Loving Telus!

Well, I've been working for Telus from almost 9 months. Time sure does fly!!! I absolutely LOVE living less than 5 minutes from where I work. I have never regretted my decision to leave The Beer Store as working this close to home is life changing. I have more time on my hands, less stress of commuting down Hwy 400 everyday, and much more energy. And I never have to get up before 9am--that's pretty awesome!

My job at Telus is pretty relaxed and there's very little stress even though I'm part of the collections department. At the end of the day I don't need to worry about anything. I get there at 12 and leave a 8pm. Not a bad shift at all.

Telus treats its employees very well and I have nothing negative to say about working there. The only thing I regret about changing jobs, is that I didn't do it sooner. Driving from Barrie to Mississauga for three years was too long. Oh, well...better late than never.

**The views expressed on this website are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer**

One more week to go...

I've only got one more week to go! Only 5 mores days at my current job! Unfortunately my final week will continue to be painful. I'm just too efficient! I got to work for 8am this morning, was finished my work by 10:30am, went for an hour-long walk at lunch, and now I'm sitting at my desk waiting for my clock to say 4:00.

I absolutely HATE being bored at work. I wish I could leave but my boss says we can't because "a problem might arise and we need you to be here if that's the case." Well, no one ever calls! It's Friday afternoon...the stores are too busy to be calling me...and if they do it's normally something silly that they could solved on their own had they read their store mail. Egh!!!

Believe it or not I actually started my Christmas cards this week. I bought them into work on Wednesday and Thursday and did them during the afternoon because I had tons of free time on my hands. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so good at this job. Lol...

I'm not asking to leave early everyday, but leaving an hour early on the odd Friday would really be nice.

Oh well...only one more week of being totally bored!!!
I can't wait....

Great news...a new job!!!

Great news...I got a job in Barrie! Rather than commuting 1.5 hours to work everyday I will be working locally. My new office will be a 5 minute drive and in the summer I could potentially walk to work. I'm so excited!

Although it's a bit of a pay cut, it's totally worth it. I'll be a lot happier as I won't have "road rage" and I'll be saving myself a lot of time each day. I may continue to work for TBS but if I do it will only be once a week in one of the Barrie retail stores. That will be enough to supplement my income, ensuring that Josh and I are financially okay.

My first day will be November 26th--my birthday. What a great birthday present to myself. :)

I hope this job will be challenging and rewarding because I'm constantly bored in my current position at TBS.

Job hunting...

Egh!!! Job hunting is the worst! I apply for jobs, friends send me posting, I go for interviews, but I haven't been hired...yet.

I guess the positive side of things is that I currently have a well-paying full time job but I'm not challenged and I'm tired of the 1.5 hour commute to work. If I enjoyed my job, or even had enough things to do, it wouldn't be so bad. I've asked my boss for extra work and I've even offered to help out a coworker that in another department but I can only do so much. Sometimes I'm finished my work for the day at 10:30 but I'm unable to leave because "a store may call with a problem". There's nothing worse than sitting at my computer, bored out of my mind, knowing that the hwy is getting busier and busier the longer I wait to leave.

I'd love to work in the same city that I live. I currently leave at 6:30 and get home at 5:30pm but my shift at work is 8-4pm. If you ask me...that seems like too much time to be spent on the road.

Well, I'm an optimistic person so I'm convinced that when the right job comes along, I'll get it.

Hopefully my next entry will be to announce a new, close-to-home, amazing job that I'm passionate about.

P.S. If you know of any exciting openings in the Barrie, Newmarket, or Aurora area please let me know.

Middle of July already???

Wow, it's already the middle of July! Where is the summer going? This summer has been CrAzY for many reasons. Baseball seasons takes up a few nights, I work at Yogen Fruz almost every Wednesday, tennis falls on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I've been busy planning a Stag & Doe for a couple friends of mine. Josh and I have also been to a few cottages, birthday parties, Blue Jay games, the Grandprix, Ribfest, etc so it seems like every weekend is another fun-filled adventure. Don't get me wrong though--I love having things to do; I just hate how quickly the summer seems to be going by.

Between now and the end of August I've got a bridal shower, stag & doe, bachelorette party, camping trip to Granite Ridge, Survivor weekend, and I'm sure much more but I can't think of everything right now. I also want to go raspberry and blueberry picking before it's too late and I want to get to Wasaga Beach to go wakeboarding.

Well, I hope everyone's summer is going as well as mine.
Happy camping!

