Day 9

This week is down to earth week.

What a perfect day to watch a documentary. This morning I had a conversation with my friend Tara which actually started with how handsome we thought Bradley Cooper is (my future husband... how great does Jennifer Casey Cooper sound?? great ring to it.)... some how it got into how I liked Leonardo DiCaprio because A. He is an unreal actor and b. he is an environmental activist. I am most recently a "new founded" environmentalist. So what do I do.. I hit up google to show Tara exactly what Leonardo DiCaprio has done... and what do I find, he has produced and narrated a film called The 11th Hour. And what did this documentary do... it brought be back down to earth. It reminded me of the bigger picture of how much of an impact we have on the world. What are the things I can do to make a change? What are some of the bigger things that are happening that need to be change? How does the human population have an effect on Natural Disasters? These are all things I think we think about every day.

Some people say.. why the environment? Why is this what you are passionate about? Well I answer this question almost every day. After setting up a new composting and recycling program at work I get to explain myself every day. Getting people to take the time and using a compost while they are busy is like pulling teeth. Changing there ways is difficult and you really need to be able to explain your ideas. So why is it important? Is composting napkins and chopsticks really going to make a change? What is the value?

Well let me share with you what I think. Some people will say... well Jenn still drives her car, or she owns gucci bags and a cell phone and an i pod. Being environmentally friendly doesn't mean I need to be a tree hugging- live in the jungle- and eat berries and fruit all day. What does it mean to me?? To live a life that I want to live well being sustainable to the place I live in. Being conscious of the purchases I make and what kind of effect they have on the earth when I am finished with them. But why can't we have both? You can.... this is the difference of well-being and well-wanting. If everybody took the time to show a little love, our generation could make a big difference. Using our natural resources instead of fossil fuels. Look at all the things that the human being can do?? Look at all the technology we have created. So why not use these brains we have to incorporate our lives around the planet we live in. 

So what are some things you can do in day to day life?

eat at local places, Calgary is great for local food! To name a few of my favorites... Notable, The coup, BoxWood, Deville.. If you have not heard of them.. look it up! Check it out!

Start a recycling program at work and at home. You name it,  I recycle it... We recycle everything from chopsticks to tea bags.. to cork... to paper... to to-go boxes for food. Start recycling.

Try to not use your cars. I know its tough even I have trouble with it... But start with walking to the grocery store... why drive? 

But really what can you do to make a difference??? Share your ideas with me and with others...what can you do to come back down to earth? Show it some love! Treat the earth with respect and it will show it back to us. 

Good night all... see you tomorrow on Fancy Friday!

Day 8

Todays post is a bit different from the rest. I wondered when this day would come. So far I have basically written about sunshine and rainbows, but life isn't always like that. Some days are harder then others. The first step is realization! Not that this has been an awful day... it hasn't, but is a day that made me ask a lot of questions. 


Todays task started off by me taking my first run of the year outside. Its the first real glimpse of spring and was a warm day outside. I always find the first day of starting to get back running is the hardest. I really had to pump myself up. A couple struggles I came across..... 


I live downtown... not such a easy place to run in... nervous about where to go... where not to go. So I decide to drive over to my parents place and go from there. Shows I like to be in my comfort zone right? So off I go... beautiful day.... nice spring smell.... but puddles everywhere! Needless to say my feet were completely soaked within the first ten minutes. I stick it out for a while longer.. but still unbearable. I call it quits. So now Im feeling guilty.... I didn't really feel like I made the effort to find happiness today. Was I sad? Did I not have a good day? No.... my day was fine, I set goals at work, I had a positive attitude, but there was just something missing that just wasn't there.


