Trip Home

I’ve been slacking on the blog updates lately!

Recently, well like a month ago, I took a trip to Winnipeg.  It was my vacation time between projects, and a way for me to celebrate getting the Designer promotion.  It was a great trip and just what I needed.  My first night I went straight to the lake with my bro and his girlfriend and we met up with my Mom and uncle.  My brother picked me up from the airport and we drove out.  It was a good chance to catch up with him.  I’d kinda dropped the ball on keeping in touch with him the past few years but we’ve both been making more of an effort to keep up with one another lately.

Quad!

I hadn’t been out to the lake in years, so it was great to spend the night there.  We had hotdogs over a bonfire and just caught up.  It was really nice.  In the morning I went quadding too.  My mom and uncle spend most of their free time out at the lake, so it was good to hang out with them where they love to be.  I really miss being able to casually tag along to the lake with them.  I didn’t do it much when I lived in Winnipeg, but now I know what it’s like to miss family, so I really appreciated it when I can.

I caught up with friends as usual.  Had many late night conversations with Brett.  Tim was back in town so hung out with him.  Finally caught up with Andi, hadn’t seen her in years!  She’s a really busy person, and life got a little crazy for her, so I don’t hold it against her, just glad to see her again.  We even ran into Lauren, who I haven’t seen since my first visit back from Edmonton, back in 2008/09.  Had our traditional brunch with Ashley, went clothing shopping with Kristina, caught up with Nikki and Scott and their adorable daughter Zola!  Nancy bought me lunch for my Birthday too!

Old Friends

Traditional brunch!

KD Photobooth at the Apple store

Nancy bought my lunch for my Bday!

Italian sodas with Nikki

My Grandma threw me an awesome dinner for my Birthday too.  Got to see a bunch of my extended family.  Everyone wished me a happy Birthday and congratulated me on the promotion.  It was really cool of her, haven’t had a big Birthday bash like that since I was a kid!  And she got me a great gift!  There’s a place in Halifax called Duggers, it’s a world-renowned men’s clothing store.  Very classy, VERY expensive.  The owner is a friend of the family, so my Grandma arranged to get me a 200$ credit there.  I ended up using it to get a hoodie, and after tax it came to 260$…  But it’s a nice hoodie!  Was an awesome Birthday celebration, and it was amazing of my Grandma to put it together and top it off with such a great gift!

Planet Of The Apes with Dad, Step-Mom, Bro and his GF

On my actual Birthday my Dad and Step-Mom (I can call her that now that they’re married!) took my brother and I to see Planet Of The Apes.  I loved it, great movie!  After that I spent the night at my Dad’s.  My brother unfortunately couldn’t because he had school early the next morning.  My Dad and I stayed up extremely late talking about all kinds of stuff, and he actually ended up staying up later than me, which NEVER used to happen.

I had a bunch of video of the trip, but sadly my phone glitched out and I had to restore it to factory default and lost all the video…  If only iOS5 had been out, it would have been backed up to iCloud.  This glitch happened THE NIGHT BEFORE iOS5 came out!  Grrrr.

It was a great visit, and a good recharge after a long Crunch at work.  I’m already looking forward to my visit for Xmas!

Supporters

Supporters, a photo by notme2000 on Flickr.

My Dad texted me this pic of him and my bro wearing DA2 shirts. They were having a BBQ at the lake. Miss them :(

Wedding Photos

As you can imagine, many photos were taken at my Dad’s wedding.  My brother recently bought a nice digital SLR camera, but given my history with photography I was given that camera for a lot of the night.  I’m no wedding photographer, and it’s been almost 3 years since I really did anything with a camera, but none the less, some of them turned out pretty nice! 

Once I’d collected photos from as many cameras as I could, I adjusted the levels, cropped, bordered, etc, the good ones and made an album online for them.  Anyone interested in seeing wedding photos from my Dad’s wedding in Winnipeg can find 284 of them here!

To view them, click HERE and then just keep tapping the right arrow to scroll through the photos.  It starts with the good photos from the nice camera, and by the end it’s cellphone pics.  Enjoy!

Mom

Today is Mother’s Day!  Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to my Mom today because she is on a trip to Ottawa right now, but I left her a message wishing her a happy Mother’s Day.

When I was in town last week, unbeknownst to her, I bought her a gift card for bath salts, etc, and hid it behind one of the pictures in our living room hall.  On the message I left for her I told her where to find it.  I think that’ll be a cool surprise for her!