We're all Big Kids!

A couple Saturday's ago I went to Canada's Wonderland with a group of friends. Most of us hadn't been there in years so we were super excited to check out the new rides. The weather was great! It was about 30 degree celcius, sunny, without a cloud in the sky. We must have went on 8 rollercoaters and rides throughout the 7-8 hours we were there. The highlight for me was Cliffhanger. It's a fairly new ride and it incorporates water--lots of water. I guess I liked this ride one so much because it got us TOTALLY soaked.

The group of us were giddy all entire day. From Icee frozen drinks, to Itsakadoozee Popsicles (I'm not sure the spelling on that one) to Drop Zone, we couldn't get in enough laughing and goofing around like kids.

Having only visited 1/4 of the park (not to mention Splashworks) I definitely want to get back to Canada's Wonderland before the summer is over. We also didn't have time to do my favourite ride: White Water Canyon, which I was a bit bummed about, but since the rest of the day was so great I can't really complain.

If you haven't been to the park lately I strongly recommend checking it out. There's something for everyone.

Be sure to bring sunscreen and drink lots of water. :)

Reliable again!!!!

Great news!!! My car is fixed. It took more than three mechanics and multiple visits to the Nissan dealership to figure out what was wrong with my 2001 Sentra but the good news is that it's finally fixed. It needed a new Mass Air Flow Meter. Although the part cost $599 and $50 for installation I'm just happy they discovered what was wrong with it.

Josh is also thrilled because it means he doesn't have to get up early three days a week and go with his Mom so I can take his car.

I was persistent and didn't give up. I knew that eventually they'd find the root of the stalling problem.

I'm so happy to have my car back. :)

Cars are a wonderful thing...

I have a 2001 Nissan Sentra with 208,000km on it and up until a couple weeks ago, it's been fairly low maintenance and I haven't had much trouble. I always get oil changes and do regular maintenance but I guess things can still go wrong with cars, right? The problem with my car is that it stalls. It might stall while I'm at an intersection waiting to turn left (very scary!), while I'll driving through town, while I'm in Park, while I'm braking for traffic (it's happened on hwy 400)--basically it happens a lot. I've taken it to a local mechanic, who my boyfriend trusts and has been going to for years, but he can't figure out what's wrong with it. He's checked the battery, alternator, mass airflow sensor, he's adjusted the RPM's because he thought it might be idling too low, he's done a tune-up, and cleaned multiple hoses and valves but nothing seems to be causing the stalling. He suggested taking it to Nissan and hooking it up to their diagnostic machine because he was stumped for ideas. Although I try to avoid dealerships I decided that I'd pay the $85 an hour to have them figure out what's wrong with it. They replaced the fuel filter because after talking with many people about the symptoms that seemed like the answer. Well, after $300 worth of work at the dealership, it still stalls. No one can figure out what's wrong with my car--not even the company that made it.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be wrong with my car?

Carpooling is worth it...

My department recently hired a new employee and she's a resident of Barrie. This is great for me because I now have a carpool buddy. I wasn't sure if it was going to work out because I love my independence but this is a great way for me to save money on gas. I used to spend around $300 per month but I think it'll be down to $150-$200 depending on how often we can carpool. The only times we don't drive together is when one of us has a commitment after work in which we aren't going straight home. Driving together also passes the time--a 1.5 hour commute can be extremely boring so chatting seems to make the time fly.

The only thing that drives me nuts is that she's always late in the mornings. We're supposed to meet at the carpool lot at 6:30am but she normally pulls in around 6;40-6:45am. Since I drag my butt out of bed to meet her on time, it annoys me that she's late everyday. If this keeps up, I might have to say something.

Happy carpooling!!!

Stano's Dirty 30 Birthday Party

Last weekend was Stano's 30th birthday party. Michelle organized an amazing day full of hockey for the boys, lunch at THE PUB (a local "dive" near our house), a BBQ dinner at their house, a Twister competition (which Teresa won!), never ending shots for everyone, and tons of dancing.

Other highlights include: the caramel pecan cheesecake (best cheesecake I've ever had), the NO t-shirt party (which almost every guy participated in), and the Leaf's winning in overtime.

The entire day was action packed and I know a number of people spent ALL of Sunday recovering from the festivities.

Thanks for organizing such a great day. I hope Chris appreciates all the hard work you put into everything.

Our pictures can be viewed in my "favorite links". Enjoy!

