Hello Everyone, it feels like I disappeared for quite some time eh?!? I have been really busy with school and work and everything else you could possibly think of! So here is an update on where I have been and what I have been doing for the past two months.

• Christmas Time! I went up to Yellowknife with Tom, and it was really, really cold.  It was nice to see my mom and dad, and their new house though.  It was a quiet christmas with lots of family time.  This was the first time that I have been to Yellowknife in like 5 or 6 years.  It hadn't really changed at all though. I'm sure I'll see more of it in the future as well.
• Back to Residence.  We hired three new staff members, and they seem to be doing really well.  Enjoying the position and getting back to the wire.  I was happy to come back and see all of my residents and co-workers after our time off.
• A new semester and last semester of my program came really fast.  I will be graduating in April, so this semester is, of course, going to go slow, but so far it is really awesome.  My classes are fairly easy and the professors seem to be more lax on us.
• January really wasn't an eventful month for me, all that came was work and school, basically it.
• February hits, and oh my gosh! This month is full of things. 
• Singles Awareness Day, or in other words Valentines Day, comes every year, but never seems to be that exciting.  I spent some time at a party and then came home and went to bed at 10:30! WOOT WOOT
• My dad's birthday was on the 16th of Feb, Happy Birthday Dad!!
• I flew to Vancouver on the 18th, for reading week.  I went with friends, Anthony, Travis and Torie! It was an amazing time, we did all sorts of things.  Went to the aquarium, the science centre, Chinatown, Victoria, The Marina, the Wax Museum, the Empress, and of course Robson street which is the Main drag downtown Vancouver.  My older brother Mack and some friends were also down for a conference, so we hooked up for supper, and it was delish!!
• Back to Edmonton on the 23rd, late night and not really wanting to come back.  On the 24th, it was my parents anniversary...28years!! HOLY COW, thats a long time! Happy Anniversary Guys.
• Yesterday was my birthday, 21...oooh, big age.  I went out on Saturday night with some friends, and it was good times.  The way I look at it, 21 is the last milestone until you hit 40 when you are “over the hil“ or something like that. 
• And now we are at today.  Today I went to the airport to get my brother's car keys to him, and now I'm doing an assignment that is due in about 2 hours.  Haven't started it, so I guess I should get back at it. 

Well, that's where I've been, a whole lot of nothing! I am back into the blogging world, so you will see more of me soon!

Yesterday, I got my Christmas present from my mom and dad, my tattoo.  It is the three snowflakes on my foot.  I am absolutely in love with it. I think it turned out extremely well and couldn't be happier with it.  Most people say, “Oh that's going to hurt” or “That's a painful place to get one,” but when it came down to it, it really didn't hurt like I thought it was going to.  I was anticipating all this pain, but when he started, of course I wasn't expecting the initial stabbing feeling, however after like two lines I was okay with it.  It was a very neat experience and now I have this lovely tattoo on my foot that I truly love.  Thank you again Mom and Dad, this was a wonderful XMas present!

Well, this weekend I finally got my brand new car!! It is a 2006 Honda Civic Sedan. I was extremely excited to get it.  I spent the day with my Dad(pictured above with me) and my brother Mack, which was really awesome.  I am still pretty much in shock, because I didn't think in my wildest dreams that I would be leasing a car this soon in my life!! I really love it and it is so pretty and wonderful.  If you want to see more pictures of my car, my brother has them posted here.

Oh the Shovel Game!!! This is my shovel…it was given to me on the very first day of training with a name.  It is a game that all of the RA’s at Residence are playing. The name that we got was the name of the person who we were trying to catch without their shovel.  If we caught our person without their shovel then we had to say “Shovel’s Off” to that person and they were now out of the game, and we then got their person to chase after.  You have to have your shovel at all times….the game has been going now for almost 3 weeks and I have gotten out 4 people…I am now in the final 4.!!!! It is amazing…because I made an alliance with two other people and it is almost at the point where it is just the three of us left!! We said we would make it to the bitter end and we almost have!!! WOOT WOOT…GO TEAM!!!!

Finally...a moment to do a post.  I have been back in Edmonton now since the 19th of August and it has been a heck of a ride so far.  As soon as I walked off the plane I came straight to Residence for the premier of training. That led two weeks of intense and fun training. We started at 8am everyday and then were done at 10pm every night.  We had every single meal together and spent all our time together so now we're nice and close.  We had socials in the evening that consisted of a movie, swimming, laser tag and much much more. It was really awesome.  Now that training is over we had move in day on saturday and oh my goodness was it ever busy.  We had 700 students move in, in a matter of 8 hours...very hectic.  My floor loved the fact that our theme is popsicles vs. palm trees and they loved the popsicles that I left in their freezers, so I was very happy.  For the first week of classes and such..everyone is on duty until 4am or 2am at night...I have only gotten about 8 hours of sleep in the last 3 days...mmmm, coffee!!!! But everything is good and first day of classes went okay...so all is good here in my world. Leave me a comment and let me know how you are doing!!!

I found this and I thought it was absolutely lovely!!!!

Last night was the finale for, “So you think you can Dance?” and my favourite of all the dancers was crowned, America's favourite dancer.  Benji, won the competion. I was very happy to see that he won, because not only can he dance, and dance all styles, he has the personality to back it up and be an awesome performer.  He was originally paired with Donyelle who was also in the top four and his cousin Hiedi made it until then as well.  He is an extremely talented dancer and I really think he's gonna make it big!! The show also did really well this summer, becoming America's number one summer show. That makes me happy because then at least I know it will be on again next summer!!

