Oh Miss K...

Sunny SoCal!

2006-09-02T12:29:00.000-05:00

For those of you not "in the know"... SoCal is slang for Southern California. Finally I got a real vacation this summer, where I didn't bring, or do, any form of work related to school. I had five action-packed days in the sunny south. Brad was an awesome host, taking me all over LA and SoCal in search of everything from Laguna Beach and 11,000 foot-peaks in the desert, to McDreamy's ABC studios, the Hollywood sign, Malibu, and Sunset Blvd.

I think the best way to show all of the trip would be a picture recap... from start to finish.

Day 1...

2006-09-02T12:26:00.001-05:00

On my first day in Cali, I rented a bike and rode along the beaches from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach and back... 20 miles over the course of the day. Venice beach was an interesting stop along the way with various random shops, graffiti and "interesting characters".

Santa Monica Blvd.

2006-09-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

YAY Vacation!!

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On the bluffs in Santa Monica...

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Santa Monica Beach...

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This is where the muscle heads go to work out... on the beach. Santa Monica Pier in the background...

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Palms at Santa Monica

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Hermosa Ave...

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Hermosa Beach...

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The Venice Beach sculpture...

2006-09-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

Venice Beach

Day 2...

2006-09-02T12:18:00.001-05:00

Day two brought a hung-over trip to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. Oh ya, hung over because we went out to a club in Santa Monica the night before (no pics though, sadly). In anycase... Rodeo Drive was fun, again, great weather! Fendi, Versace, Prada, Tiffany's... to name a few. So much trendy stuff...

Fancy schmancy.....

2006-09-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

Rodeo Drive!

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Entering Via Rodeo

2006-09-02T12:16:00.000-05:00

Via Rodeo... Tiffany's, Versace etc... you know, the usual.

2006-09-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

Prada!

2006-09-02T12:12:00.001-05:00

Day 2 continued with a 2.5 hours traffic jam on the 405 in weekend-get-away traffic, followed by a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway from Newport Beach in Orange County down to San Diego. After finding a cheap place to crash, we went out in San Diego's "Gas Lamp District", although, unfortunately, I forgot my camera :(.

Laguna Beach... our dinner stop along the Pacific Coast Highway, enroute to San Diego...

2006-09-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

Me in the surf at Laguna Beach...

Day 3...

2006-09-02T12:10:00.000-05:00

This day we woke up in San Diego... went to what we "thought" was Pacific Beach... then hit the highways once again to head to Palm Springs and Mt. San Jacinto, one of the highest peaks in Southern California.

The only pic I managed to get of San Diego. Definitely want to go back and see more!

2006-09-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

Taking the tram up the canyon to the start of the hike on Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs.

2006-09-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

Photo op... Brad and I at 9,700 feet.

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1,134 feet to go...

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Almost there....

2006-09-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

Made it to the top! Mt. San Jacinto... elevation, 10,834 feet.

2006-09-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Me pondering the meaning of life atop Mt. San Jacinto... panoramic styles

2006-09-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

Brad pondering the meaning of life atop Mt. San Jacinto...

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360 degree view from here...

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Brad and I on top of Mt. San Jacinto.. what a view!

Day 4...

2006-09-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

This day I attempted surfing. There are no pictures, and for this I am glad. Surfing is HARD. Instead I boogie-boarded the waves... much less frustrating than attempting to stand on Brad's 10-foot long board. Congrats to Brad for "getting up" for the first time. We then went to Malibu... no celebrity sightings to report. Back to Santa Monica for some volleyball and boogie boarding before the day was done...

The "classic" Santa Monica sunset shot... with the pier in the background...

2006-09-02T11:50:00.000-05:00

After boogie-boarding in Santa Monica...

Day 5... last day :(

2006-09-02T11:48:00.000-05:00

My last in SoCal I took my rollerblades down to the beach at Santa Monica and rollerbladed down to Venice Beach to soak up the sun and play in the water. The last evening Brad took me on a driving tour of Hollywood, "the Valley", and the Sunset Strip. To be honest, its all kinda over-rated. I did get to see the standard Hollywood sign (from a top-secret, close-up location... but in the dark, so no pic...), all of the studios in the valley (including some "adult entertainment" ones)... the chinese Theatre and Kodak Theatre... Walk of Fame, etc... It was at night and in a moving vehicle... so I didn't bother taking pics... my memory will serve me just fine. We capped the night off attempting to get drinks at the swanky "The Standard" Hotel... but after being bitterly ignored by the waitress, we decided to go across the street to a much less pretentious bar and grab a Corona instead.

Surfers at Venice Beach

2006-09-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

This hottie lifeguard was great eye-candy at Venice Beach on my last day. Damn, and just when I thought I was tanned...

2006-09-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

One of the last shots of me taken on my vacation in sunny Cali... at Venice Beach.

I almost forgot! Last stop on the driving tour was "In and Out" Burger... a Los Angeles/SoCal Staple joint. They only have like 5 things on the menu. Burger, Cheese Burger, Double Cheeseburger, fries and drinks. Mmmmm. My SoCal experience was complete!

The next morning we had to wake up at 4:30am so Brad could get to work on time. To complete my LA experience, we saw a high-speed chase at 5 in the morning.

