Visitors

These awesome people came to visit me this week:

It was very special to me to be able to share my Barkerville life with my Aunt Dianne, Aunt Marg, sister Esther and my Dad. My life is so different up here and I love that people can come visit me and see what I do and why I love it up here so much.

Feasting like civilized people

I've been in Kamloops for a few days now, a mini-vacation from my working-vacation in Barkerville. I came back for one reason: to see my granny who is visiting from Ontario. I love this lady. She has been a big part of my life from the moment I was born and despite the fact that I now live in BC, we remain in contact via snail mail and phone calls. She makes me laugh and I enjoy just sitting with her and reading Womans World Magazine (where she gets all her medical knowledge such as: Nikki is going to get brain cancer from talking on her cell phone and Nikki is going to get cancer from drinking ice water after supper), watching Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune or just sitting and having a wee little tiny coffee.

Today was Granny day. I took her for a wee little tiny coffee and two timbits at Tim Hortons and then we went to COSTCO. Where we pushed around a cart and collected free samples from every single sample station in the store. Now, most people would get a sample and eat it. That's not how Nikki and Granny roll. These samples are going to be our lunch and boy oh boy are we going to have a feast! And we are going to sit down and eat it proper, like two free loading, cheap dutch ladies. We go around with our cart and collect our free samples. They line the bottom of the cart and the seat and when we have made our way around the entire store, we find ourselves a table, unload our mish-mash of random bites of fruit snacks, granola, nuts, wieners, salad, yogurt and crackers. We sit down like civilized people, and we feast on our samples.

(yup, that's us loaded up on free samples)

Content and Happy

Sometimes, during weeks like the one I am having right now, I really can't believe that this is my life. That amazing things happen, that I get to see what I get to see, and do what I get to do. I'm in awe and baffled that I am so blessed to have this amazing life that God has give me.

The thing that brought on my awe and wonderment this week was a brief overnight trip that I took on the Bowron Chain of Lakes. This chain of lakes is world famous and is spectacularly beautiful. It takes about a week to complete the entire circuit. I was happy with my two days on the circuit, and my arms were happy that we were only on the circuit for two days. 

 Isn't the view unreal? There are four mountain ranges that the lakes surround and as you go through the circuit you travel through four different climates and ecological zones.

 (this is me looking 12)

 Vacation. Seriously. It was AMAZING. They have campsites all around the circuit, and you just pull over, set up your site and enjoy the view. And the bugs. The bugs were CRAZY! At night there was actually a steady hum of bugs like nothing I have ever heard before. It was ridiculous and disgusting at the same time. And in the morning the outside of the tent was plastered with mosquitoes. What could I do but laugh? I laughed a lot at the ridonculous of how many bugs there were. There also was a wicked-gnarly thunder/lightning storm for about an hour that was freakishly unbelievable. How does thunder work? I don't get it!

 I was really looking forward to the journey back because on the way to our campsite we had to paddle against the current, so going home was going to be  a cinch! And it was really nice going through the river, saw a moose and a beaver and just laughed and enjoyed our meandering journey through the slough. And then we hit the lake. And the wind. And a windstorm. Imagine a mixture of White Squall and the Perfect Storm. And me in a canoe. It was scary. We had to turn around and head for the safety of the slough. Eventually we did make it out to the lake, paddled close to shore and after a while of fighting with the wind pulled over on this beach:

Where I swam. And napped. And talked. And napped. And tanned. And just sat for a good hour and a half. Sitting there looking at this view I felt many things.
a. That I finally was getting a summer vacation.
b. That Canada really is the most beautiful place.
c. That the weather and activities and events of my canoe trip could not possibly have been more perfect.
d. That I love having friends, and laughing, and talking, and debating, and joking.
e. That I was perfectly content and happy.

62

QUIZ

a. This is me in Barkerville.

b. This is me after loosing 62lbs.

c. This is me in a super cute dress from VV

d. All of the above

The correct answer is d. All of the Above.

