I'm lovin' it!

Greetings! My blogging lately seems to be a Sunday thing. I have come to realize that my blogs are all pretty much updates on my life and week rather than any cool topic to discuss. However, I like writing them and I hope that you enjoy reading. Obviously, or you wouldn't still be coming back here. Well I'm halfway done my course up here. It has gone really fast in some ways, but really slow in others. I love being close to the water, mountains, trails, wildlife, and being in class opposed to working. But I really, really want steak, I miss Andy, my family and a whole bunch of other people, and it will be nice not have to study for an exam (which I am supposed to be doing right now)! Pros and cons weighed, I am glad that I am here right now and when the time comes to go home I will be happy to. Take life as it comes!

One of the most exciting things this week was our dock dive on Monday. We jumped off the dock into the 8 degree water and went swimming. It was cold, but after awhile you just go so numb that it feels warm. It was so much fun. The next best thing this week was our camping trip on Friday night. Allison, Jennifer, Caitlin, Jamie, and I went to Pachena to camp. We didn't have a tent so we slept between a tarp and had rigged up this other little tarp on top to prevent some moisture. It didn't rain as it was close to 28 C yesterday. Safe to say we are all a little red today. We did some swimming there, badminton, campfire (with me eating half a bag of marshmallows. They like cooking them but don't like eating them), played some cards, and just hung out.


Tomorrow is our final exam, so after that we just have our literature reviews and our final projects. The work load is not too hard, but not really easy too. We didn't even have time to read our text at all, which we were supposed to be doing. Oh well. The next few weeks include a lot of offshore boating, working on projects and some lectures. It should be a really good time.

Well I don't have a whole lot else to report on. Life is grand up here. Prayer requests: Eva, Caitlin, Allison, and Jamie all have major upsetting things happening at home with friends and family, so if you could remember them in your prayers that would be great. Later days!!

Crunch Time

From the Left: Caitlin, Jennifer, Allison, Caroline. Having our movie night in the Fireside Lounge.
Campfire at Pachena.
Gray whale. I still suck at getting pictures of these.
The boats (skiffs) we took out to go whale watching.
Our side of Bamfield where the Marine Centre is.

Aloha! It is almost tropical out here today, hence the warm and friendly greeting. I really don't have the time to blogging today or anytime in the next 2 days but after getting some positive reviews I figured I couldn't let you all down. Since Wednesday not a whole lot has happened. It's crazy that you think that you need to put time into working and reading yet I just don't have any stories to tell then. My presentation on Wednesday went alright. Public speaking really ain't that bad. Friday we went out on the boats and saw some more gray whales, harbor seals, and other miscellaneous wildlife. Friday night we participated in the first bonfire of the year at Pachena Beach. Twas fun. We left early though to have a movie night and eat popcorn! Yay! I finally got some. It tasted incredible I must say.

Yesterday saw me working all day on my project proposal and presentation for Tuesday. I thought we did something fun but we really didn't. We watched Surf's Up to get a good dose of laughter but I ended up falling asleep. LOL. Today was incredible though. Being so busy this last week, my quiet time with God has gotten shorter and shorter. So I knew that today would be nice. I spent my usual 2 hours down at a quiet part of the inlet having my own little church service. And as expected, it was amazing. There is nothing quite like being by the water worshiping God. I have a couple podcasts of Insight for Living to listen to. Learning about joy and just spending time with God today has given me hope and taken away my stress for the upcoming week. I'm not going let my God time vanish this week, it's way too important.

I then had a 2 hour nap before lunch. After lunch Allison and I just chatted and worked hard on our stuff. We are planning on a walk soon tonight to release some stress. Everyone is freaking out up here to get these papers done. I am sure that it is going to be much worse in a couple weeks when the real project paper is due. Eek!

Only 4 more weeks. The past 2 have flown by and after this week we aren't having regular lecture times, so it will go by even faster I think. We get to head out to work on our projects on July 8 or so for a couple days, so I am looking forward to that. As for my knee, well, I'm taking it easy for the time being. It's so hard to sit back from all the activities going on here. I just have to pick and chose which ones I would rather do. Well, hope you enjoyed the pictures once again. I guess it's more fun than reading this whole long thing.

Oh I almost forgot. It's disappointing that there are no good sports to be updated on now. After my Boston Celtics beat Andy's Los Angeles Lakers this week I have no one to cheer for. Ha and that victory was bet on with me winning a meal at the Keg! Oh yeah I can taste it now. I think the bragging rights are 100 times better. Later days!

