Life in Winnipeg, Life as an aquarius...

Ahhhh... Life in Winnipeg.
It's a beautiful town to me.  I've lived the great majority of my adult life here so far.  I have made many friends here and a lovely community of people I really love and trust.  It's the place where I've found my first place of comfort in my own home. Friends that will stay with me in my heart forever.  A strong love that just couldn't keep up with my wandering heart.  And Winnipeg's music.  I'm only just discovering the music...
Winnipeg is my home now, and I love it.
But after some recent life changes I believe I've decided that my heart wants to wander once again.  My heart is telling me to do some more soul searching.  To smell ocean air, to meditate, to play and dance and be with nature.  I feel myself going to a very stable, sturdy career but I want to let go of responsiblity while I can, while I'm young and wild.  I don't want that stable spot quite yet...
So I'm opening up to opportunity... And it feels so right.  Raaaa I just want to run around and scream happy things!
I love home!  I love what I do!  I just want to love me!  (and I do love me i just want to love being authentic me in every moment, which requires some alone ness, and some room for spontaneity... maybe possibly travel and space!  And there's something about ocean air that I want to breathe.
At this time in my life, Winnipeg is my home and I love it.  But I sense that some day my home will be by the sea in a small home far from too much noise.  But that's a ways away! 
Life in Winnipeg... I love Winnipeg but I won't forever be a prairie girl!  Who knows!  Maybe I won't forever be an ocean girl or a mountain girl... I'll just be water.  Ebbing and flowing, shaping to whatever surroundings I so choose.  Maybe I could make a home of any place I go.  Maybe this is a skill I seek to find.  Any which way, I love a lot about my surroundings and I'm excited to meet new surroundings, but I don't love some of what's inside, so I must let myself be free....

Lost heart!  Soon to wander again!

And here is a video of me in the beginning of my travels in Maui, Hawaii...

From Prairies to Mountains

For all my friends and family that want to know how my trip to the Yukon went... well words just can't describe what I felt.
Sam has been talking about moving to the Yukon for some time now.  My only worry was the dark months in the winter, and I didn't know how I'd handle the sunlight in the summer since I prefer to go to bed early.
But after 2 days I was convinced. Then I was talking about it more than Sam.
Job prospects are good, the environment is inspiring and the one thing I love most: people that live there are there because they WANT to be there.  Because it's so darn beautiful!

I love Yukon's biodiversity.  Every time we went for a hike I could spot at least 1 or two more flowers or plants that I'd never seen before.  And the flowers are so vibrant in the summer! It seemed as though I had a "flower of the day" every day. You may notice I have a habit of wearing flowers in my hair often.

I love Whitehorse culture too.  Everyone we met talked about how much they love the Yukon, and people are there because they love nature, so they really respect nature too.  I'm told that people won't let things that disturb nature fly too well.  Furthermore, the campgrounds are awesome.  $12/night.  Cheap! And Beautiful!  No plug-ins or anything unnecessary when camping :)  The government campgrounds are all over Yukon and they're fairly convenient and beautiful! If that's not awesome enough, you are invited by locals to camp in places that aren't regulated too.  (As in you won't be charged- they trust that you will be responsible about it.)  Sam and I were given a nice place to camp near carcross that was on the Windy Arm (a lake) right by a beautiful trail on Montana Mountain and no one bothered us.  (Not even bears. :P)  The thing I love about Carcross is it's emerald lakes.  Beautiful!  And on Windy Arm, there are no bugs! Yay for wind!

As for the midnight sun, it was really nice for hiking because we didnt have to worry about being out too late, or flashlights in the dark when camping and we had no problems sleeping because we were active and outside so much!

If you ever go to Whitehorse, make the extra trip to Tombstone National Park. (It's about 1.5 hours from Dawson, north on the Dempster Highway.)
We didn't care for Dawson City much.  It's a tiny town full of tourists and young people with summer jobs to satisfy tourists.  It's an old mining town and it's main attraction is a casino that has three shows daily in the summer.  There's something about the look of Dawson- or maybe it's the history: a town of people who came to earn money digging for gold- I just didn't dig it.  I have no interest in gold.  I do, however, love rocks and I collect them.  :)  I can't wait to show off my nerdy rock collection to all my friends!
Anyway, Tombstone National Park on the Dempster Highway.  GO!  From the mountains you can just see for miles.  There are 4 designated trails but honestly, you can just walk anywhere because it's in the toundra and it's so easy.  So go on, explore!  You can see animals far far away, and you may experience quick change in climate.  It's SO cool!  We were over 1700 m above sea level just by foot!
Tombstone was my favourite.
Another place we hear has beautiful scenery is Haines. It's in Alaska and it's close to the coast. We had planned to go to Skagway but heard it was annoyingly touristy and my passport got wet and messed up so we decided not to go to the trouble.
Next time :)