Major Pain in the Butt

What a week! I'm feeling so good and happy and healthy! Last Monday, exactly 10 minutes after discussing with a friend that our other friend was going to come visit on Thursday, the friend arrived at the door and was around for an extra couple of days. Very exciting.

Then on Saturday night, I was discussing with a different friend how I wanted to hike up to Groundhog Lake, but was skeptical about doing it myself because it is far, and there are bears, and I don't know where it is etc. Then, 10 minutes later two other friends mentioned that they were planning on hiking up to the lake - on my days off! Awesome.

So, Sunday afternoon, Conner, Sheena and I packed our bags and started the walk through Barkerville and Richfield, down the old Cariboo Waggon Road, past Summit Rock, hung a left at the creek and continued 12km uphill toward Groundhog Lake. 

 I'm sad that despite the beauty of our hike, you can't see the incredibly steep terrain that we traversed. Over the course of our 12km hike we climbed over 500m in elevation.

 Snow, ice, mountains, sunshine, warmth, all great things.

 We spent the night at a cabin that is located beside the lake. It was a beautiful ending to an intense hike.



The thing that I was most excited about doing this hike - other than checking it off my 'list of things to do' was that for the first time in years I felt incredibly fit and healthy. I was not slowing anyone down, Conner, Sheena and I took turns setting the pace, we packed everything in that we needed on our backs and took it back out again, and the minimum 3.5 hour hike - we did it in less than 2. Which means we were booking it! SO awesome. I got to the top - exhausted, with burning muscles, but feeling like I was on top of the world.

The next morning we walked down the mountain and back into town feeling energized and yet exhausted, and proud of our accomplishment.

The next morning after that, I couldn't walk. Did you know that the sides of your bum have muscles? That can hurt? A LOT? Cus I sure did learn about them this week.

Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak:
Once my final costume is done, I'll share pictures of me in all my victorian finery.

Misc. Items

I thought I should blog right now because goodness knows when I will get a chance again. I'm leaving Wednesday for my paid vacation back in time in Barkerville. I guess "technically" it's not vacation time, because I am working, but I enjoy it so much that it really is like a break for me.

Here's my misc. list for today.

1. Go to work. No work to do because I'm super efficient. And also, I didn't want to do anything extra because dagnabit school is over and the thought of planning another lesson or decorating another bulletin board makes me throw up in my mouth a bit. So I looked at ideas for next year on Pinterest for a while, then I planned the workshop I'm leading at the Western Canada Association of Christian Schools International Convention. Then I cleaned out the staffroom.

2. Library. Since internet in Wells/Barkerville is spotty at best, and cable is a new fangled notion that has yet to make it to the backwoods mountains where I will be living, I decided to take this summer to read. I found a list of 30 books everyone should read before they turn 30. I've read about 20 of them, so I feel that I'm doing good, goal 2/3 accomplished already and I haven't even cracked a spine! I had to go to 2 libraries to find the rest of the books on my list.

3. Deliver random items to people. Cupcake holders, art work, a dressmakers doll. The usual stuff people have chilling in their trunk.

4. Look unsuccessfully all over Kamloops for non-absorbent foam. I got a Kayak last week (ohhh - that's another good blog topic). It was suggested that I get some non-absorbent foam to put in the tips of it just for extra buoyancy and stability. There is not one place in town that sells what I'm looking for. Three people (including my dad, who has never kayaked, the guy at Surplus Herbies who was semi-knowledgeable, and a friend who is outdoorsy and pretty much runs Banff) suggested spray foam. So I got some. Problem: Long kayak, short arms. I have a pile or spray foam - yellow and piled up  like a dog turd about halfway down the nose of my kayak. Fail.

5. Refresh the i-pod. Downloading songs = fun, trying to sync my ipod = not fun. It was giving me crazy problems tonight. I am irritated.

6. Put away the bags of random school junk that had accummulated in my bedroom. And by 'put away' you know I actually mean 'stash in a closet.'

7. Start packing all the random things I need for the summer. I originally planned to only bring clothes - because last year I brought copious amounts of 'stuff'. Yeah... not going to happen. I already have 2 hockey bags full off 'stuff'. Haven't even started on the clothes yet.

