Snow on the ground but spring in the air.

So once again it's got to the stage where I feel I have enough exciting things to tell you about to merit an update of my blog. This stage also coincides with the ever increasing need to do work and start revising for my midterms.

On Friday 8th it was Scott's birthday so partied it up in Cascade. Got to wear my new Black Milks out for the first time (who doesn't want the map of Rohan and Gondor on their legs?!) Didn't go out after, instead went to Claire's to have chips with lashings of ketchup.

The Sunday held a lot of exciting things. Not only was it Chinese New Year but also had Benjamin Francis Leftwich that evening. For Chinese New Year the sun was shining so we headed downtown to see the celebrations and then get some food. Unfortunately the restaurant which Cooper informed us had the best dim sum ever was (somewhat predictably) packed. After visiting a few more restaurants (I have no shortage of knowledge of where good Chinese restaurants are now) we finally ended up at a little restaurant without too much of a wait. Much of the entertainment came from Lucy's attempts to use chopsticks (she is now a pro) but also we got visited by a Chinese lion who ate some lettuce then spat it back out (some of it landed on Hannah) which apparently gives the restaurant good luck for the coming year.

That evening was the Benjamin Francis Leftwich concert. It was at the Palomino which is a lovely small venue in the basement of a bar which apparently does great food (shall have to return at some point!) We arrived and got a drink just before the first support act came on, Kris Ellstad. He had some great self-deprecating humour and is definitely someone I'd listen to again. Wasn't a fan of the second support so much, mainly because he wasn't that great a singer in my opinion, but also he kept his eyes shut the whole way through songs...too absorbed, not enough interaction! Finally Benjamin Francis Leftwich came on! He was amazing live, was really great and intimate, sang a lot of his songs in front of the microphone and for an encore came and sat down in the crowd to sing Atlas Hands, it was beautiful! Afterwards got to meet him and he signed our tickets and had a chat and photo with us, what a genuinely nice guy, and good chat!

On Wednesday 13th me and Jeff went to go see The Seagull by Antony Chekov. While I've been working multiple shifts of the play I was really keen to go and see it. Although definitely not a play for everyone, we both really enjoyed it and it came in useful when a few days later a patron had to leave at half time and I was required to explain the plot of the second half to her (for anyone who's ever seen it, I'm sure they'll agree it's a bit of a challenge!)

Friday 15th marked the start of reading week for me, while many people choose to go off travelling or something, as I've got such major travel plans in May I couldn't really afford to do much so I've used it as a useful week for catching up no all the textbook reading I need to do. Speaking of travel, last Tuesday I had to go and have multiple injections for my future travels. Not fun but at least I shouldn't contract any nasties when I go abroad now! Luckily my week hasn't all been work work work as I managed to get away on Friday to go skiing. Me and Jeff drove to Sunshine and got there at perfect time in order to park, get ski passes then be on the first lift up. The snow was absolutely fantastic, deepest powder I've ever skied in for sure. It was really nice to explore some more of Sunshine as previously I'd only done greens with Steph. We met up with Steph, Claire and Hannah for a well earnt lunch before taking Claire away to do her first black diamond in Canada - super proud moment! Steph even manage to do a blue before the end of the day so all definitely improving. The one downside of doing blacks for 90% of the day is that it's much more of a workout, and my legs are still aching now, but it was a truly fantastic day.

And that's us pretty much up to date I think :) We've had a lot of sunshine and some gorgeous days which have led to a lot of the snow melting, however I feel it's going to be a long time before proper heat. Been busy planning travels in May so that's all exciting. And as ever I've been doing a lot of work! Will update some time soon!

Look how beautiful those leggings are!

Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Me and Hannah with the man himself!

Gorgeous roof of Chinese Centre of Culture

Lucy; chopstick pro!

Time flies when you're having fun

Now if any of you have spoken to me in past few weeks you'll know I was practically drowning under the amount of work I've got. But I wouldn't be updating this blog if all I'd done was work, and looking back it seems like I've actually done a lot of fun stuff!

The first update is I dyed my hair red! Or rather Kate dyed my hair red, while Steph sat and ate popcorn and made concerned faces. Although it's faded quite a lot in past few weeks I still love it, as it just makes my hair a little more auburn and less brown. Its first proper outing was at the Den for some Thursden fun. Had a great night dancing away with the girlies.

On the 26th, it was Arn (manager at work)'s last shift so naturally we celebrated with cake, and lots of it. So called "Cake Day" probably involved me eating my weight in cake, plus Mo's amazing curry and samosas...in fact I ate so much at work that I had no need to eat anything else all day. While it was sad to see Arn grow, it was great to spend the day (literally 10am to 7pm) with the work bunch, just chilling and eating butterbeer cupcakes guaranteed to give us diabetes!