Now time to get a bit sappy;  I miss my Mom.  She’s a big part of my life, and it sucks only getting to see her a handful of times a year.  When I moved to Halifax, even though me leaving was a common thing by then, when she dropped me off at the airport I saw a few tears.  I’d been living in Edmonton for 2 years, so me leaving after a trip wasn’t anything to get too worked up over, so I took it to mean pride.  I was moving across the country to officially start a career.  That pride means more to me than she’ll ever know.

She visited me in Edmonton, and it was great showing her what my life there was like.  Giving her the tour of BioWare was great.  And this fall she’ll be visiting me in Halifax!  We may even take a trip to see Prince Edward Island!  I’m really looking forward to it.  I love visiting home, but it’s great to show her the life I return to when I leave Winnipeg.

My Mom reads this blog, so Happy Mothers Day Mom!  I miss you!

Dad's Wedding

My trip in Winnipeg has been a lot of fun, and I will write a proper entry about it soon. But the main reason I took the time off work, bought the plane tickets and an expensive three-piece suit, and then flew down was for my Dad's wedding!

During my last visit for Xmas my Dad announced to the family that he'd proposed to Andrea, his girlfriend of about 10 years! I can't believe it's been 10 years! I still remember when he first started telling my brother and I he was seeing a new woman. A girl at work had introduced them, that girl was my now-step-sister, Ashley.

Neither of them are religious, and they weren't looking for a major ordeal, so they had their wedding at a very nice restaurant named Bailey's. It was a beautiful wedding, friends and family, and it was a great time. My Dad was beaming all night, I'm so happy for him!

I had a decent role in the wedding, which I wasn't expecting. As the first born son I was at the head table. It was my Dad and Andrea, with me at my Dad's side and Andrea's best friend at hers. I held on to the ring, was part of a small procession including the 4 head table members led by Andrea's Dad on bagpipes. I even signed as a witness! Derek brought his new Digital SLR camera so I took some photos. Using it made me realize I miss photography, though just as a hobby. The photos are on my USB but I won't be able to upload them until I get home in Halifax.

It was a great night, everyone had a blast, and everything went perfectly. We took a limo to and from the wedding. My Dad gave a great speech that blew everyone away, with some great jokes. The food was amazing, I had a steak, and much alcohol was consumed. Family came in from all over the place including my uncle Keith and aunt Sandra and their kids Jordan and Abby.

The next day I went for lunch with my Dad and Andrea before they left for their Honeymoon road trip together. The previous night they'd stayed at one of the nicest hotels in the city, and they'd gotten a complimentary room upgrade to the biggest nicest room in the hotel, with candles and rose pedals spread all over the room. So happy for them. Andrea is great, and I'm glad to have her as a member of the family. Her son Andrew is cool, and now my step-brother. We're going to try to go for drinks before my trip is over.

Winnipeg-ho!

Just bought my tickets to Winnipeg for my Dad’s wedding!  Going to be there April 28th – May 4th.  Just under a week.  I leave bright and early May 4th, and of course my Dad’s wedding is April 30th, so it’ll be a shorter Winnipeg trip than usual, but it’ll be good times!

Skyline Of My Life; Home Undivided

Halifax / Edmonton / Winnipeg

“Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes

I find myself thinking of all the places my life has taken me.  I’ve had great experiences in each city I’ve called home.  Made amazing friends, had favorite spots, unforgettable experiences and jobs I loved.  Each city has come to represent a part of myself discovered there.  The long stretches of highway between them: the emotional growth that led from one to the next.  I’m lucky to have had such an adventurous life.

And while those experiences were all made unique by the absence of the things I’d left behind in the city before it, these days I often find myself wishing all three cities were one.  My dreams tease me with this scenario every night.  I could spend the day working at Longtail, go have dinner with my family and then wander Whyte Ave that night with all the friends I’ve made over the years, co-mingling as though they’d all known each other all along.

Bridges would arch into the sky, connecting segments of my life so long divided.  Skylines would merge into the grand horizon that my experiences had shaped, no longer confined to memory.  Everything would be perpetually “here”, and everyone would be inherently “together”.  And as the sun set over this metropolis, I’d know for the first time, I was home, undivided.

Still Alice

I’d been meaning to start reading more books lately.  I used to read a lot but lately life just got too busy, and I hadn’t really sat down to read a good book in longer than I’m proud of.  When I was in Winnipeg for Xmas my Mom was talking about her mother, my grandmother, and her battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.  It’s gotten pretty bad, and I felt terrible my Mom had to watch her mother disappear.  It’s hereditary, and we suspect my Grandpa on my mom’s side was starting to get it as well when he passed away of unrelated issues.  So the chances of my Mom and/or aunts or uncles on that side of the family getting it as well are high, and in turn that means my brother and I have a chance of inheriting it.

