The Day to Days

So...I'm doing this thing called Bikini Body Boot Camp. It's hard as hell. That's right...you heard me. HARD AS HELL. And also hot. Even though I do it in the basement it still feels like I'm working out in a sauna. Holy mother of God. I hate to sweat, but by the end of this bad boy I'm sweating like a disgusting, sweaty pig in heat. The sounds I make are probably similar to that as well.

Today was day 5 of the Boot Camp.

Day 1: Cardio Hills. It's pretty much the equivalent of running around a track 50 times in the middle of a desert. Imagine starting at a walk, moving into a jog, trotting for a while and then full on sprinting until you feel like you're going to die, and then starting all over again while incorporating jumping jacks and power lunges into the mix. (Just for the record, this workout is hell, and power lunges are the DEVIL! You jump alternating your legs into lunges and pumping your arms like a crazy person.)

Day 2: Strength Sculpting. It's all weights and lunges and squats and more weights. This is actually the EASIEST workout for me. I would rather hold my arms above my head holding 50 pound weights for the rest of my life than do another power lunge as long as I live. (That was an exaggeration...I obviously have to restart the entire thing next week. UGH!)

Day 3: Kickboxing, Sculpting, Hills and Drills. This one is awesome because it mixes together so many different styles. They all incorporate weights and a resistance band so you really feel every single muscle in your body.

Day 4: Circuit Training. It is what it says. Lots of circuits of lunges and squats but not so intense. Just pretty general cardio although those power lunges are back with a vengence.

Day 5: Interval Cardio Sculpt. THIS IS A KILLER!!! This was my workout today and I thought I was going to have to quit. As is I had to settle for most of the modifications. My thighs are burning and I'm pretty sure my ass is going to be in my chest with all of these lunges and leg lifts. This workout is so intense. GGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So that's my workout. We're going to Nelson on Wednesday night, so instead of taking the weekend off like I was planning, I'm going to restart the entire thing tomorrow so that I can keep up with it. I know that if I don't do all 5 workouts every week I'll get lazy and give up and with the amount I seem to be sweating (2lbs of water weight a day!!!!) I can't see how I WON'T get results. Ha.

( work rant )

Nelson is going to be a blast and a half, and we're going to Tofino at the end of July with Janet and Ross!!! I'm SO EXCITED. Firstly, my cousin Travis lives in Nelson and he's rad. I think he and Cale will really get along. :D Secondly, I've always wanted to go to Tofino, but never been!!! So it's going to be awesome.

Then in August we're headed to Salmon Arm for the long weekend and another camping trip in the middle of the month to Manning Park with some family friends. I LOVE camping but I'm curbing my impulse to buy summer clothes in light of all the trips. I keep repeating the phrase "camping not clothes" over and over in my head. HA. Although I do think I need to invest in some seriously awesome cloth shorts. I've got swim shorts but they're not good for general lounging and working out. I saw a rad pair in Bluenotes today so I might go back to pick em up. And they have a 3 for $15 deal on tank tops so I might hit that up as well, even though I always think I look weird in their tanks since they're either really long or really tight. :/ I need to find somewhere with sweet tank tops at reasonable prices. Any suggestions?

Other than that my one year with Cale is coming up in less than a month!!!! YAY! August 8th! I'm looking forward to that. Nothing planned so far, but we (and by we I mean Cale) like to do things at the last minute. Ha. I'll keep you posted.

Quick point form:
- nothing has happened to me since ross and janet got married and i registered for school
- i saw my good pal tamara l recently at her "welcome back to vancouver" get together. it was awesome, obviously, because i was there, and also because she's awesome. :)
- the girl i was doing receiving for at work is coming back soon so my full time hours are gone. sad for me. hence all the job hunting.
- i lost my driver's license and need to get that bad boy replaced, but i'm cheap and don't drive often so i'm procrastinating.
- i've been playing a lot of the Sims 2
- i love the show friends. i wish i owned every season but i only have the last one.
- i think i'm going to make a birthday wish list this year for the first time ever. lots of people made them for me and i see now that while surprises are awesome, a little structure is also good. :)
- if i get married or have a baby, i'm going to tell people to pool their money so that i can go to a personal trainer before the wedding/after i give birth. that's something i would never be able to justify buying for myself, but would definitely want.
- Paige B is excellent, and beautiful, and this is a special message for her because i want her to feel good about herself.
- i need to go to the comic shop before the Nelson trip on Wednesday. anyone want to come along? i'm probably going to go after work on monday, since i'm off at 12.
- it's Dan's birthday on Sunday and i don't know what to get him!!! help!!!! he's having a BBQ which will be awesome. I'll have to make sure i look nice because his mom always takes pictures. ha!
- Kristin's birthday is the day after i get back from Nelson!!!! it's going to be awesome. we're headed to the Modern and she's always a good time. HEHEHEHEHEHE. Yeah. I'm sure she'll be beautiful as always and we'll have a great time. (Fun Fact: Cale and I made out for the first time during her birthday party last year. She told us we could "do it" on her couch but sadly we were impeded by the fact that a) her apartment is small and not sound proof b) her friend was lying on the floor in the living room with us and c) it was still weird. ha.)

alright...i have to shower. peace out g's.

