Bad Timing

Hello again! It has been a very long time since I updated this last but I have a subject in which I feel the need to vent on. Earlier this year I went to the Bon Jovi concert at Rexall Place thanks to the Damgaard clan which I'm sure I will never be able to repay for their unbelievable gift. Anyway, Sara got me the tickets because of a pre-sale thing through CISN. So when I heard that Bon Jovi would possibly be making a return to Edmonton I joined every radio station's website club I could so I would have the opportunity to go see them again. So wouldn't you know it, 3 radio stations had pre-sale seats available, but you won't believe my timing. The presale was on Friday Oct 12 and I left for Calgary to work on that Tuesday. All the e-mails came after I had left and the next time I checked my e-mail was today. Bad timing or what? Anyway, to make my already long story short I am very lucky tickets to the concert were still available and I am going to see Bon Jovi again on December 12, 2007!!! I'm pretty excited about it. I know it can never be as good as the first time but I know it will be great. Just look at the grin in that picture, one of the best days of my life. Anyway, I know I always say this but I will try to blog again sooner than later, but you never really know when I will need to vent. Till next time ...

Meeting the Oilers!!!

On Thursday I got to meet four of the Oilers and get their autographs!!! This was definitely one of the best days of my life, so far anyway. It was so awesome. We got to skate on the same ice the Oilers skate on, take pictures with them and get their autographs. I don't know how else to describe how cool it was to meet them but for those of you who know me know how much an experience like this means to me.

Note how tall Moreau and Staios are compared to me. I know most of you would not be surprised by this but I am also on my skates in this picture.

I managed to get all four of the autographs because I got Stoll and Reasoner to sign my jersey when I went up to get my picture taken with them since I missed them when they were at the autograph table.

School Trip to "The Hat"

Did you know that Medicine Hat is home of the world's tallest tepee? Neither did I until we went down there to climb some trees for school. Now I'm sure you are wondering what exactly I'm doing in that first picture. No I am not exemplifying the literacy of a tree hugger. That is a little something I like to call the "arborist struggle". In lots of occasions one cannot make a graceful entrance into the tree and this is one of those times. I had to be swung to this branch where I attempted to somehow muscle my way onto the top side of the limb. It wasn't pretty but I made it and sometimes that's just what your stuck with.

In the second picture I am installing some foot slings on the tree so I can stand in them because the stem was treacherously slippery due to the snow conditions. I like the perspective of this picture because you can see the people on the ground and how small they look in comparison to me. That is because I am at about 60 feet in the tree at that spot. These were some big trees as you can tell by the diameter of the branch I am standing on at such a height. The tree was probably about 90-100ft from the ground at the very top.

Well since I started this blog several weeks ago and have been too lazy to finish it up until now, that is my brief description of my trip to Medicine Hat. Maybe the long version will follow someday when I get ambitious, and hopefully I will also post a Tri-Ice-A-Thon post in the near to distant future.

Awards Night!

Tonight was the awards ceremony and I got to receive the Club of the Year plaque. It was very exciting. Now I am done obsessing about the award, this is the last post on the subject I promise. :)

Happy Happy Days!!

I got great news yesterday and since then I have been bubbling over with joy and happiness. I found out yesterday that the Arboriculture Club I have been president of for the last year has won the honors of Club of the Year!!! I realize that I'm tooting my own horn here a bit but I was ecstatic when I heard the news and good news is only great news when you get to share it with others. Leading the club was fun but a lot of work so I'm glad we have been recognized for our efforts. I'm very excited about it as you can tell. Plus other things have been falling into place. School is almost over and all we are doing in class is climbing, no homework practically zero responsibility, it's great. I got a job lined up for after I graduate, not to mention South Boundary (that one was for you Jana), a new season of street hockey approaching ... There is just so many things to be excited about ... "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it, no, no, no, no ..." Anyway, I just felt the need to share my happiness with you all. The one major sour note that I will just barely touch on because it is very disappointing and frustrating is how the Oilers continue to lose. It's going to suck not watching them play in the playoffs, but I am looking forward to the future years when our young team really comes into it's own, well at least that's what I'm hoping for. For this year as long as Toronto doesn't make it I'll be happy, and I look forward to watching whoever Buffalo ends up playing. No matter who it is that should be great playoff hockey.

Banff in the Winter

Recently I joined the Damgaard clan in Banff for a few days. Let me tell you, the mountains are nice in the winter time. We finally had a real Canadian winter, well in my opinion anyway, and it made hiking in the snow in Banff that much more fun. We went to Johnston's Canyon, Lake Minewanka (don't think that's spelled right), and Lake Louise. My favorite part of the weekend was on the Lake Louise trail we were on. As you can tell by the pictures the snow was super deep and I felt the need to venture off the trail to try and knock snow off the branches that over hung the trail. I was wet when we were done but it was worth it. So for those of you who have never been to Banff in the winter time to do some hiking around, I definetly recommend it. I also recommend the wings at the Rose and Crown Pub, very good if you like your wings crispy.

P.S. As you can see by this sequence of photos I was very determined to shake the snow from the branch, hence why in the top picture there is snow stuck to my sweat pants up to my waist.

Ultimate Climbing Showdown!!!

The first annual Olds College Climbing Showdown happened today and it was a great day!!! The Arboriculture Club, of which I am the president of, raised over $1200 !!! for the Dave Herbert Memorial Fund. Dave Herbert was a former teacher at the college who recently passed away from cancer and he was respected and loved by many. I did not know him that well, only having had him for one class, but I was more than happy to organize this event in his honor.

If your wondering yes that is the sky in the picture. The competition consisted of participants racing up a rope 4o feet to ring a bell that was at the top of the building tied into the rafters. It was not an easy climb but it is competition height for the womens tree climbing competition which I hope to be in this year. I raced against a fellow student and managed to cut my time in half from when I first started climbing last year. Other students also faced off against each other but the main event was Spiderman!! One of our club members dressed in a Spiderman costume to face off against one of our teachers who is one of the fastest climbers in Alberta. (I would post a picture but I don't have his permission to so I'm not going to.)



It was a huge success, with a big turnout and I feel honored/proud to have been a part of raising the money and getting people excited about arboriculture, plus it was just plain fun.