20 km hikes, presentations, and general fun

Me sitting at Flat Rocks. An amazing view!
The view at Flat Rocks - 10 km into the West Coast Trail
The lush temperate rainforest of BC
Caitlin climbing the ladders that we had to go up and down on the trail.
Me at dusk on the balcony looking out over Barkley Sound!

Wow so much has been happening up here, it's crazy. On Saturday we went on a 20 km hike. Well 10 in and 10 out. We had to bush wack a bunch when we went off the trail to get to the beach. We saw a bunch of whales and some sea lions. We also had to repel down and climb up a mud slope. So much fun. I think everyone was sore from that. It was part of the West Coast Trail and it was really muddy. Someday though I am going to hike all 80 km of that trail. Camp in a couple places and take time to enjoy the scenery.

Sunday saw us heading to the beach to get some sun. Got a little burnt on my face and legs, but it's all good now. Today I did my first presentation which went extremely well. I had practiced a lot. We are all getting really comfortable with each other now, so it's way easier to speak out and in front of people.

Last night I played basketball for the first time in like a year and a half. It was so much fun! I haven't played much pick up ball so it was awesome. I did well too and it was funny because everyone thought that I was amazing. Not to brag or anything. I did hit like 80% of my shots. It was really fun. I had a good time playing against the boys too that thought that they were so much better than me. LOL. Steve did stuff me twice mainly on account of me not really being able to jump. Today, however I am paying for it. My knee is okay, a little sore, but all the rest of my muscles are super sore. Everyone is out right now playing ultimate frisbee and I really, really wanted to play but know that I just can't. I need a day of rest before going hard on my knee again. There will be other days too. Tomorrow is volleyball so I am looking forward to that. Probably on the beach too!!

The work load is picking up a lot. I am finalizing my project tonight and working on my proposal a bit. It seems like a shame to be holed up in my room working when there are people to talk to and the sun is shining, but things must get done. We have a full weekend with hikes and boat rides so not much will be getting done then.

Last night too I had an awesome discussion and talk with my roommate Allison about everything! And I mean everything. Mostly religion but a lot of controversial stuff such as homosexuals, abortion, politics, war, animal rights, career choices, etc. It was amazing. I almost fell asleep in class today though since it was 2:30 by the time we got to bed. Prayer for that would be great! Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Later days!

Yahoo for whale sightings

Just a picture of what the coast looks like around here. The rocks show so many different colors, it`s amazing.
This is the Steller sea lion haul out.
This is a really bad picture of me, but this is my friend Caitlin.
This is probably my best picture of one of the grey whales that we saw.

Greetings Folks! At this very moment I am looking out my window and watching a raccoon. Anyhow we went on a full day boat trip today around the islands to check out the wildlife, as seen above. We saw many gray whales, a few humpbacks, a couple harbor porpoises, a haul out of harbor seals, one sea otter, and a huge haul out of sea lions. For those of you that don`t know what a haul out is, it`s when all the animals are resting on the rocks together. It was pretty amazing. I love riding on boats. I was cold for quite a bit of the time, but having the water spray in your face was amazing. I almost fell asleep a couple times because it`s just relaxing, like putting a baby in a car. Instantly they are put to sleep.

We are all super chilled right now and just plan on doing work and play some cards tonight. No one has the energy to do things. Oh some other exciting news is that yesterday I ran for the first time since before my surgery . . . without pain!! I was so excited. It was only for about 20 minutes but it was hilly and my first time. Today my roommate Allison wanted to go so we went out again. Already I am getting better. However I was incredibly sore today and realized how few muscles we use like that on a daily basis.

The food is great up here. We have had a variety of things and the salad bar is always open. They always serve a big breakfast, like eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc, but, as you should already know, I just eat cereal. Some fruit too, but no big breakie. I love my cereal too much. However I am going to have a big one on Saturday and Sunday is brunch at 10:30, so that will be good too I think. On Sunday is a 150 year celebration of the coast guard so they are having a huge open house and a navy ship is coming in and going to be open for tours. It should be awesome. On Saturday our class is going on a full day hike on part of the west coast trail.

I just love it here. I miss certain things (popcorn) and people back home, but right at this moment I wouldn`t want to be back in city life. It`s really a great place. And after 6 weeks I am sure that I will be ready to go home. Hope you are all keeping it real! Later days!

