The Good the Bad and the Alana

Give a mouse a snow storm and they will haunt your house

2010-05-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

I am still home alone and it is much less exciting then in the movies. No fun people traps and bad guys getting hurt, more like that seen in Bridget Jones where she is sitting in her living room, drinking and singing All By Myself. That's more like how I feel. I never thought I would say this but thank goodness for work I think I would go crazy without it. Darcy is still out in the boonies for work and I'm still holding down the fort, which I do a good job of...except when it comes to mice which seem to like my humble dwelling. I don't handle rodents well and in fact stand on my counter and cry hysterically until someone gets on the phone and calms me down....I know I know pathetic right? but I just have this fear that will not go away. Anyways enough about mice, I would rather not think about it anyways. The weather in Olds has been poor at best and it seems to rain rain and rain. I guess its a step up from snow so I shouldn't complain and it does make washing my car less of a priority. All this rain is wrecking my tan tho :(. On a better note I went to Red Deer to catch movie and dinner with my awesome morning staff from the pool and we are now busy planning theme weeks at work for the summer to boost staff moral. And I finally got my raise YEHAWWW!!!. I guess putting in extra time at work and taking courses does actually pay off.

Another thing about this rain is that all of my softball games keep getting canceled :( on the plus side to that nobody actually has to see how bad of a player I am.

Well once again I'm back in a coffee shop drinking tea and blogging while the rain falls down. The only difference this time is that I am in count down mode for the return of Darcy and the end of my lonely days and my trip to the Yukon for Benny's grad and Cayla's show. I am then stealing Dana back to Alberta with me and Darcy is going to do his best to turn her into a little cowgirl.

Well that's it for now and I'm pretty sure this is a new record for me...three posts in one month. Just had to mention it. NEW HIGH woo hooo

Alana is thinking again...thats never a good sign

2010-05-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

So once again I find myself sitting in a coffee shop blogging. I could get used to this lol. Anyways because of all of this bad weather and snow its got me to thinking. How can people get into such a routine that not even blizzards can deter them. For example since I have started working the early bird swim I have seen the same people come at the same time every day and swim the exact same swim and get into the hot tub at the exact time, not only that but still push the button for the jets even tho they know it has been broken for some time now. It just bogels my mind. This people are very nice people but I think if it was me I would just get depressed doing the same thing every day.

Another thing that I have been thinking about lately thanks to a conversation with my co-worker. If someone is drowning during a lane swim but is in the middle lane and you have to get them out all by yourself (not that this would actually happen)and you cant lift them, how do you get them to the ramp in the tot pool. do you a) drag them over the lane ropes and lose your grip or do you b) push them under the lane ropes and risk them taking in water. just one of those things ill probly never know.

I also cant figure out why people are so obsessed with the lives of celebreties. Im bring this up because I only have three TV channels and ET and ET canada and all these other celebrety shows are on. In my opinion there shouldnt even be shows about this. Seriously it just drives me crazy...like seriously worry about yourself and not lindsay lohan or what ever. Anyways thats just my opinion.

I think I am starting to go crazy from all of this snow and Im thinking to much about pointless things. Anyways I am going to enjoy my coffee and the weird music that coffee shops always seem to play. By the way arent you all impressed that I blogged more then once this month...i know i am :)

April Showers Bring May Snow Storms

2010-05-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have officially found my happy place!!! ok not exactly but I have found the cutest little coffee shop with free wireless...new hangout? I think so, this might actually get my blogging done more often. lol. Now if only I could convince Darcy that coffee shops are cool and convince him to come so that I wont look like a major dork all by my lonesome.

So I would like to say that I havent blogged since Easter because I am just so damn busy but that would be a complete lie. The truth is I just dont feel like blogging when I get home from work, on the plus side I have gotten switched to mornings now so I have the afternoons free and dont get home at 11:30 at night :). So I guess I will give a quick update and then I will spend the rest of this post complaining because I have no one else to listen to me right now... Sorry faithful readers.

Ok so I have officially been assigned to work mornings 5:30 everyday, I actually love it. Ive also been teaching preschool lessons and after the initial shock they are actually kind of fun. Hmm other then work Darcy and I have made a couple of trips into Calgary to pick up hunting stuff and a dress to wear to grads and weddings. We ended up staying late on one of our trips do to blizzarding but we made it home safe and sound. Speaking of blizzards that brings me to my next thing.

Alberta weather is STUPID!!! It started snowing wednesday afternoon and it kept snowing and snowing and a smarter person would have stayed home from work. Not me...even after my car got stuck in my drive way. I battled that snow all the way to work. I dont understand why people still come to early bird swim when you cant see three feet in front of you...but they do. Anyways all was well and fine after work, i stayed in town in hopes that the road to my house would get plowed. Went to my friends house to drop of money for softball registration (Darcy and i are playing on a team this summer) and i stayed for coffee.

I decide to head home around 2:30pm and I get stuck just outside of town...right in the middle of the road, thankfully an old man helped push me out. I continued on my way and about 40 feet from where i got stuck the first time i get stuck again this time making it complete by getting locked out of my car. Finally after getting Darcy and his coworkers to come help me I get my car back into town because there is no way i could get it home. Darcy and I make it home in his truck and the minute i make it in the door...i cry. yes i am a cry baby. I seemed to have been crying alot these last couple of days. Darcy drives me into work the next day and then left for High Prairie for a month. Needless to say it was not the greatest start to the day. Then there was a major first aid at work...My second since working mornings. I wont say much but it was defiantly something that would happen in a horror movie.

