Sunday, October 28, 2007
Long Distance
Long distance blows. It is awful. I am so tired of it. Erik was here for two days and it was wonderful. It was so good to be together. It makes me hate long distance though. I hate only being able to talk to him after 6:00pm. I hate talking on the phone. I hate not being able to waltz over and see him. I hate that he doesn't know any of my friends out here. I hate having to tell him about my day instead of being able to enjoy it with him. I hate having to say goodbye.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Game Face...
This is apparently how I look when I'm taking pictures.... a bit frightening. No wonder I can only take pictures of inanimate objects.
I am now capable of making an occupied bed. In fact, I'm a trained professional. I have a test next week in which I am to be video-taped and critiqued... uh oh.
In other news... I'm going home to Abbotsford tonight. I have a memorial to go to on Sunday.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Beatrice
We also went to this World Vision exhibit thing in which you go through this audio tour of an orphans life. You were all by yourself in the rooms because they staggered it and it was really interesting actually. The orphan I was ... experiencing... I don't konw how to explain it, but her name was Beatrice and she was 7 years old and her sister died in childbirth so she took care of her newborn neice. It went through the last two years of her life as she is now nine years old. There were times where I was nervous to be by myself and I didn't want to walk through the next curtain because I was afraid of what would be on the other side. I was entirely absorbed in this little girl's life. It was fascinating. I took some pictures inside, but I was too interested to stop paying attention for too long. It really was a wonderful experience.
Lakeshore
We have been super busy. I am supposed to be studying, but that seems to be nearly impossible right now. Lauren and I went for a walk today. We went to the lake and took a ton of pictures. It was pretty fun.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Pictures!
Today we had a history of nursing lecture in our 7 hour NRSG 112 class. It was pretty fun. We got to dress up like nurses from back in the day. I got to wear a sweet cape because I was from the 1950's. It was awesome. They should definitely bring back the caps and capes.
Erik also came to visit this weekend so there are some pictures from that. We took lots of pictures of flowers because we were having fun with the settings on the camera. It was awesome.
Erik also came to visit this weekend so there are some pictures from that. We took lots of pictures of flowers because we were having fun with the settings on the camera. It was awesome.
Monday, September 17, 2007
1-888-2-DONATE
I hate giving blood. I hate needles and waiting in line. I don't like sitting there waiting for the lady to come and stab me in the arm. Those seven minutes it takes to donate feel like forever. I get so cold and I am always exhausted afterwards and it's awful. I hate it, but it's so good. The reasons I keep going back (I make myself sound like a regular, but I've only done it four times)... The reasons I keep going back are:
1. The questioning with the RN is humorous. I giggle while they ask me about all the people I haven't had sex with. There's even a question about handling monkey's urine or something about monkeys.
2. It's really good to donate blood. You can help so many people and I am O+ so I can give to A+, AB+ and O+. That's pretty useful blood.
3. As much as I hate it, it's kind of fun. I have gone with friends each time and it has always been a pretty fun environment.
This time, I had an interesting experience... and no friend to share it with. Lauren and Michelle had class till five and I was done at 3:30. UBC-O had a blood donor clinic set up in the gym so I decided to head out there. I made sure I ate a lot of food and drank a lot of liquids before (more so than I usually do before donating) and then I headed out to the gym. I sat in line for TWO hours!! It passed with the usual childish giggling, some small talk with fellow donors, and reading magazines (Halle Berry is pregnant by the way, and there was something about Beckham and the American league or something). Anyways. Right away when I was stabbed I knew something was a bit different. I sucked it up though and wiggled my fingers as instructed and thought about nothing in particular. Anyways. So I pounded out that blood! I was done in just over 6 minutes when it usually takes me 7 1/2 to 8 minutes to donate. Anyway, as the lady was pulling out the needle I was like, "This doesn't feel right"... so she called something out loud and I knew I was kind of losing it. So, because I was actually pretty interested in how things were feeling, I was trying to focus on exactly how I felt, but all I could think about was the stupid song Michelle and Lauren were playing this morning "Teardrops on my guitar". It was awful. #1 I hate that song and #2 it was ruining my concentration. I think I started day-dreaming about something and the next thing I knew I was being rolled onto my side by these four nurses and my chair was now in the lying down position, I had a wet cloth on my head and neck and one lady was asking another my name. I mumbled out that my name was Ashley and then I realized that I didn't know how I got where I was. It was the strangest thing and then I felt entirely fine like two seconds later. They made me stay there and they brought me juice and I drank it lying down and it was kind of sweet actually. So strange though, but awesome. I wish I could have paid attention to how I felt. The lady was saying that my eyes rolled back and everything. So weird. She said it may have to do with the fact that I donated a lot quicker than I ever have or maybe I didn't have enough wheat. Anyway... I was pretty proud that I finished my donation before passing out.
