New Blog

Although I haven’t forgotten this blog and clearly should not be starting up a new one, I have. It’s not about living up north but about my love/obsession with all things coffee. Check it out and if you like it enough, give it a subscribe! Thanks to the 4 people that still might read this. I do it all for the fans.

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Merry Christmas

It sure has been a while. Haven’t even looked at my last post to see what it was about. A few personal details before we get started though. Still working the same job at a transportation company, still living in Norman Wells, new girlfriend (we’ll call her L.G.) and still very much loving life in the North. I’m not going to dwell on the past so onward and upwards!

I’m in Halifax for Christmas this year. I’ve been very fortunate to not have to spend a Christmas away since I’ve moved up to Norman Wells, NT. I’ve got a great boss to thank for that one.

It’s nice to be back in the city for a short visit. Each time I come back, I get better at visiting. I quickly prioritize the things that are important to me and spend time doing those things. I noticed on my first trip “home” to Halifax, I barely spent time with my parents at all. I quickly realized that they are the most important people I want to visit so why not spend as most time as possible with them? No brainer.

I’ve also found that I’m a much better “down south” shopper as well. Instead of buying useless kitchen gadgets I don’t need, I focus on lightweight dry goods and daily necessities. Learning this lesson has made me less disappointed when I open my suitcase back in Norman Wells. Half the fun of going back is opening your suitcase and feeling like you get to live the city life, even for just a few days until your purchases run out. It’s not like Norman Wells only has bread, milk and eggs it’s just that on top of the high prices, the selection can be limited. Mark has done a wonderful job in Mary’s Store but he only has so much space.

I’ll be a 2 year resident as of January 16th and I have to say that this last year has been much better than the first one. The first one was great but I found that in my second year, I got out more. I went swimming in the lake, went camping, went to softball nationals and even went hiking! If you know me, you know that last one is very uncharacteristic of me. It was a great time. I hope to continue to try new things in the future and enjoy new experiences.

Overall, I’m very happy with my life in Norman Wells and lucky to have the job I have and to be surrounded by the people I choose to be around. Hope anyone who may read this has a great Christmas and all the best in the new year.

Good to be Back

I know I didn’t post a lot of my trip home or anything. It was just too busy. It felt like I was on the go from 8:00am until 1:00am every day. I got lots of shopping done and found some wicked stuff for the apartment. The best part, by far, was hanging out with my family which included my sister flying in from Montreal with my nephew Hayden. My mom and dad had NO idea they were coming home for the weekend. It was incredible. I had such an amazing time with them. Christmas can’t come soon enough.

Anyways, not in the writing mood so I’ll leave you with a vlog I created on my trip back to Norman Wells via Air Canada.

Arctic Heat

So when Lindsay and I moved up here, I guess we forget that eventually the cold, harsh winter would turn into spring then into summer. Well, no one told us that it was going to be 30 degrees out before June even started. It is like a friggin sauna up here! Seriously, Lindsay was on the Weather Network on Saturday and the hottest place in Canada was in Fort Good Hope which is less than 100km from here.  I can’t believe the heat. For instance, I went for a run last night at 10:00pm and it was still 27 outside. At 10:00pm! I’m presuming it has something to do with the sun setting so late and rising so early. If the sun doesn’t go down until 12:45am and comes back up at 4:00am, there isn’t much time to cool down. Also, our bedroom is on the second floor so not only has the sun hindered our sleeping but now it’s evil friend “heat” has joined in. Oh well. I shouldn’t be complaining. A few months ago I was singing the opposite tune. The sun is pretty…

In other news, it’s two and half sleeps until Dartmouth/Halifax (the half is for the red eye flight – I’m only half expecting to sleep). I can safely say that it’s coming a lot quicker than I thought it would. Luckily, I’ve gotten a really good start on my month end stuff for work so there shouldn’t be too many loose ends to tie up by the time I leave. To be honest, this is the first job where I actually care what happens in my absence. It sounds bad but most of the time I’m not as concerned as I am now about what happens when I’m gone. I’m starting to feel more like a “company girl” now. I really like it.

Talking about the weather and my job is boring me so I think I’ll make a list. A good friend of mine and my girlfriend LOVE lists and I have to say I enjoy a good list so here’s a few “Top 5s” for my trip home. Thanks for reading!

Places to see

5. Reflections – Come on. It’s been a while.

4. Eastern Passage – It’s so beautiful and I have some friends out there to see.

3. A mall – Seriously. Any mall, grocery store, pharmacy, strip mall, convenience store, etc. After shopping in the same two stores for 5 months, I just want to see some different aisles to stroll down.