8. Pay bills and rent.

I feel like I got quite a bit done this evening. I deserve my sleep tonight so I can finish off my list tomorrow and spend my last night in town with my family. Or part of if anyways since Mom is in Ontario, Bethany is in Cambodia, and Vanessa is working. So really just Me, Dad, Esther and the dog. Meh. At least it's the better more cuddly half of the family.

My Awesome Class

Seriously.

Best class picture EVER!

Wendy's

I just felt SO incredibly clever today! Like I had totally cheated, even though I didn't really, and that I was so much smarter than a hundred other people in Kamloops.

The situation:

Vanessa and I wanted to grab Wendy's for lunch today (Baja salad = my favourite ever). But as we drove into the parking lot it was as if every single family in Kamloops decided to eat Wendy's for lunch at the same time, at the same location. The parking lot was packed and as we drove around to the back looking for a parking spot we noticed that the line inside was ridiculously long.

But you know what line wasn't long?

The drive through. So in less than 2 minutes we had ordered and had our meals. And just as we paid a parking spot opened up right by the door. So we parked, grabbed our food, took it inside, sat down, ate, and laughed at all the people who were waiting in the really long line.

6:21pm

You know, I'm feeling good right now.

Six hours ago.... not so much. I've pretty much been on the verge of "I'm going to throttle anyone who bugs me" for the last few days. This type of attitude usually is met with me curling in a fetal position on the couch of the staff room every lunch, and dangerous items such as pencils and scissors need to be taken away from me. Don't even get me started with what I could do with a geometry set!

But right now - it's 6:13 pm. Vanessa made us supper and we sat down together like real friends and sisters and just laughed and giggled and ate. We did the dishes and the house is clean other than the creative clutter of my craft area. I'm sitting on the couch looking at the beautiful view in my backyard as a breeze washes over me. I'm on facebook looking at funny things and getting messages from my Barkerville friends who are all trying to find me a place to live this summer when I go back for another epic season.

And this afternoon it was warm. Not stifling hot as it tends to get this time of year, but warm and sunny with a breeze. I came home after an exhausting-pencils-in-my-eyeballs-and-yet-strangely-fulfilling-and-ok type of day, put a blanket on the freshly cut grass in my yard, read a novel and fell asleep.  It was relaxing and wonderful.

And then an ant crawled up my nose.

But I don't care. I'm still relaxed.

M y students
A re constantly crazy and annoying as they
Y earn for the end of the school year.

Proud FIVE

Laundry Room

One of the downsides of being poor is that I do not have my own house. I want one. So bad. And the thing that happened last Saturday made me want one even more.

If I had my own house, I'd have my own washing machine and dryer.

I wouldn't have to share. With anyone. Especially strange boys.

Normally doing laundry in our shared laundry room is not a problem for me. Sure it's annoying to walk 500 yards to the room carting bags of laundry (because lets face it, I'm not organized enough to set aside one night a week for laundry, so when I do get around to it, I have three loads to do). Making sure I have the right change is also always a challenge, but I've been doing my laundry like this since College. (I just realized that was 10 years ago. Ok, now I REALLY want my own house). USUALLY I can do my laundry, things are fine, I never run into anyone awkwardly, all is good.

If you are unaware, laundry room ettiquite means that if you do not get to your laundry as soon as your load is done, if someone else needs your machine, they are allowed to take your laundry out and put it on the counter so they can use the machine. This is normal. I accept this. And 100% of the time our laundry room is so quiet that it is never a problem.

Until last Saturday.

When it became a problem.

I was late getting to the dryer and as I walked in I saw a man removing my laundry from the dryer so he could use it. I sheepishly told him that it was mine and proceeded to load it into my laundry bag.

Sheepish?
A problem?

See... I probably wouldn't have been so awkward, embarrassed or sheepish if it was just a regular load of laundry. But this load was 100% "delicates" if you know what I'm saying.... I'm a single, quite modest, young lady and the stuff that man was touching was stuff that no one has ever seen or touched except me.