We were discussing what it must be like from her perspective, my Grandma’s.  When she was still speaking, she’d often confuse my Mother for her sister, or ask where her husband was, even though my Grandpa died years ago.  I mentioned if I were diagnosed with it, I’d probably commit suicide before it got too bad, to spare my family the despair and burden, and to go out on my own terms, as the person I’d spent a life becoming.  I didn’t like the idea of letting the disease strip away all the memories I’d spent my life building, I can’t imagine anyone who would like such a thought.

My Mom mentioned she’d read a book written from the perspective of someone with Alzheimer’s.  The main character also decides she wants to commit suicide before she forgets herself.  I made a mental note to read the book.  It sounded like a powerful book, and I also felt like reading it would help me understand the disease that stole my Grandmother from the people who love her, and what I pray I never have to go through with my own Mother, or put the people who love me through.

A few weeks ago I bought it for my iPad and ended up reading through it in two sittings.  And I can’t recommend it enough.  Very emotionally draining.  It’s tragic but life affirming at the same time, and can be quite scary, but informative.  I recommend it to anyone who’s been affected by Alzheimer’s in some way.  Even if you haven’t, it’s a great read on its own merit.

Winnipeg Trip Video

Just finished uploading the collection of videos I took while in Winnipeg.  I love that this video was shot and edited on my iPhone 4, and all the photos from the trip were taken on it as well.  It’s better than the point and shoot camera I used to use.  Technology has come a long way!

Good times!  Was a great visit.

Winnipeg Trip 2010-2011

I’m back from my Winnipeg trip.  It was great!  Moving to Halifax, while it worked out in the end, was one of the hardest times of my life.  For the first few months out here I felt completely alone and overwhelmed.  And even though things were a lot better by the time I left for my trip, it was still a much needed return to familiarity.  If nothing else, a reminder that home was still out there.

Lots of great things happened too.  My Dad proposed to his girlfriend, my soon-to-be Step-Mom, Andrea!  Which means I’ll also have a new step-brother soon too, Andrew!  Their wedding is on April 30th.  I can’t know for sure yet if it’s possible, but I’m going to try to make it back for the wedding!  All the overtime I’ve been working is paid back as vacation hours, so I’ll have almost a month of vacation by the time this project is over!



Had a great Xmas.  As per tradition we all went to Christie Road for extended family, then back to my Mom’s place for presents between her, my uncle, brother and I.  I bought my Mom what ended up being possibly the worst gift idea of all time, but it was funny, and I replaced it with something she liked a lot more.  Great times!



I also reconnected with Brett, Tim and Linda on this trip.  I hung out with them once last year, but we were all still figuring things out, but this trip we’d all completed some major transitions, and the timing was right for us to get back in touch!  Was great hanging out with them again, felt like old times.  Funny how some friends you can see after 2 years of not talking, and you can continue like no one missed a beat.  One of the first things we did was record a song.  Tim had been working on it for a while and he had us over to record backup vocals.  The song has since been completed, give it a listen!  I’m legitimately addicted to it!  Tim did an awesome job!

The Sky is Calling You by timredford

Chad and I got to hang out a lot as well.  It was kind of surreal.  We hadn’t seen each other since Edmonton, so for both of us to meet up in Winnipeg where we grew up together, but live in two completely different cities…  It was confusing!  At times it felt like we’d never left, and at other times Winnipeg felt so foreign.  It was great to see him again.  Sad I may not see him again until next time we meet up in Winnipeg next Xmas.



Sadly I also had a bit of a tough time with Kristina.  Our friendship has been in a rough patch for a few months now.  I don’t want to get into the personal details, but I guess we’re just at different points in our lives.  I'm hoping we can work things out, but sometimes people need to take some time apart to see things clearly.  She's a good person, so regardless of what happens I wish nothing but the best for her.  We had a pretty big fight while I was there though, and as a result I didn't get to see her as much as I would have hoped.

Despite that sad development, I had a lot of great times over the 2 weeks I was in Winnipeg.  Recording the track with some old friends reconciled, traditional Xmas Eve with the Furutani’s at Christie Road, meeting up with Bill and Tia (also first time seeing them since Edmonton) and the rest of the Perreault side of family, playing Little Big Planet with my brother and Dad while sleeping at his place, a good ol fashioned family night with Gondola pizza and a movie with my brother, uncle and Mom, seeing Tron, a night at the casino, eating at Sal’s (the restaurant Chad and I worked at when we met), New Year’s Eve with friends, brunch with Ashley, lunch with a very pregnant Nikki and her now-fiancé Scott, and lots of Scrabble! So many great times.  One of my favorite things though, was just laying on the couch watching tv with my Mom.  It’s something so comfortably home, and that comfort is something I really needed.  It was like letting my guard down after having it up for 4 months.