On a completely separate note. We were talking about Health Promotion in Nursing 111 today and my instructor said that in Israel they banned pesticides and breast cancer went down by 60% in women!! AND there was no decrease in production. That is a significant amount, eh?
1. The questioning with the RN is humorous. I giggle while they ask me about all the people I haven't had sex with. There's even a question about handling monkey's urine or something about monkeys.
2. It's really good to donate blood. You can help so many people and I am O+ so I can give to A+, AB+ and O+. That's pretty useful blood.
3. As much as I hate it, it's kind of fun. I have gone with friends each time and it has always been a pretty fun environment.
This time, I had an interesting experience... and no friend to share it with. Lauren and Michelle had class till five and I was done at 3:30. UBC-O had a blood donor clinic set up in the gym so I decided to head out there. I made sure I ate a lot of food and drank a lot of liquids before (more so than I usually do before donating) and then I headed out to the gym. I sat in line for TWO hours!! It passed with the usual childish giggling, some small talk with fellow donors, and reading magazines (Halle Berry is pregnant by the way, and there was something about Beckham and the American league or something). Anyways. Right away when I was stabbed I knew something was a bit different. I sucked it up though and wiggled my fingers as instructed and thought about nothing in particular. Anyways. So I pounded out that blood! I was done in just over 6 minutes when it usually takes me 7 1/2 to 8 minutes to donate. Anyway, as the lady was pulling out the needle I was like, "This doesn't feel right"... so she called something out loud and I knew I was kind of losing it. So, because I was actually pretty interested in how things were feeling, I was trying to focus on exactly how I felt, but all I could think about was the stupid song Michelle and Lauren were playing this morning "Teardrops on my guitar". It was awful. #1 I hate that song and #2 it was ruining my concentration. I think I started day-dreaming about something and the next thing I knew I was being rolled onto my side by these four nurses and my chair was now in the lying down position, I had a wet cloth on my head and neck and one lady was asking another my name. I mumbled out that my name was Ashley and then I realized that I didn't know how I got where I was. It was the strangest thing and then I felt entirely fine like two seconds later. They made me stay there and they brought me juice and I drank it lying down and it was kind of sweet actually. So strange though, but awesome. I wish I could have paid attention to how I felt. The lady was saying that my eyes rolled back and everything. So weird. She said it may have to do with the fact that I donated a lot quicker than I ever have or maybe I didn't have enough wheat. Anyway... I was pretty proud that I finished my donation before passing out.
On a completely separate note. We were talking about Health Promotion in Nursing 111 today and my instructor said that in Israel they banned pesticides and breast cancer went down by 60% in women!! AND there was no decrease in production. That is a significant amount, eh?
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Persian Pear
I absolutely LOVE scented candles. We use them to make our little apartment smell pretty. And, it smells really pretty. We stick our candle infront of the air-conditioner so the scent circulates throughout the room. It's brilliant. We've already been through a candle. I think it was one of the greatest smelling candles I have ever had the pleasure of burning. It was called "Persian Pear", part of the Luminaria collection. And (Shawna, this part's for you) it was from MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA! How exciting is that? I didn't buy it there, but that's what the sticker on the bottom said. We now have a not-as-good-but-adequate-enough Sandalwood Vanilla going right now.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Better start sounding smart
I just found out that Erik's sister reads my blog. I've been trying desperately to think of smart things to say to impress her, but I don't really have anything.