Great times were had... awesome way to cap-off a jam-packed summer! Thanks for being a great host Brad!

I'm back!

2006-08-20T13:48:00.000-05:00

I know its been awhile, but here are the highlights from my summer... in mostly picture-form.

Back in June...

After my fabulous stay with the lovely Andrea and Courtney, I ventured off to the Baltic on a cruise with my grandma... many of you reading this will have gotten the email updates, so I will just post the brief itinerary here with some pics from various places...

Copenhagen, Denmark to Tallin, Estonia, to St. Petersburg, Russia, to Helsinki, Finland, to Stockholm, Sweden, to Visby, Sweden to Aarhus, Denmark back to Copenhagen. We always sailed overnight and were in a new place every morning. Here is the picture-recap!

Fact. There are more Bikes than people in Denmark.

2006-08-20T13:42:00.001-05:00

Amsterdam? Nope, Copenhagen, Denmark

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Tallin, Estonia.

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Catherine the Great's Palace. St. Petersburg, Russia

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Church of the Spilt Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia

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Russian dancers... and me! St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Gram and me in Helsinki, Finland

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Stockholm, Sweden

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Visby, Sweden

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Sunset in Warnemunde, Germany.

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Berlin... and what is left of the wall...

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Aarhus

Cruise Crew!

2006-08-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

What do you do when over 99% of the cruise is over 55 years old? You Find that other 1%. It didn't take long to find them... they were the ones still up at 10:30pm too.

Enter Emma.
Yay young people!

2006-08-20T13:29:00.000-05:00

Young people... yay! The Crow's Nest... the ONLY place to be, EVERY night...

2006-08-20T13:28:00.001-05:00

Those poor bears...

2006-08-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

Whatchu lookin' at...mmmm...Long Island Iced Tea... mmmm officer... err... oops.

2006-08-20T13:26:00.000-05:00

Fun times at the Crow's Nest with a German, Japanese cowgirl, and the English and Scottish Engineers all hot in their formal wear...

2006-08-20T13:16:00.000-05:00

Awe.

Canada Day, Ottawa Styles!

2006-08-20T13:09:00.000-05:00

This Canada Day weekend, tons of friends ventured up to Ottawa for the festivities. Arya's apartment looks like a refugee camp... but that just make the weekend all the more awesome!

This pretty much sums up Canada Day.... at the bar... in a Canada Flag.

Canada Day weekend in Pembroke... awesome

2006-08-20T13:06:00.000-05:00

2006-08-20T13:05:00.000-05:00

Jon's cottage on Canada Day Long weekend... awe, how cute... Andrea looks SO happy.

2006-08-20T13:02:00.000-05:00

Jon's cottage...without a Canada Flag...

Mountain, ON... and the best pizza you'll ever have. Ever.

2006-08-20T13:01:00.001-05:00

The town of Mountain, Ontario. Population, we estimate, 23. Fact. Mountain pizza, in Mountain, Ontario, makes the best pizza you will ever have in your life, ever.

2006-08-20T13:01:00.000-05:00

Arya, getting his pizza from the Moutain Pizza man. Note the AWESOME train hat, mullet and moustache.

2006-08-20T12:56:00.000-05:00

My Ottawa roomies at the infamous Mountain Pizza

Random Fun in the T-dot

2006-08-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

I'm not entirely sure.

2006-08-20T12:54:00.000-05:00

Random Toronto outting... with Sweet, Sweet, A looking like 'da man!

Happy Birthday Andrea!

2006-08-20T12:51:00.000-05:00

Andrea's birthday soiree was awesome, shooters for everyone! What's that on my dress? Don't worry Em, you can still do my makeup for my wedding!

2006-08-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sexy 199U at Andrea's birthday

2006-08-20T12:49:00.000-05:00

This pretty much sums up Andrea's birthday bash...

Farewell Miss K Sushi night...

2006-08-20T12:46:00.001-05:00

Da boyzzzz, apres Sushi on Bloor...

Kingston?!

2006-08-20T12:46:00.000-05:00

Random trip to Kingston... my old room at 199U! New Windows?!

2006-08-20T12:45:00.001-05:00

Miss you ladies! Stuffed at Sushi on Bloor.

2006-08-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

Andrea eating Sean's box... Sushi on Bloor

Back where I belong...

2006-08-20T12:44:00.001-05:00

So, if you made it all the way through this super-long post, you will know that I am now back in Vancouver.

Since I've been back, I've gotten right into things again with hiking, ultimate, sailing , and being a beach bum. Coming soon...pics of Flugtag Vancouver, 2006, and my upcoming trip to California!

Beautiful view at Garibaldi. What is Brendan doing curled up in the fetal position? Oh, that's right, he's ridiculously hung over

2006-08-20T12:44:00.000-05:00

Farewell Christine....Sushi on Bloor

2006-08-20T12:41:00.000-05:00

Howe Sound

2006-08-20T12:40:00.000-05:00

Miss K in the Mountains- Garibaldi Provincial Park...

I will blog again eventually

2006-07-30T20:51:00.000-05:00

Hey All...

Most of you who read my blog know that I am still alive, but have been extremely busy all summer. Sorry to not have kept the blog updated... I will post a picture-recap soon!!

Hugs,
-Christine

Random thoughts

2006-05-19T15:41:00.000-05:00

Miss K has fabulous news!