-stacey k



"Lock eyes from across the room
Down my drink, while the rhythms boom
Take your hand and skip the names
No need here for the silly games
Make our way through the smoke and crowd
The club is the sky and I'm on your cloud
Move in close as the lasers fly
Our bodies touch and the angels cry
Leave this place go back to yours
Our lips first touch outside your doors
A whole night what we've got in store
Whisper in my ear that you want some more
And I

Jizz in my pants"

Who would've thought we'd see a day without Michael Jackson? I guess he'll always be the stuff of legend.

I registered for September today. Classes I will be taking next year include:

The Italian Renaissance from 1400-1500
The Triumph and Demise of Modernism
Architecture: Building the fabric of Modern State (1715-1837)
Seminar in North American Architecture (this is my big, you're graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, class.)
Greek and Roman Art for two semesters
Architecture: Modern Paradigms of Design (1837 - present)
Nepal and Tibet: Art, Ritual and Performance
Arts of the Northwest Coast Peoples: The South (for my required Indigenous Arts class)
and naturally...
Relationship Development (just to be different)

9 Art Histories and 1 Family Studies. Yee Haw. I'm also going to be taking Spanish and a 6 credit Children's Lit course through correspondents so that I can graduate at the end of April with the rest of my pals.

I'm not excited about the course load, but I managed to get entirely new professors than I've had before so hopefully they're ok. The quality of teaching, and the methods used so far are really the biggest hinderance to my grade point average. Maybe I'll be taught by someone genuinely enthusiastic about the material they're teaching. Maybe...

Highlights of my summer so far:
Saskatchewan and my cousin Tamara's birthday party. Her turning 25 has got me thinking about my own upcoming birthday. I never thought I'd be the kind of person who cared about getting older but here I am, hoping that by some miracle I'll be frozen in time before December 9th arrives.

We also went to my cousin Michael's stag/stagette with his now wife Michelle! They're a great couple and I'm super happy for them. They went to a karaoke bar and it was awesome although I didn't even get CLOSE to a microphone. Sorry kids.

Then we came home and attended Janet and Ross' wedding! They looked amazing in their red and I thought having the bridesmaids all in white was a great constrast. Everything looked so beautiful and everytime Janet got choked up I cried like a baby. A quiet, tear stifling baby. Ha. The boat was amazing and the view was beautiful. I've never been to such a small wedding and it was funny to be able to start recognizing people during my second round at the buffet. All of Ross' army buddies showed and it was fun watching them have a good time, and of course, Cale threw down with the best of them, and I'm surprised he didn't throw up. By the time we got to the nightclub Gossip (since we had to be off of the boat by 11pm) he was already three sheets to the wind and still going strong. He definitely suffered for it the next day, and I definitely laughed...a lot.

There should be pictures and some video up soon. We were the only ones who brought a video camera so as soon as we get it out of the trunk of Janet and Ross' car we're going to make them an ultra cheezy, super sweet wedding video. :) I love those guys.

Other than that I've been raking in crazy hours at work! Everyone is going off on vacations and I'm picking up their shifts which is AWESOME! I can feel the weight of my debt lifting ever so slightly although a new round of student loans is going to add on another ton or two. Ha. But until September I can feel good about putting money where I should be...even if it's not necessarily where I want it to be. When I get my BA next year though, with the bonuses I've been getting for keeping my grades up, I'll only be $20,000 owing, which isn't bad considering this is my third year at UBC. Thumbs up.

-Stacey K!!!!!!

I'm always so bummed coming back from vacations.

Although work is actually going well right now! I'm really digging the employment scene although more hours are always better than less.

Might be going to a funeral. I'm not exactly sure when it is. Hopefully not while I'm supposed to be away. He was a pretty important man in my life. I should pay my respects.

Deep thinking and I need to find a way to work out our differences. It always catches me off guard and never gives me a chance to retaliate.

Salmon arm was really awesome. It makes me want to leave the city. Badly. Ha. But I only have 3 years of school left so I'll soldier on.

I'm really looking forward to going to saskatchewan. Everything seems easier there.

