost, I stayed at the Hyatt. I first had an inkling that I was outclassed by this hotel when the bellhop (yes, there was a bellhop), asked if I wanted to park myself or have valet take care of it. I opted to park myself. Then the elevator went to the 15th floor so fast my ears popped. Then I entered my room.

-In case you're wondering, yes, it's a king-

-The view from my 15th floor room-

I left my things on the floor so as not to contaminate the pristine richness of the room, and met my friend Leah outside. We worked at the Twin in Smithers back in 2004 bartending and drinking frequently. We enjoyed playing little games with the drunkards and convincing them that no only were we twins, but we were lesbians too! Imagine the luck! We haven't seen each other in four years, so it was fantastic to finally meet up with her again. If that wasn't fun enough, we went to IKEA!! OMG!!First we tried to get food. I got confused and had just asked "what do I do?!" when I looked up...
Then we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. Leah had wanted tealights and napkins and left with pillows, pillow cases, cutting boards, tealights, and napkins. I wanted curtains. I left with curtains, curtain rods, pillows, pillow cases, sheets, paper lamps, a laundry hamper, cutting boards, and scrub brushes. Whoops!We went back to Leah's apartment where I met her fiance Warren who is an awesome guy. Seems to be pretty much unflappable. We chatted until supper and caught up with each other's lives and talked about other people we knew from Smithers and what everyone is doing.The career fair was good on Sunday, and then I hit the roads to come home. It was one hell of a weekend, but really enjoyable all around!

Mind Over Matter?

What a morning!!!
Asad Mecci, a hypnotist came in to the Eagle morning show, so Chance solicited Dono and myself to be experimented on. We both agreed to be hypnotized and then went on the air. I've uploaded the whole bit (it's 9 minutes, so make sure you've got time).
Listen here
It was such a bizarre experience! Dono was out basically immediately but I held on to my senses stubbornly for a while. The whole time I was very aware of what was going on and what was happening, but it felt like the natural thing to do was to go along with everything. I definitely felt more relaxed than I have in a looong time.
When he brought us out of the trance he told us we'd feel energized and better than we've felt in a long time. I feel wired, but also a little hazy. That's starting to fade, but I'm still pumped.

My Bad Luck With Hotels

This weekend I went to Calgary and stayed at the Hyatt. If you're familiar with this particular hotel then you're a much classier person than I am. The elevator went so fast my ears popped, the room (on the 15th floor) had a massive bathroom, a stunning king size bed, and a fantastic view (though anything from the 15th floor is usually a pretty good view). In case you're wondering, I slept just fine on that king bed and lounged on Sunday morning while watching Saved By the Bell reruns on the 32" LCD tv. Gorgeous.
Sunday morning (after Saved by the Bell), I got up and did my morning shower-blow-dry-hair-apply-makeup-get-dressed routine. I was just about finished when an odd sound fills my room. I stood there confused for a moment and then realized it was the fire alarm. I was not filled with panic. No, I casually finished dressing, grabbed my purse, my coat, my keys, my room key, and my suitcase and left the room, carefully scanning it before I left to make sure I hadn't left anything really critical. It killed me a little to have to leave behind my heaps of purchases from IKEA (the irony of having to go out of town before I could finally buy curtains for the house only to have them burn in a hotel fire was bittersweet), but I knew there was no way I could carry everything. I followed an older couple down the hall to the stairs and started to descend. Interesting point: the 15th floor is very impressive...until you have to walk down 15 flights of stairs while wondering if the building will collapse around you in a fiery inferno.
It was around the 8th floor that the alarm finally shut off and a voice came on the intercom declaring that there was no emergency. Rather than turn around and go back UP those 7 floors, I kept going downward. The alarm came back on. Then it went off. Then there was another alarm. Then it stopped too. By this time I was down in the lobby and decided to just go for breakfast. (Does $17.85 for two eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee sound a little steep to anyone?)
P.S. It took me three trips up and down the elevator to finally get all of my IKEA loot to the car.