As for hosts... we couldn't have asked for better hosts :) We finally got to use couchsurfing and we loved it!  I hope to keep in touch with them and I really think we've made some good friends.  After spending an evening with our first host I said to Sam: " I really think we scored coming here!  She's so awesome and I can't believe how much we have in common!"  She lived in a beautifully wooded area with a view of the mountains on a trail from her home.
Then our second host was just as outdoorsy.  He lived a little ways outside of Whitehorse and I'm sure we would have learned a lot if we stayed longer, but he had his many ways of being really resourceful!  It was really fantastic sharing a few meals and some meaningful conversation as well.
We would have liked to hang out more but I guess that'll just have to wait until we move to the Yukon :)

I also picked up a book I'd seen in Winnipeg.  Well, the woman that wrote this book about wild edibles lives in Whitehorse!  And it inspired me to harvest a few wild things too :)  I made some fresh labrador tea the next day (its so good fresh- kind of minty, kind of pine-y. It opens everything up!)
Dried roses, fireweed and yarrow.  I could have done more and greater quantities, but I mostly wanted to enjoy my walks.

All in all, I felt we belonged in the Yukon - I even found yoga there :)  And I hope to return to that studio again!   I felt a very positive energy in all of the Yukon and I really see myself returning someday.  I want to be a boreal woman!

[This edit of adding pictures is rather delayed (nearly a year later... But it completes the post!]

Swinging on a branch on one of the trails!  Where there once was a mining operation, near Carcross

Ahh, Tombstone National Park!  This is a little valley where the snow never melted- not even at +25 degrees celcius in the heat of summer!

Sam and I on the mountain!

Banff National Park

Grizzly Trail near Tombstone National Park

Ahhh, the variety of mountains at Tombstone National park... :)

With a view like this... one needs to know how to smile.

This is in Northern BC along the Alaskan Hwy.  I recall we discussed how it would be so lovely to spend a summer working at a fishing lodge or something out here...

Another image of the beautiful grizzly trail near Tombstone National park.  Next time I go, I'll make it a trek to camp out there!

Super sprouts!

Alright, I know.  This is silly.  But I got excited about my bean sprouts and I thought I'd share :)

Yay!  Sprouted mung beans!  They're leafing!

I'm eating them nom nom nom nom.

Well, it's been almost a year since I've posted and I've had requests to write again since Sam and I are travelling once again!
This time we're travelling by car with a canoe on the roof!  I'm going to bring my camera and the computer, but I can't guarantee I'll spend much time on this! (I call the computer POODER so if you ever see "pooder," it means computer.  That was adopted from Sam's dad when we lived together :P

Now I live in a house with my best friend Sarita.  I call her my Frife.  Friend for life/friend wife :D
We had a room mate who was awesome, but she's travelling now so we're looking for someone just as awesome in their own way to join us again!

As for pictures to catch up on my life... well i haven't taken many at all.  But I'll browse through to see what I have to show the world who wants to know.

I didn't take this.  But... YUKON!!!! 

Sarita's Christmas Muffins :)
And our other lovely once roomie now seasta :)

An elf with beautiful gifts!

Christmas at Sam's dad's place

Silly Christmas characters.. This photoshoot was SO FUN.

... As you can tell

Christmas with the awesomest bunch!

Sam's eating after work.  Plates are sometimes overrated.
And those are goose meatballs I made ahead of time for Sam.

It's been a while...But my mind is formulating plans to travel again!

Gee, it sure has been a while since I've posted on this blog!  I don't think anyone is really following me anymore, but it's a nice little scrapbook in case all my things one day go up in flames or I lose my memory... (These things happen, though I don't think it'll ever actually happen to me... just like everyone always says!)
ohh yes and I forgot to mention that this spring and summer, Sam and I didn't go on many foreign adventures, but we travelled a bit on weekends to go camping in new places, even going further north than Chisasibi on Labour day weekend! :)  These pictures are from May 24 weekend to Theodore Rosevelt Nat. Park in USA. We went with some friends and made some bison friends while we were there :P