First Day

Greetings all! And so soon you say? Well lets just say that a whole lot has happened today already. I won't give you a play by play, well maybe I will. We had a meeting with our professor today. He has been working at the University of California Santa Cruz for awhile and does research on acoustic communication of pinnipeds (seals). He took this class the first year it was ever offered back in 1972 or something. Crazy. Tomorrow is the first day of class where we will find out more about our schedule and stuff but so far this is what it looks like.

From 9:30-12 we will have 2 lectures with a lot of them being guest lectures come in and talk about their research on mammals. Then after lunch from 1-4 we will have presentations, discussions and more classroom time. We only have class from Monday to Friday, opposed to on Saturday too which is what I originally thought. Saturday and Sunday is when our trips will be and the days we will get to do our own independent research project. Sounds pretty stellar. We are only starting at 9:30 everyday in order to allow for time to read and prepare for that day's class. There is a final exam, 2 presentations on papers, a literature report and presentation and our huge research project.

This afternoon we learned how to drive the boats. If you think I am a bad driver, wait till you see me in a boat. It was brutal. The steering directions are backwards and will take some getting used to. Docking is hard and frustrating. I'm not all into machines and even my dad's power tools so it should be interesting. We usually go out in groups of 2 or more so someone will be able to drive it well.

I met a bunch of people already, which is I guess to be expected. There are only like 4 guys and the rest are girls out of 24 people in my class. My roommate Allison is from Calgary and is a Flames fan. LOL. A huge bonus! I have been hanging out with Caitlin a lot and we are boating buddies, so it's all good. We are gonna crack open the cards tonight too.

We have one more lecture thing tonight and then our first day is done. We have a library tour tomorrow in the evening too but tomorrow is the first day of class. We are all nerds up here and have been reading our textbooks already.

I'm saving the best news for last. The wildlife we have seen today is amazing. At breakfast a raccoon came up to the window and was begging for food. During our tour we saw a mink, a baby harbor seal, and you'll never guess . . . two humpback whales. All in the inlet!! It was so awesome. And we get to see whales all the time for our research so it's gonna be so cool.

Later days!

Middle of Nowhere

Big holla goes out to my new readers. Just jokes. I don't think I have any new readers except Andy maybe. Here comes the new and more consistent blogs of the summer. Well I am up at Bamfield. On Thursday I began my journey to visit Serena. On Friday I met up with Jess and stayed at her place on Gabriola Island. Fun times were had by all. Today I made it here to Bamfield around 4:00pm.

We are living in the dorms. It sounds suckier than it is except for the shared bathroom. The rooms are brand new and there's lots of storage and space. I like it. At supper I got to meet a bunch of people. I do know a few people from UVIC that are out here taking the same class as me. There are about 24 people in our class so it's small enough to get to know everyone. I still have no idea what our schedule is going to be like for the weeks to come. Tomorrow we have a whackload of orientation stuff and tours so that should be entertaining.

I'll put some pictures on here as time goes by. I'm sure you'll all want to see them. Later days!!

Finally. An Update

Wow so it's been forever and a day since I blogged on here. Sorry if I let you all down, those of you who consistently read this and are avid fans. Main reason for the lack of blogging was because I wasn't doing anything. I have just been working for my dad which has been going well but is kinda boring. Then I just go to the gym and hang out with Leia in the evenings. Nothing too exciting. However I am onto another adventure and stage of the summer. Bamfield!

Being as spontaneous as I can be (which isn't really that much) I have just decided today that I am leaving on Thursday to BC. My friend Serena wants me to come early because she doesn't have to work and wants to hang out. Then I am going to stay with Jessica on Gabriola Island by Nanaimo for the weekend until Sunday which is the day I have to be out at Bamfield. I am quite excited to be back in class. I have no idea what to expect so I am packing for cold, wet, hot, windy, etc. Good thing I'm driving. This class goes for 6 weeks so I will be heading back to Alberta on the 18th of July.

I am going to make sure that I blog more consistently than I have been too so that you all can know what's going on up there in the secluded little hamlet of Bamfield. Also I will be on the computer a lot so it will be easier to just pop on here and write a little something. It feels a lot like I am headed to summer camp for a couple weeks. Some days I wish I was that age again. Those were the days! I'm also pretty pumped because it's something that I haven't done before. So if you could keep me in your prayers, that would be great.

Other than that tidbit, nothing else is really new. This last weekend we went to the West Ed. waterslides which were pretty good. Andy came to visit on Sunday which was awesome, except for me losing some basketball games, but I just blame it on the knee. LOL. Well that's all for now, later days!!!!