I applied for a grant back in February... and won! Its from the Soroptimist Foundation of Canada, and its $7500! Yay for a tuition installment! Check for me on their website in the near future... hehe. http://www.soroptimistfoundation.ca/

PMH has been a great experience... and with one week left I thought I'd write about something enlightening that I see pretty much every day. Princess Margaret is a hospital that is just for cancer, so, it can be a pretty sad place. On the way in the main doors, there is a small white-board, and every day it has inspirational sayings written on it. I'm always intrigued by what the daily quote will be, and I think its a fabulous thing to have for the patients and visitors to the hospital.

Recent quotes include...
"Never settle for less than you deserve, if you do, you get far less than you settled for"
"You will not defeat tomorrow's difficulties by worrying- you will only serve to drain today of its strength"
"He who cannot forgive others burns the bridge over which he must pass himself"
"God couldnt' be everywhere, that's why He created mothers"

Had a Jake Gyllenhaal marathon night last night watching Jarhead and Brokeback Mountain. I thought both were superb... Brokeback being the winner of the night. A true romantic classic. I cried.

Bedouin is playing at the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Sunday June 25th... I'm going to be in Ottawa then and am looking to go to that for SURE. Student passes for the whole festival are only $40... or the one concert is $25. Come one, come all.... or come the weekend after for Canada Day... or come both!

Miss K out...

North south baby, north south.

2006-05-10T18:10:00.000-05:00

How do you fit 40+ people into a 2 bedroom downtown T-dot apartment? Who knows how, you just do. Andrea's "housewarming part-2/welcome back Olga and Christine" party last Friday night was awesome. Throw in some 199U ladies, Queen's engineers, U of T students and a random smattering of others and you're sure to have good times. I think that a pictoral representation best sums up the evening's festivities...

Stef and Miss K reunited... awe.Hiss.Awe the boys.A rousing game of WEED! (apparently more fun in BC than Ontario...)
Stef, Andrea and Christine with their rendition of "north south"
"north south" part 2
Don't fall asleep or you'll get a bottle up your ass.

Lumo and Norway go north-south

Till the next gong-show...

-Christine

Vancity to the T.O

2006-05-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

The first and second year classes

Hey all...

So a hectic week of packing, partying, travelling has gone by... no rest for the weary! Last Thursday was the graduate party for the second year students, followed by a night of fun at Bimini's. I can't believe that that is going to be ME in a year's time... crazy. Lots of good-bye rounds were made between Friday and Saturday nights, awe sad. I get the feeling this summer si going to really fly by... a few weeks here, a few weeks there, and next thing you know... bam, right back at it.

Saturday nite I just caught the begining of the neighbour's birthday par-tay before I had to catch my red-eye flight back east. Hopefully the boys will be up for some fun later in the summer, when Miss K is not a school stress-case. In other news, the red eye sucks. I will reconsider ever doing that again.

So I'm living downtown with Andrea right now... 5 days a week. Most weekends I'll go home to visit with family etc... with the exception of the long weekend, whe we head up to the cottage again! Survivor Part 2, can't wait!

Furture summer news... I have a place to live in Ottawa now... 5 minuts from the market, a few Kms from the hospital... it seems great! Everyone come up for Canada Day (but you may have to stay with Arya...hehe, Arya, hope you are OK with that)... should be a gong show!

Exciting news! I have a part-time job lined up at the BC Cancer Agency for when I return in August... which will continue (at reduced hours) into the school year. It will be great because I can work part-time and still have August to enjoy time outdoors and with friends... all are welcome, as usual, to visit me... August is a sweeeeeeet month to do-it-up in BC!

Oh yes, and I've started at the Princess Margaret Clinic... its going to be a great experience... the counsellors are great and even though its only a month it looks like I'll get to have a lot of hands-on experience!

I think that's about it for now...
-Miss K

Awesome weekend...

2006-04-24T12:36:00.000-05:00

Hellooo!
Miss K had a fantastic last-full-weekend in Van... kickin' it off.....

Friday night with a "GIRLS ONLY" party... the pictures will tell the story. First year ladies, and friends were out as well as a few second year girls, which made for a gong-show of a good time. We had high hopes of making it out on the town, but that was dampened by our girly gossip-fest, too much wine and the boys across the hall joining us at the end of the night because they heard "giggling". Triple X was in full effect, let me tell you... coaxed to do such things as pose provocatively with the (penis) cake... and, well, be a bit more formally introduced to her neighbour. Called all the ladies in the afternoon to make sure everyone was alive and well... even made it out to Denny's with Erika for some greasy goodness!Saturday night was going to be a bust, tired and, well, tired, I was just going to stay in and watch Pretty Woman on TV... until... *knock knock knock*... well helllooooo neighbour! "Did I leave my sweater here?" "Why yes you did"..... chat chat chat... wanna come out downtown with me and my friends.... *hmmmmmmm, let me think about this* "yes!". So, boring movie-watching night turns into another gong-show with my fun-loving (did I mention hot?) neighbour. What have I been DOING all year, DOH!