I figure I would just go home and sleep after my 8 hour shift but no such luck, with people not showing up and schedules being confused i end up teaching aquafit, swim lessons and working a thirteen hour day all the while still wondering if i can even make it home.
The good news is i did make it home and literally crashed and burned. After a good long sleep this brings me to the here and now. eating breakfast and blogging in a coffee shop while weird jazz plays softly on the radio...a good start to a good day so until next time, which will hopefully be all about my driving to High Prairie adventure. :)

Easter Surprise!!!

2010-04-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

I remember saying that I would post more often haha I fail. Anyways now that Darcy is back from texas and we are in the middle of our easter vacation I figured I couldnt put blogging off any longer, plus I have lots of fun things to talk about.
Darcy had a couple of free days while before I finished work for the week so I convinced him to try my aquafit class so not only does he get a work out but he can also give me feed back and contructive critisim. I wasnt sure if he would show up but once again he proved me wrong. Not that I am complaining...I think its great!!!. Anyways we hit the road bright and early the next morning with the sun shining and the birds singing...all the signs of a great day. We stop for breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Petty and it was on the road again. One more stop to fuel up and meet up with one of Darcy's friends and we finally arrive at the farm.
It didnt take long for me to get into the swin of things. I mean Im still not a farm girl for sure but I feel like I fit in alittle better then the last time I was here. The only difference this time was that Darcy is determind to make me into a farm girl :s lol. Its not all bad though, I shot my first gun, went for a super long quad ride (my arms still hurt today) and we made friends with the horses...Im not quite ready to get on one but Im working on it.
We went on our quading adventure with a bunch of Darcys friends and Darcys mom Jackie cooked us a massive dinner YUM!!!.
Anyways yesterday a bunch of the family came over for dinner so the boys (Darcy and Tyler) and I prepped the turkey and peeled potatoes and carrots and then Darcy and I went for a long walk to escape the noise (and the rest of the meal prep). We got back just in time for dinner. After dinner and some visiting Darcy and I jumped in the rhino and went for a spin then we headed out to visit some more friends, but I was so tired we didnt stay long.
We got home and I hit the hay which finially brings me to Easter morning. I was feeling alittle sad after talking to Dana and remembering that I wouldnt be home for the families easter egg hunt but Jackie and Don saved the day and made the best easter ever. I wake up to find little chocolate eggs all over the place but not wanting to seem snoopish and crazy and head to the kitchen and sit down at the table. After a large breakfast we got our easter baskets a new thing for me so i was super excited!!! then we got to hunt for eggs. I wouldnt have thought that a 19yr old and and 20yr old could have that much fun but I had a blast. Well thats it for now I promise I well post at least once more and tell you about my farm-venture before I go back to work. Happy Easter everyone.

is it really march already?

2010-03-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

OK OK so I know its been forever. I know its bad when people actually comment on how long its been, so I figured it should not wait any longer. Ok so things are finally getting into a routine for me which is always a nice thing. Ive been working lots and finally have my car. Now that was a battle and a half but now that all the paper work is taken care of things are great and the car runs like a dream. Other then working Ive made a few trips to Red Deer and Calgary, convinced Darcy that lacrosse rules (and a big thank you to Mumps and Nana for hooking us up with tickets).
While in Calgary I met up with some of my friends from back home and we had a fun filled evening of catching up. Ive also gone out a few times with my new friends here and we had a blast. Darcy and I also made a trip to Yaha Tinda...beautiful country with lots of wildlife. There was a giant flock of sheep that came right up to my car to lick off the salt from the roads and I got to touch them...I was like a kid in a candy store. Hmmm well that's pretty much it for now. Darcy will be heading to Texas this weekend so I will be home alone for the next two weeks but after that we will both be heading up to his parents farm for a week of fun and looking for trouble. Other then that my only news is that I am working towards becoming a head guard and have started teaching swimming lessons as well as aquafit. So all things considered my hands have been pretty full lately. Oh I also did my first "pool rescue" and had to pull a little girl out. Not going to lie it was kind of exciting. Anyways that's it for now. I swear I will try and blog more.

first blog post from my new home in Olds

2010-01-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

Now that things have gotten back into a normal flow I figure it’s time to get some blogging done. While in Whitehorse the day before my flight I ran into a friend from high school and although we had a falling out we agreed to meet and make amends. This made me realize that life is indeed to short and that I need to get over things more and be a nicer person. That being said my new years resolution for 2010 is to be more forgiving and to try and make amends with people.
Anyways on to the next thing, after a not-so-great flight I finally make it to Calgary where Darcy picked me up. We do a bit of shopping before we head to Olds and by shopping I mean Darcy buys new “big boy” toys. We spend the evening with Darcy’s co-worker and his wife and their very cute little girl. We had a ton of fun and decided to hang out with them the next day as well.
After a fun filled weekend it was time to get back into the swing of things with Darcy heading back to work and myself with job searching. I spend the time that I am not job searching getting things set up at the house and trying to get over my fear of driving. I just want to mention that I have been successful in both of these endeavours. The good news is I am now a lifeguard at the Olds Aquatic Center and am busy with my orientation and training. We have also been looking at a vehicle for me since it’s hard to make our schedules work with just one vehicle and find that we are making extra trips all the time. On a plus note it looks like we have found a car that will work for us and are going to finalize the deal soonish (by the end of this week).
Anyways things are going great and I am finally getting to know my way around town. I also discovered that my favourite chiropractor works here on Wednesday morning so I couldn’t be happier about that. Other then that I have been trying to hone my cooking skills and so far have been doing fairly well. Although if anyone has any favourite recipes or meal ideas I would love to hear them.
Anyways that’s it for now. I’m going to call it an early night since I think I am coming down with a cold. So until next time...XOXOX