-Stacey k

I am always confused by people who consider themselves part of an alternative subculture. They seem to spend a lot of time talking about how unaccepted they are in mainstream society (whatever that means) but purposely exclude people like me who aren't visibly part of the same subculture.

It's kind of mean. :(

This weekend was super fun. I had to make a tough decision between Free Comic Book Day and Blade Day in Whistler and while you may make fun of me, comics are one of my passions, so it really was a hard decision to make. Ultimately Dan's girlfriend Daniela convinced me that going to Whistler would be a lot of fun especially since I'd never snow/ski bladed before and because there would be a lot of dorky snowboarders dressed up in costumes as if it were Halloween.

The whole day was a lot of fun although I got a crazy goggle tan, my lips are blistered (ew) and I hurt my knee probably from a combo of ill fitting boots and a few too many falls. Ha. I was, of course, the slowest person on the hill, but that was OK. I kept telling Cale to go ahead and like a good boyfriend he kept coming back to check on me so I wasn't alone the entire time. Ha ha. I would probably do it again, but he promised me that next year we're going to go to Free Comic Book Day instead. :D Can't say I'm sad about that!!!

After blading we went to a little get together which was pretty funny. Lots of drunk Australians and a giant fire in the backyard thanks to my better half. I thought I was going to get sick for a bit and made the unfortunate miscalculation of letting Cale into the bathroom while I did my best to help my stomach along, but turns out I wasn't as sick as I thought and I made the effort for nothing. We headed back to Cale's friend Adam's place for the night and I fell asleep under the table after brushing my teeth and putting on pyjamas.

The next day was much more my speed. A leisurely wake up, some cleaning, discovering that we could have been sleeping on a deflated air mattress instead of the floor, a super yummy breakfast (omg, best eggs benny EVER) and then back to Adam's. We decided to go on a bike ride and Adam took us to a beautiful lake with a little bench where we hung out for a while. The fellas threw rocks at a log and I took a few pictures on my cell phone. Then we had to ride back, uphill. Whistler is beautiful but not super conducive to Stacey's. Ha. I walked my bike up half the time and tried to ride the rest of it, but of course, right in front of Adam's place I had to ask, "Which way now?" which got a few laughs. Guh.

Finally meeting Matt's girlfriend was awesome, she's super hilarious and really really nice. It was cool not to be the only girl for once although she's much more hardcore than I am when it comes to winter sports and making faces for the camera. I'm not used to all of the physical activity but I try to be a trooper and at least tag along, even if I can't always keep up.

When we got back we pretty much went straight to sleep until we woke up around 9 and decided to go see Wolverine which was AWESOME. I really liked it. I also like explaining all of the characters back stories to Cale. I may not be good while on a mountain but my brain is FULL of information that may or may not be useful. Ha.

Monday was a write off. I did laundry, cleaned the house, did some turbo jam (a fun dance workout video Janet let me burn) and watched a lot of Bones. I'm almost finished season one and it's hilarious how many Buffy/Angel characters are cropping up in the show. It's awesome.

Yesterday Janet came over in the afternoon and we did some more Turbo Jam, talked about her wedding, talked about boys, watched Ellen, and eventually Cale drove us to the mall where we found her some shoes for her wedding in under 10 minutes. BAM! Then we headed into Vancouver for Cam's birthday dinner! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM!!! Our plan was to buy him drinks for his birthday but Cale had to get up early for work and parking is hard to find downtown so after everyone was finished at Memphis Blues we decided to head home and take Janet back to her car.

It was still super good to see him on his birthday and so many people went to Milestones that I know he had enough company. I DO owe you a hangout birthday boy!!! But like I said, I've got lots of free time these days. Maybe when Terminator or any of the other awesome movies coming out soon are actually out we can go for dinner and a movie! I also need to hit up the comic shop soon and I could get you the same gift you got me and pay for some of the ones in your box. :)

Today it's more Bones and I'm going to try to finish the filing I started yesterday. (Hoorah for getting organized.) I'm starting to reach the point where I'm struggling to find things to do with my day and end up watching television in bed for the majority of it. I'm looking forward to watching Ellen at 11. Ha. Hugh Jackman's on today! Oh boy.

I'm hoping I'll start to get more shifts during the week so that my schedule will synch up with Cale's a little more. I'm looking forward to Wednesday the 13th because it's the finale of Top Model and Janet and Lia are probably going to come by to watch it. I'm planning on inviting anyone else who may be interested also just because it's a fun time. :D

This was a pretty standard, nothing is really happening but I'm feeling good post. :) Hope everyone else is doing well. Also...I need some new music to listen to if anyone has any recommendations.

<3

-stacey




"When it's dark, you're home and fed.
Curled up snug in your waterbed.
Moon is shining and the stars are out.
Good night, little whale, good night."