My Mum and Me

Aside from finding my wedding dress, this past weekend was a ton of fun, as I got to hang out with Mum for three and a half days!

The weekend started on Thursday when I drove to Regina to surprise Mum at the airport by picking her up. (She wasn't expecting me until Friday morning). I went and checked into the hotel and then headed out to the airport where I sat for more than a half hour waiting for her plane. I thought I would see it land, but apparently I was mistaken. I was watching out the window when I heard a lot of happy-people-noises behind me. I turned around and realized there were people from the flight milling about in the arrivals area around the baggage conveyor belts. I lept up and went to wait at the bottom of the stairs for Mum to come down. I waited. And waited. And waited. Then the flight attendants and pilots came down the stairs and I knew I had missed her. She was traveling light and had only carry-on, so she just walked out the doors, grabbed a cab, and went to the hotel. All the while I was sitting right there around the corner at a little cafe table. I drove back to the hotel, hoping in vain to beat her there but went up to the room to see her sitting on the bed talking to Dad on the phone. So much for my amazing sneaky plan!

On top of dress shopping, we went to Michaels (YAY!), and Chapters (double YAY!). We ate at Bonanza, and East Side Marios, and enjoyed take-out in the hotel room, drank much tea, had TCBY yogurt, and watched Bride Wars on pay per view in the hotel. We dealt with a power outage at 11pm in the hotel (see, those little keychain flashlights do come in handy!), and shopped till we dropped (literally, I had a nap when we got back to the hotel room on Sunday evening)

I'm so glad that Mum could come and spend the weekend with me! The only bad part was when I had to drop her off at the airport on Monday morning.

Ambitious? Maybe.

At the end of the weekend, Mum commented in amazement at our level of ambitiousness at believing we could meet for a weekend in Regina, find and buy a dress, and get it altered. Yet we never for a moment thought it wouldn't happen. In retrospect, it was definitely an ambitious goal, but one we achieved happily!
Mum flew in on Thursday and Vassy came to Regina on Friday morning to help me find my dress. We went to my first appointment Friday morning where I tried on so many stunning dresses! After lunch we went two more places and by the end of the day I was beat.
Saturday was just me and Mum and we hit four more shops (effectively covering every bridal boutique in Regina, I believe). I probably tried on around 30 dresses in totwl, but just couldn't find anything nicer than the ones at the first shop. So Mum and I went back and I tried on my two top choices again about 4 times each and was feeling so overwhelmed that we had to leave again and grab a chai to clear our heads and weigh the options. We finally made the choice and as soon as I tried it on once more I knew I had chosen right!
So, I now have my wedding dress! I'm gonna be a bride!!!

Finally! Something to talk about!!

There have been many many many things I have been tempted to blog about, but alas, cannot. Let's face it, how can I preach to others that "a blog is not personal property but public domain" and "you have to be careful what you write" and then go on here and vent my frustrations by writing slanderous comments and potentially destroying my credibility and completely destroying the known universe? I just can't, in good conscience do such a thing, so sadly, the blog has suffered.

I'm a boring person these days. Don't believe me? I'll prove it. Here is a typical conversation:

You: "Hey! How's it going?"

Me: "Meh"

You: "Just meh? Why? What's going on? What's new?"

Me: "Meh. I work. Lots."

You: "Oh yeah? Well, we should get together?"

Me: "Um...I go to bed at 8:30."

You: "Wow...you're sure dull, J-dub. I don't ever want to talk to you again. Goodbye"

So maybe that's a little extreme, but you get the picture. Not much longer though...my two-job-status will be ending at the end of this month and from there on in, I'm back to the good ole 8 hour day (instead of 12).