Sunday, well, who can stay in and work when its forecasted to be >20 degrees and sunny. Not me! Call up a friend and take off into the woods for some hiking... sounds like a plan! So, Clayton and I took off to Golden Ears for the day... the pics pretty much say it all. It was about 25 degrees in the valley. I went from big pow last weekend to tank top this weekend, I heart BC.I must say I'm going to be super sad to leave here with the weather turning around and having met some really fun people, but I do miss you all back east, so be ready to do-it-up!

-Christine :)

Easter weekend brings BIG POW!

2006-04-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday I finished my one and only exam of the semester... what better way to celebrate then head up to Whistler for some spring skiing and the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival? Usually at this time of the year its warming up and the snow is melting, and its spring skiing in packed/slushy conditions. This year, not so much. I arrived Thursday nite to my lovely hosts' place near Creekside, and had a chill night in before getting ready to hit the slopes.

Friday morning I wake up to the TV saying that there had been 15 centimetres overnight... and its still snowing! Sweet! I hit up Whistler in the morning, and then Blackcomb in the afternoon with Stacey. So much sweet, light, fluffy snow! The evening brought an early adventure out to the infamous Longhorn, where Biff Naked was apparently playing. She's scary man. A few (or many) drinks later, our gang head home for an apparent "party" that didn't materialize. Instead, we went to bed (ok, we passed out, same difference).
Saturday Caitlin and I hit up Blackcomb, first tackling the glacier. It was insane! It hadn't been skiied on for two days, with an accumluation of well over 30cm. BIG POW! Props to Caitlin for braving the T-bar on her board for the first time ever, it was well worth it to get to that snow! Other than losing each other on the last run of the day, it was a great day. Saturday night we watched a bit of the RailJam in the village and then met up with others, including good ol' Trev. A little dancing to finish the night off meant I was not making my 10:30am bus... 1:30 it was.
Tomorrow I'm hitting up Grouse Mtn. with Brendan for the last day of the season... its supposed to snow overnight... hopefully some more BIG POW!

Can't believe I'm home in less than two weeks...

-Christine :)

Oh the sketchiness.

2006-04-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

So apparently when Dan Ackroyd comes to Vancouver, its worthy of the 6:00 news. People are exicted, a "star" is in town. I'm thinking, its no big deal to me... I mean, I've seen the guy in his native Kingston... chatting up underaged bar stars at Stages. Oh the memories! Funny enough, he's here promoting his Tequilla company... how appropriate.

Done classes tomorrow... home in 3 weeks, miss y'all!

-Miss K

Arya's Blog

2006-03-22T20:49:00.000-05:00

Arya messged me all drunk on Persian New Year and said that I neglected to mention him in my last blog. See, Arya got a sweet job at Nortel in Ottawa, so he was very hurt that I didn't mention him in my blurb about the summer.
So, Mademoiselle Arya... this post's for you.

Yay O-Town 2006... Arya's money-back guarentee of a good time. In the words of the drunken man himself... w00t.

-Miss K

This happens every time!

2006-03-21T01:44:00.000-05:00

My dad is right.

This happens every time.

I go to a new place... am homesick, a bit sad and disoriented for the first few months, and then I get myself all set up, into the swing of the things, new friends and fun experiences, and then by the time its time to leave, I am sad because I don't want to leave.

I'll be back in Ontario in about 6 weeks, and its starting to seem a bit strange. Now don't get me wrong, I love y'all back east, and miss you heaps, but its weird, because I have these two lives which completely do not cross over. There is BC life, and there is Ontario life. BC life has become familliar now, its seems odd to be leaving it behind for the summer. I guess the one thing to keep in mind is that most of my friends won't be here for the summer months either.

I know I'll be sad to leave here, but I do have a pretty extraordinary summer set up. I'm stoked to live with Tapey in downtown T-dot, I'm really excited to go to Europe with my grandma, and I'm also excited to live in another (smog-free) new city-Ottawa for the bulk of the hot summer months!

So that is that. This has been a random thought blog.

-Christine :)

Miss K's coming back east, so get your gong ready people, a welcome back weekend is in order!

Back to the "big dub"

2006-03-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

So before school gets too crazy busy with papers and exams I decided that another trip to Whistler-Blackcomb was in order. It was a fabulously beautiful day, and considering I forgot to put on the sunscreen, I got a fabulously beautiful goggles burn, which is demonstrated slightly in the last picture. Highlights of the day included: me almost plowing out-of-control into two ladies on the tbar, me bailing numerous times in the powder, me sliding on my bum in the glades because I was afraid of plowing into the trees, and last but not least.... drum roll please... Brendan bailing off of a jump (see picture below, ass-over-tea-kettle, quite hillarious).

Arriving back home at 6:45 I had very little time to get showered and ready for Erika's 25+1 birthday celebration (she refuses to acknowledge her 26th year). Red wine and gong show ensued. At one point, I provided group entertainment with the running man. Oh yes, a circle formed around me and I was a-runnin'!

Entrance to the blackcomb glacier
Ski fun Barbie
Blackcomb alpine
Brendan's wicked wipeout

The girlies at Erika's birthday festivities!

That's all folks!
-Christine :)

This city is so bipolar...

2006-03-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

MORNING:

AFTERNOON:

So strange!

WHISTLER TOMORROW... before the end of term gets too crazy!

-Miss K

Big Pow!

