Long Time

So, I don't know how many people actually check up on this blog anymore because it has been far too long since I blogged. I can't believe it has been a year and a half since I have last posted. So much has happened in the past year that I don't even know where to start.

First of all, I graduated high school and I am now currently in my second year of university at the University of Winnipeg as an aspiring teacher. I am not so much enjoying my classes at the moment because they are pretty common sense. If you have half a brain, it's pretty self explanatory.

Second, this summer was so much fun. Probably one of the best summers. I had a great job working at a drop in centre in Winnipeg's North End. I worked with kids for most of the summer, running a day camp. It was a challenge some days, but it was a great learning experience and I had a great time bonding with the kids.





I also went camping this summer at Hecla Island, and made a visit to James's family in Russell, MB. We went fishing and spent lots of time with the cousins.

I also went to Ontario to visit family and to mourn the loss of my grandfather. It was really good to be there and see everybody. It was a tough time, and it is an ongoing battle, but I am so glad I went. I have not been there for 2 years, so it was really good to visit with everyone and catch up.

I have recently just begun school again, and it is a bit slow, but I am happy to be in school. I am currently looking for a job, but I'm not having much luck because I have limited availability. I also became a youth leader at my church, helping out with youth every Tuesday night and every other Friday. So that's a good time.

The newest development in my life is my hopeful trip to Africa. My friend and I really want to go somewhere, hopefully Africa, to volunteer in an orphanage. We are having some troubles, though, deciding where to go and getting in contact with an organization. Because they are halfway across the world and in a different time zone, it's pretty difficult to get in contact with them.
Money is also another concern. We are hoping to go around May of 2012, so we don't have much time to get money. We have to plan a fundraiser and start saving our pennies, I guess!

Anyways, that's pretty much all I have to say for today. If you could keep my hopeful travels in your thoughts, that would be wonderful! :)

The Life of Chelsea Lately

Wow, time flies. It has been almost three months since I posted last and it feels like yesterday. So many things have been going on lately, and I have just not had any time to update here, so.. here it is:

- I had my last exam of high school ever today! Pretty exciting. I have my grad dinner on Monday night and convocation on May 12th.

- Easter week was crazy. I worked so much and school was so hectic. I cannot belive how many people need to buy copious amounts of meat for Easter. It was busier than Christmas! Crazy...

- Many of you have probably been wondering how the Oost residence out in Anola is progressing, especially those of you further away, so here are a few pictures.


The driveway.


Some trusses.


A few of the boys.


Beginning to look more like a building.


Metal siding!! Yay!


Putting the metal roof on. Note Nick got the important job of holding the ladder. Haha.


Some of the interior.

- We have been very fortunate with the weather that we've had lately. It has been soo dry and soo warm. It is unusual weather for April, but we're not going to complain. We have only had a few really windy days, which is not the greatest, but that's about it!

- So, now that I'm finished school, I think I will go back to work after all my grad stuff is done and we are a little settled in in the new place. I am hoping to help my parents move next week and help out with what needs to be done.

- Anyways, not much to say, but I hope you enjoyed this! (those of you who still check this..haha)

In Loving Memory

With the Olympics coming to an end it was exciting and heart wrenching all at the same time. On Sunday morning, James and I made plans to watch the very exciting Canada vs. USA hockey game, but our day was cut short by a phone call on the way to church. A friend of his called him and said that a friend of theirs had been in a bad accident the night before and he was killed.


Tyler Dacquay.

He was such a kind hearted guy and his life was cut much too short. He always had a smile on his face and knew how to make other people laugh. I will never forget sitting on my front lawn with Tyler, James and my parents, drinking iced tea and eating cookies after an afternoon of riding in the sand pits.
Even though I only spent a few days with him and didn't know him well, it has broken my heart. I experienced one of the hardest things to watch; James and all his friends mourn the loss of their great friend. I will never forget seeing James and his friends embracing each other. They have spent lots of time together in the past few days, which is good, and are continuing to do so throughout the week.