The next day was the gorgeous Anna's 21st birthday so bright and early we headed to the Calgary Tower (I swear the workers are going to think I have a tower addiction) and went up to the restaurant for a champagne brunch. After getting a little bit confused about what bits of the restaurant actually revolved we sat down to enjoy some gorgeous food and champagne with beautiful views. That evening we all went out to Commonwealth, and, it being a Sunday, managed to throw some pretty awesome moves on the dance floor.

Tuesday meant the fabulous Cooper's 20th birthday, no longer a teenager! So on Wenesday we went to Wurst to have some awesome German food. Although we were all very hungry, the wait for the food was well worth it, SO tasty! Great to celebrate with Coops although had to leave early to finish some work off.

That week was hectically busy as I had so much work to do. But I managed to get it all done, and the weekend was set to be fantastic so that kept me motivated. The reason this weekend was set to be so good was because it was the Winter Retreat for IVCF (my Christian group). But it wasn't just us UofC IVCF-ers, it was all of Alberta! A little later than planned, me Jess, Jessica and Taylor set off for Pioneer Ranch, which is near Rocky Mountain House (this is a place, not an actual house...), and right on the shores of Lake Crimson. After stopping off in Sundre for dinner at A&W we arrived and of course straight away started up a game of Dutch Blitz (a.k.a. Racing Demons). We then registered, and sorted out cabins. I was in a cabin with Jess, Jessica, Anna, Victoria and Toni. The cabins were gorgeous log cabins heated only by a woodburner. After dumping our stuff and getting a fire going we went back for more Dutch Blitz, and some Canadian line dancing (I actually know the moves for some of them now!) before worship and a talk. Feeling pretty sleepy we went to look at the bonfire down by the lake before heading to bed.

We woke up bright and early (and cold as the fire had gone out!) to the sound of people walking past our cabin. Unfortunately we had all forgotten to set an alarm for breakfast, so we hurriedly got dressed and went to enjoy the gorgeous pancakes and bacon. After another game of Dutch Blitz we did a manuscript study. It was a great, but challenging passage. Then we ate lunch before another round of Dutch Blitz. We then headed to the lake to build a snowman. Although we were greatly hindered by Taylor's efforts to make us look like a snowman we managed to construct one taller than me and settled it by the previously built snow lady and gave them a dog as well. Next we went horse riding, while I had just managed to dry off in the sun from the amount of snow Taylor had thrown at me, this was all in vain as I was quickly covered in snow by Jeff. The snow was so deep that the miniature horses' bellies were dragging in the snow. I rode Babe, and she was lovely. It was beautiful riding through the forests just completely covered in snow. After returning back it was the camp wide game (not the same as Lymington's wide game for all my UK camp friends). After extending my arms by at least 3 inches during kick the bucket, my team moved on to snow sculptures, not to be out done by the previous team who'd sculpted a massive turtle, we decided the natural progression was a huge narwhal with a snowman riding it eating the turtle. This was the obvious choice and it turned out fantastically. While we were making it, the setting sun turned all the clouds red (which is the reason the lake is called Crimson). Truly shows the beauty of God's creation. Next up was human curling. After being sent across the pond as a stone I feel I can fully endorse this as a future Winter Olympic sport, super fun! Finally chuck the chicken before rushing to dinner. Post-eating we played a bit more Dutch Blitz (anyone would think we are addicted!) before going to evening worship and talk. Then caffeined up by one of Taylor's pepsis it was time for a bit of table tennis before (you've guessed it) more Dutch Blitz. A quick shower before collapsing into bed concluded the night.

The next day we had actually remembered to set alarms so woke up and tried to get most of our packing done before eating some breakfast. Then it was final worship and talk with some really challenging questions about how we're showing God on campus, definitely a lot to think about and act on. Afterwards we went for the yearly Northern Alberta vs Southern Alberta broomball. Now this name is half a lie, it does involve a ball, but no brooms...or at least not what I'd call a broom. Basically they were long sticks. No good for sweeping, that's for sure! We took an early lead, but then the North equalised (with a somewhat contested shot...did it come off his foot or the "broom"?). At the end of full time it was 1-1 so it went into extra time. Unfortunately, facing into the sun meant we let in another goal and the North had the victory once more. We still celebrated with lunch, before saying goodbye to people and cleaning the ranch up. Then we piled back into Jess's car and drove home, exhausted and aching all over but having had a great weekend.

So we're practically up to date...just one more thing: last night I went to see Muse with Hannah! Was very odd being at the Saddledome and not seeing hockey. Muse were really good, and it was cool hearing British accents again. It's odd how few Canadians have actually heard of Muse! Now, finally, you are up to date! I shan't bore you with each of my assignments, but suffice to say that on top of this I've been working like a crazy person! Hope you're all well, update you all again soon!

