Category Archives: annual events

My Top 11 of 2011

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 4 Comments

One thing I absolutely cannot get enough of is “year in review” lists at the end of each year. If there was a year in review marathon on TV, I would spend my entire Christmas break watching it. When 1999 was becoming 2000, I nearly lost my mind with CENTURY in review specials. That’s ONE HUNDRED TIMES better than a year in review! Anyway, I’m cheating a bit because 2011 was a huge year for me, but below is my top 11 of 2011. In a very particular order.

11. Planning a 2-day retreat to allow staff at our organization “room to breathe.” Creating space for 150 people to connect with each other and rejuvenate is a great feeling.

10. June 21. Finally watching the office building come down to make room for this.

9. May 31. Taking a sledgehammer to our old office walls before the building was demolished. And filming it.

8. November 23. Seeing my fundraising apparel line go from an initial idea to fully complete, and then seeing other people wearing it.

Yet We Live by The Mustard Seed

7. August 30. Being picked up from work by Graham, after he packed up and moved home from Ontario. The end of our long distance relationship!

6. August 20. Paying for $5 of an elderly lady’s $8.80 grocery bill because she was unable to cover the cost herself. She was buying milk and toilet paper. Read the story here.

5. The moment when Graham handed in his thesis and was done his defense, and now officially holds a Master of Arts degree.

4. January 24. Flying to Hamilton, ON (4 hours away) and surprising Graham at his door at midnight in the middle of a snowstorm. He thought he was dreaming and just kept saying ‘no’ and shaking his head.

3. October 3-10. Spending a week in Mexico with my new husband – relaxing, laughing and getting tanned. And playing ping pong.

2. February 23. Having Graham get down on one knee, in front of the Bow river, in -20C and ask me to be his wife. A moment I’ll never forget.

1. October 1. Marrying the love of my life  in front of (almost) all of our friends and family.

Leave a comment with your #1 moment from 2011!

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Posted in 2011, annual events, Dating, He Did WHAT?!, just for fun, This post contains pictures

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To every ornament a story

Posted on December 5, 2011 | 9 Comments

**A blog post from 2008 that I just found in my drafts**

I truly believe that almost the entire history of a family can be told through the story of their Christmas ornaments. Newly married couples usually have a smaller tree, or a number of ornaments that are store bought and generic, as their story together is still in the infant stage. I just finished decorating my parents’ tree with my mom, and with every ornament placed on the branches, a new memory is brought forward about how it was acquired, or what monumental occasions occurred during the year etched on the front. No matter how many times the ornament has been displayed, and how many times the story told, they never lose their importance. The little angel, with the pink crinoline skirt and the wooden face, was purchased by a young girl 46 years ago. In the deep cold of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the doorbell rang on one December night in 1962. Behind the door stood a woman selling small handmade ornaments for 50 cents. The young girl fell in love with the pink skirted angel and my Grandmother purchased it for her, as a gift, so my mother could have something of her own to hang on the Christmas tree. That wonderfully crafted moment of delight is still hanging on the Christmas tree so many years later.

Another cold December, my brother (then 3) wanted to buy ‘his’ new baby (unborn) a hockey stick for Christmas. My mother was in the hospital having the baby from December 19 until the 23, and so left little time for Christmas shopping for the new addition. Once I had arrived home in a bundle of blankets and weather protective gear, my brother quickly realized that the new baby sister was, well, useless, and would not make much use out of a hockey stick. In the cold Canadian night on December 23, four days after giving birth, my mom took my older brother to the pharmacy to pick out a gift. Almost immediately, he spotted it. He spotted the gift that would be absolutely perfect for his new baby sister: a blue bird ornament. He knew then that the hockey stick could wait, because nothing could be more perfect a gift as this. This, as my first Christmas gift ever, is, by far, my favourite ornament on the Christmas tree, this year and every year.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you take the moments necessary to look at your Christmas tree and truly realize the memories behind the ornaments.

