Change is Strange

The apartment hunt is officially over! We got a phone call on Tuesday telling us that we were approved for the apartment that we were holding out for. The relief of not having to keep calling to set up appointments to look at places is fantastic. Now I will admit that when the lady called to affirm all of this I started second guessing everything! Was it the right place? Should we keep looking? Can I really survive without any closets? (the place has no closets....) Do I want to live right in the heart of downtown like that? The questions and doubts just flooded my mind. But once I had a minute or two to think it all through, I remembered how much I liked that apartment when we walked through and how I pictured where our stuff would go and how we could decorate it. I am also glad that it's really close to work and the bus route to school. So we put wrote a check for the damage deposit and it's all done. We have an apartment.

Now, the real test begins. Finding the time and energy to pack up my stuff and move it down to Dorchester Street. The 1st of November is the worst day for me to move in terms of school work. I have a quiz, a midterm, a paper and an ADIME to write due for that day. For those who don't know what ADIMES are, they are pure evil Clinical Nutrition assignments. It's not so much that they're hard as you just second guess everything that you write about and end up handing it in with the confidence of a chihuahua entering an iron man competition. I think that if I do the packing slowly when I have pockets of time then I can get it done in time.



This morning I woke up a little early and the house was empty so I decided to do a tiny bit of packing. It just felt strange. I think what made it so strange is that I am the only one packing so when I remove my things from the bookshelf or a cupboard, Sam and Kaylynne's stuff remains in place. I feel this guilt of removing my stuff and leaving the rest. Knowing that I am leaving these girls here while I move downtown is hard. Really hard. There's a sense of abandonment within me and it sucks and I'm not sure how to deal with such a feeling. I feel like one of those wives who packs up all of her stuff while her husband is at work and leaves only a note in the entryway to say "Goodbye and Good Riddance!" Except I'm not saying goodbye or good riddance. I guess change is just strange. I am definitely a believer that change is good and is needed for people to grow and learn...but still it can really suck sometimes.

In The Name of Love?

I am taking this class called Psychology of Personal Experience and it's a rather strange course which has copious amounts of articles, textbooks and novels to read. Every week we do all of this reading then on Monday afternoons we all come together, create a giant circle of chairs in the classroom and talk about what we read. It's basically a book club which we pay to join. Most of my classmates think that this class is a major pain in the butt because there is SO MUCH reading, but every so often we bring up a subject which sparks my interest. Today there were two subjects actually which got me speaking feverishly in class, but I will only talk about one in my blog because the other is so big (religion) that I can't even begin to imagine talking about it in this blog because it would take years to explain everything I wanted to say. But the other is the lovely topic of unconditional love.

Unconditional Love has many dimensions to it such as:

- those who love without expectation of anything in return
- you learn to accept others as they are without setting conditions for their behaviour
- you allow others to be themselves without judgement, criticism or condemning them
- still love someone even when they do something you do not approve
- you can allow that person to leave you for someone else and hold no bitterness, jealousy or resentment

So today in class, one of the questions which our group was asked is if we have felt that we have received unconditional love and how we give it to others. Looking at the definition of unconditional love made me really stop and think about this question. Is there someone out there who looks at me and accepts me without setting conditions for my behaviours? Does another person/people feel no judgement or criticism in terms of their love for me? And yes, I do feel as though I am lucky enough to have this in my life. My parents definitely give me unconditional love. Even when they know that I am making a stupid decision in my life, they allow me to make that mistake and love me when I come to them admitting that I did in fact make a terrible decision. They love me what I dye my hair purple or move across the country or become obsessed with some new fitness craze that the whole world is involved with. Thanks mom and dad. You're the bestest.

One point which our group brought up is that having unconditional love for a boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/partner can be tricky. Can a person truly (and I mean truly) love another person completely and unconditionally no matter what? We were thinking that every person must have a line that their partner can cross which can break that ideal love. It can be something like an affair with another person. For most people that would be the event which can make or break the entire thing. Realistically, for this topic, I don't think it's healthy or possible to love someone unconditionally. Wouldn't it be hard to give all of your love to another person and not expect a single thing in return? I believe it would be. There must be a balance somewhere in terms of a loving relationship between adults.