Years away has made me really appreciate family.  My Mom and Dad have both been so supportive over the past few years, and helped me several times when things got tough.  I really appreciate the time I have with them whenever I visit.  My brother is all grown up, which is scary sometimes.  I would not be surprised if one of these visits soon he’ll be getting married.  And my Mom will be visiting me in Halifax some time this spring/summer, I can’t wait for that!  Will be cool to show her the life I’ve been living out here!

It was great to be home again, and I had a lot of fun.  I’ve been back in Halifax for 2 days now and I’m already back in the groove of things.  We’re wrapping up our project at work, so it’s crazy busy right now, but I love the rush, and the camaraderie of everyone staying late and working hard to get it done.  My first night back Ryan and I grabbed some food and told each other about our Xmases and New Years.  Glad to have made such a good friend out here.

Visiting home was exactly what I needed.  When I moved to Halifax it was so abrupt and so foreign I felt like I could never go home again, I felt lost.  Seeing that it’s still there, spending time with family and friends; it helped me find my way again, like a guiding star.

2010

New Year's Eve. Another year comes to a close. 2010 was a big one for me. This time last year I was living with my cousin; my first term at BioWare had just ended and I was starting my 3 month break between contracts and learning the Unreal 3 Engine. I'd put on weight and decided it was time to do something about it, and began working out, though it took a while to figure out just how to get what I wanted out of it. I applied for a full-time position on the Mass Effect team, but didn't get it (my good friend Reid did). I'd been living in Edmonton for just over a year and figured things were settling down. I had a life in Edmonton and was ready to stay there. But life, it seems, had other plans.

After my 3 months off I went back to BioWare to work on Dragon Age 2, and hope this year would bring a full-time salary position. But if it didn't I was happy working terms at BioWare as long as it took. It was my best shot at getting into the industry (or so I thought) and I liked Edmonton. And Chad was planning on moving out to Edmonton that summer, so good times were ahead.


I created a term-tester progress report at work and quickly made it onto the content team, responsible for one of the major plots in the game. The economy seemed be lightening up a bit so I had at least a small hope that a full-time QA position would open up.

Chad moved out that summer. We rented a really nice apartment from my good friend Dave and I drove to Saskatoon to meet them half way, and we transferred all his stuff from his Mom's car to mine. It was great having my best friend living in the same city again. And it made Edmonton feel even more like home. Olga would be moving out soon too. Life was looking great. Chad met all my friends, started working at BioWare with me, we started working out together after work. It was the kind of life I'd always wanted.


A few months later Kristina and Olga came and visited us in Edmonton, and it was a total blast. Edmonton was my home now, and having my friends from Winnipeg visiting and meeting my friends in Edmonton was amazing.


At work there was talk of some QA positions opening up, and I felt I had a real shot at one. Several of the higher ups let me know I wasn't far off in that assumption. I started to get very optimistic. But it wasn't long before a major bombshell was dropped on me. EA had instituted a 2 term limit for contract workers. And I was almost half way through my second... That meant if I didn't get full-time within the next 7 months I could never work for EA again as a term, and it would make it MUCH harder to get into the industry in a full-time salary position. It was all or nothing for the rumored full-time QA positions opening up.

Sure enough, 3 positions were opened. Hundreds applied. The QA department was bloated with terms, all chomping at the bit to get in full-time. 2 positions were in Edmonton and 1 in Montreal. I cast a wide net and applied for all 3.

They made a short list for all 3 positions, about 5 people per list, out of the hundreds that applied. I managed to make it onto 2 of them. One for the Edmonton position and one for the Montreal position. Needless to say I was really hoping for the Edmonton position. It was for a content lead position, something I was already kind of doing, and there was heavy emphasis on management, which my term tester progress report showed I had the vision for.

It was a tense week as I waited for the news. Nathan and Chad were both very supportive. And finally, after one of the longest weeks of my life, I got called in by the QA Lead. He let me know it was a tough decision but they went with someone else. It was devastating. I knew what I was really finding out was my life in Edmonton was coming to an end. Once my term ran out at BioWare I wouldn't be able to come back for a third, and I knew the chances of another QA position opening in the next few months was extremely unlikely. If I wanted to stay in the industry, and make a career for myself doing something I loved and was good at, I'd have to move.