2006-03-04T12:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the "big pow" last weekend wasn't so much powder as it was heavy snow... but it was still lots of fun no less... here are a few pics from Grouse Mountain "The Peak of Vancouver" :)

Kinda hard to see here, but the snow was deeeeep!

Semester-o-fun!

2006-02-17T12:18:00.000-05:00

Miss K's got a few sweet updates...

J....My random Kiwi friend who I met in September went back home where the scenery is beautiful and life's a beach... literally. I was thinking of giving him Kaili's cell #...haha. He's a the lead singer in a band... so when they become all famous I get to be able to say "I made out with him before he was famous"! Oh Miss K...
Hockey! I've been on a few dates with a guy who has hook-ups to Canucks game. It means a bit of volunteer work, but we get sweet hook-ups with seats! The last game I got to sit right up at the front and watch the pre-game skate... see pics.Summer! I had a phone-interview with Princess Margaret Hospital on Thursday, and a few hours later they offered me a position in their Ovarian Cancer clinic for the month of May! YAY! So, my summer plans are now finalized. Toronto in May... Europe first two weeks of June... Ottawa June-July, and probably back out to Vancouver for August to enjoy the end of summer! Any and all are welcome to join me back out here when I return!

Reading week. Well, its over. It pretty much didn't exist. However, I did make it up to Whistler on the weekend for some sweet skiing and drunken debauchery. On about 3.5 hours of sleep, Sean, Olga, Kristine and I woke up at the week hour of 4:15am on Saturday to catch the 5:15 bus to Whistler. We headed up Blackcomb by 9am, skiied all morning, and met up with "ski school Trevor" in the afternoon for some more action on the slopes.Apres ski, we defaulted to our room for some outdoor hot-tub action, followed by various forms of alcohol including red wine and beer. Next thing you know its 7:30 and we're going to Pita Pit for dinner. I may or may not have been rather intoxicated. OK, I was. For goodness sake, it was so early there will still children out an about in the village with their parents. Oops. Onto the bar we went, less Trevor, plus a lot of gong.The next day we skiied Whistler, it was so awesome! Out the back side of the mountain was the area I went hiking with last summer when Derek visited... completely different in winter, unrecognizeable as the same place! I was a bit grumpy from a) being hungover and b) being dead tired from 7 hours sleep in 2 nights... but a lunchtime poutine cleared that right up and it was sweet skiing all the way till 3:30!Its THAT bear again...Whistler styles (see previous post...)

Following the Whistler weekend was the take-home midterm week from hell... that sucked, but its over now. Tomorrow morning I'm hitting up Grouse Moutain just over the bridge in North Van.... they are supposed to get a dumping of snow tonight so Brendan and I are hitting the first gondola up and making some fresh tracks....sweeeeet!

Miss K out!

I'm getting frustrated with classes again...

2006-02-13T21:46:00.000-05:00

Christine + Kristine = Trouble

2006-02-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

After being away in Africa for 4 months, Kristine was in need of some gong, and so gong we did.

You know its a good night when...

Curious.

Vancouver is a big city, glad their busses run frequently on a Saturday morning.

-Christine

Ontarians Take Note...

2006-01-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

January 31st, 2006
Dear Diary...

(Yes its still raining) BUT...it is the last day of January in Vancouver and there are FLOWERS SPROUTING.... AND, I see buds on the trees! I hope Wiarton Willy doesn't see his shadow on Thursday...

-Christine :)

My gym called to tell me I suck...

2006-01-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

Well, kinda...

*ring ring*

"Hello?"

"Hello, Christine? This is Pam from FitCity calling, how are you tonight?"

"Hey, I'm good..."

"We were just giving you a call to say hi... we noticed you haven't been in in a while, and just wanted to make sure everything is AOK"

(Crap, they're onto me... I've been meaning to go ever since I got back...but...but...but)
"Oh, ya... I know... err... I was away for Christmas for 3 weeks and then got back to school and its been very busy and I haven't had the chance to come in and..."

"Oh, that's nice you were at home for awhile..."

(I'm feeling this need to justify myself to the FitCity lady... and so I ramble on..)
"....and I was in Monday to pick up the new schedule but it wasn't ready yet, so I was going to try and come in..." (why the hell am I still talking, why am I feeling bad and trying to justify myself to the FitCity lady).... "and pick up the new schedule today... its nothing really... I've just been really busy...."

"Oh well, its good you're still interesting in coming to the gym... we'll see you soon!"

"Yup... soon...right...bye!"

I did find it great that the gym was not just in it to sign you up and hope that you didn't keep coming (like many of the New Years resolution people...).

Essentially, yes... my gym called to tell me I suck. I'll be returning... err... tomorrow...

-Christine :)

"I HOPE this ends up with you waking up next to Paul Martin"

2006-01-18T03:23:00.000-05:00

This is as close to a political blog as I will ever get.

The other night...I was in the same room as the current, and soon to (likely) be former, Prime Minister of Canada. It was rad. Well, it was more funny than rad. The liberal supporters were very hardcore.

I digress.

Random meeting/make-out in a bar before Christmas turns into date-invite to attend a Liberal fundraising party which the PM is to attend. Pretty cool, I can go along with the hoopla for a nite if it means free dinner! If only I could remember what my date looked like... curious. Don't judge! 7 weeks was a long time ago, lots has happened, people forget what people look like over time (and under the influence of alcohol). Oh, ok... that's you... I remember now.