I was reading my textbook today for Anatomy and Physiology and I learned something. I've apparently been referring to my anatomy incorrectly for the past 20 years! I guess that won't make me sound smart for Shawna, but I learned that my "leg" is actually just called a lower limb. My real leg only extends from my knee to my ankle. All this time I've been calling it my calf and my thigh, but that doesn't even make sense. I'm defining my body using two incomparable names. Thigh and leg are approriate comparisons as are quad and calf. Interesting. I was also corrected as far as my upper limb (formerly known as "arm") is concerned. My arm really only extends from my shoulder to my elbow.
I'm going to start dinner. Yes, I do cook. This will be the seventh night in a row! K. Lauren has cooked too, but we have cooked seven nights in a row. We have people stop at our doorway and smell our room because it's awesome!
I was reading my textbook today for Anatomy and Physiology and I learned something. I've apparently been referring to my anatomy incorrectly for the past 20 years! I guess that won't make me sound smart for Shawna, but I learned that my "leg" is actually just called a lower limb. My real leg only extends from my knee to my ankle. All this time I've been calling it my calf and my thigh, but that doesn't even make sense. I'm defining my body using two incomparable names. Thigh and leg are approriate comparisons as are quad and calf. Interesting. I was also corrected as far as my upper limb (formerly known as "arm") is concerned. My arm really only extends from my shoulder to my elbow.
I'm going to start dinner. Yes, I do cook. This will be the seventh night in a row! K. Lauren has cooked too, but we have cooked seven nights in a row. We have people stop at our doorway and smell our room because it's awesome!
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Dorm Decorating
Lauren and I have been decorating our little apartment to make it more comfortable for ourselves. It has actually been kind of fun. All the pictures are from my beloved MCC Thrift store.
We have these two little chefs in our kitchen with our orange hangy thing...
Here I am bruising my hand hanging up our mirrors. We didn't know how to attach them so we used sticky-tac... lots of sticky-tac.
We just bought the little table on the left of the picture from MCC here in Kelowna (Abbotsford MCC is better). I think it looks sweet. Almost cozy. Almost.
We have these two little chefs in our kitchen with our orange hangy thing...
Here I am bruising my hand hanging up our mirrors. We didn't know how to attach them so we used sticky-tac... lots of sticky-tac.
We just bought the little table on the left of the picture from MCC here in Kelowna (Abbotsford MCC is better). I think it looks sweet. Almost cozy. Almost.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Give me a break!!!!
We've had five eventful nights here in Monashee at UBCO.
In the first three nights, the cops were called three times. It was great. They come right outside our window because we overlook the parking lot/ hang out zone. It's sweet.
Every night we are crooned to sleep by groups of people who think it is wonderful to holler and enjoy themselves right outside our window until the wee hours of the morning (between 2 and 4 am). Then, every morning I have woken up to the early risers out enjoying their runs and walks at the lesser but still wee hours of the morning (6am). It is great.
In the past three days we have had two fire alarms. The first at 9:30am while Lauren was in the shower. So I sat there banging on the door because she couldn't hear it. Then we went out and joined our neighbors who were as annoyed as we were. Last night we had another fire alarm. Three of our residences did actually. Kindly at 1:00am when Lauren and I had just fallen asleep. It was awful. We were outside until almost 2:00am. Needless to say, we had trouble falling asleep after that.
Then, after not falling asleep till really late we were awoken from our peaceful rest early this morning by some banging on our door. Utterly confused we got up, grabbed our housecoats, and opened the door to find the maintenance man here to fix our window... he didn't actually fix it. It still sucks. He sprayed a little something and left. So. Sleep deprived and annoyed... bad combination. Now we both have class.
In the first three nights, the cops were called three times. It was great. They come right outside our window because we overlook the parking lot/ hang out zone. It's sweet.
Every night we are crooned to sleep by groups of people who think it is wonderful to holler and enjoy themselves right outside our window until the wee hours of the morning (between 2 and 4 am). Then, every morning I have woken up to the early risers out enjoying their runs and walks at the lesser but still wee hours of the morning (6am). It is great.