Around this time I got in contact with someone I'd worked with at BioWare who had moved to Halifax to work at a new studio, Longtail. She recommended me for a QA Lead position that had just opened up. I expressed my interest and had a phone interview which went really well. As the gears turned and I was informed they were going to fly me to Halifax for an in person interview, it was very bittersweet. On one hand I was on the verge of getting a full-time salary position in the industry, something I'd been fighting for for almost 2 years now which had started to feel impossible, but it meant leaving behind the life in Edmonton I'd spent the last 2 years building. I had some great friends in Edmonton, including my best now that Chad had moved down. I loved my life there, and did not want to leave.

I flew to Halifax and was picked up by a limo at the airport. I was put in a nice hotel for my stay and had my interview, a whole-day ordeal that had me interviewed by 2 people from every department. But I felt it went really well. I spent the rest of the day exploring Halifax, and it really stated to dawn on me. I would probably be moving here.


When I got back to Edmonton Chad and I sat on the balcony and discussed the crazy turn of events. We spent over a year imagining how great it would be for him to move down, for us to live in the same city again, and both work at BioWare, one of the best companies to work for in the world. And just a few months after he arrived, I might be leaving. And I really didn't want to. It was pure sacrifice for my career.

Sure enough I got the call from Longtail offering me the job. I accepted. I'd be moving in 3 weeks. I gave my notice to BioWare. Life became a dream I was drifting through. It was like Edmonton was rejecting me like foreign matter. I trained my replacement at work, and moved offices. I was back in the office I started in. I hung out with my friends as much as I could, and on my last week Nathan threw me TWO going away parties. Such a great friend, and one I didn't want to have to leave.


But as I sat at the bonfire at the second party and looked around at all my friends and reflected on how far I'd come since that depressing night in my cousin's basement when I first arrived in Edmonton, I knew I'd be ok. I'd done this before, I could do it again.

And after an extremely stressful ordeal with some incompetent movers and an emotional goodbye with my best friend, I left for a week in Winnipeg before leaving for Halifax. This really sucked. When I moved to Edmonton from Winnipeg there was some personal reason to it, I felt I had to leave to grow, find my place in the world, etc. There was no personal reason for leaving this time. I wanted to stay. It was purely career.


My week in Winnipeg didn't help. It felt great to be home, I missed it. I felt so lost, and Winnipeg felt so familiar. But after a week I got on a plane and left it behind. When I landed I was in Halifax, what felt like a completely random city. But I wasn't on visiting, I wasn't leaving, I lived here now.

I spent a month in a corporate hotel, before moving to the worst area in town in a shitty apartment. The startup costs of moving meant I was completely broke all the time. Work was intimidating, and at first felt unwelcoming. I felt completely lost. I couldn't go back to my life in Edmonton, BioWare was no longer an option. I couldn't go back to my life in Winnipeg, in a lot of ways it wasn't there anymore. I'd drifted apart from a lot of my friends, and one of my best friends there wasn't there anymore! Chad had moved to Edmonton! I felt like there was no home anymore. All the things I missed couldn't be retrieved. My first few months in Halifax were among the darkest of my life.


But, I'd done it before, and even though it ended up being a lot harder than my move to Edmonton, I did start to form a life. Work began to get better, and eventually became fun. I made friends at work, and even outside of work. I met Ryan through a friend and ended up moving in with him in a nice place in a much nicer area. Money really started to flow. Things were finally starting to feel better. And I had a career now! And while the lifestyle required by this industry has been very taxing, it's also been very rewarding. Life is an adventure. I've done so much I never thought I'd do, and seen some things I never expected to. I've walked the waterfront during a hurricane. I've sat and dangled my legs off the edge of the continent while the waves crashed down below. It's been a wild ride so far!


After almost 5 months in Halifax I came back to Winnipeg for a visit, and Chad did as well so we got to meet up. I'll write a more in depth entry for my trip, but I will say it's been great to be back. I reconnected with Tim, Brett and Linda after a 2 year estrangement. But my friendship with Kristina seems to be hitting a low point, which is very disappointing. But that's what 2010 has been. Ups and downs, surprise detours, life lessons, and change. Progress.

The year ahead is so different from the last. Longtail, QA Lead, Halifax, Atlantic Ocean, new friends, career and adventure! Here's to 2011!


Written on my iPad.

Location:Winnipeg

Leaving On A Jet Plane!