2. Downtown Halifax – Just because.

1. My parent’s house – It’s the number one place I’ve had my most/best laughs.

Things to buy

5. More summer clothes – As you can tell from above, I wasn’t so prepared for the summer weather.

4. A coffee – I suck at making it and the Yamouri’s just doesn’t do it for me.

3. Toiletries – Not only are they ridiculously expensive ($8 for a stick of deodorant) , the selection is VERY limited.

2. More TV on DVD – I seriously underestimated the value of a good box set.

1. Stuff for the house  – Stuff like towels, speakers, kitchen accessories and whatnot. Hello Winners and extra baggage charge.

Things to do

5. Visit the ocean – I wouldn’t be from Nova Scotia if one of my top 5s didn’t involve the ocean.

4. Go see a movie – I’m dying to see something in theatres.

3. Go for Thai/Mexican – Sadly, not with Lindsay

2. Shop at Costco – What’s more to say?

1. Go for a drive – I can’t even describe how happy I am to drive somewhere else and not in a pickup truck. No offense, pick up trucks.

Softball!

Tonight was my first softball game and needless to say, I am a little rusty. Rustier than ever actually. I’m usually a pretty decent hitter but I just didn’t have it tonight. Hopefully I do a little better next time. Our team did alright for being a pretty mixed and matched team. We were missing a few people which kind of sucked for the first game but we didn’t do too terribly. I believe the final score was 21-18 for them. For a first game, definitely not terrible. I’m a little excited for the next game. We play every Monday and Thursday.

Other than that, I’m home in less than a week. I’m excited but I still feel like it’s still a ways away. I’m really excited to see my mom and my dad. I was on my phone with my mom the other night and asked if my dad would be free to meet up for lunch on the day I get in. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her answer “YES!” so fast before. I think that means that they’re a little excited to see me too.

I suppose I should be going to be. It’s 11:50pm out right now and here’s what it looks like. Goodnight!

B-e-a-utiful

Beautiful. That is the only way to describe Norman Wells in spring. The mountains are stunning, the river is the most amazing shade of blue and everyone seems to have an extra little spring in their step. I can only imagine how warm it’s going to get this summer but the weather right now is perfect. Warm with a little bit of wind.

Sunset is currently at 12:14am and sunrise is 4:34am. There’s not a lot of room for darkness. It makes going to bed a bit difficult which I think I’ve mentioned before. You basically have to condition yourself to go to bed at a reasonable time even if you’re not tired.

It’s the long weekend this weekend and Lindsay has today, Sunday and Monday off. It’s very rare she has more than 1 day off in a row so having 3 is nice. We’ve been hanging out with friends and just tidying the house so far and it’s been nice. Last night we went to the legion, our friend’s house, a couple parties and the bar. I can definitely say it was one of my favourite nights here so far. I love our friends here and we all have such a good time together. One of our friends mentioned this afternoon that it’s rare for her to wake up the morning after we hang out and not have sore cheeks from laughing so hard. I can believe it.

Anyways, this is a fairly pointless blog. I’m finding out that finding content to write about is a little difficult. If there are any readers of this blog that have any questions or want to know more about something particular, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to answer it the best I can.

Birthday in Norman Wells

Well, the title gives it away. Today is my birthday. If you’re gasping and wondering how you missed it when you religiously check birthdays on Facebook, fear not. The past two years, I’ve taken my birthday off Facebook right before my birthday to avoid the mass “Happy Birthday!!!!” wall posts that are inevitable on one’s birthday. I’m not saying I don’t like be wished a happy birthday, I just would rather not have my wall loaded with them.

Anyways, I would have to say I had a pretty awesome birthday. I woke up to this morning, went out to work and saw this in front of my door …

Not a bad way to start the day, if I do say so myself.

I just went to work for the rest of the day and then went out for wings for dinner. Lindsay decorated the table we normally sit at, at her restaurant and I got lots of nice presents from her. One of her presents was this beauty that you will see below.

She’d probably want to point out the pierced nipples and the two finger marks on the boobs. That’s my girl.

Another awesome thing about today is that I finally got my new computer in the mail! Like my mom said, it was just waiting to be a birthday present. I got one of the new MacBook Pros and I LOVE IT already. It’s definitely nice to have my own computer back. Lindsay and I have been sharing since I got here and I think we’re both ready to have our own computers back.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

Too Much Sun

One of the things I was really looking forward during those cold, winter days was that in a few months time it was going to be warm and sunny out. I couldn’t wait to ditch the parka and start wearing just a t shirt and shorts. I was excited to see sunlight for more than 4 hours at a time and wear my sunglasses all day long.