I'm reading the book Smart Couples Finish Rich right now by David Bach. It's actually pretty enlightening. The gist is that if you follow the financial plan the book lays out for you, get in touch with a financial adviser and invest, invest, invest by the time you're in your 50's, with a dual income, you'll be able to retire with a million dollars. (Or more, depending on you. Ha.)

It actually seems super helpful so far but it asks a really poignant question right off the bat. Pretty much everyone in the world can make a list of all of the things that they WANT. Or GOALS that they have. (i.e. I want to travel. I want a new tv. We want a house. I want to get into better shape.) A more difficult question is what are your top 5 values that you try to live your life by? What are you trying to accomplish with the money that you make to help you live according to those values?

My top 5 are (without any ranking in terms of importance) :

1. Family - I work hard for my money so that I can afford to go to school, which will allow me to get a good job so that when I start a family I'll be able to provide for them the best I am able to.
2. Friends - I like my friends. And I like to have fun with my friends. But it's a bummer if I can't because I never have any money. So I make money in order to be able to spend time with my friends.
3. Health - I need money to buy running shoes, clothes that are comfortable to work out it, healthy food to eat, regular check ups from my doctor, dentist, optometrist, gyno, etc. I need to be able to afford glasses when I need them and to be able to take time off work for myself without having to worry that I'm going to go broke.
4. Love - This is a big one. I want to be able to pay for the wedding I want. I want to be able to buy a house with my spouse. (Oh...rhyming.) I want to be able to go on romantic getaways, I like going on dates, I like to maintain a certain level of attractiveness (ha). Generally I just like being part of a partnership, and if my partner says, "Hey, let's disappear for the weekend." I want to be able to say "yes", not "sorry, i can't afford it...ever."
5. Happiness - Whoever said that money can't buy happiness was a liar. To be happy I need to have a certain level of security. I need a home, food, a job, clothing, among other things. It's a romantic notion that I would be happy with nothing but the clothes on my back and Cale, but that's a lie. I'd be miserable, probably cold, hungry, stressed out, and Cale would probably leave me because I'd be such a basket case. I need to be able to afford all of the other things I've listed and I need to be working towards a new goal every time I accomplish one. For me being happy is having the freedom to do, more or less, whatever I want WHENEVER I want, and you can't do that without money.

What are yours?




"i thought that the world had lost its sway
then i fell in love with you
and you took that away
you take away the old
show me the new
and i feel like i can fly
when i stand next to you
so what if I'm on this phone
a hundred miles from home
i take the words you gave
and send them back to you

Met up with Christie yesterday to treat her to birthday sushi and a skoah giftcard. (She got me one for my birthday and I LOVED it.) Then her and Rachel helped me pick out a lovely dress to wear to a Pink Birthday Party I'm attending on the weekend. :)

It looks similar to this one:



With a belt and a little more oomph on the bottom. It makes me look VERY tall and I got a few appreciative looks when I tried it on in the store so it seemed like a winner.

I love it and got an extra discount (on top of the discount it already had) because I found a small stain on the skirt. YES! Bargain shopper. That's me. Ha. I like dressing up for any occasion so I'm looking forward to it, and the salesgirl, on top of giving me a discount, ALSO told me how I should do my hair, so I'm going to practice tomorrow so that I can get it right on Saturday.

Cale is going to a snowboarding selection camp for the BC Snowboard Team this weekend at Big White (Kelowna), so I'll be on my own for a night and a half. Nothing too crazy since he's leaving EARLY Saturday morning (read: 2am) and he'll be back Sunday evening, ha, but I'm still glad that I'll have something fun to do so that I'm not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs and putting off going to bed by myself. I'm a big baby. Heh.

I figure I'll take the opportunity to finish an essay I have due on Monday and get some studying in. Like getting all of my notes together and typing up some extra notes I have lying around.

I'm working on an essay today...sort of. Heh. It's due at 6pm tonight, and I have to go to school to hand it in (BULL!!!!) so I'm classically procrastinating. Luckily, all of my research is done and I have a pretty detailed outline already constructed so I just have to sit down and put my main points into four eloquent pages. The hassle rears it's ugly head in that my prof is asking for our notes typed up as well, and I mean, give me a break, I'm still an "artist". My notes are hand written with mind maps, lists, bubbles, arrows, on four different pieces of paper so that I can spread them out and have a clear visual of what I want my paper to look like. I'm going to struggle trying to type out my notes double spaced. Blech. I'm leaving it until the end so that if I DO crap out on the notes portion, at least the essay will be done. I've got my priorities in order.

In the meantime, I'm still checking out "What Not to Wear" and waiting to see when Tamara posts the pictures from her first solo wedding shoot!!!!! Congratulations!