Trip to Lake Placid

Our trip to Lake Placid was awesome. Although it was only four days, two of which we spent skiing/snowboarding, that was enough time to hit all the slopes, check out the Olympic sights, and get to know the town. Josh and I commented at how nice it would be to also visit during the summer months because the mountains and waterfalls would be gorgeous. Hikers and mountain bikers would have plenty to do!

During our visit we went to Whiteface Mountain Resort (home of the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympics), we went outdoor skating on the Olympic speed skating rink, and had a few amazing meals at local restaurants. The best meal, which we had at Pete's Steakhouse (for anyone looking to find a fabulous high-end restaurant), was to die for. We highly recommend this place.

Another highlight for Josh was duty free. He was pretty excited to buy a 40-oz of Crown Royal for US$18. Haha.

Thanks for the great trip Josh. I had a fun time. :)

Newest online addiction...Facebook.com

For those of you that haven't heard of Facebook.com, you need to sign up! It's a fun website that allows you to connect to friends, family, co-workers, classmates...ANYONE. I wasn't too keen on joining because sometimes I feel that I belong to too many clubs or groups but after Josh and Scott convinced me that this was a great way to pass time (while I'm bored at work) I decided to give it a try.

Holy Moly I've found a lot of people who I haven't heard from in years! People I went to elementary school with, people I worked with when I was 16, people that have moved away, and a ton of my friends that I still see all the time.

Give it a try. Maybe we'll become "Friends".

Going to the chapel, going to get...

Hahaha...before you think I'm getting married, I'm not! Christine and Tony are getting married on September 29th, 2007 and they've asked me to be part of their wedding. Karen (Christine's sister) is the Maid of Honour and Ash, Grace, Jen, and I are all bridesmaids. :) I've never been part of a wedding so I'm super excited!

I'll keep you posted on the progress, including the Buck & Doe details.

Tennis is January?!?!

A member from the Barrie Tennis Club emailed me today saying that the club president would be putting up the nets this afternoon because the weather is so nice. The idea is to get a bunch of people together, call the local newpaper, and draw some attention toward the club.

How many times have you heard of playing tennis in January in Barrie, Ontario?!

Sounds like fun to me.

New Years Party was a HUGE Success!!!!

Josh and Sherri organized this year's New Years Eve party and many of the same people who attended last year's party came this year, plus a bunch of newcomers. The final headcount was 160!!!

Thanks to everyone that attended. Not only was it a super-fun time, but a bunch of money was raised for charity. The profits (which totalled almost $800) will be donated to the Big Brothers & Big Sisters.

I hope everyone had a great time. I know Ashley did. I must have had a handful of people say to me "I've never seen Ashley so wasted!" Lol. And who knew James was such a dancing machine?!?!

I'll be uploading my photos within the next week or so.

12 Days of Christmas

I went to the Leaf game with Josh, Darren, and Jenny last week and while the guys were off getting beer Jenny and I got on the topic of Christmas. She was talking about the 12 Days of Christmas but with a modern twist. The idea is to change the lyrics to match a person's interests. I thought the idea was great so the next day I started thinking about what I could do for Josh.

Tomorrow is the "1st day of Christmas" so after Josh opens the gift I'll post what it was so by Dec 24th the song will be complete and you'll know everything he received. The toughest part was tyring to find things in the correct mulitples and then trying to make the song flow.

Feel free to use this idea next year. It's quite fun and it makes Christmas last for more than just one day. Hopefully Josh enjoys the idea. :)

Here is the last verse of the original song:
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
Twelve Drummers Drumming
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Here's the version adapted for Josh:
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Twelve cans of Pepsi
Eleven packs of gum,
Ten Rolaids,
Nine tallboys,
Eight bags of popcorn,
Seven chocolate Turtles,
Six Pepperettes,
Five bags of chips,
Four pairs of socks,
Three magazines,
Two boxer shorts,
A big box of Nestle Smarties.

The snow has arrived!!!!

I woke up this morning and to my surprise a lot of snow had fallen thoughout the night. I instantly thought, "Oh God! My winter tires are in my truck because Canadian Tire was too busy yesterday to put them on. This is going to be a fun drive to work..." Since the plows hadn't been by our house yet, I slid down the street doing about 20km per hour but by the time I hit the 400 I was able to increase my speed to 70km. Now I was flying! Haha. I called my boss to inform him of the winter wonderland I was caught in the middle of, and explained that I was on my way but that I had no idea when I'd actually arrive.

