Day 6

I can't believe its'b almost been a week since I've been here. How time flies...

So today wasn't special. The only notable thing really was that I made contact with the inhabitants of this village. As I was walking back from the post office Our [inebriated] neighbors from across the street shouted "Hey!" at me. I was nervous to say hi back, but I did so just to be polite. The one I don't think could speak english... or maybe he was too drunk to speak it clearly, but the other one out of the 3 asked me what my name was, so I told him, and he told me his name was Alex. They asked me, "Are you a ambulance?" and I informed him that I was not a paramedic, but my boyfriend is and I'm just here until August. Then he asked how long I am here for... "4 months"

"What?"

"FOUR MONTHS!"

"Oh.."

Then I fibbed and said I had to go inside [because the conversation was getting awkward].

So here I am.

After I went to the trouble of buying those 3 stamps the other day I find myself yet again without any, as I spent most of my day making more cards. I know you all must find it a really weird hobby, as do I, but it makes me happy to look at something pretty and think 'yep, I designed and made that'. I should start a business with these or something, but I'm sure if I made it into work that the novelty would soon wear off. But today was definitely a creative day. The paper was flying, the cricut machine was humming, and the glitter was spilling allover the floor (I had to throw that in to make my mom cringe). From 9 am to 3 pm I managed to produce 5 cards, all of which will hopefully bring a little joy to 5 people :D once I get more stamps...

Austin is out fishing again, this time he's gone with a friend. I would tell you his name, but he 'forgot' to introduce us... I'm glad he's not alone. I worry about him slipping and hitting his head on a rock then drowning in the mud, or getting eaten by rez dogs, and weird stuff like that. He tried making his own version or cinnamon raisin bread today: take a regular bread recipe and add an unmeasured amount of cinnamon and raisins... we will see how it turns out. He didn't have any calls today, which surprises me because it is only 2 days after welfare day, but I wouldn't be surprised if they drank this town dry already. (I'm sorry for stereotyping, but it keeps me entertained.)

As I was dropping off my cards I poked my head around the store to scope out some prices. For a can of alfaghetti it is $3.50. For a pack of hot dogs it is I think $4.50. For 2 cherry blossoms for Aus n I to share when he gets back from fishing - $3.00, and to get not a single word out of the 2 cashiers behind the counter, priceless!

That's all for today, I hope everyone has a good weekend (even though I will be on here all weekend)!! Miss you all!

Photos from Wednesday

Here are some photos from Wednesday for you guys.

This is Squatter (in the front yawning) and her boyfriend. They are the rez dogs that Nicole takes care of, well just Squatter.
Austin fishing with the help of Squatter and her boyfriend.

And Austin is making bread. It turned out sooo good! He is definitely a keeper!

Day 5 Continued

Today was a good day. I mailed out some cards I made, I registered for the weight loss contest, and I actually made myself run.

This morning I popped into the sketchy post office to buy some more stamps. That is the down side of having paper crafting as a hobby is I am constantly buying stamps. I decided that I should get a hole roll to avoid going into the post office for a while. But a roll costs a whopping $57!!! So I opted for the 10 pack, but silly me, I thought they would have debid in a post office, but not up here in santa's ghetto village! So, I got 3 with the only $5 I had on me... that will last me like 2 days. And the lady that work at the post office has already seen enough of me. She wasn;t too happy when I made her void the roll, then void the 10-pack, then deny me the usage of my debit card. Some people...

Austin had a busy shift today. Three patients in 2 calls I think. I'm glad tho that he actually worked instead of getting paid to watch the fishing network for 8 hours.

When Austin got home from work (30 mins later than I had expected) he scooped me up and we went over to the health center to register for the weight loss contest. I weighed in at an inital 155 lbs. And yes I am actually revealing my weight, but only because it is going to change, and I am going to actually be proud of it... in 10 weeks. Austin was 205, but don't tell him I told you so. I wasn't surprised with 155 because it has been hovering around there since October. But it is going to change this time!

I made Gran's baked beans for dinner. They were so flipping good. I had them ready for when Austin was supposed to be home from work, but since he was late I went ahead and ate my share and he had to eat his microwaved. I feel kinda bad cuz they aren't as good reheated.

So now that I have told you my weight, I think it is necessary to tell you what I am doing to change it lol. I am going to try my absolute BEST to cut out all processed foods and candy, now that mom's candy and Tammy's chocolate-covered jujubes are all eaten up. I also have a running plan I am going to stick with (that I found in a magazine). It is supposed to train me to run a half marathon (13.5 miles) in 8 weeks. I figure that if I follow this plan I will overcome my fear of running and lose enough weight to win the contest! And I hope you all are rooting for me, because this is so not going to be fun. The only thing that really bothers me when I run is my throat gets so insanely sore. And it stays sore for 20 minutes after I'm done running. Drinking water doesn't help either, so I am hoping that it will go away with more running.