Ok, I titled this blog "Finally! Something to talk about" because I do actually have something very exciting happening! Mum is coming to Regina this weekend (in fact, she's probably just about to board a plane as we speak) to go dress shopping with me! I don't think I could be more excited if I tried! And as the icing on the cake, Vassy is coming down for the day tomorrow to go to my appointments with us! This is really truly thrilling for me! Two key members of my Support Net in one city focusing all of their attention on ME! Seriously, this speaks to my vanity enormously. I'm excited to see Mum finally (haven't since October) and to have three wonderful days in the city together. It's a little bittersweet though...you see, she would have stayed longer and come to Swift if I weren't working two jobs, but she wouldn't be coming at all if I weren't working two jobs because we wouldn't be getting married this summer on my single-paycheck living.

Other thrilling things on the horizon for me include NKOTB on April 11th, Frank and Christi coming to visit on April 16th (YAY!!!!!), and Mare's wedding in May. This year is most definitely not going as fast as I had anticipated. Sure there's lots to look foward to, but it's taking forever!

Throwin Darts

A strange thing happened to me this morning...so Chance and Jon had me on the morning to talk about it!
Have a listen

Dear Driver...

Dear Driver who was Riding my Ass on the Number 7 Highway,

Thank you for making sure my license plate was screwed on properly. I assume that's what you were doing while you were driving so very close to me on Sunday afternoon. It was very kind of you to be so concerned for the welfare of my car.

I would also like to thank you for passing both myself and the semi I was following when we reached the first clear stretch of passing lane. You were absolutely right to take advantage of the few meters of dotted center line to get out from behind the slow moving truck. I assure you, I had no intention of passing the semi. I was simply following him because I don't like to be the first in any lineup - it seems rude to me. Really, don't worry, I stayed where I was because I really like it when my windshield gets pelted with rocks. Please don't feel any guilt at being what some would call a "budger". I personally believe that if you feel you can pass 13 cars and get to the front of a line up, you absolutely should, regardless of how long those other vehicles have been sitting behind the semi waiting patiently for a passing lane to present itself. You are, afterall, King of the Road.

Thank you once again for diligently shaving those 5 minutes off of your trip by making me wait another 15 for another opportunity to pass the semi (even though I had no intentions of doing so).

It was a pleasure,

Jessica

OMG Brides!!

On Sunday I went to Saskatoon for a Welcome Wagon Bridal Show. It was a gorgeous day for a drive and I had nothing else to do, so the trip was a good excuse to get out for a day.
The show was at the Travel Lodge and I was hit with the sudden realization that I would likely be surrounded by wedding-crazed-bridezillas when trying to find a parking spot.
Inside I met Vassy and registered. A little girl in a pretty flower girl dress came up to me with a mini-carnation and asked me to wear it so everyone will know I'm a bride. SOOOOO cute!
Vassy and I then made our way through the lobby and into the banquet room where we began to fight our way through the throngs of brides and guests to see the booths. The fashion show was really nice to watch and got me super excited for dress shopping with Mum next weekend. There wasn't a lot that I liked, but it gave me some ideas anyway.
The show took most of the afternoon and I'm sorry to report I did not win the 42" Plasma tv with entertainment stand and digital camera door prize. Sigh. But my goodie bag had a ton of coupons and some fun trinkets!! Score!

Apparently I'm Emo...

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. (if you don't have it, here's an online photo editor: pixlr.com/)
5.- Post and tag five people. - Mare, Meghan, PilgrimChick, Heather, Chance

(and because I don't like the idea of stealing someone's work without crediting them, the picture was from here)

Anniversary

Chance and Jon had me on the Eagle morning show today to mark a special day.

Have a listen!

The Red Planet

I had heard that Google has released a map of part of Mars. The map (at Google Mars) is presented in three versions: colour coded relief, infrared, and what's actually visible. I spent about 10 minutes looking at these maps and am confused by my reaction. They frighten me. As I poured over them, I felt myself becoming deeply disturbed, but I can't figure out why. The pictures should be fascinating, they should be awe-inspiring, but for me, they scare me. Aspiring Freuds, please feel free to put in your two-bits here.