At least it's raining so I don't feel bad about being cooped up indoors. There's no temptation to say "F It" and just suntan all day. Heh.

I also stopped in at the comic shop.

( Nerd Cut )

Other things on my agenda today include working out, eating, walking the dog, checking the mail, cleaning my room, and going to school. Probably in that order.

I'm SO MAD that I have to go to school in the middle of the night to hand in this stupid essay. UGH!!!! Oh well....It's the last thing I have to go to school for except for exams, so I need to just DEAL!

-stacey




"you'll be my only true lover
no competition no other
baby its just
the thrill of the chase
but i got a feelin'
i'm winnin' this race
baby i'm gettin' much closer
i just need permission so...
give me the green light"

for something that was going to be a low-key, nothing planned sort of event, cale's birthday ended up being the party of the century. ha. i always say that i won the boyfriend lottery, but this weekend i'm pretty sure that the World's Best Girlfriend award is going to yours truly.

i secretly coerced his mom and brother into coming down for the weekend without letting cale know. he thought that we were in for a night of board games and drinking with my mom and sister, when low and behold Jerred came into the backyard followed by his girlfriend and their mama. ha. he figured that was surprise enough BUT then OTHER PEOPLE started to show up until we had a full blown shin dig on our hands. :D

it was a ton of fun. cale was ridiculously drunk. i have bruises on my shoulders from holding him up, but it was completely worth it. he was definitely appreciative and i'm super grateful to everyone who made it. :) i'm sure you've noticed that the pictures are on facebook and the video is COMING SOON!



there was no throwing up, the next day he just had a little gut rot, so instead of going to the Space Centre as planned we hung out in the back yard, soaked up the sun, and enjoyed each others' company. His mom and brother were staying until Monday so we just hung out, played a few board games and cale got to open his gifts. (dane cook tickets from me, plus a new rear-view mirror and air freshener for his car, a steering wheel cover from my mom, lots of alcohol from our pals and chocolate from dan, a camera tripod and some other goodies from his family and of course, a home-made chocolate chocolate cake. that's right...TWO chocolates. :D)

at 10pm we decided to check out FAST AND FURIOUS because what's better on your birthday than ass montages and cars? Ha! I'm not kidding. there must have been 10 montages featuring rap music and nothing but asses, usually finishing with a girl on girl threesome. (where do these happen? seriously? i've never seen three girls try to make out with one another unless the following ingredients were involved: a lot of alcohol, a lot of illegal drugs, and really unattractive women.) the plot is that vin diesel is GETTING REVENGE on the people who killed his girlfriend, but he gets so many girls in this movie that one has to wonder if he even remembers her name.

i drifted off a little during the movie. (too much ass to handle that late at night. lol.) but i was awake for the important parts. i hadn't been feeling too well all weekend and completely forgot that i needed to be up at 5:30am for work, so decided to call in sick. i still had to wake up early because there's no answering machine at work, but it was worth it for the 3 extra hours of sleep i got. i'm still not 100% but it's the last official day of classes for me today so i'm sucking it up.

cale pre-emptively called in sick while he was drunk saturday night so we said goodbye to his family after having breakfast at De Dutch and then sat around in the sun for a bit working on our tans. cale fell asleep and i caught up on my comics (i'm ready for more Cam!!) until we left to go see Janet and Ross in their new apartment! (which i looooooove. so many closets!!!!)

we played a sweet board game which cale and i won since we're the Dream Team. ha. then janet made us a delicious dinner and we gossiped for a million hours until it was time to go home. they're a fantastic couple so we've got it marked down on the white board to be friends with them forever. thumbs up. ha. their wedding in june is going to be a blast. i'm really looking forward to it.

we also decided that we're going to try to attend my cousin's 25th birthday on june 13th. we're going to saskatchewan in the summer anyway so that cale can meet my family and hopefully not be completely overwhelmed (there's a lot of them) so we're going to time it so that we're there for her party. :) i haven't celebrated her birthday WITH her since she was here one summer when we were 12 or 13 and i got her a dolphin ring. ha. that should definitely be fun.

i'm ALSO excited because we're trying to get a surfing trip to Tofino together. I've never been surfing OR to Tofino so i'm super jazzed. i've been trying to go every year for the last 5 years but none of my friends ever seem too into it. LUCKILY all of cale's pals are pretty much up for anything as long as the sun, the beach, and sports are involved. ha. so hopefully this is the year it's finally going to happen for me!

and in July we'll be heading back to Nelson (i was there last year) to see my cousin Travis and catch up with some of my other extended family. nelson is BEAUTIFUL and i had such a great time last time i went. hiking and the hot springs. mmmm. cale's definitely going to love the glacier pool at the hot springs. i think he drooled a little when i told him about it.