What do I do? First... I go to chapters. I buy a book.  Not satisfied. Second, I decide to go to a movie alone. This is definitely a first. I have never gone to a movie theatre alone. But why not? I watch movies at home by myself. Its not like you have a conversation with someone while your at a movie. I can spend time with just myself. So I get to the theatre, buy a ticket and sit down. Im overwhelmed. Why am I worried about what people think of me being alone at the movie? Why couldn't I find anyone to come with me? Why can't I concentrate on whats going on? And then of course, I start thinking about the past. I love movies and use to go to them all the time.... what changed and where is that person that would want to go with me? And then I think... well Im not happy. I want to cry. I want to leave. But I stay... of course I send some emotional text messages to both my sister and my mom who were then probably thinking... I wonder whats up with Jenn. I stick the movie out... I enjoy the movie but Im sad that I had no one to enjoy it with. And now that's what Im left to think about. 


I do have friends who go to movies alone.... but I don't think I can. Its not for me. I am proud of myself for going.. I've been wanting to see this movie all week. (Limitless, you should see it!) But going alone made me feel like Im missing something. It makes me question if Im happy or if Im missing something in life. Weird.... Im an extremely happy person.. but how do I get in moods like this? I guess this is the 365 day process to figuring out exactly who I am, these are things I need to tackle. 

(How can you be sad with this view right?!)

Not wanting to leave this post on a sour note... here are some pictures from my run, and also a message from a friend that I want to share. I also don't want people to think Im going to bed sad... I can only imagine the phone calls and texts I would get! When I got home, (something that brightened up my day) A message from a friend who told me he was proud of me and my blog, and that I am on the journey to find myself and Happy to hear how well I'm doing! Of course this puts a smile on my face... good job Myke!

Day 7

Today was a day off for me at work! Yesterday I made plans for my sister and Charlie to come over in the morning while my brother and law tried to get some sleep. (He is working nights so needs some peace and quiet in the morning) 


Task for the day.. Entertain a three year old at my not so child friendly house. Its not that my house is unfit for a kid... its just that I don't really have much to entertain any! Charlie is the one and only little one that has been over to our house! I had to wake up pretty early this morning which is rare for me when I have a day off.... I never get to sleep in. Immediately I got to work tidying up the place, deciding what to have for lunch, finding some sort of activity to do and got to work!

When Charlie first got here she would not even really leave her moms side. Slowly but surely... with bribes of course I get her to open up and live a little. It first took a popsicle (something Im very happy I went out and purchased that morning) a trip to starbucks... and then of course we made some jello! By this time Charlie was back to her normal self and happily running around. She drew pictures in my notebook, pretended to read a book, and then we had a picnic lunch in the living room. 

Charlie and her mommy

This picture makes me happy because she is pretending to read a book that a friend made for me that has quotes in it. I was funny watching her make up a story!

This was a bit of a first for me. Don't get me wrong, I spend time with Charlie all the time and we do fun activities together... but she never comes over to  my house. Usually we spend time together at grandmas or my sisters place. Goals for the future: Maybe have some arts and crafts. Get my sister to trust me alone with her for a couple of hours (hehe)... and Charlie just stay with me :)..... oh and maybe have her over for more then a couple of hours!!!

Best thing Charlie said all day.... "Thanks for the picnic" as she left in the afternoon!

Task.... successful.... and will probably be repeated... will need to buy some toys of course!

xx

Day 6

2 trips to Safeway, one trip to seven eleven, 6 bags of chocolate chips and 3 and a half hours later I am finally finished. Although all of the above things don't sound so exciting...(except for the chocolate chips part) the were the best three hours I have had in a long time. The whole time spent giggling and laughing with my roommate Lane. 


We most recently got a new oven and have been using it the last two days none stop! Last week a girl at work brought these cake pops in. They were absolutely amazing and she proceeded to tell me how easy they were to make and told me exactly how to make them. So tonight was the night I decided to try it out! Let me tell you.... not an easy task! The pictures are embarrassing! 