In the past three days we have had two fire alarms. The first at 9:30am while Lauren was in the shower. So I sat there banging on the door because she couldn't hear it. Then we went out and joined our neighbors who were as annoyed as we were. Last night we had another fire alarm. Three of our residences did actually. Kindly at 1:00am when Lauren and I had just fallen asleep. It was awful. We were outside until almost 2:00am. Needless to say, we had trouble falling asleep after that.
Then, after not falling asleep till really late we were awoken from our peaceful rest early this morning by some banging on our door. Utterly confused we got up, grabbed our housecoats, and opened the door to find the maintenance man here to fix our window... he didn't actually fix it. It still sucks. He sprayed a little something and left. So. Sleep deprived and annoyed... bad combination. Now we both have class.
Monday, September 03, 2007
UBC-O
Well, Lauren and I are making ourselves at home in our new dorm at UBC-O. I'm surprised at how quickly it is beginning to feel like home. We have spent way too much money on food, and storage things, and spices , pots and pans, a bookshelf, and tons of other necessities. It is depressing, but we need them all. It has been crazy and hectic and nuts, but we are getting there. We have even been cooking!! Erik brought me here and made dinner the first night for us, but I made chicken stir-fry and rice today for dinner and we even had a guest over. That was pretty exciting. We even put together a bookshelf after dinner today. It looks beautiful. Here are some pictures quickly before I go.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
For some reason I can't click on the title area so this has no title, which is good because I hate thinking of titles.
Summer has been pretty... pretty uneventful actually. I love living with my aunt and uncle and their kids are absolutely amazing! This is the first time I've been on the computer since my last post due to the fact that they don't have internet. I've been spending lots of time with Anthonie and Jenn. We've had a couple sleep-overs and we hiked to Greendrop Lake. I realized how very out of shape I am.
I was at Julie... now McLoed's reception last night. She looked absolutely beautiful! I got to see Mary-Joan Vissch, Julie (naturally), Randall P, Ian M, and Sam T. And I got to see my favorite (sorry guys) Alicia! I can count the number of times I see her in a year on one hand and so this was very exciting for me. I love her and that was definitely the best part of the past couple weeks...
Erik has been in Alaska for the past three and a half weeks commercial fishing and we have no way of communicating. He has no phone, no internet, and he can't get to a post office. At first it was alright as I kept pretty busy, but I'm sick of him being gone. I agree with Stewart, communication is definitely important. Erik comes home in a week and a half though so not too much longer.
I should go spend some time with my family though.
Summer has been pretty... pretty uneventful actually. I love living with my aunt and uncle and their kids are absolutely amazing! This is the first time I've been on the computer since my last post due to the fact that they don't have internet. I've been spending lots of time with Anthonie and Jenn. We've had a couple sleep-overs and we hiked to Greendrop Lake. I realized how very out of shape I am.
I was at Julie... now McLoed's reception last night. She looked absolutely beautiful! I got to see Mary-Joan Vissch, Julie (naturally), Randall P, Ian M, and Sam T. And I got to see my favorite (sorry guys) Alicia! I can count the number of times I see her in a year on one hand and so this was very exciting for me. I love her and that was definitely the best part of the past couple weeks...
Erik has been in Alaska for the past three and a half weeks commercial fishing and we have no way of communicating. He has no phone, no internet, and he can't get to a post office. At first it was alright as I kept pretty busy, but I'm sick of him being gone. I agree with Stewart, communication is definitely important. Erik comes home in a week and a half though so not too much longer.
I should go spend some time with my family though.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Officially Registered.
Yes, I am aware that it has been quite a long time. For that, I apologize.
I have just registered for courses at UBC-O. The whole process took about 30 seconds. It went beautifully and I am officially starting Nursing in the fall. Scary thought, to say the least. I'm 98% scared and 2% excited. Still waiting to see if I get into housing. If I don't then I have to figure something else out. Lauren Heinen and I are hoping to be living together whether in residence or otherwise.