i have one paper due on Thursday (not started so far but not too hard. it's on the impressionists.) and one on Monday. (also not started, and a little trickier. my prof is a tough marker but i usually pass on the essay front. i figure i'll pull off at least a C+ in her class, although i was aiming for something in the B's. if i pull up my socks for this essay i can probably do it but i can already feel myself sliding into summer mode. i'm more focused on studying for finals than i am for writing these papers so hopefully they're passable. that's all i'm asking for.) Then 4 exams in a row and my summer FINALLY begins!

i can't believe i'm actually looking forward to working as much as possible! pay off some credit card debt, go on some trips, save up for text books, and before i know it i'll be back in school. i was planning on taking some classes this summer, since i need 13 more to graduate, but i couldn't get the funding because of work cutting back hours so i'll have to take them next summer, or try to do correspondents through another school. i'm looking into my options. that's for sure. although i still haven't made an appointment with the school counselor. :( i'm always so intimidated by them. it's totally ridiculous. i'm a grown-up. i shouldn't need someone to hold my hand for things like these. but i still wish someone would. ugh.

AND...if things go according to plan, I'll be graduating with my Bachelor of Arts in Art History by the end of June 2010!!! YAY! Then I can start the Library Sciences program in September and FINALLY be doing something RELEVANT to my desired career! HOORAH! Ha. I just have to pull up my grades a little next year (should be easy. i left all the easy classes until the end. except for my 400 level seminar, but i only need one of those. YES!) and then i'll officially no longer be in school. what a dream. ha.

i have to keep working towards my goal because i told cale that if he stuck it out with me through my poverty ridden years that i would help him purchase the Tesla Model S coming out in 2011. in white...of course. ;)




<3


-stacey



"Get dirty all night, that’s part of my thing
Keep building castles that’s made out of sand
She’s amazing, the fire blazing
Hotter than Cajun
Girl won’t you move a lil closer?
Time to get paid, it’s maximum wage
That body belong on a poster
I’m in a daze, that bottom is wavin’ at me
Like da** it, I know you
You wanna show like a gun out of holster
Tell me whatever and I’ll be your roper"

( Actually really insightful! I had to REALLY think about these answers. )

I'm finally getting the minimum payments on my credit card down which is a huge relief. Making money, however little, versus not making any at all is going better than i expected. ha. i'll have the minimum paid off with my next cheque AND have enough left over for cale's birthday and living for the following two weeks.

i just have to be good about budgeting (which is no problemo as long as i have something to budget with, ha.). instead of evening out in three months i'll be back to normal in the next two weeks! YES! then i just have to pull in some more hours and i should be able to pay my credit card off within the year. which would be nothing short of a miracle. :)

i'm feeling better all ready. goodbye stress. back to my regularly scheduled school stresses, which are easily manageable.

-stacey



"Some days I'm a super bitch
Up to my old tricks
But it won't last forever
Next day I'm your super girl
Out to save the world
And it keeps gettin' better"

Just to put things in perspective...there are 3 weeks of classes left. That means that I have a total of:

2 AHIS 226 Classes - our term paper is due during one of these classes but I'm not sure which one so I'm just going to write my paper and hand it in whenever he says we should. I'm assuming it's the last day of classes, but who really knows?

5 Ahis 337 Classes - the last thing due is the term paper which has to be submitted by April 13th electronically....easy. The hard part will be catching up on the readings so that I don't bomb the exam.

5 Span 102 Classes - I'm going to have one more written assignment and probably a small test to prepare for the final, which i'm definitely going to have to study for. this will be my most challenging class to get through this semester.

5 Sociology 100 Classes - As long as I go to the last 6 classes (if you include the one I'm going to today) and pay attention I'm not that worried about it. Our papers were due at the beginning of the semester and I managed to pull off an A, so as long as I study and take half decent notes I'll be fine.

Writing it out this way certainly helps me stress out a LOT less. I'm a little worried about my AHIS 226 class because of my ridiculous lack of attention when/if I go. I don't go because I know I won't pay attention, but it means I don't really know what my professor is looking for. I feel bad because he's genuinely interested in what he's teaching but it's clear that his talents and enthusiasm are wasted on a second year class. Hopefully if I send my him an email asking about the finer details of the paper he'll be none the wiser and I'll still get a passing grade. The final should be easy. I hate to toot my own horn but we're not learning anything I don't already know (hence the boredom and lack of attendance) but I DO need to know what he's looking for on the paper. That's where I pull in most of my marks.

Also exciting, Cale's birthday is coming up! YAY! I think i have it pretty under control and i'm getting kind of excited about it. but not too excited!!! (don't worry babe! i don't want to steal your thunder. :D)

Last night we went to a screening of "I Love You, Man". I though it was pretty hilarious and caught some of my co-workers there! Nikki even came up and had a little chat with us which was cool of her! She's a darling! Ha.