So since our travels in the east coast, I've become a lot more comfortable with Winnipeg being my home.  I've made friends that have made impressions on me, and I have found a community that gives me a great deal of comfort.  Upon arriving home, I continued my job working at a hunting and fishing store, but I eventually got a job doing what I did in Katimavik- working with adults who have mental disabilities.  The people I work with each have their challenges, but they are each capable individuals, living independently and I really like that my job is to enable them to be individuals, to facilitate an independent life style.  And the people I work along side care a lot about what they do.  This isn't a job where we get paid much more than minimum wage, or require any background education, but we're caring people that just want to help others in need.
In September I also started school for Massage therapy.  I'm currently exploring my next traveling opportunities because there's a big part of me that really wants to use my skills abroad in a volunteering setting while discovering a whole new cultural way of experiencing human interaction.  I want to do some volunteer work here in Winnipeg as well to kick start my career, meet new people, make connections and get a lot of experience really quickly, but I feel that I won't experience diversity unless I seek diversity on my own.  At some point I want to see the Yukon with my partner Sam and then my plan is to graduate with a massage diploma here in Manitoba, work here for a year, maybe two to pay off any debts and save money, (maybe volunteer for 1 month somewhere in that time?) then travel to south america or Africa for 2 months up to one year  and find a new home (permanent or not... well see!) maybe the east coast?  or New Zealand?  Australia?

As much as I love school, I'm really looking forward to travel in the nearby future. And to using the art of touch to heal others.
I can't wait to have knowledge to offer to the world!
For now, I can certainly offer my services and human touch in a non physical way :)

Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island

You're going to have to wait for pictures on this one because I'm a little bit behind, but I'm sure you can handle the wait ;)

The Cabot trail felt a lot like Newfoundland, but more developed.  There are more coffee shops and what-not in between, and the houses seem to be much further apart.  It's the same rocky highlands, and ruggedness, just more art shops (some really impressive ones!) and a different kind of community feel.  We decided to go to the northernmost community, meat cove, which is off the Cabot trail, and quite nice.  It's a small community, and it isn't super touristy.  There's a small beach and really stiff cliffs.  Actually, a day after we left, we heard that someone had fallen off a cliff and wasn't found until a few days later.  There's camping there, but it's right on the cliffs, and there isn't much protection from the wind!  It would be absolutely beautiful though- terrific view of the ocean, 5 minutes from the little beach and close to the community hall/restaurant/information centre/ all-in-one-everything-for-the-community place.  The restaurant wasn't particularly professional, but it has a nice, relaxed feel and Sam enjoyed the fish! We even ate our meal with a squirrel that stole my toast and a tater! 

I couldn't believe how many artisans there were!  We only stopped at a few- a glass blowing shop and a wood shop, with specific things in mind for gifts and we found some!  The glass blowing place was really impressive, and the pieces we so beautiful.  If I had heaps of money, I would have gotten a few more things, but what's life with things anyway.

We only stopped for one trail because we pretty much only had one day to do the whole trail, but on that trail, we saw a moose!  She was drinking some water, and she saw us, but didn't seem bothered one bit by us, so we got to take a closer look.  At this time, the moose are pretty tame, but they are much more aggressive in the fall, I hear.  (As are many wild animals, like deer, which Sam (and hopefully me too some time!) will be hunting this fall!)

Next time, I'd like to go Whale watching in Cheticamp or pleasant Bay.  We wanted to this time, but it just didn't work out so maybe we'll do something else because we actually have enough money!

More pictures of PEI...

My first cast, the only fish of the night!  It's a mackerel!  And it appeared to be having a seizure or something so it was quickly released back into the water!

The unlucky fisherman on the steeles at the wharf in wood islands!

Emily and her beautiful children :)  We stayed with them for a few days.

A beach near Borden-Carlton where we camped out.  Lori lent me her bike so I could go with Bram and take pictures :)

My photobuddy with a hermit crab!

Mussels!  I thought this would make a nice background.

PEI red sand and red dirt with PEI green house and a PEI sky reflection. 

Apple crisp made with apples we found on the confederation trail! Kudos to Sam for accomplishing such a great dessert with a camp stove!

My rock and shell collection holder

Sea shells!  I didn't sell them on the sea shore though :P

Crab!

Pictures of PEI

It's actually unbelieveable how many pictures I'm realizing I took in PEI.  It's such a unique place, I guess I hadn't realized how much I was taking pictures!  I even took a break from pictures for a few days! Anyway, this may take a few posts...

The "Home again" reunion for the back to the landers of the 70's  This is a Tipee one of the back to the landers' kids made.

This is where I had my first lobster! :)  Crabby's!  I had a sandwich, reasonably priced, on locally made bread and perfectly seasoned!

Wood Islands beach :)

I'm finally going underwater in the OCEAN!

Sand dunes of Brackley beach on the north shore of PEI

I take a nice picture and Sam sneaks a yellow glove in... it's still nice.  If anyone has heard his story about the grad picture where he tried to bring an extra hand in, they would know this is quite typical.

Charlottetown! We were there for an hour and we happened to come across live music :)

Stinky birds at a beach (there were so many I can't remember which now!)

Play structures at Wood Islands wharf

A lighthouse at Wood Islands wharf.  Yes, I do need some stereotypical lighthouse PEI pictures!