Please keep Tyler's family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday Two...

I have not been very ambitious lately, but here are just two things...

1) I really do love that my school does not have substitute teachers. Three of my classes this week have been cancelled, two of which tests were scheduled for. Extra study time! (But somehow I always end up on the computer. Isn't it funny how that works?)

2) Three more days of this cold winter weather pour moi! I am off to Mexico on Friday evening for a week long vacation! Very exciting.

Hope it's a good week!

New Year Full of Adventure

Time flies. It has been over two months since I posted last, and so much has happened in those two months.

I had exams at the beginning of December. That was pretty stressful and a really hectic time. After exams I worked up until Christmas, and it was really busy. I guess people have to eat meat for Christmas! Haha.

Christmas was really good. It was good to finally relax for a few weeks after a month and a half of craziness. It was good to spend time with family and eat tons of good food. I went out to James's aunt and uncle's farm out in Russell for a few days between Christmas and New Years and went to Asessippi for a day. It was pretty fun, but it was pretty cold. It was good to visit with his cousins and his grandparents and eat more good food.

Between Christmas and New Years, one of my friends had her 18th birthday party. Eight of us went to Bucaccino's and had a great time all together.

I spent New Years mostly with James. We went to the Moose game in the early evening, and then headed back to the Postma residence for some eats and some tv. Later in the evening, we went to Kim and Nick's house and joined the festivities there. We played some games and just caught the tail end of some count-down on tv. It was really fun.

And that brings me to now. I'm back in school and into the normal routine of things. School is just the same old. I'm trying to work really hard these last two terms to boost my marks up as high as possible. Although I have applied and been accepted into the University of Winnipeg, I still want to get my marks up as high as possible. I have been accepted into the science program and more specifically into biology. I'm pretty excited to go to school for something that I actually want to study in the fall. A few of my friends have also been accepted into the U of W, so that should be fun.

Next is Mexico for Reading Week. I cannot wait! I'm so excited to go. This is thanks to James's parents being happily married for 25 years!!
After that comes the 18th birthday, the day after which a good friend from Germany comes to visit! I can't wait to see her!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my random ramblings!

Accomplished.

It sure does feel good when things get done.

Homework.
Cookies.
Vacuum.

Done. All ready for tomorrow. Feels great!

Beginning of the End.

Although I am quite sick, I have survived my first last, day of high school. I have met all my teachers and they all seem pretty nice. The school is still the same old, but it's good to be back. It beats working.
I am glad to be back in school. Just one more year, then I can focus on what I want to do for a career and with the rest of my life. I can't wait to graduate. Should be good. I'm still not exactly sure what I want to do in university, but I have a few ideas. I originally wanted to go into human ecology, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. A few things tweeked my interest today, so we'll see where that goes.
Anyways, I don't really have any more energy to write, so I'll leave it at that today.

Enjoyed.

It is quite enjoyable when you wake up with a huge headache, later to find out that it's cloudy and cold outside.

But just as you think that your day is going to be a bad one, it takes a turn for the better. You take some tylenol and have a nice big glass of water just to see the sun peak out through the clouds.

It was a good day: 10 degrees to 23, a massive headache to none at all, and a nice visit with a cousin and her adorable little man.

Now I await the arrival of my boy.

Splendid.

The Latest Purchase

I love it. It's worth it all.

Now I can't wait to go back to school and give it a good work out. Exactly one month from today I start. I feel a bit weird saying that I really want to go back, but it's my last year of high school and I can't wait for it to be over. I'm really looking forward to it so I can move on and study something that interests me. Not entirely sure what that will be yet, but I have an idea. Hopefully something will come up...

Too cold!

Will this summer get any better? They say the winter is supposed to be three degrees warmer. Woohoo. Big deal. How about some warm weather now?
August is not supposed to have evening/morning temperatures below ten degrees.
Is it just me being a complainer, or is this weather a little bit ridiculous for August?