I have honestly opened up a new blog post pretty much every day for the past two weeks. But I have nothing to write.

Nothing to write. Because I'm bored. With everything related to my life. But I'm not going to get into that today. Instead, I'll share with you a few things that have been said to me, by students in my class this week.

"Pick that up woman!"
"It's not our fault you are getting old."
"School ruins a perfectly good weekend."
"And my cousin Peter is old. He was born in 1985."

Oh they make me chuckle.

Eating Tink`s Face

So approximately 3 feet away from me, Bethany is sitting on the couch gnawing on a 2 foot tall chocolate statue of Tinkerbell that she got for 89 cents at superstore. (Down from $10 at Easter, so a good deal.) Anyways, as she's eating Tink's face I started thinking about how it really isn't fair that Fairies are so awesome. Really, think about it, they have it all. Two arms, two legs AND TWO WINGS.  Then I started to get jealous and came up with the following list of why.

1. They are super tiny and cute and don't even have to make any effort to be that way!
2. They are the only ones who can legitimately walk around in tights as pants.
3.  No one questions it if they want to wear tutus every day.
4. They get to sleep in FLOWERS!
5. They have a permanent supply of Fairy Dust. I don't know what that stuff does, but it makes people happy, or sleepy, or gives them special skills. It's like a drug that they just always have. Not that I'm into drugs, but I could sell it and pay off my student loans quicker.
6. They get to fly. For free. No airport taxes, no baggage fees. And if they are tired they can just ride on a bumblebee.
7. It's not creepy that they get to go into peoples rooms late at night and just hang out. Dude. If I was a fairy, I'd be in Zac Efron's room. A Lot.
8. They talk to animals! No translator. Amazing.
9. They light up at night. No need for a flashlight ever! Or electricity. My hydro bill would be non-existant! Woot Woot! Talk about a small carbon footprint. (get it, small foot print? Cus they are not using electricity AND are tiny, so they have tiny feet)
10. Fairies can find a whole groups of lost boys who just need a good woman to take care of them. They make it seem easy to find a good man!

And that is why Fairies have it made. It really isn`t fair.

11 Course Meal

This weekend I had the privilege of being hired to host this event:

It was awesome! Seriously, unreal. When I got the e-mail about this event I knew right away that I HAD to be the one to host the event. I've been passionate about Titanic since elementary school - pre-James-Cameron-Movie, which to me is mark of a true Titanic fan.

The event was an 11-course meal that was based on the actual last meal that was served on the ship. The food was amazing (yes, I did get to eat it), and the staff at the Brownstone was super friendly and nice and really made my time working with them enjoyable.
And now for the best part. My costume. Seriously, I'm adorable. I look 4 feet high, but stinking adorable. I love dressing up. Don't so much love my corset, but I wear it and it makes me look good in costumes like this. My job was to greet guests that came and provide them with a character card that was an actual person that was aboard the Titanic. The card told them about the passenger and was the role they were to play throughout the evening. Later in the night I told them if their person lived or survived.
Between each course I did a little speech about the Titanic. I started with the basic anatomy of the ship, talked about the different classes, the crew, the hitting of the ice berg, the sinking and the aftermath. It was challenging for me not to come up with information about Titanic, but to make it interactive and fun. I mean, it is a tragedy, and you don't want to ignore that fact, but you also don't want to dwell on it either. But, after quite a bit of thinking and brainstorming, I found some ways to get the audience to interact with the information, found some fun stories, and was able to make people laugh at the right times, and be serious at the right times. My bosses at the Brownstone thought I did fantastic, and the Mayor's wife even Tweeted about how great I was at hosting the event. I feel that is a good compliment on how well I did.
Hair. and back of the dress. The dress was based on an actual 1912 pattern and fit me perfectly!
A couple at one of the tables was so impressed with me that they bought me a drink at the end of the night. This is me relaxing with it by the kitchen. By the end of each night I was usually exhausted. All night, on my feet, in heels, public speaking, talking with customers, it was really fun, but exhausting at the same time.