Well, it has been almost four months since I have been back in Inuvik and I cannot believe how fast it has gone. I only have 13 days left until I get back into Edmonton. I am getting so extremely excited and cannot wait, because after I leave on the 19th I most likely won't be coming back to Inuvik until possibly next summer. That makes me so excited.  I hate having to leave everything behind and just pickup and move.  Moving twice a year is very annoying, and stressful.  Thank goodness I'm not going to be doing that as much anymore.  Anyways, 13 days and counting down, I cannot wait!!!!

You know when you are extremely busy; some things just slip your mind? Well that’s exactly what has become of me. I am so busy with day camp that I have been putting my blog on the back burner for quite a while. So to let everyone know how I have been and what I have been doing I’m just doing an update for my summer thus far. Enjoy!

• I quit smoking 9 weeks ago and I’m very proud of myself. This was the hardest thing I have had to do in quite some time and I think that I’ve done it quite well. I have one week left on the patch and then after that I’m on my on will power and strength. I don’t think I’ll have a problem with it though, because all of my cravings are now nonexistent.
• In probably mid May I started a regular workout, and have been going to the gym about 5 days a week.  I have lost quite a bit of weight, prolly like 14 or 15lbs and I can run again, since I quit smoking. I forgot how much I really like to run.
• Probably the biggest news of the summer is that my parents are moving to Yellowknife.  My dad got a job with the YK1 Education District, managing information technology for approx. 8 schools.  I think that they are excited, and my mom will most likely not have a problem finding a job. She has really good skills and will use them to her advantage.
• I actually just dropped my dad, mom and brother, Tommie off at the airport. Tom and my mom are going down because Tom is getting a liver biopsy on Tuesday and my dad starts work there tomorrow.  I am all alone again this summer, except this time it’s only until Wednesday, so it’s only a slight break by myself.
• Day Camp is extremely busy. This year the registration has doubled from last year and all of my camps are completely full with just over 70 kids every week.  Next week is splish splash week and it’s full of outdoor water activities. It will be really nice because the weather is supposed to be pretty warm here all week.  After Splish Splash I have Reality week and you’re a superstar week, and then day camp is all done for the year.
• July 15^th, was the 1 year anniversary of a beloved friend’s death.  Last year at that time, Matt Wojdak was killed just outside of Smithers, BC.  He was an awesome guy, and really good at what he did. He was a volunteer fire fighter and EMT. Rest in Peace Phatty.
• After 7 years, I finally did it. I finally quit at Rexall Drugs.  I worked for the Rexall up here for 5 years before I took off to Edmonton and then 2 years in Edmonton.  It was sad to say good bye but also a relief, I get my weekends back! Woot Woot.
• The past couple of weekends, my family and I have been having garage sales.  The first weekend we made just over $1300 and the weekends after that were okay but not quite as much.  We are trying to sell 16 years worth of junk so yard sales are going to happen every weekend until I leave. 
• I have decided on buying a car when I get back to Edmonton. I am going to lease a 2006 Honda Civic Sedan, colour: Galaxy Grey.  I’m extremely excited because it will be my first vehicle. 
• I have also started saving and planning for my trip to Denmark, Germany, and Poland next summer. I am really set on going and have already started planning. Lego Land is going to be the first thing I do, yeah!
• I have gotten very addicted to Big Brother and So you think you Can Dance this summer. They are the shows that help me make it through the summer.  I don’t think the summer would be going so fast otherwise.
• I start back at MacEwan Residence on the 19^th of August and will be a Resident Assistant this year. I’m very much looking forward to it, and can’t wait to get back and start.
• Classes don’t start until September 5^th, for me so I will have 2 weeks back in Edmonton for training at Rez and to relax. 
• I really can’t wait to get back to Edmonton and get back into things. The summer always seems so pointless for me up here, because all I do is count the days until I can get back to Edmonton.

I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful summer and the weather has been nice for everyone, regardless of where you are.  I will see everyone back in Edmonton in 3 weeks! YEAH. See y’all soon!

Today when I checked the mail, there was a letter there for me from Grant MacEwan, my college in Edmonton.  I only just opened and much to my surprise this is what was inside        

                   “It is my pleasure to congratulate you on an excellent academic year in the Early Childhood Development program.  The achievement of first class standing with a GPA of 3.421 is a measure of your dedication and hard work in achieving excellence in your studies.  I wish you success in all of your future endeavors and I know that you will take the same dedication and skill forward with you into your work with young children and their families.  Congratulations on receiving first class standing - it is very well deserved.”

The letter was signed by the acting chair of the Early Childhood Development Program.  I am extremely pleased with myself, although I am a little dissappointed with my GPA, it fell .2 points from the first semester.  I am very happy and will work even harder next semester!

Hey Everyone, I have been having some technical difficulties with the laptop that I have at my access for the summer. I don't have consistent access to any computer right now, so until I get the laptop all better, I won't be on my MSN! This kills me because my MSN is my communication to all of y'all down there in Edmonton, but e-mail works if you want to talk to me, or telephone. Hope to talk to everyone really soon!!