The nite went a lot like this... "ya ya liberal this liberal that, we rock, thanks for your hard work and support" (cheers, clapping, people banging those blow up sticks like you see at basketball games... wow, ya). Paul Martin arrives... "ya ya, me this, me that, I'm so great, accountability, social programs....bla bla bla" (cheers, chants of "Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul"... more banging of the baloon-sticks). I didn't snap my own shots... hence the shot from the newspaper at the event.

Dinner, not all that spectacular. Luckily our table of "young Liberals" decided against total emmersion in political talk and actually conversed on a semi-normal level. I even got to talk, and clarify that I do genetic COUNSELLING, not genetic THERAPY (If you don't know the difference is, email me, please, I'll set you straight).

Also try explaining how you know your date to the people at the table. As my friend Ninja so poigniently put it, the best way to explain would have been "we had a mutual interest in sticking our tongues down eachothers throats". A bit too much information for the young Liberals I think. My date opted for saying "ya we met at a bar like 6 weeks ago and this is the first time we've seen each other since" Wow, the truth... what a concept. Definitely the most random first date I've ever been on. How many of you have seen the PM on any of yourrrrrrrr dates... I'll leave the table open to beyond just the first :P.

Sadly, the end to this story does not involve me waking up in a bed next to Paul Martin, sorry to disappoint.

No, 199U, sadly it doesn't involve me waking up beside my date either... just before any of you ask that question on the comments page... yes, I know you well :).

Lotsa lovin',
-Christine :)

Bad Miss K

2006-01-12T01:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome back. I've been busy and/or lame for a month.

Where do I start? The begining would be good I suppose.

I left Vancouver on December 12th for Toronto, after finishing my oral final (haha, yes, very funny)...where I spent a few days visiting family and friends in the big city. I then trucked to Kingston in that oh-so-wonderful winter storm... you know the one... the one they said "don't drive tonite unless absolutely necessary". Oops.... ya... 5.5 hours later Andrea and I were in Kingston.

Oh Kingston... a brief recap:
People: Derek, Ryan (and Cora...so cute-see pic), Lesley, Jon, Arya, Lumo, Jay and Ninja... oh ooops, I didn't see Ninja.... damnit.

Places: QP, AJ's, The Griz, Dairy Queen, Panchancho, Brass, Brass.....Brass (yes 3 times....sad), Bubbas

When you leave and return...the places don't change, but something does. It was nice to be back in Kingston to see familliar faces and great friends, but it really just wasn't the same...nor should it pretend to be.... undergrad was undergrad, and it was awesome times with awesome people but I think that with some more distance and a greater sense of nostalgia upon return things might be a bit different :) Like at a time when my PHE jacket doesn't fit anymore and I can storm into 199U and scaring the new tennants (note to 199U girls... mark calanders for the homecoming year 2015...).

Christmas went by pretty fast... it was the year of money... and I'm not complaining!

After Christmas I spent a few days visiting with Derek in and around the TO area. One day we, along with Andrea and Lauren, geeked it up and went to the Science Centre to tour around and see the Body Worlds II display. It was so cool... it was a display of various whole bodies and sectioned bodies of humans and even a horse and a camel... that had been plastinated (essentially rubberized) and put on display. Randomly we even ran into the anatomy guru herself... Stef! Another evening out was with Derek, Jill and co. at the Esplanade Bier Market... over 100 different kinds of beer from all over the world... highly recommend the place... its got a great atmosphere and great music!

I guess the next thing on the list would be New Years... spent drinking wine and watching S&TC/countdown on CityTV with Andrea. I wanted something low-key... quite the contrast from last year's Andrea versus Christine wrestling match at the all-boy party.

New Years was followed by a great nite out w/ the 199U ladies in none other than THE Landing... Holland's Landing to be precise. Where do you go in THE Landing for fun? Well... the Fox. Where do you go if the Fox sucks? Across the street. It really didn't matter where we went, it was a great nite of gong w/ the ladies including...
- a plywood stage
- 17 year olds inviting us to their "after party"...well, they invited Kaili (who seemed to think it was a good idea)...no, we didn't go
- Emily... the rapist
- cab driver with a mullet
- McDonalds @2am in the cab... with a verrrry interesting video... It was so great to see everyone... I miss you ladies!!
So... some more visits with the fam and I was back on a plane to Vancouver on January 2nd.

School started the 3rd... but did it realllly start? Hell no!

Tuesday night I trucked up to Whistler with my new/old spectacularly ghetto skis and crashed the night at Brad's friend Caitlin's place before taking to the slopes bright and early at 9am. My skis got me down the hill all day in one piece... awesome! We got tons of runs in because it wasn't all that busy... I think I'm starting to get the hang of skiing alpine and semi-fresh powder too! The best run of the day (I think) was the Blackcomb Glacier run... because you have to traverse over by foot a bit and then you pop down into this huge bowl of (then) fresh powder and ski wherever you want on the way down the glacier... it was pretty sweet! Leaving Whistler was the interesting part...