I am currently less excited about that sun.

At the moment, the sun sets at 11:56pm and rises at 4:52am. Cool, right? Wrong. Sleeping has become a major hassle. There are blinds in our room but the sun still squeezes it’s way through. I’ve even taped down the blinds but still no dice. I’m sure I’ll get used to it but it’s definitely a bummer at the moment and it’s not like the sun is going anywhere anytime soon.

Still, I can’t complain too much. Lots of sun is better than no sun.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

Summer is Coming

Well, as usual, I’m going to open with how much I don’t update anymore. This time is different though, I swear. You may be thinking, “Yeah I bet..” but it is different! I’ve come to two realizations.

1) I was talking to my grandmother this morning and she told me how much she loves to read my blog and checks it often to see if I’ve updated. That broke my little heart. It’s not like I was doing something more important (I was probably watching tv). I will definitely try harder to update the blog because I love my grandmother and she deserves to have mediocre, regular blog updates!

2) I can’t STAND it when I really start liking a blog and then the posting becomes very sparse. I’ll check back every day or so and get so disappointed when I realize that there is no new post. On the other hand, I get giddy and excited when I check and there IS a new blog. I’m not saying I think anyone will be “giddy” over my posts but instead of being a hypocrite, I’ll do something about it. Anyways, back to updates.

The weather here lately has been AWESOME. I’ve been wearing shorts all week, even when there some rain. It’s just really nice not to have to prepare with 4 layers before going outside. The warm weather has even forced me to be more active. I bought a second hand bike and have been out on a few rides, I’ve attempted to run at least twice and I’ve been out shooting hoops with my new basketball. Summer rocks.

What’s even better about this summer is that Lindsay and I are going to be joined by our really good friend, Laura!! She’s actually coming to town tomorrow and is going to be working in the bar this summer. I couldn’t be more excited to have such an awesome friend up here. Lindsay and I are both ecstatic that she’s coming up. Hopefully she loves it up here as much as we do.

As for my summer, it’ll be my first barge season. Basically, freight comes up on these giant barge boats up the river and Matco delivers a bunch of it. From what I can gather, it will be like winter road but warmer and crazy for a few days and then slow again because the barge only comes up every couple of days. This is the time of year that people do bulk orders from grocery stores and Costco down south. People order cases and cases of their non perishables since buying them up here can get pricey. It’ll be interesting to figure out what we’re going to order. How do you predict how much tuna you go through in a year or how much toilet paper you use? It’ll definitely be a learning experience.

To prepare for the beginning of summer, I’ll be making a quick visit to Halifax to visit my friends and family from June 3-11. It’ll be nice to drive down different roads and go out to different malls and grocery stores. I have wayyyy too many people to visit and things to do so we’ll see how it all goes. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

Holy 3 Months

Yep. You read it. I’ve been here exactly 3 months today. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not but I feel like I’ve been here longer. I don’t know if it’s the fact that Lindsay and I seem to be much more settled here or that everyday I see more and more familiar faces. I have to say, it’s nice to run into people you know on the walk to the grocery store, in the restaurant and even just running into the post office. A town of 800 people doesn’t sound like a lot but when you first come here, knowing very few of the 800 seems very lonely. Luckily, Lindsay and I have met some pretty amazing people here. We’ve made some great friends in such a short time and it feels really nice.

My job couldn’t be going any better. I absolutely love it. I’ve had jobs before where as soon as it hits 5 o’clock, I’m out the door but that’s not always the case with this one. Sometimes I want to stay to get things finished. I’m not in a rush to get out the door. In fact, since moving here, I’m rarely in a rush. Well, that’s not true. I am in a rush to get to the lunch buffet at the Yamouri Inn on Fridays but that’s different. You just gotta get there early! Seriously though, the job is awesome. I actually give a shit about the company I work for and that is actually a really nice feeling.

The weather has been getting quite warm around here. Around the +5 mark which means some people are wearing their t shirts outside. True story. This morning was a different story. It was crazy windy and about 7cm of snow had fallen. It felt like our weather system was going in reverse. Crazy thing is, the sun came out and by 2:00pm, I hardly saw any snow around at all. The weather up here just isn’t logical.

Anyways, it’s Friday night so I’m going to go tidy up, meet up with Lindsay at the end of her shift and eat some pizza. Can’t get much better then that.