Once I got South of Innisfill Beach Sideroad things drastically improved (15km south of my house). It was like a new day. The sky was blue, the roads we dry, and the wind was hardly even noticable. It's a good thing my boss lives up North too because otherwise he might not have believed I was going through a winter storm.

Although I was 30 minutes late for work, that's okay. The snow is exciting--it means the snowboard season is just around the corner!! :)

Not exactly what we had expected...

For my 27th birthday I decided I'd rather have a get together with a bunch of friends at our house rather than go to a bar full of people I don't know. I wanted to have a night full of laughs, dancing, drinking, and games (euchre and poker). That was pretty much the way things went. Everyone had a great time and tons of pictures were taken. The next morning was a different story...

Unlike most people, I'm lucky in the fact that I don't get hungover. I'm sure the day will come when that all changes (knock on wood) but as of right now, I feel pretty good after a night of drinking. And trust me...I had a lot to drink on Saturday night. Friends approached me the following morning expecting that I'd feel as if I'm on the verge of death but to their disappointment I gave them a "I feel great" kind of answer. A few of them were already popping Advil or Tylenol and trying to decide if they'd feel better or worse with some food in their belly's. Hehe.

Anyway, back to my story about what happened on Sunday morning. Four friends had stayed the night and while we were all reminiscing about some of the funny things that had happened, Josh realized his Ipod was missing. He LOVES his Ipod. I can honestly say I've never met a guy who knows so much about music. He's the best at "name that tune" and when I gave him the Ipod for Christmas last year I knew he'd use it all the time. We started reassuring Josh that someone probably put in somewhere by mistake or had played a joke on him, but three days later, after many phone calls and a group email, nothing has turned up.

The thing that bothers us the most is that the only people who came to the party were our friends. I'd be less surprised of something being stolen if we opened our doors to strangers, but that wasn't the case. We know everyone quite well (at least think we do) and have been to many get together and parties over the last couple of years.

Hopefully someone will develop a conscience and return it to us. They can do it anonymously if they're embarrassed and ashamed. Mailing it through Canada Post would be a great way to get it back to us. They'll give a tracking number and insure the parcel for a couple bucks and this way it'll get back to us safely, without having to personally drop it off.

Now Josh and I are just wishing for some good news...

Welcome...

Hi everyone,

This is my first attempt at Blogging. A friend of mine has had a blog for a couple years and I enjoy reading up on what's going on with her, so maybe people will be interested in hearing what's going on in my life.

Where should I start??? How about at the beginning...I was born in Toronto on Nov 26th 1979 (yes, it's almost my 27th birthday!!!); I spent the first 6 years of my life living in Brampton with my parents and my younger brother, Scott; my family moved to Caledon in 1986 and my parents still live in that house. I graduated from Sheridan College with a diploma in Business Admin, and gratudated from Royal Roads University (in Victoria, BC) with a degree in Entrepreneurial Management. I'm currently working full-time for The Beer Store as a distribtion co-ordinator which means I'm responsible for 90 Eastern Ontario beer stores with regards to inventory levels, new brewers & brands, working with managers, and developing delivery routes.

Almost two years ago I started dating Josh. We met through an online dating website but before we met in person we emailed and talked on the phone mulitple times a day for almost a month. We fell in love and 6 months later decided to move in together. We started renting a basement apartment in Barrie which meant I had a long commute to work everyday (my office is in Mississauga which is 100km South). We started looking at real estate in the new year and after many "so so" houses we finally find one we both loved. On April 28th we moved into our first home! We love being homeowners because we're investing in ourselves and we don't have to hear the noise of people upstairs. Our old landlords had two small children so sleeping in on a Saturday morning was out of the question because the kids playroom was right above our bedroom.

This will be our first Christmas in the house and I couldn't be more excited so we've decided to take on the task of holding Christmas dinner. I want everything to be "perfect" so I've already started planning the seating arrangement, decorations, food, etc. People tell me I've become quite the the Martha Stewart. I also love home improvement. Last weekend Josh was away at a hockey tournament so I decided to put up two light figures and a floating shelf. They look aweome! I'm into scrapbooking and crafts too. I made a Christmas wreath a couple weeks ago and last night I was working on Christmas cards. As Josh would tell you I enjoy baking and cooking, especially appetizers and snacks. I've come across a few "staple" recipes which I'll post in a later entry.

Well, I guess that's a good start.