toronto is going through a wave of absolute coldness right now.
its been in the -20's without windchill for the past couple days. and i am not equipped with the proper equipment for this kind of weather. i am in dire need for some new winter clothing. too bad i have no job.. lol
i guess this weekend will be for some bargain shopping for winter wear.

winter = unnecessary cold weather, jackets, and boots

mother nature, please bring back my sandals and shorts!

this and that. plus a little more

okay. so i havent posted since the 31st of october. REALLY bad i know.. so i am going to try and write everything from the past couple months (in a condensed version.. lol)
semester 1 finally ended for me on the 19th of december, and christmas break finally arrived! i had about 3 weeks plus a few days off, and it felt great!
alex headed back to cranbrook just a couple days after school ended, and this was our first christmas apart. :(

for the first time in over ten years i didnt spend my christmas holidays in cranbrook, bc, my hometown. my parents decided to spend their holidays here in toronto with my sister and i, and the rest of my moms side of the family. during their time here the four of us were so busy visiting family after family. my mom has seven sisters, and they all have families.. so you do the math :S
my grandparents live in toronto as well, which made the holiday festivities even more fun.
oh! and how could i forget. my grandpa turned 101 over the christmas holidays!!! can you believe it??? we all celebrated his birthday with a big family dinner at his favorite chinese restaurant, and spoiled him with gifts.

here is a picture of the whole family:



after all the christmas festivities were over, my parents headed back to cranbrook on the 26th of december. which left me to do some boxing day shopping in the city! i didnt get much because the crowds were so scary, but i managed to get a few things from urban outfitters.

december 29th: ALEX COMES BACK TO TORONTO just in time to celebrate a late christmas and my birthday/new years just a couple days later.
we initially decided that since he didnt get back to toronto until late on the 29th, we would exchange gifts and such on the 30th, but i just couldnt wait.. so we ended up waking up at 2 in the morning and ripping into them. (well, 2am.. it is the 30th! kinda... ) its the 5 year old child in me :D
alex got me the books that i really wanted from mary-kate and ashley olsen, and... my very first marc by marc jacobs item! a wallet that i had my eye on for months! i was thrilled beyond belief and am taking care of it very well.
i made alex a massive stocking filled with stuff that he wanted. some xbox games, clothing, and a gift certificate to make a contribution to a new computer screen (his broke).
we did happen to take pictures of our belated christmas, but my computer crashed, and all my photos got deleted :( (we havent been having good luck with electronics..)

for my birthday/new years eve, him and i just spent the day relaxing and hanging out. in the evening, he took me out for dinner at auerge du pommier, and then we went out for drinks with a few friends. just in time for the stroke of midnight, we headed back home to ring in the new year with my sister and her fiancee. then the four of us had a blast together playing the wii.

pheww.. almost all caught up.
last wednesday i started the new semester. im not too thrilled with my schedule because i somehow ended up with a 5 day school week again, but the hours wont be too bad once spring comes and its a bit warmer out.
this semester i have 7 classes: studio design/theory 2005, quantity surveying 1043, law reqs 2022, mechanical/electrical 2046, steel-frame design 2034, cade 3001, and my elective, personal finance 1027.
its a stressful semester again, but hopefully ill make it!

okay. all caught up.. i am going to try and do my best to keep up with posting this year. its one of my new years resolutions!

happy new year everyone!

school is a struggle.

again, its been a long time since i have posted anything on my blog. but its now that counts i suppose!

life here has been so busy lately. school has been kicking my butt and draining me of any energy that i have. last year my course load was pretty heavy.. 8 courses a semester with 3 labs with 33 hours of class a week, not counting extra curricular activities and homework. but somehow i was able to manage everything and keep a 3.9 GPA.
this year however is not the case. i still have 8 courses, 3 labs, and only 30 hours of class a week. but for some reason my "A" average seems to be struggling. everything seems harder with not enough time to finish anything. throughout my schooling years, i have never really been the "A" student. my grades were never terrible, but never great. so finally last year with some SERIOUS studying and concentration i was finally the "A student" i have always wanted to be. now, its back to a range in the spectrum.. A's, B's, and i havent quite hit the C's yet. (let's hope i dont)

hopefully things will start looking up soon. i just finished my applications for ryerson and the university of toronto, so there is no turning back now. my grades need to be as high as they can be so i can get accepted for next fall.

oh goodness..its been soo long since i've written! things have been so busy since i've been back in toronto and now that school is back in session, its been so hectic and full of things to do.
its been about a month now since alex and i have been back in toronto, and we've been enjoying our time together muchly! we have really connected more since he has been back from australia, and we just celebrated our 3 year anniversary last week.