6:30pm- walk to Subway to eat before the "7:00" bus
6:38- Christine realizes she forgot her purse at the house... Brad runs back to get it.
6:52- Brad returns with purse and informs Christine that he was bitten by a Rotweiller on the way to get the purse. Christine thinks he is kidding. Brad shows Christine dog bite marks through his goretex jacket... and the gash on his arm...shit... he really was bit by a Rotweiller.
7:00- Worrying about dog bite, waiting for bus
7:10- waiting for bus
7:12- look at sign... which says bus came at 6:35.... call busline... realize we F'ed up the time. Shit.... next bus not coming till 9:00.
7:40pm- Return to Caitlin's... tell dog bite story... go to house down the street to identify the culprit dog and get dog info incase Brad starts foaming at the mouth due to Rabies... or becomes paralyzed due to Tetnus....luckily, not.
11:00pm- arrive back in Vancouver... Christine goes to bed, Brad goes to the hospital for a tetnus shot.

Moral of ths story... double check bus times!!

School? Hell no.

Seattle? Hell yes!
That Friday night my classmates and I took off to Seattle for my "early birthday" celebration weekend, where we spent two days touring around, shopping and doing our own bit of drinking. The first nite we found ourselves at a nice pub down in the market with great music and a good lookin' crowd. Yet the sketchies come out... comment of the night: "You're so hot... are you legal to be that hot"... "how old do I have to be to be legal?"... "thirty-one".... uh... no.Saturday nite was a nice fancy dinner at Palamino's followed by a sketchy evening of dancing. Quite possibly the weirdest crowd I have ever encountered at a bar... bar-star girls combined with the ugliest men I have ever seen on a nite out on the town... ever. It was strange considering this place was recommended by more than one person... oh well, at least I got in free because the bouncer said I looked like the wife of some guy who also worked there... random. What were our days filled with? Shopping, shopping and more .... shopping. I am sure Jason loved every minute of it *sarcasm*... but I guess that's what happens when you go away with 5 girls! All and all it was a fabulous weekend with fabulous friends... and it was great to get away before the school work starts to pile on... which it already has!

I know this was a ridiculously long blog... but now you're up to speed... pretty much. I'll blog about my first experiences in genetic counselling sessions in a few days... for now... I have to eat dinner and then go gong with Amber!

Take care!
-Christine :)

Bad blogger

2006-01-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

Miss K has been a bad blogger whilst at home... but will post pics and adventures from the break in the coming days... stay tuned.

-Christine

Almost done...

2005-12-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

24 hours until I am done my first semester of grad school.
Approximately 27 hours until I start drinking and being merry with those who are also done.
Give or take 36 hours until I'm on a plane back to cold-ass Toronto...possibly hungover, not good.Check out the downtown and mountians on my "I'm going nuts" study break walk yesterday... notice the lack of snow on the ground, but pretty snow on the mountains :)

I'm sorry I don't have anything better to report... this course I'm studying sucks, its not really worth talking about.

I can't wait to be done!

See you all you Ontarians soon!
xoxo
-Miss K

The super-duper Miss K update

2005-12-02T20:25:00.000-05:00

Haaaay all!

There have been a lot of happenings in Miss K's world that she hasn't blogged about, so here it all is in a nutshell!

November pretty much didn't exist... I'm not kidding, I don't know where it went.

Its December and as of now I have two courses done... with one exam on Monday, and another the Monday following that. Then freedom!

My time at the RR (Red Robin) is done... at least temporarily. They said they would have me back in January if I wanted... but realistically I don't know how much time I will have. Next semester is gonna be buuuuuuuuuusy. We got a rough draft for our clinical rotations, which start as soon as we get back... which are in addition to our 4 classes.... and my work-study job. gah. I'm still planning to go w/ my classmates (and anyone else who wants to come along) to Seattle for my birthday in January... yay roadtrip! I'm contemplating hitting up Cali. for spring break (if we get one.... boo rotations buggering up our break!). Way cheaper to go from here than from Ontario so gotta do it while its (relatively speaking) close-by.

Annnnd...I bought myself a Whistler 5-day pass and will be bringing my ghetto- rear-entry boots back to beautiful BC with me upon return from Christmas break... speaking of...

I'm back in the T-dot on December 13th! I'm excited to get home and see everyone. Gonna hang with the fam and friends in Toronto, make a trip to Ktown, and maybe Ottawa to meet my supervisors for next summer.... speaking of...

Next summer has started to take shape. In the later part of June and all of July I will be in O-town at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), doing a 6-week rotation in their genetic counselling clinic. It sounds like an awesome experience, I've heard nothing but good thing about the hospital. I've also taken an interest in the governmental policies around genetic testing and reproductive technologies, and am interested to see if there is any way I can talk to some of the big(ger) whigs on some of the gov. task forces/committees while I'm in Ottawa to see what kind of jobs there are in that field, its really up-and-coming and super-interesting to me. But before Ottawa...

I'm going on a Scandinavian cruise! My grandma invited me to go with her on a 10-day cruise which will take us to Sweden, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Denmark and the like! I'm so excited for that, I've never been to Europe before, and this is the kind of trip I probably would never do on my own. My gran is awesome too, one of the really "hip and cool" type.

And before the cruise... I think that I'm going to try to get a month-long rotation at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, in a specialty cancer clinic. I would really like to work in cancer-genetic counselling when I graduate (as it stands) so some specific experience in a cancer clinic is just what I need to beef up the experience in that field!

