I'm back!

Be forewarned:  This is going to be a long post. Full of stuff about me and my life and pictures of my life. Think of it as a virtual recap of my life this last month. EXCITING, RIGHT?

After a busy last month of August, I'm back to Victoria, back to school, and unemployed. The logical next step, of course, would be to blog about it. My mind's still a bit all over the place right now, and I'm finding it a little hard to actually sit down and write something. But for those of you who are interested, this is what I've been up to this past month or so:



Hornby
As per family tradition, I headed over to Hornby Island and spent almost a week with my family and two of my good friends, Chelsea and Adrienne (although my sister didn't make it up until the last night, which was too bad). Not only did we get lucky enough to have about perfect weather the entire trip, but two of my friends, who happen to be some of the most talented musician/singers I know, were also there at the same time. This made for six wonderful days full of beaches (I always forget that BC actually has nice beaches), campfires (focused mostly around music but also, as a rare surprise, actually fire aka S'MORES), lots and lots of delicious food, and excellent company. Hornby's always been one of my favorite places (ever), and each year it never fails to surprise me with it's beauty and peacefulness. I could go on and on about how much I love this place (and one day I just might), but for now, I'll leave it at this: Everyone should have a place like this in their life, and I'm lucky enough to have had mine for the last 18 years. 
(sorry, all these pictures are weirdly distorted. I don't know how to fix it. Click to enlarge them and the proportions go back to normal) 

Live At Squamish
On August 20th, my friends (Chelsea, again) and I drove up to Squamish for the day and attended the Live at Squamish music festival. The weather was perfect, the location was great, and the music was awesome. We met up with a few friends and saw Sweet Thing, Hey Ocean, John Butler Trio, Metric Acoustic, Stars, and Girl Talk.  While I'd seen Hey Ocean before (and always liked them live), this was my first time really hearing any of Metric's or John Butler Trio's music. I was blown away, especially by JBT. These guys were amazing, in the way that can't even really be explained fully in writing. To appreciate the full-on awesomeness of these guys, you have to see them live. Watching them on YouTube might be the closest you can get for now (and it's still good), but I highly suggest trying to see these guys live if you get the chance. The final act of the night was Girl Talk. I've been a fan of Girl Talk for about a year now, but didn't really know what to expect at a live show. It was loud. It was obnoxious. There was a lot of bass. It was sweaty and rowdy and everyone was dancing. It was totally awesome. Overall, a very good day in the sun.

Work
Honestly, I worked most of this summer. I worked 5 days a week, with unsteady hours and average-ish pay. This was my forth year at this job, and I could just about do it without thinking. Me on the phone? I'm like the queen of multitasking, carrying on conversations with customers while simultaneously highlighting waivers, listening to my co-workers conversations, and planning out my days off. The office was either too cold or too hot for most of the summer, and my hours were often weather-dependent. Oh, and did I mention this was my view everyday?

All jokes aside, I really did like my job. I got free kayaking/paddle boarding, it was easy and convenient, and- I hate to brag- but I worked with the sweetest people. You think you have awesome co-workers? Wrong. Yours are cool and all, but no one beats the kayak shop folk. This was my last season working there, and I'm actually going to miss it (weird, I know). But in my last few shifts, I realized I've been lucky to have had a job I actually enjoyed for so long. I got hugs and 'good-lucks!' from several of the regular customers, and genuine good-byes and well-wishes from the people I work with. It was actually quite sad leaving my last shift. So while change is good, it's nice to acknowledge that I've been lucky to have had a job that gave me not only awesome opportunities (hello, I got paid to take kayak lessons- multiple times), but introduced me to some of the loveliest people I've ever met.


Birthdays
There are a disproportionate number of people born in August, seriously. And because I love my friends, this means I spent a disproportionate number of nights celebrating birthday's and getting drunk. Good times!

Moving
I moved to Victoria on Saturday. While this is another one of those things that I could go on for a while about, I'll try to keep it brief. In comparison to living in a 300 person dorm (a la first year), this year I moved off campus into a house with 4 other girls. I didn't realize until now how much res life didn't really suit me. While I didn't openly hate or dread living on campus, I can already tell that I enjoy myself a house thank-you-very-much. So this is good. I feel like I'm settling into Victoria already, which kind of surprised me. In a bittersweet weekend, my first weekend back was my sister's last weekend in Victoria. This is my first year in Victoria without her. It's going to be weird.

Moving trailer!

Other Various Interesting Things
Other things I did in August:
-Photo Adventure- My friend David and I drove out to Stanley Park and spend some time just walking around, chatting, and playing with our cameras. It was lovely.
-Outdoor Movie- Finding Nemo was playing on a huge screen by Robson Square. I went to see it with a few friends. It was awesome.
-Spent lots of time (but not enough with some, sadly) with my friends before we all scattered across Canada again
-Stressed about money and moving and school.
-Told myself to chill, and got over the stress.
-Enjoyed a surprisingly hot and sunny August after a rainy July.