It's actually unbelieveable how many pictures I'm realizing I took in PEI.  It's such a unique place, I guess I hadn't realized how much I was taking pictures!  I even took a break from pictures for a few days! Anyway, this may take a few posts...

I Love Nova Scotia

"There's just so much of Nova Scotia to explore, we'll never see it all," said I, "There's so much of the world to explore," Sam replied.
Canada is just the beginning.  Next time: South America, I've been thinking.  First, I need to settle down for a little while.  So smaller trips closer to home until then will do.

I still haven't posted PEI pictures... but I'd like to write a bit about our recent travels while they're still recent!  We've been to Martinique Beach, Ovens park, Hirtle beach (in an attempt to find Gaff Point) Cape Split, Kejimkujik seaside National Park and Cape Sable Island (We got to take a Nova Scotian with us for that one! Yay Michelle! :) )  I guess we have done a bunch in the past couple days, and honestly, as much as I love hitch hiking, having a car has made everything so much easier, less tiring and so much more accessible.  We've been staying in Halifax and making a few day trips, and as much as we don't generally like to stay in the same place when traveling, that has been really nice too. But no matter how many places we go or sights we see, there will always be so more more to discover.  Speaking of which, I really haven't seen much of Manitoba or Ontario, my home provinces.

I had a dream last night that a reporter wanted to interview a few hitch hikers to demonstrate a different perspective on hitch hiking to the public.  The first think I wanted to say was that hitch hiking saves relationships, thus helping your love life.  You learn a lot about yourself and the people around you in a really short time span.  You learn to trust yourself, your hitchhiking companion, and whoever is driving you.  You learn to be more tolerant of many different perspectives.  It makes you learn to get along with all kinds of different people. As for trusting your hitch hiking companion, not that I've ever not trusted mine, but he's the navigator, which is the most important thing. When driving, I try to navigate and it usually ends with an "I don't know which way!" and Sam would say, "well you have the map!"  I have a tendency to question directions too much and get confused easily, so even with a map I would still get lost.  So it's really best, or easiest when Sam knows where he's going, but it's good that I learn too.

Since I'm sure you would love to know about each place, I'll make it a bit shorter:
Martinique Beach: lovely wavy beach, but there were quite a few people, even when it wasn't blistering hot!
Ovens park: The sea caves were so beautiful, and there's quite a lot of infrastructure that allows the tourist to see things from under the caves, above and all around.  But, it was much more expensive than we wanted to pay.  But I was tired, wanted to get out of the car and walk around and we couldn't find Gaff point (which we got directions to after we paid :/)
Hirtle beach (in an attempt to find Gaff Point): Nice beach, really close to Lunenburg, lots of people, and great sand! Apparently you can walk to Gaff Point from there, but we didn't have enough time.
Cape Split: One of my personal favourites of the east coast!  It was a total 3-hour hike and on the way, we found some good wild edibles, and the view from the tip was incredible.  It made me feel so small because there was such a massive drop-off, and the powerful currents we could see below just reminded me of how powerful the sea could be.  It's not a well known spot, not overly busy or monitored, and just so breathtakingly beautiful.  It was something we would have expected to find in Newfoundland.
Kejimkujik seaside National Park: We took a short walking trail and found it reasonably priced and rather lovely.  Sandy beach, cool, clean water, healthy environment with piping plovers, frogs and more, and there are seals there, though we didn't see any.  But the rocks in the sand were really interesting too.  Oh and the sand was a mix of white, black and pink in some places!
Cape Sable Island: foggy!  But the fog came and went so quickly, making it feel so mystical.  Like Kejimkujik, there was a nice mix of sand and rocks, even some singing sand! Looking out to see there is really looking out to sea because it's the southernmost tip of Nova Scotia and anything else is pretty far. There's an underground forest there, somewhere, but the tide wasn't low enough so we didn't see it.

 

Pictures from Halifax Day trips

I guess I forgot to mention a few things in the last post, which is why I always like to take pictures...

We went near Laurencetown beach (er, well, a sandy part before the beach, where few were) and then to Dyke road, which was a rocky beach, one day we went to Long Lake with Sam's uncle and cousins and another, we went to Chocolate Lake which is right in town with my project leader from Katimavik- JEANNNNN! :) and We got to enjoy awesome fireworks on the bridge with Sam's grandparents on the top of their apartment which was an awesome view!

Just me and my lover :) I lost one of those blue earrings that day though...

hopping little waves at Laurencetown beach

Long Lake with the cousins :)

The lovely view of Halifax from the apartment.

Sorry I didn't capture a better one- I used up the batteries.  But, you can see the amazing show on the bridge!

The many colours of the rocks on Dyke Road