(this is me rolling the cake balls. As you can see... Im still sporting my very fun nail polish)

So from the beginning... I stop at Safeway to get all of the tools to make these cake lollipops! When I leave the grocery store I realize that I have already forgotten an ingredient.. milk! So I decide to stop at seven eleven down the street from my house. When I get home I immediately start baking a cake. This part is all very organized, I watch a bit of t.v with my roommate and soon the cake is finished! So the cake comes out... I let it cool... crumble up the cake, add icing... and roll it into pretty little balls. All this time feeling very proud of myself!!! This whole time Lane is debating if she should go to bed or not. She wants to stay up to see the final product but she also has school in the morning. So she decides to help me. I need to cut my skewers in half (make shift lollipop sticks) so Lane gets on melting the chocolate. Turns out cutting skewers is harder then you think. The house we live in is being renovated on the main floor. Lane suggests to go use a saw. I do... and it doesn't work. But definitely provided entertainment thinking it was a good idea.  When I come back upstairs to our kitchen, Lane is getting along well and she is getting the chocolate melted. We decide we should add milk to the chocolate to change the consistency. NOT a good idea! Pretty soon we just have a clump of white chocolate. So Lane says... why don't you just do this in the morning? And I just couldn't do that. I started the project and I needed to finish it. So I hope into my car and go and get 4 more bags of chocolate chips!  Come back and finally melt the chocolate!!! Although is still is not a consistency to stick to the cake mix well. It turn out to be an epic fail! My cake keeps breaking, I can't get the chocolate on smooth, the sprinkles are sticking to my hands. epic fail. 

(attempting to roll the ball in sprinkles)

Final product: Not good! But hey.... at least they have character. 

(final product)

Turns out making cake lollipops is not easy. I am very proud of anyone who can make them successfully. I am just not a baker. I guess if I ever have a craving for them I will have to find someone to make them for me!!


The best part about the whole experience...... the amount of times I smiled and laughed at my self. Although my cake pops are "flawed" they still taste amazing and I think they are extremely cute. I did get frustrated and only made 5 out of the 34 I was planing on making... but practice makes perfect and when my mom gets back in town... Im sure we will make some together! (Hers will probably be perfect)


Something that will not be added to the list in the about me section. Baker. Cake pops are not for me..... at least not without my moms help. 


See you at Day 7

Day 5

Wow! What a fun day! I was invited by the coworker and his wife last Sunday to a get together they were having on Sunday afternoon. I was really excited to go but unfortunately I did not even make it last week. Joel was very disappointed but we definitely made up for it today! I work with Joel about 6 days a week and we get to spend a lot of time together. We have known each other for about 4 and half years now but were never really close. We went from knowing each others names at work, to becoming Facebook friends... and now we run a restaurant together. Going off first impressions neither of us could imagine we could become good friends..... but hey, 4 and a half years later it happened. I'm very proud to say that I can have him, and his wife Shandelle apart of my life!


So today I went over to there place for lunch. So nice of them to invite me! I ended up staying from about 1:00 to 6:00 It was a fun afternoon of yummy stew and good conversation! Both were definitely needed! My parents are out of town and I usually spend Sundays with my entire family. This is something is greatly missed when they are not in the city. Having lunch with Joel and Shandelle made up for the fact I could not have dinner with my family.


So your probably thinking... what is so great or different about what she did today? Well even though I'm very extraverted and extremely outgoing I get shy and quiet around people I don't know. Part of the reason I didn't go last week is that there was going to be so many people I didn't know. So I "maned up" and put myself in a situation that I knew I would be  a little bit more uncomfortable in. So what did I learn?? Sometimes you have to put yourself in a place where your uncomfortable to learn and meet new people! And thats what happened today! Im happy to say that I now have two more positive people in my life and that I learned more about a person I work with everyday! Sometimes I think that friends are work don't always take the time to get to know each other in life outside of the building and Im glad to say that we have both made the effort! It was worth it.....




I also completed something off of "the list" today! I brought Joel and Shandelle flowers! Which I loved doing, and they were a very beautiful color! Something people should do more often. Flowers add life to the room and Im happy I could do that for them!


Tomorrow Im going to take my blog to the kitchen! Can't wait to tell you how it goes!


J