Austin just got back from a 3-hour fishing expedition, and caught nothing. He blames it on the tackle. He says it was sitting in the tackle box too long and it smells to plasticy. He just won't admit that he has NO skills. And now he can't say that I'm the problem cuz I wasn't there, needing his help every other cast.

And that just about sums up another day here in the great north. Oh, Tammy tell Ging we got her card and it was very cute :D and give her a hug for me.

Day 5

Sorry I didn't do a post for yesterday. I wasn't feeling very well, and Austin left me with a very messy apartment to clean. He thinks its funny when he tracks mud allover the kitchen right before he has to go to work, so he doesn't have to clean it up. And its no better that we don't have a broom here... so needless to say I have to get creative.

Yesterday I had somewhat of a nasty headache. I was making mother's day cards all afternoon and I have this one tool I use to punch out letters from paper and it it makes a loud bang when you use it. I think that's what gave me the headache.

So today it the starting day of the weight loss contest! We don't know where we have to go or at what time (because Austin always forgets to ask...) but hopefully he will remember to ask his partner today.

Austin had an interesting call yesterday. I don't think I'm allowed to say anything (he got beat up with a cordless phone) but nothing outrageous happened...

This morning I got up and cleaned up the kitchen from last night's dinner, yea we were lazy, and I decided to make Aus his favorite cappuccino and take it to him at work. So I whipped it up and went downstairs and knocked on the door. As usual, no answer. So I stood there for a little longer, kicked the door, because they might hear that better, still no answer. I could hear the tv on, which really made me frustrated so I knocked on the window, and still: no answer. So here I am with is cappuccino beside me getting colder and colder. I'm not sure if I should save it... or drink it. hmm...

Dinner last night was soooo good. Austin perfected the pasta-with-mushroom-sauce-and-bacon recipe and omfg it was dee-lish! He is such a good cook! Maybe that's why I followed tim to the rough part of Santa's village.

Last night we went over to Tyler's place to watch the hockey game. I didn't do much watching as I was on the phone with mom for a lot of it, then when I actually got to Tyler's I was stuffing my face with the amazing piece of cherry cheesecake he gave me :D

OMFG I can hear Austin's voice downstairs! I bet he had a call. Grrr. Well I'm going to go deliver his cold cappuccino now. I will make another post today. Bye everyone. love and miss you all!!!

Moving Pictures

I love my stuff!

So I got the rest of my stuff off the plane today!!!

No more sharing Austin's toothbrush.

No more cutting my nails with scissors.

No more using body wash to wash my delicate face.

And no more of Austin's deoderant!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Everything made it safe and sound and nothing got broken, thank God!

We are making bread now in the bread maker Tammy let us borrow. I can't wait for it to be done!!

I just finished painting my nails and i think it is safe to say I am the only girl in Albany with hot pink nails!

Austin and I have decided to join in on the weight loss contest here. We go in for the first weigh-in on Thursday, then we get weighed every 2 weeks. Hopefully this can kick-start my summer weight loss! Stupid freshman 15!! If anyone wants to donate a yoga DVD, or some resistance bands I would love you forever :D Since I got the rest of my scrapbooking stuff in today I am going to celebrate by making a ton is stuff with my cricut tonight, because it makes me happy :D If anyone wants me to mail them a card just leave a comment with your mailing address and I will ship one out lol. I love to make cards just to say 'hi' and I think it's silly if I make one and have no one to send it too.

Austin and I are planning on going for a run tonight. I am awful at running. In gym class in public school when Mr. Lockeyer would make us run the Turkey Plant in Gore Bay I was always the last girl. I think it took me 15 mins and it took Kaitlyn Honess and Chase Chattwell like 5 mins. I still blame mom and her baking lol. Once I was done with gym class in school I vowed to never run again, then my body grew up and the metabolism started to slack off. So here I am, doing the one think I hate most: running and sweating, ew!

Day 3

Today I ventured out of my comfort zone (the appartment) to head a whole 100 meters down the street to the post office to send out Gran's card. Here are some pics of the town I took on the way back for you guys.

This is the front side of the base:

And this is the side entrance on the bottom, and the two apartment entrances on the top. We live in the left unit and Tyler is on the right.

I found it interesting that this "welcome" sign was posted on the door of the convenience store/post office:

So I continued in and it looked like the West Bay General Store on the inside. There was no one at the counter, so I walked into the post office part. I handed my card to the lady and she looked at it and told me to put it in the mail box outside the door. I felt like a stupid white girl lol. Then I got outta there asap and walked back home.

We went to 'The Restaurant' today for lunch. Austin and I shared the club platter and it was sooo good!!! The poutine was great. A little gooey for my liking, but the grave was de-lish! There were only 2 tables in there that could each sit 4 people. For the one thing we got it was $15. Not too bad considering the cost of food up here. And I can see a restaurant down south charging something near that.