Singing the Song of WInter

2010-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

This post is an update of everything that has happened in 2010 so far. First of there was the day the Spirit Box arrived. I guess i should give a bit of background info on that. Because Faro was not on the Olympic Torch Relay Route and Faro is considered a Northern Community, Nike and the 2010 Olympics paired up to bring sports equipment to the youth and then will later organize events in the town to encourage the youth to participate in athletics. So anyways the day starts off with my mom dragging my lazy bum out of bed, so I hop out of bed to find the that temperature is a balmy -35. This would deter most people from going out to watch the big Hercules aircraft arrive but not us Northerners (not going to lie, I'm losing my Yukon toughness and thought it was way to cold to be out). Anyways the crew of Olympians, mascots, news crew, and military officers arrive and are greeted by a large crowd of happy not to mention cold Faroites. Many pictures were taken and by the time everyone was ready to leave I'm sure everyone had cold toes. The equipment then went to the rec center where the kids have been using it non-stop.
The next big event was my brothers 8th birthday and the main reason for extending my time at home. Wow, I'm pretty sure I have never seen any get excited and stay excited for a full 24 hours. It was pretty amazing. The day was pretty low key, we ate his favorite foods for our three daily meals and in between them he bombarded me with the question: Is Darcy on Skye yet?. A big thank you to my boyfriend for actually Skyping Zac, I'm pretty sure it made his day :). Anyways we finish of the celebration with a three layer Pokemon cake that in my opinion was pretty sweet, I would put up pictures but they aren't on my camera so it will have to wait.
Hmmm lets see what else has January held so far. I went skating for the first time as an "adult" it was boring since its faro and no one ever shows up, thankfully for me my brother works at the arena and came and skated with me.
Oh i also spent an afternoon looking after two of the cutest kids ever!!!. It was nice to have little kids in the house instead of the trouble seeking 8 year old that is usually around lol.
Well that's pretty much it for now, I mostly spend my time being a bum at home, or trying to convince my dad to play the piano for my while I sing. As of this point he has been very accommodating, so a big shout out to my daddy...THANK YOU!.
I have most definitely come to the conclusion that I am ready to get out of Faro again. I'm counting the days till I'm back in Alberta, and knowing me that will be around the time I get my next post done. Unless of course something spectacular happens or I embarrass myself completely and it would make for an entertaining post.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

So the reason I haven't blogged recently is not for lack of time but for lack of excitement. I have spent the majority of my time being a lazy bum, watching movies, eating food and wasting time on the computer. On the plus side I have discovered a new website that is wonderful for wasting time, so if you have a lot of free time on your hands check out mylifeisaverage.com.
I did go out on the 30th, well actually I was dragged to the bar for karaoke night. It was pretty fun but the real musical talent became apparent after everyone left the bar. I ended up at a "house party" and by party i mean 5 of us sitting around and three of us having a jam session. Anyways I decide not to go out and celebrate the new years since I was out the night before. I do believe the right choice was made because I had a total blast playing "So you think you can dance" with my two little brothers and little sisters, I brought in the new year with a delicious dessert made by my sister and a cute movie.
So the good news is I have a job interview when I get back to Olds and my plane ticket is booked. Well that's it for everything in my life right now but I figured it would be a good thing to post something in the new year.
HAPPY 2010

Home for the holidays

2009-12-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas is over and things have slowed down I have the chance to update and tell everyone all about the holidays so far. Christmas eve I caved and watched White Christmas with my mom and dad. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal and was actually a tradition but.... my mom watched it without me already and I was not impressed. But she begged me to watch it with her so i couldn't say no. Anyways Christmas was spent with just the family and was nice and quite. It started off at around 9 with stockings and presents, followed by a three hour movie. Lucky for us we were only interupted by 5 phone calls from relatives to wish the family happy holidays. The family spent the afternoon tidying up the house and I only had to make 2 trips to the recycling depot. We had an early dinner with massive amounts of food thankfully I only had to eat one meal, unlike Benny who had to eat 2. We finished the day off with more movies and food (a classic Bekk theme).
Boxing day I litterally did nothing, I sat home and played Life with Zac and Mom. The highlite of my day was probably when Dana got mad and threw clothes and a roll of toilet paper at me for being immature...ironic? I think so.
Anywho today was a busy day and my entire body is in pain now. I spent all day playing hockey on my sweet team 'The Trenchers'. Unfortunatly we only placed 4th but we had a blast trying. After hockey and a wonderful bath. Now normally I wouldnt mention that but I was so disgustingly sweaty and gross I just have to mention how great that bath was.
Well thats it for now, I plan on finishing the day off with some Star Trek.

Its a Jolly Holiday

2009-12-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

School is officially done and I am sooooo very finished with crazy roommates!. Having finished my last two exams I come home to find Darcy waiting with the truck totally loaded with my stuff so we hopped in and hit the road!. We got to Olds fairly late so we called it a night. I spent the next couple of days getting laundry done and cleaning up the house, mostly I was putting of driving Darcy's big scary truck. Darcy and I end up going to the "Mickey" to see some of his friends but we didn't stay out late or anything.
Anyways I finally man up enough to drive the beast and I even took the truck for an oil change. I found that everyone in Olds was nice and very helpful. I finally get to see where Darcy worked and meet a couple of his coworkers.
We spend my last evening in Olds at a Christmas party with some of Darcy's coworkers. It was such a blast.
Sunday morning we hit the road back to Calgary for breakfast with my grandparents and then it was off to catch a plane. I finally arrive back in the frosty cold Yukon and after the initial greetings and hugs I begin to wish I was back in Alberta.
After a cold day of shopping and running around my family and I make it back to Faro. By this point in the trip I am super grouchy and managed to be a ditz and drop my phone in a toilet making things that much worse. Anyways once we arrived home the only thing going through my head was please let this day be over and I thought it was. As I went to get my bed all set up there is a knock at the door and Joy, Tonya and Shellby all arrive. So anyways instead of going to bed i stay up till three in the morning getting all caught up on every ones news.
Well that's it for now. I'm off to do some decorating and some eating :)

One down two to go

2009-12-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

So just a quick post to say that I am officially done with math well at least until i get my marks back :s hopefully when they come back it will be with a pass. On the positive side I did much better on the exam then i thought I would. I have to admit though, I did celebrate getting through it by getting myself an MRU hoody. Anyways I was pretty exited about finishing and just wanted to let everyone know. Ill probably do another post around the coming weekend once I have finished with exams and spent a couple of days with Darcy.