There are a lot of birthdays coming up in the summer but i'm still playing catch up after having next to no shifts for a few weeks so we'll see if i can actually attend any of them. :( work really screwed me in terms of finances, but i'm hoping that once april rolls around i'll be able to get back on track. if i work what i'm working now i should be all leveled out and comfy again in about 3 months. if i work MORE obviously that'll be ideal, and the managers are being really awesome. when there's an extra shift or more hours to hand out they're being awesome about giving me a call or asking if i want to stay late. i certainly know where to place blame in this scenario and it's not on their shoulders. it's super unfortunate how everything worked out.

i've been working out on the elliptical my mom bought for 30-45 minutes every day! it's awesome. i won't get a chance to today (it'll be too late when i get home) but i'm feeling really good. it's only been a week and i know it'll take a few before i see real results but i'm super excited. the weather has put an almost permanent hold on my running for the time being and i've been feeling the drag. (i.e. i feel like a big, fat, lazy loser.) BUT i tried out a sweet workout program last month and lost 6 inches of flubber off of my body! YES! haha. AND lost 4 pounds. AWESOME! i definitely notice a difference in the mirror. everyone has crappy days where they can only see their flaws, but i'm having more good days than bad lately, which is awesome.

working on positive body image: CHECK!

next step: get over my crappy relationship baggage and give my brain a break from insecurity. good golly miss molly.

i can't wait for school to be over so that i stop feeling like i have to drag myself out the door twice a week to spend time doing something i hate!!! it worked out that there's not really any classes i can take this summer that i really need. i NEED a break from school. i can't shake the feeling that it's a lot of work, time and money for very little reward. it's really dragging me down and i'm not sure how to shift my outlook on this one. i can't help but feel like all of the classes i'm taking are completely useless. it's the same way i felt the last year of high school. just sort of...what's the point? at this point it feels like i'm going to be in school for the rest of my life. and i know that isn't true, but i'm in a weird "feeling" rut right now. haha. everything is all about how i "feel" instead of about what i "know". it's annoying and i'm doing my best to push past it and move the f on.

ANYWAY!!!! i just have to stay positive and keep reminding myself that it's all going to be worth it in the end. i know if i just keep trucking i'll be glad that i did.

i think maybe i should make a "Goals" collage with everything i'm going to accomplish on it so that i have something to remind myself of the benefits of everything i'm doing. :D

And I need to make an appointment with an academic councelor to find out exactly what i have left to do before i can have my Bachelor of Arts COMPLETED!

OK BREAK!!!!

-stacey




"Now my love, you stand beside me
To walk life's winding road
And I owe it all to you
For taking the chance
You've shown me there's a right man"

so...this weekend i had a really great idea for a book. a REALLY great idea. and i work in a book store, so i know it's not out there yet. but i need some help. i have no idea how to start. there are things that i need to know that i don't even know where to start looking for. ha. and i'm so conflicted!!! should i tell everyone i know? (i'm definitely going to need your help!) or should i keep my idea a secret and somehow try to work it out alone? i need to collect photos but what are the legality issues around that sort of thing? do i have to make up some kind of contract that allows me to use photos of/taken by other people? should i put their names in? it's not an art book, but it WILL be beautiful!!! :D

so i guess i just need a little advice from all of my oh-so-intelligent, soon-to-be-famous novelist friends.

what should i do?!?!?!?!?

<3 stacey.

I have a lot of ideas after hanging out with all of these athletes all weekend but i'm going to need some help when I get back!! Just a heads up pals! :)

i finished my first essay of the semester the day before it was due instead of the day of!!! amazing!!! haha. i feel pretty accomplished actually. and i did all of the research before-hand and even started writing it on saturday. today i just polished it off and made sure all of my references were cited properly. yowza!!!

on another unrelated note:

i've been thinking a lot about valentine's day and romance, as per usual, and i was wondering what sorts of romantic scenarios you guys have been in? i LOVE romance, obviously, but cale asked me the other day what sorts of romantic things i liked and i have no idea! i mean, i've got the obvious, i like poems and surprise back rubs, etc. etc., but what do you guys like/have had done for you/done for someone else? what's one romantic fantasy you've always had? (it doesn't have to be sexy, it could be something like having someone serenading you.)

Thanks. :)

-stacey



"There's just no rhyme or reason
Only this sense of completion
And in your eyes
I see the missing pieces
I'm searching for
I think I've found my way home"

omg! i just sent my application and resume in to the public library. do whatever you want to wish me good luck! candles, prayers, fingers crossed, whatever. i want it soooooooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!

