What a RUSH!

Yesterday I did the craziest thing. I bungee jumped at west edmonton mall. 106 feet. Yes it was scary. No I could not breath. I kept my eyes closed for the first part. What a rush! Wow.

I went into field placement on wednesday morning at the Salvation Army and to my surprise they said they were going bungee jumping! The purpose being for them to show clients how to have a rush without using drugs. I was so excited! I was pretty calm waiting at the top, many of the men were not. Some were on all fours praying. They were embarrassed that I was not that scared, but I assured them that I would be really scared when my feet were over the edge. I predicted myself completly and I'm getting that scared feeling all over again just writing about it! So there was so many people that wanted to jump, and the heavier people were instructed to go first. Needless to say I was near the end! I waited at the top for about 2 1/2 hours, and finally it was my turn! They tightened up my harness, checked it once out loud, and then the second guy checked it twice out loud. They said "put your feet over the edge!" Then he said at the countdown of 5 I was to jump, 5.....4....3...2..1...JUUUUMP!!!!!!.......and I was still standing there, clutching the rail. The guy told me "hands off the rail!" woops. He told me to hold on to the cushion surrounding the bungee, and once again the count down of 5...4....3....2...1..JUUUUMP!!!! And I started tilting and leaning slowly into nothing, clutching that pillow with a death grip, and then........falling. I never screamed, it was too much, I couldn't breath, and I was waiting for some kind of relief, some kind of slowing down, feel anything when apsolutly NOTHING was surrounding me and I was only getting faster and faster. And then I bounced up! I opened my eyes, and went falling all over again! WOW! I started to breath, I almost started to cry! bouncing and flying....and it was over. Scariest thing I have ever done! But I would do again in a heart beat.

This is great

After completing the amazing race for a fundraiser in October that required running all over the city, I realized how incredibly out of shape I am! I knew that I bought a "get in shape book" last year so I looked through my bookshelf and found it! I had bought a special edition book version of this magazine on "3 weeks to a flat belly!" (The picture is not of my book, but its the same makers.) I never really opened it up until just recently - which is so like me. I keep hearing about the health risks of having weight on your belly, and apparently of all places on your body, fat is most likey to hinder your health when its on your belly. (I have actually looked into this!) And besides all that, Oprah said so! Also, having strong abs helps immensly with back pain. So I started doing the beginner ab work outs everyday since five days ago! ha ha. I just love this book, it keeps away from extremes, so I will keep you posted on how this turns out and whether or not I continue to recommend it. In three weeks I WILL have a firmer belly, and maybe in three weeks I may have a flatter belly. (The magazine also comes with some meal ideas and must eat foods, ideas for post pregnancy weight, and SO MUCH MORE! ha ha. I will post later on this healthy information!)

Feeling a little under pressure?

I feel like this dog!

So once again its sunday night and I'm doing homework. If any of you thought that my high school habits have faded because I am now in college and paying for it myself its not true! I'm still the biggest procrastinator of all time, the only thing about school now that is really kicking my butt is that if you don't hand in an assignment, you fail the whole entire course, and apparently kicked out of the program! Which is good for a person like me and bad. Last christmas I asked if I could get an extension on an assignment till January the 2nd. Thinking that I would work real hard before christmas, as if! Who has free time in the days before christmas or wants to make time in the days after??!! Every student knows that you will only start working on the assignment the day or two before its due! I'm not the only one who does this! So anyway, needless to say, my christmas was not all that relaxing last year. Definitly the worst part about school is that you think about it during your free time and feel guilty for not working while your having fun or relaxing. SO, this year I have been making a valient effort to work hard, and it really has paid off. But if your wondering if I have made a dent in those 6 assignments still due........I'm almost done one assignment.........and the rest are all due by thursday and I REALLY don't want christmas break homework. I'm also a person who starts shopping for christmas in October to hopefully be done by the end of November. Unfortunatly that did not happen due to the intensity of my assignments in October and November, now I must shop in December, what a drag.