Christmas shopping and broke university students

2009-12-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

GOOD NEWS!!!
Christmas shopping as well as final projects are all done and wrapped up. The only problem now is preparing for final exams. Im not going to be stressing about it to much because im much to excited to pack my stuff up for the move home. Im also super excited to spend some time with Darcy before I go back to the Yukon for Christmas!!!. Anyways Im getting back to the books and I just wanted a quick post to mention how excited I am about finishing things up at school and buying christmas presents. Now hopefully I can make it home on what little money I have left.

Blogging is nothing like writing an essay!!!

2009-12-02T13:03:00.001-08:00

Hey all,
So I was talking to Darcy a few days ago and he was very disappointed that I hadn't updated my blog in a week. Personally I thought wow only a week I'm doing good. Anyways just a quick update. Its crunch time with school and the teachers are packing on the work. I have 2 essays due this Saturday which is better then one due tomorrow not that it really matters since I have it done this just gives me some extra time to go over and edit edit edit. My last day of classes is the 9th so that means I only have two english classes, one philosophy lecture and 5 more math classes :D. I am super excited about coming home for the holiday. I still have a bit more Christmas shopping to do but hopefully I wont end up doing some last minute shopping in Whitehorse.
I'm playing the part of the hermit these days because of roommate drama. On the plus side I have found its very productive for school work so maybe its not all bad lol. Oh and my replacement Ipod is here so locking myself in my room isn't bad at all because I have some sweet tunes to keep me company....now if only I could get pizza delivered right to my room.

Oh I also found out that I can play in the community hockey tournament in Faro when I am home for break....SOOOOO EXCITED.

Hopefully I will be able to get in at least one more post before I head back to the Yukon and during the holidays I am hoping to get some pictures of the family and what not and post them.
Anyways back to the books. Only one more essay to go. Everyone keeps telling me its just like writing in your blog which you do all the time. I beg to differ!!! it is super different because 1) blogging i can say what ever i want 2) no MLA format 3) no one is grading me on it and 4) there is no due date.

Anyways that's it for now

stress, fights and trying times

2009-11-22T21:16:00.001-08:00

Wow I now understand the true meaning of trying times. Basically what I am getting at is growing up SUCKS!. I know I know its not all bad but this post is going to be a grumpy get it all out post. I warn you if you are in a bad mood and are looking for something happy to read do not go any further. hahaha I sound like Lemony Snicket *Score*. So between roommates not talking to each other and relationship problems coming from every direction and I'm not just talking about mine personally, although yes I definitely had my own to deal with, its been a very difficult last few weeks. I don't think I have laughed and cried so much in one time frame. In all honesty I cant say that it was all bad but at the moment I do feel that way. Thankfully I have some great friends that know just what to say and I am now closer to my roommates then ever before and I have some bad 90's music to cheer me up. (PS merry Christmas, happy holidays by Nsync. just saying). I also want to say a big thank you to my Mommy and my sister Dana...you guys are the best and remind me to keep going and its not all bad. I LOVE YOU). Well this post seems allot more cheerful then I expected. Anyways that's it for know....until next time.

Midterms, or as i like to say fun sucking time

2009-11-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

Now that the stress of writing midterms and the anticipation of getting them back is over I have been enjoying my time much more. First off I managed to flunk my math midterm, no suprise there. However my wonderful math teacher seeing that I do get 100% on my tutorials and I always answer questions in class let me do a re-write. My second midterm I did much better on which was a major relief since i did poorly on my first big essay for that class. My final midterm was in philosophy and I passed that one with an A!!! (woohoo oh baby baby). I celebrated my marks by going out with Katie and Jess for dinner and drinks and managed to fit in some karaoke and get a gift certificate. I also watched the Roughriders win another football game! All in all my Friday night was pretty wonderful. Saturday on the other hand was not quite so good. I had a three hour class and that was all well and fine but the evening pretty much became a gong show. I avoided most of it by coming home before the major roomie blow out. Yes everyone I did stay out of it...unusual I know. My Sunday started out with cartoons and coffee and breakfast...it was awesome. I then spent the rest of the day going to Cross Roads flee market, hitting up the mall to do some window shopping and watching some Donny Darko with my neighbor. Now normally I would end my post here but I told Tyler I would talk about him so that he can use my blog as a pick up line. "Hey ladies have you read Alana's blog? Im the great guy she talks about sometimes". Ok Ty here it is. You rock and you are the super coolest best adopted brother ever!!!

you're all just a bunch of halloweenies

2009-11-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

WOW once again I have put off blogging but this time I do have a good excuse. After a week of stressing about school i decide to take a break wednesday night I went to karaoke at the on campus lounge and on thursday went to have a couple of drinks with the girls. On the weekend I went to a football game with my sweet heart of a roommate katie, my wonderful boyfriend darcy and me coolie-o homie topher. After the game Darcy and I head over to my neighbor's place to watch the hockey games on his big screen TV. As the game progressed more and more people showed up and finally we decide to move the party to a pub so that we could do some karaokeing. Ill leave out the part where there was some fighting between couples and get right to the ride home. I honestly dont think i have seen two boys have that much fun with one truck. Also i now know that boys do giggle.