Tip of the Day: The Beatles may have had it wrong...is love really all you need?


Then there's the topic of children. It's famously known that people who have children say that having that child is their first experience of the feeling of unconditional love and that there is nothing that that child could do which would doubt that love. Now I am not a parent and neither were anyone in my group today, but our professor agreed to this point. Now my thought is, what if your adult child bad-mouthed the entire family for 30 years then burned down the house, stole the car and the dog, emptied the bank account and convinced your boss to fire you...would you still love the kid then?

This next point may sound silly, but I thought I would bring it up anyway. Many people may not think of this initially but it was one of the first things that came to my mind when I thought of unconditional love; my dog(s). One of my favourite sayings in life is "be as great as your dog thinks you are", because our dogs think so highly of us and most of us will never actually be able to live up to that greatness, which is unfortunate. Our dogs love us when we gain weight, lose our jobs, date terrible people, get in fights with friends, eat a tub of ice cream in the middle of the night (because they may get a bite) or forget to fill their water dish. Unconditional love doesn't have to be complicated and dogs prove this to us.

MMMMmmmmmmm

Alright, I made this recipe tonight for dinner and it was so delicious that I felt that I needed to share it with the world! It's a white bean chili and the recipe is as follows:

- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (I used double the amount because I have a love affair with garlic)
- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms (if you don't want to use mushrooms, add an extra can of beans)

*Saute these items in a large pot for 5 minutes
- 1 Tbsp cumin, coriander AND oregano
- 2 (4oz) cans of green chilis, chopped

* Add these to the pot and cook for a minute
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans (19oz) white beans, drained but not rinsed
- 1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
- 2 tsp jalapeno hot sauce (or more if desired

* Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1.5 hours.

* Add salt and pepper to taste

The recipe suggested adding chopped cilantro and yogurt to your bowl when you spoon it out for yourself, but I didn't add these options. The chili was delicious without them. Please make this at home. I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Tip of the Day: There is no such thing as too much garlic.

Another Week

I'm getting too behind with this blog lately and I apologize to all of my fans...I know all 6 or 7 of you have been on pins and needles waiting to learn about the incredibly adventures of me. The good news - I have a few minutes to write a new post. The bad news - I have no life which means that this won't be interesting.

The one thing that I hate about being a student is that you're so busy all of the time and yet you don't really do anything. Most conversations go something like this:

"Oh man, I was so busy the past few days! I'm so stressed out!"
"Really, what did you do?"
"Oh you know...nothing really. School, work and stuff."

My past few days have consisted mostly of homework and going to work. There's been a little bit of sleep in there but mostly just homework and work. Plus Chris and I have been looking for a place to live (somehow I have managed to not bring up the subject that I'm moving out and looking for a new apartment...weird), so we've been spending a fair amount of energy on that adventure. Oh how lovely apartment hunting is! We have a couple leads on some places but nothing is for sure quite yet. Considering my room will be filled in about 2 weeks, the pressure is starting to build. I'm trying to remain optimistic though. Something should come up that works for us. And if not, I heard there's a cozy place under the bridge that I could seek out for a while. Maybe it has Wi-Fi.

Work is going fairly great! I don't know why it took me so long to ever look for a serving job because I'm really enjoying it a lot. I also really like the atmosphere of this restaurant as well, so perhaps I just feel comfortable at this job. Oh, and here's a little pocket of information that I found to be fairly awesome. Yesterday my boss Googled the restaurant name (oh admit it, we've all Googled our own names before) and this blog came up in the first page of results! Actually, the more I think about it, the more creepy that might be. People looking for info on Rufus and Rory's will end up at this blog, see my face and maybe somewhere down the line become my obsessive stalker in both the real world and the online world.

Wow I'm conceited.

Gourd-geous Day!