Is anyone else already feeling some holiday/school stress???

Steven you are adorable! Thanks for helping me with all the homework.
Several
Tigers
Eat
Very Edible
Nightingales
--"Don't commit fraud or grand theft identity."--
This picture was taken last year before thanksgiving dinner at the Oorts. (7!!!!)

The end is near

So, I did end up getting two of the assignments done and the third I asked for an extension. When I went to class on tuesday, the day the third research paper was due, only 3 people handed in the paper! 3 out of 30! The teacher basically said "all of you asked for extensions, so get the paper in whenever." So that was pretty awesome especially because it means that there is way more people in the same boat as me than I thought. I'm also going to revise a paper I already wrote and change it up a little for this last one...ssshhhhh, don't tell! Although Marla, you amaze me. You only had one paper to write and yet you still asked for an extension! Oh well, we understand you "work" ha ha.

Anyway, tomorrow I lead a group session of about 13 people(my fellow classmates) for one hour. yikes. It's going to be interesting. We are going to start off by giving everyone a christmas festive holiday hershey kiss. And the icecreaker is going to be about christmas so that will be great. But I'm still counting down the days till school ends! only 3 more weeks or so! 6 assignments due by the 30th and 2 final exams by the 12th.......and counting!

So, I just finished one of the three papers due on monday and tuesday. I'm not going to lie, I was seriously bawling by the end of it. So frustrating! I'm almost done the second one! wow, who would have thought that if I started writing both of them on tuesday, I would only be 2/3rds of the way done by sunday night? I totally thought I planned this out but I guess not. Now I will have to have an extension on my paper - and that kinda sucks because it prolongs the pain! ha ha, oh it hurts so much to laugh.

~~~This is a picture of my adorable dog Pepsi and she makes me happy!~~~

Last few weeks of school!

Oh my goodness, school is completly eating me alive! I have 3 research papers due on monday and tuesday, and two assignments due on thursday, one of them being a class presentation where I have to lead group for an hour - its not going to be fun! After this week is over, I will have 2 more assignments, and 2 final exams and then I'm done! Steve and I are going to Banff after school is over and its basically the only thing keeping me going right now! Everytime I don't want to do my homework I picture myself flying down the side of a mountain - in a GOOD way! ha ha. These next three weeks are going to go by so slow and so fast at the same time! My current assignment is about poverty in Edmonton. Did you know poverty in Edmonton has increased 30% since last year? That's a pretty big deal, but I really I hope I get a good mark!

p.s. The picture of us at "the top of the world" is so funny, we look like four year olds in our snow suits, but thats mainly my fault for not having any matching snow stuff - not to mention that ridiculous orange touque! These were taken last year at the top of panorama mountain.

The best day ever!

Today was an incredibly special day for me! I went to church and then Steve and I decided that we would go to west ed to check out the sea lions! I have been wanting to see the sea lions for so long, and finally we went! It was cool because I didn't expect to actually watch it in the stands because you can almost as good as when outside in the mall, but as we were waiting, a guy working there took the rest of the people in the line and said that we could take a seat! It was WAY better to be closer! You could almost touch them! It was such a good show I would recommend it to everyone. Afterward me and steve had a big discussion on whether or not the actors who did the show were also the trainers and whether or not one of them was a girl or a guy, pretty funny stuff. Anyway, we were arguing our points back and forth until we decided to go back and just ask them straight up all our questions. I was right about them both being women, although steve still thinks that one trainer was totally a dude. Steve was right about them being both trainer and actor.
This is also neat: we were walking and all of a sudden there was this bride and she was arm in arm with an older man. So me and Steve went upstairs and watched a small wedding take place on the Santa Maria! Much to steve's dismay we waited until they kissed after they finished saying their vows and a lot of the mall clapped and cheered!
The rest of the day was full of other fun things, but it has definitly been an amazing day! Thanks steven!