Anywho i spend the next week stressing about my midterms and being grouchy (to the people who have to live with me - i am really sorry). Thursday rolls around and i get the first one done and over with and one more the next morning. Friday night Darcy and i decide to go to the halloween party at the alberta college of art and design but we didnt stay out to late because i had an exam the next morning. I finish my midterm at noon on saturday and i am ready to bust a move and get the party started.

The girls and I went to Jessica's aunties and left Darcy at home to do some homework. We stayed for a delicious dinner, made a quick stop at shoppers to get some last minuet costume pieces and then it was back to rez.

We arrive at the "Lib" and get the party started. A great concert with great people and great costumes. Not to mention a few high calorie beverages. Anyways after everyone has had more then their share of the beverages and the bands are done playing we decide to call it a night and head home. I spend the next day cleaning house and doing laundry and homework. Anyways i think that pretty much gets me up to date on whats going on so till next time

GOOO RIDERS!!!

2009-10-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Friday night i find my self off to a casino, dont worry guys i didnt gamble i just went to get out of the house. I thought things were going pretty good but i was picking up some weird vibes from my roommate during dinner. Anyways i thought nothing more of it...i really need to stop doing that. The next day Jess and I head off to the football game. WOW so great, i was on the edge of my seat for at least an hour and a half. It was just so amazing. I planned on spending sunday lazying around the house and things went pretty well, i must have been having an off day though because i think i only cried three times. I talked to some of my family and Darcy so it wasnt a complete waste of day. Anyways monday hits and had a major run in, not going to go into details or anything but things are all worked out for now. After getting things patched up us girls went and picked up my halloween costume...i am super excited about it lol. spent the rest of the day hitting up the mall with katie. Anywho thats about it.

turkey and catching up

2009-10-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

So Thanksgiving weekend I realized how far behind I actually am. Hopefully this post will get everyone up to date on how things are going with me. So I may as well just jump right in. Lets see where did I leave off, oh thats right i had a weekend to myself.

I spent my first weekend that i had to myself doing homework and getting to know my room mates. We spent an evening at the on campus lounge just getting to know each other as well as a couple of really cool bartenders. My weeks are all pretty similar, school, homework, sleep and then more school. Even more so since I got taken off the wait list for an english course....not that im complaining.

Darcy and I make a trip to Edmonton to see my family before they head back to the Yukon. We stop in and meet Darcy's cousin who i later saw at thanksgiving. We meet the family for dinner and they all comment on my new nose piercing. Anyways after dinner we play a sweet game of mini golf with my little brothers and sisters and after a long day of driving we were ready for bed fairly early. The next day started off with breakfast and then some quick shopping before going to Galaxy land. We spend the day riding every ride more then once and screaming our heads off... well Zac and I did. Darcy and I head back for another busy week of school.

Next weekend Darcy decks me out in "some much needed cowgirl clothes" and we head to the rodeo. It was great fun after the six benadryl :s. anyways we meet up with my room mate and go to ranchmans a sweet western bar. Jess, Darcy and i spend the rest of the night dancing with friends and drinking out of pitchers for the first time. Darcy seems to think that my two stepping skills have improved...im still not sure what he is talking about.

Not much else happend between then and thanksgiving, just more school and more homework. I did manage to get my Saturday class off tho so that i could go to High Prairie for Thanksgiving.
Darcy and I headed out after my Friday morning class and drove for most of the day, with a quick stop to see his grandma and grandpa's for lunch. Oh we also stopped to pick up Trevor, Darcy's cousin. We arrive despite some killer wind and have a wonderful turkey dinner.

The next couple of days i spend bumming around the house and doing some homework. I also went out to camp for lunch and hung out with the boys. We left on monday but not before getting sent home with a bunch of food and a quick snowball fight with Ty. We hit some pretty yucky weather on the way home and then Darcy and I say our goodbyes for another week or two.

Hmmm i think i am pretty much caught up to this week now. Lets see this week i got super sick with a fever and the whole deal, and the snow finally arrived. I also got the bad news about Darryl Tait and his accident. So a shout out to him. We are all praying for you hunny....you can get through this. you are the man!

Anyways im going to finish this week off with the stampeders vs the rough riders game, so till then. this is alana signing off

made it through week 2

2009-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Darcy and I head to olds where I prove to everyone just how bad of a dancer I actually am and I also got to see one of those disturbing things I really didnt need to see. That something being an emo kid pole dancing and yes he was male and yes he was actually good at it :S.

After the hitting up the bar in Olds we head back to Darcy's aunt's and uncles and spend the night there. The next day we hit the road for Calgary. We get there safe and sound and spend a night sleeping on my grandparents floor!!! not my idea of fun, thats for sure. Now this is the first point in our journey that Darcy and I part ways :( but with all of the new things I became faced with it wasnt to hard.

I start school and after the stress of the first three days things start to fall into place. I also managed to get into residence which was deffinatly an upgrade from my grandparents couch even tho I was the odd man out still.

Week one of school finishes off with a suprise trip to Banff with my wonderfully amazing boyfriend. Even tho I am not a fan of hiking I enjoyed myself fully. Heading home from Banff my parents call to let us know that they have arrived in Calgary safe and sound so Darcy and I make a detour at the the hotel to see them which then turns into a swim in the outdoor pool.

More school shopping and a trip to the zoo not a bad week if I do say so myself. I would have been perfectly happy with my week except that Darcy Managed to get us tickets to the Keith Urban Concert and I almost died!!! Best Week EVER.