EEP!

-stacey

Cale and I both bought Flowboards the other day. Apparently this is going to drastically improve our snowboarding (more mine than his. Ha!) but it's really fun. He quit before I did last night!! Although it's probably just because he has to wake up so much earlier than I do.



A VIDEO

It snowed so my sporadic running is on hiatus again because I'll make any excuse not to do it. Ha. I really enjoy it when I do it regularly, it's just hard to motivate myself once I've stopped for a while. But I think my mom and I are going to play The Biggest Loser with some of my family in Alberta and hopefully that'll be a good way to keep motivated!!!

I have some bread stuck between my teeth and nothing to drink, it's driving me crazy!!!

I've lost at least an inch on my waist and I WAS down 5lbs but then I ate out for a week and didn't exercise so that was short lived. Ha. Whoopsie.

Anyway, check out that video! Flowboarding is crazy!!!!!

-Stacey



"you look good in my shirt"

I have to keep checking in every now and again to keep myself on track.

I've been good about making meals but fallen into buying lunches at school again. I have to find a way to make portable meals that I don't have to heat up that aren't just sandwiches all the time. Haha.

I also need to curb my impulse to eat because other people are eating or because i think i should. i.e. I'm at the movie theatre. i always eat popcorn. i don't need popcorn but i will get it anyway because i will be restless without it. urgh!!! BAD HABITS!!!!

still...i've been working out 3-4 times a week like i wanted and i've lost and inch and a half off of my waistline. it's easier to stand on the snowboard while i wait for cale to explain something which means my legs, abs and back muscles HAVE to be improving. the first time we went i shook like a leaf if i had to stand still for more than a minute.

i've been drinking a LOT more water.

i still need to work on portion control.

now that the snow is more or less gone i want to start running again and really commit this time. just pick 2 or 3 days when i KNOW i will do it! Mondays and Wednesdays for sure. Every day would be nice and I'll do my best, but I know myself and if my goal is too ambitious i'll give up. if i can start out doing it twice a week i can move up to three times a week, then four, then five and eventually doing it every day will be second nature, but i really have to work to get there.

i've also set a goal for myself to get my N by september. that way i can buy a car with some of my left-over student loan money and can at least drive myself to the skytrain and transit from there instead of having to be in transit for 2 hours when i have class instead of just making the 40 min. drive to school. i might as well take advantage of not having to pay rent while i don't have to pay rent. and i really want to start getting my savings in order. i don't make enough money right now to save ANYTHING and it's really getting me down. it's the only thing in my life that i'm not happy with and i SHOULD be. i have a lot of valuable skills and i should be using them. whether that means getting a second job, or even just a new better paying job then that's what i have to do. i would hate to leave chapters but i'm 24 and i have no savings because i barely make enough every paycheck to pay my phone bill, credit card bill (i only have one!!!) and buy groceries. then pfft. that's it! i'm broke for another two weeks. it's ridiculous. i've been with chapters for 3 years. i shouldn't still be living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm really sick right now but I'm doing my best to get lots of sleep (although last night was a fail in that department.) and hopefully feel better soon. i'm skipping spanish today because the idea of trying to conjugate the past tense, answer questions in a foreign language and take notes at the same time while i'm on cold medication sounds more unappealing than i can even really convey.

i read a long post about romance today. what romance is. what it means to different people.

it really got me curious and since valentine's day is a month away and the calendar in my head operates on deadlines it got me thinking about it too.

cale and i don't shower one another with romantic gestures or anything but i think we make it pretty clear on a regular basis how we feel about one another in various little ways. how do you do it? what's your idea of romance? would you be upset if your partner wasn't the same sort of romantic you are? i.e. you prefer grandiose gestures that leave no question of your feelings (here's a new car!/ i spent 3 days making you this gift/ i travelled all over the continent to find you this unreleased version of your favorite television show) while they prefer smaller more intimate gestures (here's a back rub/ i bought groceries so you don't have to/ i made the bed today). do you think it's possible to be TOO romantic? or to idealize romance TOO much?

i'm so curious!!!

-stacey



"I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be
A little gambling is fun when you're with me (I love it)
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love if its not rough it isn't fun"

Does anyone know what they're doing (whether single or otherwise) for Valentine's Day? I'm just curious.

-stacey



"I can't get your smile out of my mind
(I can't get you outta my mind)
I think about your eyes all the time
You're beautiful but you don't even try
(You don't even, don't even try)

1. Ask me to take pictures of any aspect of my life you're curious about.
2. Leave your requests as comments to this entry. One request per person.
3. Please look at the previous requests as to not do repeats.
4. I'll snap the pictures and post them.

fun fun fun!