I’m at work for half a day, then Ryan is picking me up and we’re going for lunch and then he’s dropping me off at the airport before he heads to work!  Then I’m off to Winnipeg for the holidays to see friends and family!  So excited!  Going to be weird not thinking about bug databases and build deliveries for 2 whole weeks after working so hard! 

Flying a lot these days, this will be 10 planes in 6 months!

GREAT Winnipeg Visit!

I’m back in Edmonton.  I was in Winnipeg for a week and a half, and I’d have to say this was my best visit yet.  I had so much fun. 

This past Xmas I visited but I took the train, so while I was there I was relying on others to get a ride whenever we wanted to do something.  Because of this there were several nights where plans fell through, and in a few cases didn’t get to see certain friends at all as a result of neither of us having a ride.  So driving there this time made a huge difference, as now I could do anything whenever I wanted.  How I used to live without a car, I’ll never know.

The other major factor is that because I went in Spring and not during Xmas Holidays, it wasn’t so busy.  My past 2 trips have been during Xmas so all plans with friends had to be scheduled around what I was doing with my family, and what my friends were doing with their family.  Also, this was my first time back in Winnipeg where it wasn’t freezing out since I last lived there for a summer, in 2008.  Warm weather and longer days make a big difference!  Driving down Bishop Grandin while it was +18 out, tunes cranked and window down, reminded me of all the great summers I had when I lived there.

I spent most of my time with Chad and Kristina on this trip.  They’re the 2 friends I’ve kept in contact with most, so it was great to hang out with them in person.  I also made time for my family.  Had Chinese food on Easter with my Mom, brother and uncle, and spent a night at my Dad’s after our traditional Spaghetti Factory dinner.  Stayed up until 5:00 AM with my Dad having a great conversation.

Also reconnected with Brett and Tim on this trip.  Met up with them at Brett’s Mom’s for a bonfire and spent the night catching up.  Was good to see them again.  I think it was understood between all of us that we’d never be super close friends again, like we used to be.  But we’re all in better places now, so I think it goes to show our friendship had been toxic for us all, and some time apart had been good for everyone.  And with all our history, it’s good that we’re still in each other's lives in some form.

A few highlights from the trip:

• Perfectly surprising Kristina, and then Chad, neither of whom had any idea I was in Winnipeg (I don’t care what Kristina says, she didn’t know!)
• Eating at Sal’s with Chad (since we met when we both worked at a Sal’s) my first night back, him in disbelief I was in Winnipeg.
• Drinks at Moxies with Kristina, Chad and Olga and having Liane and Tony, and then Craig all drop by!
• Lunch at Mongo’s with Ashley, her treat!
• Watching TV at Chad’s and using his laptop while he did his paid 3D art projects, imagining it won’t be much different when he moves to Edmonton.
• Getting to see Simba again!
• Staying up until 5:00 AM with Chad playing God Of War 3.  Thanks to Kyra for letting me rent it for free, and to Derek for lending me his PS3 for the night!
• Seeing Hot Tub Time Machine with Kristina, Chad, Olga, Liane and Tony.
• Late night coffees with Kristina.
• Spending a day at St. Vital mall with Chad and Olga, meeting up with Kristina while Olga got her hair done, etc.  St. Vital mall always represented Winnipeg for some reason.
• Chad buying Dragon Age Awakening and me signing his copy.
• St. Vital park with Chad, seeing how high the river was.
• Forks, Spaghetti Factory with my bro, his gf, my Dad and Andrea.  Then late night conversation at my Dad’s that night.
• Friends and family seeing the Sunfire and being impressed.
• Pellet gun fights with Chad.
• My first time at a Joey’s, and the AWESOME Souvlaki Kristina and I ordered.
• Many girly drinks over the week and a half I was there.
• A nice warm afternoon on Corydon with Kristina.
• Mini-golf!
• Winning Kristina a stuffed animal from a claw machine.  Named it Sunflower after our shared love of sunflower seeds.
• Going to the Casino with Chad and Kristina, only to have Kristina realize she forgot her ID.  We ended up going on my last day, with Olga too, and this time Kristina had her ID.
• Goodbye hugs and handshakes.
   

Good times.  I miss Winnipeg already, though I’m also glad to be back in
Edmonton.  If only there was some way to combine my 2 lives!

Surprise Winnipeg Visit

I’ve been telling my Winnipeg friends I’d try to visit sometime before I went back to work at BioWare in May.  I told them it was a big IF depending on finances, and that it was likely be mid to late April.  So on Sunday I jumped in my car and headed to Winnipeg without telling any of my friends I was on the way.