Moose for Anna's birthday

Gorgeous sunset

Narwhal!

It's 2013 - new courses, new job, new blog post!

Sorry for the long gap between updates, things have been busy (as always)!

So when I left you last, we were in the hostel, about to head off skiing the next day! We woke up very early (in fact extra early due to Steph forgetting her phone is set 10 minutes fast), and after a breakfast got on the bus to Sunshine with lots of other sleepy looking powder obsessed people! I think my grin was actually reaching insane levels by the time we arrived at Sunshine. In the queue for our lift passes we got given free hot chocolate - I really do love Canadian hospitality! It was greatly appreciated, but in no time at all we had our lift passes and were in the gondola! When we reached Sunshine base camp, me and Steph had great fun attempting to teach Sarah to ski...however, we were perhaps not as successful as we had envisioned and she ended up booking a lesson for that afternoon which left me and Steph to go off so she could show me her improved ski skills! I have to say I was impressed at just how much better she had got! The runs were lovely, and full of fresh snow! So much fun! While Steph did have a bit of a freak out on one run because she saw mountain edges everywhere (there were no mountain edges anywhere, there were slightly steeper bits of the slope) no one got injured at all, which I count as a highly successful skiing day! Even Sarah got down a green with her instructor!

That evening we had been planning on heading to Banff city centre, but were so sleepy we ate in the hostel and then went to the hostel bar to bring in the New Year. The countdown started two minutes early, but considering we'd said Happy New Year to each other at 5pm (UK midnight) we weren't too fussed. Met some lovely Canadians and spent ages chatting to them (and looking after the slightly drunker member of their group!) The next day we went to the Elk and Oarsmen for brunch, love that restaurant! Ended up eating a lot of food and revelling in the gorgeous sunshine that there was. Then we headed up to sulphur mountain to soak our skiing aches away in the hot springs - it was very different from the last time I was there, the steam basically made it impossible to see anything, but it was truly gorgeous! Unfortunately lack of hair dryer kind of made my hair freeze afterwards, oddest feeling ever. We then went back to the hostel to grab our bags before heading for the greyhound. It was a bit of a military operation with some very well planned bus changes. Then came the waiting for the greyhound. We took shifts going to the nearby Timmies in order to warm up, as typically the shelter was shut and it was -20 something. Not pleasant at all. But it was nice and warm when it arrived and before long we were back in Calgary.

During the rest of Sarah's stay, I attempted to show the best parts of Calgary. Luckily we had a chinook so things were warm, but she still got excited at the sight of snow on the ground! We went up the Calgary tower both during sunset then also after night, and also walked around the Bow River (truly stunning at sunset, especially with the chinook clouds). We also went to Hitment vs Moose Jaw Warriors, and we won! VERY exciting. Plus we had a meal out at the Ship (everyone loves the Ship and Anchor, such good value)! As well as all that we watched a lot of rom coms, ate some great food, and went to the first proper Cascade party of 2013 (which even though term hadn't started got shut down by the CAs, spoil sports! Luckily Brewster CAs seemed much more accommodating so we carried on the party there)!

The room of my floor looked very empty without the mattress which Sarah had been sleeping on but the day after she left was the start of classes so pretty hectic. Unfortunately none of my profs seemed to understand that the first day back should be a gentle introduction, and all gave very long lectures - one of them even over ran! Ridiculous! The course I'm taking this semester are Syntactic Analysis (the higher level of the syntax class I took last semester), Speech Language Pathology (basically speech therapy, very interesting), Second Language Acquisition and Semantics. They all seem to be a lot of work (and the textbooks cost ridiculous amounts) but ah well, such is life! Apart from uni work I've also got a job at the theatre on campus. It's great fun, everyone who I work with is absolutely lovely and we seem to get paid for not doing much which is good!

Having people slowly return to Calgary has been lovely, so nice seeing people again (even though it's sad that some people aren't here). Since people have got back we've watched a few movies, had a few nights out (although not actually made it out, the queue for the Den was just too long) and generally had a lovely time catching up. There has also been about a foot and a half of snow (we laugh at the measly snow which is terrorising England!) Also as per most New Years Resolution-y people I've been hitting the gym with renewed vigour, and today did a brutal zumba class! Last night, Steph, me and Kate went to Original Joes and indulged in a lot of very good food and half price wine, lovely!

I think that's all I need to update you on, I'm probably missing something, but that'll teach me for leaving it so long in between blogs! Sure I will have more to update you on soon!

Skiing Pros

Sunshine in the Rockies

Sunset from Calgary Tower

Hitmen win

Excited to be back to Cascade parties!