Where to start! It's been so long I can't even remember all the things that have happened since my last post. Some things that have happened are:

1) I finished my spring session of school. I passed both Math and English. Makes my grade 12 year quite easy.


2) I went to possibly one of the most amazing concerts ever; Coldplay.


3) James graduated! Yay!


4) My friends from Germany (exchange students) went back home. Maybe one of the saddest airport experiences I've ever had.


5) I went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival and it was fantastic. It was a little bit chilly, but I'm not complaining. It was a lovely weekend.


6) I got a full time job at the Deli on Narin. The one with the cows on top. :) I slice lunch meat and sell people steaks and pork chops and stuff. I sold some pig feet today, quite disgusting...

7) I got my first pay check today and it was lovely!

And other than that I haven't been up to much. I'm working quite a bit now, which keeps me occupied. There are some things I'm looking forward to in the somewhat near future, though:

1) August long weekend. Don't have any plans, but hopefully I'll be able to do something fun and exciting.
2) Going back to school! I can. not. wait. to go back. I'm so excited for my last year. I can't wait to graduate and move on! I'm also looking forward to it because my cousin, Joey, will be attending the Collegiate for his first year!
3) Going to Ontario this winter for my cousin's wedding. It will be good to go back and visit family. I haven't been to Ontario for quite some time.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I just have no ambition to write anything. I never know where to start or what to write about...

At Last

After about 16 hours of straight rain, it has finally stopped. Although it looks like the ice has just melted because of the amount of water, things are looking much greener. There is new life growing everywhere. The trees have new buds on them, some flowers are up already, and others are right around the corner. I can't wait for the continual warm weather.



These last few posts have just been ramblings of random things that have happened lately. I haven't had time to post anything decent lately. Maybe this weekend...

The picture is compliments of Aunt Linda :)

Really..?

...really, it has to snow on May 9th?

Oh Dear.

It's been so long since I actually posted something worth while reading here. I just haven't had ambition to write a blog when I have the time.

Life has been pretty average lately. My mom is in Mexico right now on a missions trip with my old school, and we are stuck here in this snowy, wet, flooding mess. My dad said the other day that they may come home to a closed highway, which is very possible.

I can't believe all of this snow that has fallen in the past few days. It's crazy! There is so much everywhere! Yesterday morning on my way to school, I got stuck getting out of the driveway. My dad was confident that the car could make it through the 18 inch drift in front of the garage door, but it couldn't. Luckily, James was there to get it out. :) It's time for another snowboarding trip! Haha.

I have been snowboarding quite a bit this year. It's been really fun. I've been going with friends of mine from school, and some from my old school as well. I've been to Asessippi, Holiday and Falcon thus far. It would be nice to go once more since all of this nice fluffy snow fell, but I don't think it's going to happen. Anyways, here are a few pictures from my various trips.

For the Visser's

My mom and I had some fun with Ziggy. The animals are alive and well. :)

Random Thoughts for Today

The blogging world sure is quiet lately. Things must be busy, as the Christmas season always is.

School has been a bit crazy lately. I feel like I have been so unproductive the past few weeks, though, I have two exams down, and only three left to go. Then it's off to Asessippi, and into the cold. It is already cold, but when we are going out there, it's supposed to be just as cold. I may end up being a wuss and staying back because I don't really want to freeze my butt off. I hope I can go for at least one day, though.

In the midst of studying and school work last weekend, I did manage to help my mom paint Nick's old room, so I can hopefully move in there sometime soon. I'm pretty excited. It's really dark chocolate brown, with one tan coloured wall. Today my mom and I went and bought fabric for a duvet cover. It's an animal type print, with a dark brown corduroy border.

I'm pretty excited for Christmas to come. I can't wait to go to Pinewood and spend time with family and eat lots of good food. :) It should be good.