The trip takes the average person up to 18 hours, I made it in 13.  I was driving 130 the whole way, and only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks.  Whenever I would stop I’d log on to MSN on my phone to trick my friends into thinking I was still in Edmonton.  It was my first major road-trip in the Sunfire, and she held up well.  I do miss cruise control though, by the time I got to Winnipeg at 4:00 AM my leg was sore.  As soon as I got in I went right to sleep.

The next morning I chatted with my brother about videogames for a while after my shower, then decided to surprise my friends.  Chad was at work so I decided to surprise Kristina.  I was on MSN on my phone and we were chatting.  Randomly she said “Aw I really wish you were here!” so I told her to give me 10 minutes because I was going to find a file to send her.  In reality I was jumping in my car and driving to her place.  When I got to her place I got back on MSN.  “You ready for the file to be sent?” I asked, “Ya send away!”.  “Ok!  Here it is…  Come outside.”  She was surprised.  I spent the afternoon hanging out with her.  We headed to St. Vital Centre and got a Booster Juice.  It was so fun to be driving around Winnipeg with the windows open while it was +18.  Good to be back.

We were going to try to surprise Chad at work but he had gone home.  My family was BBQing steak that night so I headed home.  It was great to spend time with my family.  Afterwards I decided to surprise Chad, so I drove to his place.  I called him and told him to look out his window.  He didn’t believe me.  I finally convinced him to look out and because it was dark out he couldn’t see me, and still thought I was lying.  Finally he saw me and couldn’t believe it.  We ended up going to Sal’s that night for our traditional Cheese Plus Plate.  It was great to be hanging out with him.  The nice thing about this trip is that it’s unexpected and not in Christmas.  It’s not crazy busy, it’s nice out, the days are long, etc.

At one point Ashley texted me saying “I missssssss youuu!” and I replied “I’m heeeere!” and I caught her off guard as well.  Got quite a few good surprises in this trip.  She’s treating me to Mongo’s tomorrow.  This is going to be a good trip!

Winnipeg Visit

So here’s the collection of videos from my visit to Winnipeg.  Unfortunately I forgot to record most of the really fun stuff.  Andi got almost no screen time, or Kristina.  And New Year’s we got realllly drunk, video of that woulda been awesome.  Oh well, none the less, here’s what I did manage to record!

Winnipeg Trip

My Winnipeg trip was a lot of fun.  It’s a shame it’s over.  When I first got back I felt really home sick.  The thought of going another year without seeing any of my family or Winnipeg friends makes me sad.  But I’ve readjusted and it’s good to be back in Edmonton.  Looking forward to hanging out with Edmonton friends whom I’ve missed!

The train ride back was cool.  I was seated with a guy my age, who was deaf.  We sparked up a conversation by passing back and forth a paper and writing on it.  He'd moved from Winnipeg to Saskatoon for a job, much like me, and this was his first visit home since he moved.  We chatted about how weird it was returning after starting a new life.  Cool guy.  Ended up adding eachother to facebook!

Winnipeg Life

Trip is really fun so far.  I’ve been really busy though, and it’s hard to squeeze time in for everyone in such a short trip, especially with it being the holidays!  It’s been great seeing my family again after so long.  I really missed them.  And seeing old friends is always great!  When I hopefully get fulltime I’ll get paid vacation, and better pay, and can hopefully visit more often than once a year.

Some pix of my Winnipeg visit so far:

    

  

The Winding Road

So I’ve been out here for about a year now, and even though there have been some tough times, moving out here and finding the career of my dreams has been the best thing to ever happen to me.  I’m so thankful for it.  Sometimes I stop and think how lucky I am to have had so many random things come together to lead me here, both good and bad.  Being in debt which made me need to look for a better job, having a cousin who lived in Edmonton who I knew I could ask to stay with while I worked a job in Edmonton that paid better, finding out he could get me a term position at Bioware, and then finding it was more than just a cool job, but a career I could be passionate about.  But looking even further back: getting my license because I wanted more independence, then a year and a half later, feeling completely lost and deciding to take a road-trip to try to “find myself”.

Of all the many random things that came together to bring me to where I am now, the road-trip has always stood out in my mind as the real moment I took control of my path, and directed it somewhere better.  Before the road-trip I never quite felt truly independent in mind.  I lived with a subtle fear that motivated all my actions.  I always had someone to fall back on, and rarely had to deal with things on my own.  At some point in my formative years, I’d made some subconscious decision to succumb to fear, and it had informed all subsequent decisions in my life.