here are some pictures of our anniversary weekend..

oh ya!
5 more DAAAAAYS!

last minute details.

well, this past week has been very busy and full of nice things.
i've been busy working, packing, and visiting with friends before i go back to toronto.
my week started off like any other.. just work work work. on tuesday i spent the afternoon trying to get all my things back into my room because the renovations just finished a couple days prior to that. in the evening it was off to work again and then to hang out with meghan after. wednesday was kind of a lost day. in the morning i went for a run, then i was home to try and collect all my things that i've somewhat spread around the house over the summer. after that, it was work, and then i was home for the night with a london fog in hand, and a movie. thuuursday.. i had a busy day. i was up early to drop my dads vehicle off to fix a flat tire. then i had a quick visit with taylor. we were finally able to find a spare minute to get caught up on each others summer events. we've barely been able to see each other at all! every time we would plan, our work schedules always conflicted. after that, it was back home for a run. then work from 4:30 til about 10:00 (it was a pretty short shift). that evening i was back home to frantically do about 7 loads of laundry. everything has been in boxes, so i figured i would give everything a good wash before i go back. friday was another busy day.. in the afternoon i finished packing the rest of my things, and then went downtown to pick up a "wii fit" i ordered in for meghan. her and i have been looking for one all summer, and now WE BOTH have one! i worked from 3:00-10:00, and then went to meghans for our last night together. we've been friends for soo many years.. its always hard saying bye to her. anyways, our visit ended up turning into a sleepover, and then it was back home this morning to prepare for my last day in cranbrook.
i have a ton of errands to run before i head to work for my LAAAST DAY!!!!!!

i better be off!

heartaches.

my days without you have been passing by slowly.
on good days you aren't there to be happy with me.
on bad days you aren't there to comfort me.
i never thought life would be so different without you around...
no goodnight phone calls. no hugs. no kisses. no holds. no hand holding. no giggles or laughs. no messages. no surprise visits. no late night walks.
when people use the quote "being apart makes the heart grow fonder" i now understand what they are saying.
i cant wait until the day when i see you in the airport and i can jump into your arms like we see in the movies. the heart stopping, tears in your eyes, surge of love moment.

i miss you..

10.

back to you now.

yiikes.. my week off has passed by soo fast. i spent the majority of the week with the family (mother, father, sister).
she arrived back to cranbrook last saturday, and it seemed like the time all of us had together was soo short! we didnt do anything to exciting while she was home. my mom, sister, and i took a shopping trip to calgary for a couple days which was nice. the shopping isnt really comparable to toronto, but i still got a few nice things! including 3 pairs of sunglasses which i couldnt really afford, but decided to anyway... <3

well anyways, shan left yesterday and the house has been kind of quiet. it was really nice having someone to talk to at ALL times haha.
so now i am just trying to keep myself busy until its time for me to go back to toronto! i shouldnt have too much trouble in that department... these upcoming 2 weeks i will be working 14 shifts in a row, and i have training at the gym with ryan everyday aswell.

oh ya! only....

18 more days!!!!!!!!

happy and sad.

well, yesterday was a day filled with happy and sad moments..

happiness: my sister shan came back to cranbrook for a week! i havent seen her since i left toronto in april, so its been a few months since ive seen her. it will be nice having someone to keep me company on my week off of work.
sadness: alex left yesterday. he is now up up and away to austrailia for a month.. i wont be seeing him until august 30th when school is about to start up again. i miss him so much already and he has only been gone for a day.

after i dropped alex off at the airport, i went back to work til 10 and then home to hang out with my sister. its been nice having her home.
after her and i were done chatting for the night, i was exhausted from the days work and went to bed. i had a little cry because alex wasnt there to give me my goodnight phone call.

im soo excited to have him come home. im counting down the days..

28.

good things.

so lately i have been wanting to start new and refreshing things. i am at a point in my life where i just want all new experiences. so ive decided that i wont be coming back to cranbrook for the summer next year. i have researched for internships in the toronto area, and i have found quite a few that i am interested in. also, i am going to take summer classes next year so that i can get a few classes out of the way! ive also been working on my portfolio for my applications to university of toronto and ryerson university. alex helped me look up some programs at those two schools and i am really anxious to begin my studies there once i am done my program at george brown.

speaking about new things... MY SISTER AND HER FIANCEE HAVE SET A DATE FOR THEIR WEDDING! it will be on july 26th of next year, and i could not be happier for her and abel. they have been dating for almost nine years now, so we've all been waiting for them to "tie-the-not". when i get back at the end of august, her and i will go and look at some locations she has on hold for the ceremony. i am really excited to see everthing come together.

new things are AWESOME!
<3