dreaming over the ocean

In Celebration of the official first day of spring, that happened 5 days ago, I present to you a time-lapse video of flowers blooming.  I really like how some go super fast, and some are slower.  And how they all go with the catchy background music.  It just makes you feel good. Couple of big things going on. #1: it has been BEAUTIFUL in Montreal this last week.  We had a couple days of 20+ weather.  All the snow has melted, and little sprouts are coming out of the ground.  the most disapointing thing, though, is that i only have winter shoes.  and my toes want to be free.  yet, they can't be, because my sandals are in vancouver.  I think that makes a big difference in training, because you just want to be outside.  Despite the HUGE amount of school work that is happening right now, I was able to get a quality 14 hour week in.  but, it has now returned to the seasonal norms, which means: training goes back inside, and toes are...

Always nice to include a little bit of photography love. Some of the recent photos from  roweramo's photostream  on Flickr.  Just cause it is occasionally changing, and always filled with love.

Things are certainly busy these days. But, thus is life for a graduate in the last month (yep. last month.) of a degree. Papers are being written and revised again and again and again. Literature is being searched. Assignments for the class i am TAing are being graded. training is putting along (hitting about 13.5 hrs on my biggest week thus far). I leave Montreal on the 18th of April to  race in New Orleans on the 22nd of April and then go back to live in Vancouver. Those dates are really soon. But, with all that is going on, there is something about st paddy's day that causes a social obligation to engage in shenanigans and tomfoolery.  I finished an epic 3hr and 40 minute triple brick on saturday morning, only to meet a classmate on my way out of the gym.  Apparently, we were meeting at 2pm to start celebrating this made-up holiday. 2pm?!?!?  really? ugh.  ok, fine.  BUT my social obligations do not require me to stay all night long, FYI. ...

This weekend, I made a nice little "annual" roadtrip down to syracuse NY with my friend Annie  to go and visit our friend and coach Kelly Covert.   the excuse to visit was the annual Tipperary Hill Shamrock run.  Of course, it is a mostly fun, somewhat serious, significantly hilly (i saw a shirt that said "any hill that has its own name is going to be a push."), 4-mile (6.5 km) race.  Having had a recovery week this week, I was feeling good.  It was snowy (worried about ice!) and cold.  but super fun. It wasn't the fastest I have ever run (31:35), but it was the highest placing ("percentage wise") that I have ever gotten in running.  I placed 15th of 303 (top 4.9%) in my age group, and 87/1680 (top 5.1%) in females.  so, not so shabby. but, since i am overwhelmed with work, it was a short race, and i have not much else to say other than it was a great weekend, here are some photos.  back to the stressful life of a graduate student (ARG...

it is pretty rare that you want to post a school assignment on your blog.  However, I thought this was pretty applicable.  I am taking a "professional issues in nursing" class, in which we are examining everything from leadership, to power differentials, to unions, to.... you name it, it's there.  At the start of the semester, we were coming up with the class outline, and one of the aspects that we added to the class outline was a personal change initiative. it is not a "super serious" assignment, but one which is good to reflect on.   I always laugh about the aspect of "reflective practice" that occurs in nursing.  just sit, and think about what you did, and what could've been different.   :) anyway, this is how the assignment was described: " Leaders must embrace change and model change in order to encourage others to do so.   Learners will submit a 3-page, double spaced, 12 font description of a personal change initiative ...

My Friend Kelly at  http://www.trimommylife.com/  recently tagged me in "11 things."  and, in the spirit of procrastination, as well as the spirit of "i have not blogged in a while," I decided to do this today! 1. Post these rules 2. You must post 11 random things about yourself 3. Answer the questions set for you in their post 4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer 5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them 6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!  11 Random Things about me: When driving a standard, I avoid driving east on King Edward, in Vancouver, purely because of the risk of having to stop at a red light on the hill leading up to fraser street. i eat 2 eggs almost every single day. i love to do my long run on sunday nights... it is a good way to end the weekend, start a new week, and it almost feels like the morning, because there is no one out....