Finally I have some time to rest which really means I will being doing massive amounts of homework since Darcy is not here this weekend and my family is in Medicine Hat. So until next time

first week of uni completed

2009-09-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

I just wrote a massive amount of stuff and then proceded to delete it, I just have one thing to say FML!!!

Ok so here I go again and yes I know its been forever.

After spending a busy week in Whitehorse keeping Darcy out of trouble (just kidding babe), We head back to Faro to pack up our stuff. I spend a day packing and partying because I have the best sister in the whole wide world (she threw a suprise going away party for me). I end the day with an epic game of sing as loud and fast as you can with my family and Emily and Dustin. The next day starts off at 6am...YUCK (at this point in my journey that seemed way to early and now its my average wake up time).

On the road by 6:45 and travel for 19 hours. Darcy and I make it to High Prairie and can hardly make it to bed before falling asleep. The next day I get introduced to the world of ATVing lol. I have offically learned how to drive a quad and a rhino (I feel so cool). We spend a few more days on the farm and then a couple of days shopping in Grand Prairie and Red Deer.

Next on the agenda is an over night camping trip and a trip to Olds to hit up the bar

Slacking in the blogging world.

2009-08-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

So trying to get caught up on my Peruvian adventures has been keeping me from writing about the rest of my everyday life adventures. Nothing else really exciting happened for the rest of the trip. We flew home, ate crappy plane food and everyone was grouchy with someone else by the time we got to Whitehorse. However i would not have traded this trip for the world and would go back in a heart beat. PS to any of the group I went with who may be reading this - I need your photos!!.

In between working I have had my first float plane experience, which after the first initial freakout I was completely fine with and actually enjoyed it. Would love to do it again. I tried my hand at archery and turns out I'm not that bad and can even shoot electrical outlets right in the face. (I really hope that none of the Town of Faro Staff feel the need to read my blog seeing as how this was in the gym in the rec center.) I am also in freak out mode about school because I still don't really feel the need to go but my parents don't seem to think this is a good excuse. Also school websites suck the big one. They are so incredibly confusing. I think instead of going to school I am going to write a book called "How to use school sites for dummys ...and everyone else.

Oh speaking of writing books I am now an editor for two of my friends. Really I dont think I am that good at english but I'm not afraid to tell people what I think and I get to read these books before any one else does *BOOYA*.

I have offically completed another summer of work. It's one of those happy/sad moments in my life because a) I now have no job and no income b) I have to actually get on with my life c) My parents will no longer allow me to be a bum in their home d) I really like this job and the people I work with.

Anyways enough of this lame stuff for now till next time - peace and love and keep out of trouble <3

Full moons and Pisco Sours

2009-08-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

So after a long boat ride back I was ready to eat dinner and go to bed. However to my delight and dismay the lodge decided to throw a full moon party. This mostly consists of drinking and dancing and since I had not done anything for my birthday the month before I decided to take advantage of the occasion. One pisco sour and two cerveza (huge bottles of beer) later I can hardly see straight. I head to bed before I embarrass myself completely.

I spend the next few days of my trip at the Amazon Research Center looking for monkeys, trekking through mud and swimming.

When we get back from the A.R.C. we spend the next few days in some of the villages. We spent our first day in Bueno Vista at the school where we played games and sang songs with the village children. My favorite thing in the village was the random sidewalk in the middle of no where and the fact that just by being a tall white kid everyone thought you were funny.

The next day we went to Chino Village and spent the morning learning how to make jewelry and dye fibers. I then spent the afternoon getting my ass kicked while playing soccer in a field of mud...so much fun!!!!. By the end of the game I was covered in mud from head to toe. I make a mad dash to the shower and finish up my day with dinner and a relaxing bitch session in the hammock room

Warrior Alana and Cayla is ready to be married

2009-08-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

On day three of being in the jungle our group boated to Terra Ferma in search of the Poison Dart Frog. We break off into groups of 4 or 5 and we head out. We saw a lot of bugs and frogs like you would see in National Geographic and I amused myself by taking pictures. So I am one of those people that laugh at anything and everything...like seeing my sister swing from a vine or hitting my head on the big hollow log that had bats in it. I had a great time even without seeing the frogs. After finding the frogs and not being aloud to touch them due to my rope burn I was a little bit heart broken :(. My heart was repaired when we came to a little jungle oasis complete with clean water and white sand. Best swim/bath I've ever had, only down side was the walk back to base camp soaking wet. We enjoyed a lunch of oh surprise of cat fish and rice cooked over a fire YUM!!!
After lunch I took a ton of pictures of a fuzzy red flower which I later found out was paprika. Our guides used the paprika to paint our faces. Apperently I give off a warrior vibe because I had warrior paint done. My sister however was decked out in marrage paint. haha. After that the joke for the rest of the trip was that we were going to marry Cayla off to the youngest guide "Smerf". We head back to the lodge.

101 ways to eat a catfish

2009-08-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Before I continue talking about my adventures I want to talk about eating catfish. At the lodge we had catfish at least once a day which you would think would get pretty boring but suprisingly didnt.
A few of the ways I have experianced catfish are
- boiled in a tomotoe sauce
- grilled with lemon and dill
- baked till crisp with alot of salt
- in pasta
- with rice and a bunch of spices I didnt know
- pickled

ok so really there aren't 101 but there were alot...I cant even remember them all.