I got another call from Thunder Air and hopefully the rest of my stuff came in today! I will let you know later if I am missing anything, especially my clothes. Bye for now.

A Card for Gran

Here is a card I made for Gran tonight. I think it is adorable. I used my cricut for the birdie.I'm going to go to the post office tomorrow to mail it out so I will let you know what the post office and convenience store are like.

Day 2

Today was pretty lame...
I got up at 7:45 and Austin was at work for 8:00. I edited my resume and cover letter then tried knocking on the door of the base for Austin to let me in... 3 tries later he finally realized that I wasn't there and he called. My bad... he was doing his checks on the trucks and I was knocking on the wrong door (the only door I knew of.. pfft) So I printed off my resume and we ventured off to the hospital to get me a job! Well it didn't go like that exactly. We got there and one of the nurses thought I was the doctor that was coming in that day. I was flattered but I think if she knew I wasn't a doctor she wouldn't have shook my hand or said hi. I may be glorifying this moment, but I think thats a sign from God that I look like I should be a doctor!! Then I met the director of the hospital whe immediately tooke the resume out of my hand and asked me right off the bat, "Have you ever worked in long-term care?"
"No, I haven't."
"Oh...first year...okay." She mumbled as she flipped thru my resume for a whole 3 seconds, "Well I won't be able to see you until next week."
"That's alright."
"Next Monday at 2:00."
"Great! Alright." And she dove back into her office. I can't wait until I'm a doctor and I get to make people feel akward and uncomfortable when they are voluntarily giving their time to work in the middle-of-frekin'-nowhere! I mean I would have thought she might be a little more enthusiastic about free labour!!! Oh, well...some people. We will have to see how Monday goes. I can already tell this lady is like Dr. McRae 20 years in the future: grey hair, crusty, to the point, and lovin' the sweater vest. (I still love Dr. McRae tho!!!)

Tonight I think we are having pasta with a bacon mushroom sauce, Austin's creation. It should be good tho. He is a super good cook!
We don't have much food. Two apples, some eggs, some ham, bread, and frozen broccoli and cauliflower. But we put in a grocery order that should last us for about 2 weeks and it came to $380!!! Life here is not cheap!! It is definately a good place to be if you have 20 lbs to lose tho! So this is lookin' promising!

I didn't get anything on the plane today :S I am DYING for my bathroom bag!! I am sick of using Austin's toothbrush and deodorant, and 2 cups to put my contacts in!

But anything good is worth waiting for. I finally fully understand the meaning of this saying!

There is this little rez dog that I'v seen around town. I named her Scruffus when I first saw her when I arrived. She is a 30-lb brown dog with short hair and she just had pupps. you can tell she's breast feeding... She was outside out door this afternoon and it just broke my heart because she just loved my attention and I wanted to feed her so badly! I'm sure she could use some food for her pupps, but I'm not allowed to get attached to any dogs or feed them because they are just going to end up getting shot or ran over. Sad.

That is all for today, possibly. I'm sorry that this post is like 5 years long. I might put something up later cuz austin is going to Tyler's (his co-worker next door) to watch the hockey game, and I will be here... by myself... love you guys!!!!!!

Brianna's 500 lbs of stuff

Austin's Pics

Day 1

Hi everyone!! So I made this blog for you guys so you can come check out what Aus n I are up to each day. This way I don't have to send pics and videos individually, and each post will stay here. That way you don't have to worry about saving any pictures, or accidentally deleting anything!

Today was pretty relaxed, but the preparation to get my butt here was crazy. I owe a million thanks to so many people!

Thanks to my mom for helping me start packing over a week ago and keepin' at it until the end! The cookies are rly good too mom.

Thanks to Randy for dealing with the nutso U-haul lady, packing the truck, fetching boxes, and driving all the way to Parry Sound.

Thanks to my dad for busting an intense sweat hauling all of my s*** into the U-haul, and thanks for your combined efforts with mom for saving me from a major meltdown.

Thanks to Tammy and Shawn for leaving at 7:00 am , getting $25 worth of jujubes, meeting us in Parry Sound, getting and loading the up-sized storage unit, getting gas for the U-haul, squeezing me in the Windstar with all my s***, driving to Timmins, avoiding a lynx, giving me some much needed lip balm(!!!!), breakfast the next morning, spotting us $XXX to ship my s***, and taking care of the dogs.

Thanks to Pops for helping us unload the insanely-packed U-haul and taking Boh to the island. Everyone's help was phenomenal and I couldn't have done it with out you guys!!

Today I got 300 lbs of my stuff in the plane! All I am waiting for now is 110 lbs. But I am very scared to say that I think the one box we couldn't fit in the Windstar, and we ended up leaving in storage... was my box of clothes. At least we don't have a coin laundromat. :S so we will see how this goes...

I will most likely write posts daily, as that will be the highlight of my days lol.

Thanks again and I we miss you guys!