So, this post has been all over the map, but it gives y'all a snapshot of what's up and coming in the life of Miss K....

Miss you all, I'll see lots of you sooner than you know it!!
-Christine :)

You have GOT to be kidding me

2005-11-29T20:24:00.000-05:00

November 29th, 2005: Vancouver.

I am not amused.

Pimp Pimp Horray!

2005-11-26T00:51:00.000-05:00

Following in Andrea's Blog's footsteps I have chosen one of the random things from "blogthings.com" to post.

Below is my Pimp Name...

Your Pimp Name Is...

Bootylicious Big Spenda

What's Your Pimp Name?

Yes doctor...

2005-11-25T02:33:00.000-05:00

Nothing cures intermittent, excruciating, knife-stabbing abdominal pain better than a cute 4th year med student. I digress.

Tuesday night I wound up in Vancouver General Emerg with the aforementioned pain in my abdomen... like nothing I have ever felt before. It would come and go every few minutes, getting worse as the night went on. Luckily it wasn't that busy there and I was attended to promptly. So there I am, sitting in a fugly hospital gown, doubled over in pain, white as a sheet, when in walks my doctor... or should I say med student. Grrrreeeeaaat. Hello cute med student....I knew I should have shaved my legs! Lovely... the questions... "no, no I haven't had any irregular bowel movements...no, no diarrhea... no, no abnormal discharge...no, there is no chance I could be pregnant..." (gawd I know this is medical information but geez... why to the cute med student...or why couldn't I have come in with a twisted ankle or something less... ugh).

So ya... of course I didn't have a single 'attack' while the guy is in the room... geez. Its like when you take your car to the mechanic and it doesn't make that funny squeek/knock/rattle for the mechanic when he tests it. Except this is me, looking like shit, not having my pain infront of a cute med student. "I swear I'm not faking.... I also swear that I look much better than this under pretty much ANY other circumstances" gah, damn (no I didn't say that).

He kept checking on me over the course of the next few hours... and then just when I was about to leave, another (real) doctor comes in. He's at least 60. He promptly states that the student who was taking care of me for the night had gone home and he was going to take care of me until I left. Damn, and he didn't even say goodbye, didn't even take one last blood-pressure. I can safely say I hope we never meet again........ under those circumstance.

They couldn't figure out what was wrong with me... and I'm still recooping from the pain and resultant lack of food over two days. Gah... at least its not exam time.

-Christine :)

Oh Miss K...

2005-11-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

This workout business is getting a little bit out of hand... lets face it, I don't even know my own strength anymore. Scene:

Miss K is at the gym doing her usual Tuesday evening "Fit City Flex" (Aka: give me nice muscles) class, when the instructor introduces the "exercise bands" to the workout. Exciting, never used those bad boys before! The deal with these is you put the band under your foot while standing up, and do arm exercises with the resistance from the band...awesome.

So I'm standing there, flexing away, when all of a sudden "SNAP". Band goes flying into the air, hitting my arm and the back of my head. Whole class turns to look at me. First thing I think? Shit, I have overworked the band and broken it... I'm a tank. The class will laugh, but genuinely be afraid of my small (yet obviously powerful) arm muscles. They will whisper in the lockeroom about the "girl who broke the band". Its okay, I can take it... these classes must really be working!

I pick up the band, to examine where exactly I broke it... only to discover, its not broken at all. How can this be?? The instructor calls out "be sure that you have the band placed under the middle of your foot so that it doesn't roll off the toe and fly off!". Damn. Foiled again. My request for next week? No more exercise bands.

-Christine
PS: Tickets to the gun show are selling out fast, get them while they last... cash or charge.

Save yourselves

2005-11-13T22:34:00.000-05:00

"I can only recommend this for kids between the ages of 4 and 4 ½
and the legally blind and deaf."

Cute characters, some funny lines. Aliens though? Ugh... overall Disney suckage. Disappointing.

1986

2005-11-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

Seeing as how the rough part of the semester is over... we needed a vacation. OK, so Vancouver Island may not be a tropical island, but it is an island no less, and it has Victoria, and the lovely Olga to gong-it-up with. Done. Catriona and Jason and I headed off too Victoria early Saturday morning for a day and night of fun. The rain was a bit of a downer during the day (see first picture, hiding out in Starbucks), but luckily it let up for doing out hair all pretty, as well as drinking and dancing far too much. We're in first year right? No one has to know its first year GRAD school...

Our destination of choice was called the Red Jacket, but you may as well have called it Stages. It was like we were transported to Kingston, raised stages with railings to act ridiculous on and all. I don't have the faintest clue what song prompted me to shriek and hop onto the stages with Catriona, but apparently we were having a very good time (see above). Note: second year UVic students have more money to burn than do poor-ass first year UBC genetic counselling students, so don't feel bad when they buy you $13.50 vodka-redbulls without asking before how much they cost. Yikes. Haven't gonged it up like that in quite awhile! Scandalous.

Sunday brought hung-over greasy breakfast and a painfully long bus and ferry ride back to Vancouver. What-a-weekend.

-Christine

Itssssss Wednesday!

2005-11-02T02:21:00.000-05:00