So back to my Amazon adventure.
We set out in a boat to spend the rest of the day searching for dolphins. We ended up seeing everything but the dolphins and decided to give up on our search. Insted of heading straight back to the lodge we decided to stop and go for swim. At first I was alittle wary of going on because of the fish that swam with the last group, but after the guides reasured me that there weren't any here I went in. Upon getting out we find ourselves covered in tanic acid which is actually leaf mold. Fortuantly for me I have dark skin and didnt look like a crazy hairy bush lady. Heading back to lodge we finally see the pink dolphins but due to my inept photo taking skills I have no pictures of them.
I finish off the night with a hammock room session...AKA Kyle and Alana talk until bedtime cuz we were the odd ones out in the group.

kicken @ss and taking...rope burn

2009-08-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

Finally we get to our destination but not before being sweat drenched (I managed to combine being sweat covered with being covered in mud because I am such a clutz). This is now the moment were the guides separate the men from girls... I mean we decide who is hauling themselves up to the top or who is to lame. Tyler decides to be a man and climb up himself so really this makes my decision for me because I am so competitive. I give Tyler a head start and then proceed to leave him hanging in the middle waiting for the guides to come and save him. Just for the record I didn't let him live that down for most of the trip. I think now would be a good time to mention...I <3 you Tyler. I can say with all honesty that hauling myself up to the top of a massive tree was much more fun then the zip line it self.
I finish of my first day at the lodge with dinner and a shower. I fall asleep to the sound of the jungle rain.

Day 2 I wake up to the dinner drum calling everyone to breakfast. After breakfast I skip the morning activities and spend the morning chillaxin in the hammock room. It was a much needed rest because I was still trying to kick the last of being sick.

Stay tuned for the eating of catfish and searching for dolphins

hot dogs and pancakes - the breakfast of champions

2009-08-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

We get out of the airport and arrive at Amazonia's main office. At this point we get hit with our first major weather and the pants get rolled up and the hoodies come off (yes everyone I said hoody and not bunny hug aren't you proud of me). Our guides flag our taxis which really means a three wheeled motorcycle that can take 2 plus luggage. Of course me being the way I am think these things are the greatest invention ever and grin and giggle like an idiot the whole way to the restaurant. After a breakfast of rice, beans, fried bananas, hotdogs, pancakes and some other stuff. Topped off with a glass of fresh squeezed juice *YUM*. We head back to the main office in our taxis- known by locals as tootoo and get on the boat ready to head down the Amazon River.

The boat we were in was similar to a school bus which as most of us know isn't that fun to ride on for any period of time. Luckily for us our trip also consisted of a trip to a village for bathrooms and leg stretching. I used my time wisely by taking horrible pictures of everyone and talking to a little Peruvian boy.

Finally we get to the lodge and our entire group is about ready to crash and burn, unfortunatly for us the guides had other things planned. I find myself trecking through the jungle in rubber boots on my way to the zip line.

toothbrushes are dangerous

2009-08-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

I know I know its been forever. I would like to use the excuse that I have just been super busy, however that is only half true...the other half is I am just lazy and have had alot on my mind lately. Anyways here it is. I'm going to as my philosophy teacher says "head down and giver er" (insert dirty comments here). Ok so before I start talking about Iquitos and the jungle here is an Alana is a klutz story. At our hotel which was nice but had little rooms I had the joy of using the bathroom which match the rooms in the fact that they were also tiny. So anyways everytime I go in there I slip on the floor which is all fine and dandy except for the fact that one time when I went in to brush my teeth it ended badly. I slip...suprise suprise and jam my toothbrush into my mouth and cut my bottom gum up so for the rest of the trip I had a fat lip...YAY.

And now back to the adventure part.

We get to the Lima airport at 2 in the morning ready to head out to Iquitos. I should mention that the airport is much friendlier when you are leaving even if it is 2 am oh and some of their stores are open then :). Anyways we get on the plane and we had what in my opinion was the best flight of the trip even without the in-flight movies on the personal screens. This however may be due to the fact that for the first time on the trip I could swallow without it feeling like gulping down a brick. So the first exciting thing that happend in Iquitos was that we used the stairs to get off the plane and actually had to walk on the tarmack...SO COOL (alana shows true dorkiness).

Stay tuned for first amazon breakfast!!!

power outage

2009-07-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

So I wrote a big long post and the power went out and my computer crashed before I had time to post it. SOOOO now I have to start over. I'll keep you posted.

Lima - where the road lines are just suggestions

2009-07-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

We finally get to Lima and talk about unwelcoming. Maybe it was just me and the fact that I was sick and tired but I honestly dont think it was. After we get through to the baggage claim which was no easy feat since we had to go through customs and there is a huge swine flu scare, we are heading out off the building...or so i thought. Turns out we have to go through a scanner and suprise suprise I have to go send my bag through the X-ray machine. It comes through clean and I dont have to get searched.
We make it to our cabs and next comes the ride of death. I honestly thought that we were going to crash over 20 times. We make it to our hotel and Im sure it had something to do with devine intervention. I shower and hit the hay.

The next day wasnt really that exciting. I spent the morning either walking around or sleeping and the afternoon going on a Tour of Lima. Anyways it was a lovely tour I just cant tell you much about it because i was still suffering from brain fog.

Phlegm on a plane

2009-07-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Day before day one,
Try packing but end up spending most of the day in bed with a fever. I plan on getting up early the day we leave so that i can finish packing.

Day one aka June 30th,

Wake up and go to the medical clinic - as it turns out I now have tonsillitis and have to take meds almost the whole time I'm going (fingers crossed- I dont need another allergic reaction). I decide to go ahead and go on the trip anyways. I throw a few things in my suitcase and then sleep in the van for 4 hours. After a few quick stops in Whitehorse to pick up things like rain ponchos and flash lights we are ready to hit the airport. After some tearful goodbyes and some group photos we are ready to bored the plane. At this point in the trip I am ready to deck someone in the face because everyone is so cheerful and I would rather get hit by a truck then feel they way I do. I enjoy the 2 hour flight to Vancouver with an inflight movie.