I seriously had an awesome time. The customers that came were tons of fun. Many of them dressed up, and played the part and had questions for me and talked and joked around and just had a great time. Everyone was super impressed with the event that the Brownstone put on, including me.

14 Years Later

Last night was awesome.

Titanic 3D.

I don't think I can fully convey to you the passion that I have for the tragic tale of Jack and Rose. But I'm going to try.

Rewind 14 years. I'm 14 years old. SUPER awkward, totally ugly, sporting something like a bowl-cut. I am just starting to experiment with make-up - green eyeliner, and my 'cool' outfit is a blue plaid shirt with a dennim collar worn under denim overalls. And I love chokers. It half makes me cry thinking about it, and half makes me laugh that I was so lame. I was not a cool kid.

But you know who I thought was the COOLEST person EVER? My Aunt Linda. She was 24, lived in the city with 2 super cool girl friends, they all had great hair and clothes, and cool friends and raised their hands AND clapped at church (gasp!), went to university, had cars and jobs, and were practically groupies for the Barenaked Ladies. They were so cool. I was not. But despite that, my Aunt Linda loved me. She came home one weekend from the city and drove me in her new red car to the town 45 minutes away where there was not only a movie theatre, but a KFC as well! And we had a date. It was wonderful. We saw Titanic and I fell in love.

The next day I started my biggest art project ever - a collage of Leonardo Dicaprio pictures that was no smaller than 8 feet by 8 feet - on the ceiling above my bed so he would be the first thing I'd see in the morning and the last thing at night. I also started sporting a super cool "Jack and Rose" pin. It was about 4 inches square and I wore it on the outer layer of all my clothing for the better part of three years. I saw the movie three times in theatres (remember: no theatre in my town, so it was not easy to do that), and when it came out on video I watched it every week for a year, then every other week for a year, then once a month for a year and I've weaned myself slowly down to once a year since then.

But for the last 18 months I've been holding out knowing that a 3D version was coming to theatres. And I went last night and it was everything I remembered. Literally. I remembered all the lines, all the movie mistakes, all of the scenes that were taken from actual pictures, all the historical inaccuracies, the clothes, the hair and even the jewlery. Yes. For reals even that.

It was glorious! I was in my element recreating 14 year old loser-Nikki, and realizing that I'm now 29 year old awesome-Nikki and if I want to love Leonardo Dicaprio I can, because even though Titanic was his first real break, and all the haters back in the day hated on him for it, I think we can all agree that Leo legitimately is for real, super talented.

The other best part, was that the guy beside me (think Hurley from Lost), had never seen the movie and at every semi-shocking thing he would gasp or cry out or comment in shock. He was hilarious. In the one scene where Rose is getting her corset laced he actually grunted out loud. I don't know how it is possible to be a 30 year old man and NEVER have seen Titanic! That's ridiculous. It's like saying you've never heard of chocolate, or seen the sun! I'm not even convinced he knew that the ship was going to sink! At the end of the movie after the death of Jack and Rose he was slumped in his chair in shock and awe of the movie he had just seen (I get that, the movie is awesome), but it was just so unreal to me that he was SO shocked and so upset by the movie! How had he NEVER seen it before???? I feel like his life was not complete until last night at 11:45pm when the movie was done.

And if you haven't seen it before... well.... your life is not complete. And I'm not even joking, I'm dead serious.

the Damn Bouquet Toss

Not that I like to announce it, but I'm 29. I don't really like being 29, but it is what it is. Being 29 means a few things;

1. I'm almost 30. Which is old.
2. I've been to a lot of weddings. A lot.
3. If I ever get married, my wedding will be the best one ever because I know what is awesome and what isn't. (AND because Pinterest exists now and it didn't back in the day when most of my friends were getting married.)
4. I've had to participate in 500 000 bouquet tosses.

This is what I want to talk to you about today. The Bouquet toss. And how it sucks. I hate it. I hate it so much that I'm pretty sure that it's invention was a collaboration between Hitler, Ceaucescu, Stalin and Satan.