It's been a busy but enjoyable couple of days. Let me break it down for you:

Wednesday - went to my orientation for my new job! All of us met at the restaurant in the evening to meet each other, learn how to use the computer system and take a look over the planned menu. The food is very roadside diner which means that I may have to bite my nutrition student tongue LOTS while serving people. It will be delicious though! I look forward to actually seeing plates of food and seeing how it's all going to be. We're doing a test-run at the restaurant on Sunday for the owner's friends and family. It'll be open for a few hours and we'll just be working out kinks in the system and stuff like that. My first official shift is on Tuesday!

Thursday - This was a bit of a slack day. Went to the gym, did a little homework, went to the FANS potluck at school, went for a walk with Jess which headed in the direction of Hunter's...drank some beer and played trivia. Great day! Lots of amazing food, some beer and trivia. Can't go wrong.

Friday - Last night was Chris's first ever show! He played at the Wave which is the bar on campus. They opened for two other bands; one of them being The Sidewalks which are a fairly famous local band. Well the bar was very quiet (everyone went home for Thanksgiving weekend) but that didn't matter because I brought a posse and we went to cheer them on. Of course they did great and I'm very proud of them! Good job boys!

Saturday (today) - After a late night last night I was hesitant to get out of bed this morning for the festivities planned for the day, but I told the gals that I'd join along...which I am glad I did because it was a fun day! We first went to the farmer's market so that I could get some bread and coffee, then me, Sam, Kaylynne and Jess all went to Wintermoor Orchard to do some apple picking.




Kaylynne wanted to get some to make a pie for her Thanksgiving dinner with her grandparents, and I just wanted to buy some delicious apples! We honestly had a really great time. Apple picking is awesome. Apple eating is better though. Plus they had free warm apple cider to enjoy. Mmmmmmm.









After the picking was complete, we headed over the Veseys Seeds where they were hosting the 17th Annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off which is exactly what it sounds to be. Growers from all over PEI brought their sizable squashes to contest for the heaviest of them all. And the winner was 1075 pounds! There was also a BBQ going on, pumpkin carving, pumpkin games for the kids and of course, a hayride around the property.

If there's one thing that PEI does well, it's autumn. That may sound strange but it's true. People dec their houses out with fantastic displays of squashes, hay, plants...you name it. It's just so country-side out there...in the country...side. After the weigh-ins were complete and the winner was announced, we went to our friend Mia's place for some tea and snacks for a while then headed back to town because we felt like we should do something productive (like do homework).

But what did I do instead? Went grocery shopping and now I'm going to make some cookies! Hello weekend!

The Good Kind of Contagious

More than once I have brought up the topic about the little things that make life good. Today I was reminded of one that is not only enjoyable to witness but always gets my mind going when I see it occur. You know when you're walking along in your own little world and you look at the face of someone coming towards you who is also in their own little world, and for some reason that other person has a huge smile on their face? I love that!!! I love how I have no idea what is making that person so happy at that moment and that I was present the moment as it occurred.

This happened to me at school today as this lovely young lady walked by me, she was just grinning ear to ear. This made me smile as well because I know what it's like to be that person with the shit-eating grin in her face while walking along the side of the road. Sometimes if I'm listening to my headphones and a certain song comes on, that can ignite the hugest of smiles. But anyway, when faced in that situation, I start thinking about all of the possibilities which could make that other person smile like that. Did she just get an awesome grade on a test which she expected to have gotten poorly on? Did she finally kiss that boy last night that she's been wanting to kiss forever? Was she thinking of a stupid joke that a friend make earlier that day? I love not knowing this information. I love the contagiousness of the smile from a stranger who doesn't even know that they are the source of the smile which has now materialized on your face.

Peacocks!!!

When I saw this addition of Cake Wrecks yesterday I was overcome with happiness. I've been wanting to get a peacock tattoo for a while now and just keep putting it off due to the healthy price tag that generally comes along with scarring your body for eternity. But this just made my day and inspired me to possibly go down there tomorrow and talk to the guy. HEHE! (Sorry mom)










These two (top and bottom) are my personal favourites.