Vancouver to Toronto was a much less pleasant flight because a) i was stuck in the middle seat and b) I had to keep using the bathroom so that people wouldnt be grossed out by my phelgminess. Eventually i drift off to sleep.

who knew the jungle didnt have electricity

2009-07-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

So I know its been awhile and I promised that I would blog my Peru adventures, the only glitch in that is that I had no time to hit up a computer while I was in Lima or Iquitos so this may end up kind of jumbled and confusing but I'll try and keep it as organized as possible.

I'm going to list everyone in our crew now so that as I post things you will know who I am talking about. First off is our team leader duo Mary and David Sloan aka "Missa Mary an a Misser Daveed (thats my Peruvian accent). Team Guttman- Ashley and her mom Lisa. Im going to mention now that Ashley is very loud and her mom is very not. Then there was team Bekk (I wont include myself in this one) -My mom and sister Cayla. This leaves the individuals of Bailey - the quiet soft spoken type, Kerstin - The tall, skinny, colourful type and Anne - the one that is not Caylas sister. After all that we have team kyler which consisted of our two boys Tyler aka teddy and Kyle. I spent most of my time with the boys so you will probably here more about them then anyone else. I should also mention Gary from tennesse and Cassy from Austraila, we adopted both of them into our group because we all got to the lodge on the same day.

Well thats everyone that was in our group, but i am still suffering from jet lag. My next post will be from the offical start of our journy.

Till then, hasta luego

I like it because its provactive and gets people going

2009-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

So things are pretty lame at the moment hence the cool title. The highlight of my most recent adventures are i got strep throat and the toilet flooded at work...yippie, just kidding! So my thinking is instead of being all negative today I'm going to talk about some things that i like.
I like when a song comes on and your friends go to sing it but start singing before the actual words start. I like when you are setting up a sprinkler and someone turns it on and you get soaked. I like commercials on TV that no one else thinks are funny. I like laughing and having people look at you like you are mentally ill. I really like how when it rains i get insane hair that is both frizzy and poofy...this makes me happy. Anyways these are just a few of a very long list of things i like :). Anywho soon I'll be in the Amazon jungle trying not to get dengue or eating by paranas, so i shall try and post somethings before i leave and then I'll write about my adventures once i get back. So till then...stay out of trouble

Awkward moments define my life

2009-06-12T11:58:00.001-07:00

So the other day I am sitting in a restaurant with my younger sister and she points out to me that there is a young guy sitting at the table around the corner, so me, being my usual ditz self decide I am going to try and get a good look at this guy without being noticed. So as they get up to leave I decided to creep the corner while still sitting in my chair. Now i would just like to point out that my stealth skills are lacking and that the guy had not left the table yet. So anyways here I am sitting in a chair trying to look around the corner and guess what... there is 'the guy' standing there looking down at me and probably thinking something along the lines of "Oh My God what a retarded girl i feel sorry for her". Needless to say he was not hot so I didn't feel so bad about it and i did laugh it off later. Anyways it seems like moments like these always happen to me I'm pretty sure my day isn't complete without something embarrassing happening to me. Oh well i guess that's just who i am, and on the plus side it makes my life interesting :S

anyways, till the next awkward moment brings us together im outty

The "what's for dinner?" question.

2009-06-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so i dont know if this happens to anyone else but it is a common occurance in my home. I'll make a pass through the kitchen and ask my mom "what's for dinner?" which, in my world demands a simple answer such as "I dont know" or something along the lines of "chicken"...But alas its not that simple. Every time I ask this question my mother responds with some lengthy explanation such as "Well last night we had rice and i had some leftovers in the fridge so i put some potatoes on and..." so you see where i am going with this it just goes on and on and on and on!!!. And its not just "whats for dinner?" that my mother answers like that, its pretty much every question. Sometimes her answers are extremly obscure such as "Are we going swimming tomorrow?" to which she replies, "Well your uncle just called and i have to clean up the kitchen and do laundry and the pope died...so i dont know yet." Ok Ok so im exagerating a tiny bit but seriously this has been going on for a long time. Maybe this is just me, who knows. Anywho that's my little rant for the day.

I fail!!!

2009-06-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so apparently i fail at blogging!!! However i am hoping that now that summer is upon us and i have a normal work schedule i will have the time and the drive to do this. So for a quick update. I am busy working and preparing for my trip to Peru. Speaking of which i would like to blog about my Amazon adventures so my blog will actually get some use then. As for work i am back at the tourist center and today i met a very nice gentelman who convinced me to get back to blogging so he was the main insperation behind this post. He is blogging and recording his adventures through the Yukon in hopes that others will see how great a place it is and will want to travel here in the future. It was really insperational actually. Hmm so what else is new and probably not so exciting in the world of Alana. I accompanied my friend to his graduation, a great time was had by all in attendance and yes i am still getting caught up on sleep. I think i will get caught up around the time i have to go to my other friends grad lol. Anyways thats enough rambeling for now. Hopefully my next post will be either insperational or meaning and not just me blathering on.

Till Next Time

The Begging

2009-04-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

So I keep telling myself "Alana you should start blogging" and then I think about it and wonder what I would say, and who would read it. I have come to the conclusion that it doesnt really matter and probably no one so im just going to rant about what ever i feel like at the moment.

So seeing as how this is my first blog i should probably introduce myself. My name is Alana as you have most likely caught on from my title and if you didnt well you are a moron *jokes* <3. I am pretty much like every other lost cause in that i have no idea what to do with my life at the moment. I am 100% obsessed with music and talk way to much, i am also very loud haha. Im the oldest of 6 which is really code for i get in trouble. I like to think of it as being the practice one for my parents so that by at least the 6th kid they will have a perfect child because lord knows im not one haha. well thats pretty much the basics so until next time.