But the shelter it provided started to get pretty confining.  And because my actions were all limited by that fear, the person I presented myself as never quite felt like me, but instead I felt defined by those fears; no one understood who I was behind them all.  And then I realized they were right.  It’s not who you are behind all your fears that defines you.  You are what you do, not what you wish you could do.  No one has any right to demand respect for intentions or dreams alone.  It’s your actions that define you.

So I decided to go on the road-trip.  I made some sort of internal mental commitment to it, and refused to back down, even though everyone who said they’d come backed out, which in the end was for the best.  Then there was car troubles, work issues, and many attempts to talk me out of it from concerned friends and family who were not used to seeing me take risks like this.

Yes, I was still scared as hell, but I knew this was it.  This was a defining moment, if for no other reason than I’d made it one.  This moment would set the precedent.  If I backed out now, my life would continue to be a series of missed opportunities, compromises, and the justifications that follow.  But if I broke that pattern by taking this risk and living the adventure that would follow, it’d be the beginning of a life of pursuing my true ambitions and taking chances on the things I believed in.

So June came and I packed my car and hit the road.  It was the best thing I ever did in my life.  For just under 3 weeks I lived an adventure that, to this day, not a single other soul truly knows.  I was the only constant, and it was fueled by my willpower alone.  For 3 weeks I trained myself to follow a dream and to power through those feelings of self doubt and fear.  And I learned that it’s always worth it in the end.  You only get one life, and it goes by a lot faster than you plan.  I want so much more out of that life than just comfort.

When I returned home, I returned to a life that no longer reflected who I was.  I’d changed.  I was ready to follow my dreams, overcome fears and enjoy the adventure.  But this was a life I’d created while paralyzed by fear.  It just didn’t reflect the drive I now had.  In the 3 weeks I had been gone I’d learned so much: There was always going to be reasons not to follow your dreams, routine would always be easier than change, and talk and action are 2 very different things.  Sometimes you need to break your own patterns, and take irrational risks, because your dreams should weigh in on your decisions. 

The true changes I’d gone through didn’t become apparent to me until I was back home, and it just didn’t quite feel like home anymore.  I ended up getting a tattoo to commemorate that lesson.  Sometimes, despite all reasons not to, you gotta follow your dreams and just run the red.

I broke a pattern that summer 2 years ago, and began a new one.  Ever since, I’ve followed my dreams and taken chances.  No doubt it has made life harder, but it’s also made it worth it.  Every dark day I have here has a sense of purpose.  I used to have such a propensity for long deep depressions, because when I felt low, that was all there was.  The risks I’ve taken have led me to a life where even the dark days are just a step on the path to my dreams.

For a decade my life had been pretty stagnant, not much changed year to year.  But in the 18 months since that road-trip I now live 2 provinces away, have an entire new group of friends, have found the career of my dreams and have my next steps planned out for that career.  I make twice as much money doing something I love, have dated some really nice girls, learned how to weather the dark times and truly enjoy the good ones, and have changed as a person more than I thought possible.  Or maybe I’ve just learned how to be myself.  I can honestly say I didn’t truly grow up until a year ago.  My teenage life lasted well into my 20’s.  But better late then never.

And everything I have now, I can trace back to that road-trip.  It’s the one common denominator that let me become capable of all this.  It was that first decision, to go on the road-trip no matter what, that then spawned all subsequent decisions that led me here.  It sparked a commitment to truly better my life, no matter the cost, no matter the fear or doubts.  That was when my life truly began, because it’s when I finally learned how to actually live.

Destination: Winnipeg!

My family all chipped together to buy me a ticket home for Xmas!  Train ride, gunna be loooonnnngggg…  The return trip is almost 24 hours…  I doubt I’ll get any 3G coverage on my iPhone, so no internet…  Gunna it with tons of tv-shows, movies and music, and annoy anyone I can think of with text messages to try to keep myself entertained along the way.  I can’t wait to come home, see my family and friends again, and just be in the city I used to call my home after a year’s absence!

26 Years Old!

Was my Birthday yesterday.  Went out the night before and hung out at Dann and Melissa’s, eating Tacos made by Melissa, watching the 2 hour House season premier.  It was fun.  So my bday itself was great, except for a speeding ticket :P.  When I got to work I had a cupcake with a candle in it waiting for me!  Kinda weird though, I’m closer to 30 than I am to 20…

Got a really nice email from my parents, talked to them on the phone, and also my brother and uncle.  Organized my trip to Winnipeg this Xmas.  I can’t wait to go home again.  It’ll have been a full year, and I miss my family and friends there.

Also, it’s unseasonably warm for late September!