The flower toss is cute, when you are 14 and the thought of catching the bouquet means you will find your prince charming by the time you are 18 and live happily ever after. But when you are pushing 30 - It really just means that you are an old maid and everyone gets to point and laugh at the single girls whose only hope of finding a man is the pathetic notion that catching some freaking flowers will get her one.

And so, over the past few years I have come up with a few tried and true methods to avoid the shame of having to catch a bouquet of flowers.

1. Go to the bathroom.
2. Wear a fake engagement ring.
3. MC the wedding and hold the post down by the podium. ("I'm sorry, I need to make sure that the sound for Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' is playing")

On the few rare occasions that I haven't been able to avoid the flower toss, I strategically place my 5'4 frame behind a passle of super tall girls. The one time that it got past them and came flying for my face, I took a step to the right and smirked as the flowers landed on the floor directly beside me. (Take that flowers! I don't want you!)

I was at a wedding this weekend, and as the MC I was pretty stoked that I would get to hold down my post behind the podium and avoid participating in the damn bouquet toss. Yes. I used a swear and wasted a sin to use an inappropriate adjective to describe what I feel is emotional torture.

No such luck.

As I called out that the toss was starting, I looked around and noticed that other than me, there was NOT ONE SINGLE SINGLE GIRL IN THE ROOM. Not one. Not even one. I rounded up some of the little girls to participate and then held my ground behind the podium. But do you think the bride would stand for that? Noooooooo. She called me out, and I kid you not, made me walk all the way across the room and stand - the only adult - in a passle of little girls.

Here are the words I would use to describe the longest 60 seconds of my life: mortified, depressed, angry, bitter, sad, embarrassed, awkward, frustrated.

Yup. Me and 8 little girls. Awesome.

And obviously the bride pointed me out Babe Ruth style before turning her back and tossing the bouquet RIGHT. AT. ME.

Which I caught, and then promptly dropped.



Dear Future Husband,
There, I finally caught the damn boquet. Now get your act together and find me.
Sincerely,
Nikki

Cornrows

So a few months back Bethany and I were sitting around on a Sunday night
and we were super bored. Like so ridiculously bored we just wanted to cry. We
came up with the idea of starting 'a bored jar' which is basically a jar full
of random ideas that we came up with. Whenever we are bored, we pull an idea
out of it and we HAVE to do it. That's the rule. No looking at something,
deciding you don't want to do it and then putting the idea back. You have to do
it.

We don't often pull the bored jar out. But we have a few times, and we do what
is on the paper no matter what. Like going for a walk - in a snowstorm.
Attempting headstands etc.

Today I was super bored. And after playing on facebook and pinterest for
about 400 hours and whining all day, Vanessa came over and plunked the bored
jar on my lap. I reminded her that we have to do whatever is written on the
paper. No tradesies.

Here is what I pulled out:

And so I did.

Yeah I did. One long cornrowed snake all the way around her head. AND not only did I keep occupied for 20 minutes, but Vanessa did her homework and now I have something to blog about!

Wedding

This weekend I had the priviledge of MCing the wedding of these two people:
And it was awesome. The entire thing. I love Jon and Rachel and I love them even more now that they are married. And I love that at the ceremony, after she walked down the aisle, Rachel and Jon led the worship at their own wedding. I thought that was super classy and amazing. They love God and want us to as well. They are beautiful people inside and out. This picture was hilarious to take because Rachel and Jon had to talk to a million people, and we were just taking our own group shot and at the last second, Rachel ran over and dove into our picture. And then as we were laughing, we were trying to let Bethany down and I'm pretty sure someone got a good flash of her underwears because she did not get down very gracefully - which was entirely our fault.

And now we come to the "Matchy-Matchy Dresses" section. Where you get to see how three brilliant minds think brilliantly alike. Where Me, Bethany and Vanessa show up somewhere - once again - all dressed the same. I mean, we are gorgeous, but seriously, we need to stop dressing a like. We are adults.

And I also just realized, that apparently we all have similar dance moves. We like the head tilt, hands out to the side move.... And minus my totally wierd face in this picture, I think I'm totally hot.