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Posted in annual events

Looking back, looking forward

Posted on January 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

I love the end and beginning of the year, solely because reflecting on the past 12 months is always so much fun! Here is my personal 2010 roundup -

My year in numbers
5165 tweets sent
28 videos uploaded
27 years completed successfully
14 trapeze sessions taken
8   months spent with the love of my life
7  organizations volunteered at
6  events planned
5  weddings attended
3  events emceed
4  other countries visited
2  other Canadian cities visited
2  trips to the US

My 2011 goals in numbers
10 books to read
15 “AFI Top 100″ movies to watch (to complete my list!)
1+ events to emcee (I don’t have anything lined up yet though!)
4 trips to take (at least!)
1 course to take (which one? Who knows!)
1 new regular volunteering opportunity

My non-numerical 2011 goals
Film more videos with Michelle and others
Film more videos with Slacker
Learn more about love
Save more for retirement
Take more pictures
Write more – blog, journal and letters
Think long-term with decisions
Do everything in my power to have the best year of my life!!

I made a list like this last year, and it was pretty weak, but I managed to do ALL OF THEM!

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Posted in 2010, 2011, annual events

[Video] On the Rides: #Stampede 2010

Posted on July 27, 2010 | 1 Comment

Yes, that’s right. We took our cameras on the rides again at Calgary Stampede 2010. Of course, we left it in our bags for the Fireball, the ride with the most g-force. Also not pictured in the video is the carousel and the Crazy Mouse (here’s 2009′s video). 

http://www.youtube.com/v/GNeB7InLR2o&hl=en_US&fs=1

The song at the end (In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg) was actually playing in the green ride where we’re dancing, so I tried to find it online, thinking it was a dance-techno version of Inspector Gadget. Then my boyfriend said “that sounds Russian” and then found the song online in about 3 minutes. It pays to be dating a music aficionado!

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Posted in #yyc, 2010, amusement park, annual events, Calgary, just for fun, projects, stampede, videos

So you think you can act?

Posted on April 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

No. I do not think I can act. Just because I make videos, and I’m really animated, and kind of don’t care when people are staring at me weirdly, SOME people might be mistaken to think I can act. I cannot act.

Remember the post (because I post so little, I’m sure you can scroll 3 inches down the page and find it) about the Calgary Underground Film Festival? Well, the film is online now. Brace yourself for my acting skills.

Disclaimer: First, I did not grab Bobby’s bum. The little strumpet pinball groupie or whatever we called her did. Second, the “alternate ending” lines were thrust into my hands a minute before we recorded it, so this is why my acting is lacking to the greatest degree in this portion of the film.

All in all, a great time. You can read Gord’s version of the events here.

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Posted in #cuff, #yyc, annual events, Calgary, my life is bizarre

April Fool’s! Oh, we’re fired?

Posted on April 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

I don’t like being pranked. I am always on guard on the first of April to make sure nobody is trying to fool me. I make it my mantra for that day to not believe anything anyone says for 24 hours.

But when you work in an office environment with a bunch of pranksters, things can be known to crop up. The worst is when someone throws out a crazy idea and someone else thinks the idea is good, and then everyone slowly starts to think it’s good, as the idea gets more and more preposterous.

March 30th, 2009 – We met with our Edmontonian counterparts at a hotel halfway between us for a day of long meetings. Our waitress for lunch, let’s call her Geena, was, how do we say… somewhat of a handsome woman. So, two days later we are sitting around thinking of an April Fool’s joke for our female boss. We recruit one of the new female staff to CALL OUR BOSS, pretending to be Geena, and arm this poor new staff with all the details about what Boss was wearing, what she ordered, things she said etc, and “Geena” was going to call her, put on the husky voice that we remember from the restaurant, and blatantly hit on her, asking if she was interested in going on a date. I should say our boss is straight, around Geena’s age, and attractive. Somehow we were going to get “Geena’s” phone call on video (surprised?) and Boss’ reaction on camera as well (I don’t remember the full plan – I’m sure we had it all worked out).

Then, T minus one hour, a guy in my department comes busting into the room saying “ABORT! ABORT!” in hushed tones. It turns out some serious crap was going down in the upper levels of the organization and it would have blown up SERIOUSLY in our faces.

We were all called in for a serious meeting later to discuss some REALLY serious, saddening, worrying stuff and we’re all looking at each other with the same “Thank God we didn’t do that” fear in our eyes.

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Posted in 2009, annual events, april fools, just for fun