So I have been working at MCC Plaza in Abbbotsford in the Thrift Store. I am "Assistant to the Manager". It's pretty awesome actually. It's a government grant position type thing, which is sweet because I then make decent wages. I love all the old ladies there. They are hilarious and so loving. It is awesome. There are about... well I'd say 10 that are "extra special". It's honestly like having a bunch of grandma's. It's sweet:)
I had the flu this weekend. Disasterous!!! I hate fevers!!! Then I went to work on Monday and almost fainted within the first hour so my manager told me to go home and rest. It was crazy! I'd never been that close to fainting before. Everything went white and I was sweating profusely and I needed to sit down but I kept on walking cause I didn't want anyone to know I didn't feel well.... what a loser. Brutally honest Evelyn told me I looked terrible and ghostly so she made me sit down. My aunt came and picked me up... what a sweet heart.
Oh yeah! I'm living with my aunt and uncle in Aldergrove. They have six kids and it's a lot of fun. They have a great family and the kids love playing with me and reading with me. The four youngest climb into my bed in the morning and I read them a story before I get out of bed to go to work. I love it. And family meal times... they are hilarious. I'm assuming it was a lot like my family meal times were, but it's interesting to be on the opposite end; to be one of the big kids instead of the little ones. It's pretty neat.
Anthonie and Jenn got married at the end of May. It was a beautiful wedding. Strange to watch Anthonie get married, but so good! We roasted him at the reception... and my aunt's roasted him. It was awesome. All of my dad's siblings came to the wedding from Edmonton. That was really exciting! Anthonie is the fifth Anthonie in the Jansen family and both my grandfather and great-grandfather passed away within the past five years so the family is excited about the prospect of having a sixth Anthonie in the family in the not-so-near future.
Not much else has been happening. Erik and I have been down to Stanwood a couple times to visit his family. His sister was here from Minnesota with his nephew for a week or so. The weather was really nice for a week and it could now improve a bit, but I guess I can't complain. Man, I've started talking about the weather so I think I'll head out.
I have just registered for courses at UBC-O. The whole process took about 30 seconds. It went beautifully and I am officially starting Nursing in the fall. Scary thought, to say the least. I'm 98% scared and 2% excited. Still waiting to see if I get into housing. If I don't then I have to figure something else out. Lauren Heinen and I are hoping to be living together whether in residence or otherwise.
So I have been working at MCC Plaza in Abbbotsford in the Thrift Store. I am "Assistant to the Manager". It's pretty awesome actually. It's a government grant position type thing, which is sweet because I then make decent wages. I love all the old ladies there. They are hilarious and so loving. It is awesome. There are about... well I'd say 10 that are "extra special". It's honestly like having a bunch of grandma's. It's sweet:)
I had the flu this weekend. Disasterous!!! I hate fevers!!! Then I went to work on Monday and almost fainted within the first hour so my manager told me to go home and rest. It was crazy! I'd never been that close to fainting before. Everything went white and I was sweating profusely and I needed to sit down but I kept on walking cause I didn't want anyone to know I didn't feel well.... what a loser. Brutally honest Evelyn told me I looked terrible and ghostly so she made me sit down. My aunt came and picked me up... what a sweet heart.
Oh yeah! I'm living with my aunt and uncle in Aldergrove. They have six kids and it's a lot of fun. They have a great family and the kids love playing with me and reading with me. The four youngest climb into my bed in the morning and I read them a story before I get out of bed to go to work. I love it. And family meal times... they are hilarious. I'm assuming it was a lot like my family meal times were, but it's interesting to be on the opposite end; to be one of the big kids instead of the little ones. It's pretty neat.
Anthonie and Jenn got married at the end of May. It was a beautiful wedding. Strange to watch Anthonie get married, but so good! We roasted him at the reception... and my aunt's roasted him. It was awesome. All of my dad's siblings came to the wedding from Edmonton. That was really exciting! Anthonie is the fifth Anthonie in the Jansen family and both my grandfather and great-grandfather passed away within the past five years so the family is excited about the prospect of having a sixth Anthonie in the family in the not-so-near future.
Not much else has been happening. Erik and I have been down to Stanwood a couple times to visit his family. His sister was here from Minnesota with his nephew for a week or so. The weather was really nice for a week and it could now improve a bit, but I guess I can't complain. Man, I've started talking about the weather so I think I'll head out.
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