Anyways, that's all my news for today.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well, that's it, busy. I feel like I have been really busy lately, but the other day I looked back on the week that had just passed and I didn't know what it was that was keeping me busy. School is pretty intense right now because exams start next week. This week is the week that teachers like to demand huge essay's and assignments. I don't understand why. Just to make their students' lives miserable?

The snow is beautiful. It is snowing outside right now and it is lovely. It looks so fluffy and nice. I can't wait for our first big dump of the year.

Speaking of snow...a snowboard trip has already been planned. I am going out to Asessippi from a Thursday to a Monday and staying with James' aunt and uncle. They live about 10 minutes drive from the hill, which is nice. It will also be nice to visit with his family again. They're fun.

I cannot wait for Christmas. Pinewood is going to be a lot of fun. Being close to extended family is a gift.

Anyways, those are my random thoughts for today. I should probably get started on my English homework.

Friends...

School Update.

I started school a few weeks ago. I was pretty nervous the first two days because I didn't really know my way around the campus and it's huge. I also didn't have any friends, so I felt like a bit of a loner. Friends came pretty easily though. My very first day of school, in my second class, I met a girl who is an exchange student from Germany. She is pretty sweet. She and I just kind of hung out together and then eventually most of the international students became friends with us. There is about 10 or 15 of us now.
I went through a lot of course changes because I didn't want to take art, and physics was boring. I have a huge spare today because I had a math test before lunch, so I was done a half hour early. So, my spare is dragging on. I've been out of classes since 10:45 this morning, and my next class starts at 2. I met Karmen, my boyfriends sister, in the hallway and she said she was going to visit her mom at CBC, so I went with her to visit. We stayed there for a bit and then we went for a nice little drive. And now I'm back at school. I did a bit of homework, but I got a bit distracted.
Not much else has been going on in my life right now. I started violin lessons last week, or the week before. I can't remember. It's been pretty alright. I have had quite a bit of homework, so I haven't practiced much. I'm looking forward to this year of violin more because I'm actually doing fiddle stuff. I am borrowing my cousin Micah's fiddle book in exchange for my grade three exam books. So it's working out pretty well.
Anyways, I should probably get back to homework before I have class.

Let me start with yesterday. Yesterday I went to the University of Winnipeg for orientation. It was pretty good, but there were a few weird people there. I had two nice tour guides that gave me the grand tour of the Collegiate/University. I know my way around somewhat now. Hopefully I won't get lost too many times. Anyways, after that I went to visit Heather Wells, my boyfriend James' mom, at CBC (she works there and does the morning news updates). I got a grand tour of CBC from a friend of Heather's. I watched Janet Stewart do the 'noon minute update'. It was cool. I left CBC and went to James' house for a little while and then went out for lunch to Moxies. Quite an eventful day, I'd say.

So, today was my first day of classes at University of Winnipeg Collegiate. I only had two classes today, art and biology. Art was a bit boring, and I think I am going to change it for physics because I don't think I will do well in art. I haven't been in an actual art class since grade seven, so I'm 'out of shape' in the art department. Biology was quite interesting. Most of the things we discussed today were review, but it was a whole different view of how science is taught in different places. It was quite a bit less awkward than art. In art hardly anybody talked and it was mostly new people, so it was pretty quiet. Biology was a different story. There were probably about ten or twelve new people, but most people knew each other, so there was chatter almost the entire class. There are three international students in my biology class. One who is from Mexico, one from Brazil, and one from Germany. The girl from Germany, Louisa, was very nice. I sat beside her and had a nice chat with her at break. I hope that tomorrow goes as well as my biology class did. I liked it a lot.

Today I found out that my music teacher from Spirited Music that I had last year is coming back! At the end of last year he said that he would probably not be returning, but now he's back! He's the best violin teacher I've had so far. I'm pretty excited about it, but I hope he doesn't want to teach me more classical stuff and Suzuki stuff. Fiddle is much more fun.

Well, that's all my exciting news! I'll keep you all posted on how I'm enjoying school!