Goodbye 2013!

Hello everyone and Happy Holiday season! I am so sorry about the lack of posting this break but I am finding that I rarely have a free moment to sit down, let alone blog! I am keeping quite busy here in Ancaster (no surprise there) which has made the break fly by. I can't believe I have to be back at school in less than a week! Tonight, amidst my busy schedule, I have finally found a spare moment to have a look back on my final weeks of 2013!

Since I last posted, my life has been a swirl of activity after activity. Two weeks ago, my friend Andrea had her make-up party that I went to with my other friend Elena. The make-up company was called Aloette, and all of their products were aloe-based. The Aloette rep, Amanda, was a friend of Andrea's and also a recent concurrent education grad who is doing the parties while she searches for a job. She showed us all the different Aloette products: the make-up line, the bath and body line and the skin care line. I wanted to buy everything!! However, I kept a list of the products that I most wanted and ended up buying a new red lipstick (called Cabaret), a primer stick called Heavenly Sheen and a hand lotion that is supposed to help reduce rashes, skin redness, burns, bug bites, etc. I mainly just liked the smell of it. I also bought a really cool face peel for my step-mom for Christmas, so I hope she likes it! (If not, I will happily use it on her behalf). We placed our orders at the end of the night for pick up later in the week. The party ended around 11pm but Elena and I ended up staying until just past 1 in the morning, catching up and synchro-gossiping with Andrea.  

Wednesday, I had a physio appointment and then went out for brunch with Elena to Cora's. It was a historic meal because we both ventured out from our usual orders (I got the eggs Ben and Dictine, she got French toast). After brunch, we went skating at Bayfront Park. It was so windy! After a fun afternoon, I spent the evening with my siblings and my friend Andrea at Limeridge mall. I made a serious dent in my Christmas shopping before coming home to watch the Michael Buble holiday special. 

Thursday was my first day of work at Bowring and it was great to get back to work! A lot of my friends from Benix were back working and were excited to see me, so I wasn't as nervous as I was when I started last year. When I got there, my boss immediately put me to work greeting people at the door and I had to quickly learn where things were in the store. Bowring has a lot more product than Benix did so my first day was a bit overwhelming, but despite the amount of glitter that I must have inhaled that night, I survived. 

Friday, I went for a manicure and pedicure and then came home to welcome my grandparents to town. They had flown in from Winnipeg for Christmas and also brought their dog, BB. After spending the afternoon with them, I had my second shift at Bowring and I worked until close. During my shift, my manager needed someone to make bows, so I self-taught myself how to make them and spent the rest of the night wrapping ornaments. I didn't work Saturday, as it was Zucker Family Christmas, so we made the trek from Ancaster to Toronto to see my granny and my cousins from Ottawa and Ancaster. They all made fun of me because I spent the afternoon there knitting! We had a late Christmas lunch, followed by a gift exchange and then it was off to the pantomime. The show this year was the Little Mermaid and it was great! They re-wrote the story to be about mermaids living in the Toronto Harbour and included songs from the Top 40 hits (including the iconic "What Does the Fox Say"). Unfortunately for the people sitting around me, they got the added bonus of listening to me sing along! 

Saturday night was also supposed to be the Wenonah Staff Holiday Open House, but due to the extreme weather forecast it was cancelled! And thank goodness it was, as the ice storm started picking up around midnight and by 2am we had lost power! Unfortunately, it was not back on when we woke up but there was still power at Bowring, so into work I went (only to find out that I wasn't actually scheduled to work). Around 2pm, the store lost power so we were all sent home, as the store had to be closed. We had to guide the last few customers out by flashlight! After work, I went with my dad and step-mom to Toronto to attend my godfather's Chinese Christmas banquet dinner. They had no power at their house but there was power at the Chinese Banquet Centre, so before dinner there was a bit of a fight for an outlet (I snagged one). We then sat down for a Chinese Banquet dinner. There was soooo much food - everything from bok choy to lobster to red bean soup. It was all so good but so filling. The people there must have thought I was such a slob while eating but that is only because I was trying really hard to use my chopsticks (Please note that trying does not necessarily mean succeeding). I also gog to meet my godfather's baby, Griffin, who is 13 months old. He is so cute!! 

Eating lobster!

Baby Griffin!

Dad's new favourite wine - "Fat Bastard"

Following the dinner, we drove home and by the time I was dropped of, power in Ancaster had been restored (Thank you Hydro One!!) so I was able to get some much needed sleep. I spent Monday morning at the gym and the afternoon at work and then Lauren, Jamie and I went to see our buddy Santa Claus at Limeridge Mall. Despite being the oldest kids in the line, we still go every year so that my mom can get her annual picture. While there, Santa did ask me what I wanted for Christmas but when I asked for a boyfriend, he said that his elves were too small for me (that's a first!) so I would need to ask for something else. C'mon Santa!! Following our photo, I picked up my Aloette products from Andrea and came home for a family Christmas Eve Eve dinner. 

Tuesday aka Christmas Eve, I went to a spin class at the gym and then to work for the afternoon. There was a lot of prep to do for Boxing Day so I ended up staying later than expected before going to my Uncle Andrew's house for dinner. After dinner and lots of knitting (I had a hat to finish for the next day), my dad, Terri and I went to my friend Andrea's Christmas Eve party. I saw a lot of people from my high school, and we ended up playing Cards Against Humanity late into the night. I then came home and almost pulled an all-nighter finishing my grandpa's hat. I went to sleep around 5am and then woke up at 8 to make the pom-poms. I am happy to say that it was all worth it, as they loved their hats and wore them around all Christmas morning! 

Wednesday was Christmas, and this year we were at my mom's for the morning. After I completed and wrapped my hats, we all went downstairs to open our stockings and presents. Santa (and others) spoiled me and I am happy to say that I am now the proud owner of a pair of Sorel boots! No more cold toes in Quebec! We then went over to my dad's where we did the same present routine all over again and I was spoiled again (Hello new spice rack and Justin Bieber blanket!). Some of my other gifts included a teapot, two down-filled coats, a laptop case and a hygiene basket. I am set for the next semester! It was also a lot of fun to exchange gifts and I loved watching my dad open the Goodlife Membership I got him! With his pass, bag and shirt, he has no excuse to not go to the gym! 

After a morning and afternoon of presents, we went with my mom to London for Christmas dinner at my uncle's fiancé's house. We were there with the entire Webster gang, and Darryl and Denise and her kids. We had our dinner and our gift exchange and then all took turns taking selfies with the life-size Santa in the bathroom! 

On Boxing Day, I worked from 8-3 and Bowring was so, so busy!! People were lined up at 8am at the door! After being worked to exhaustion, I went with my mom and Jamie and Lauren to Darryl's family Christmas. It was very different being with another family, especially since they were all so quiet and tame in comparison to us! At the very least, I hope we provided them with some entertainment! Following dinner, Lauren and I went to see the Justin Bieber movie (my Christmas present to her) in Stoney Creek. We were in a theatre full of teenage girls and cheered and screamed and sang through the entire movie. It was fantastic! Lauren was so touched by the movie that she came home and bought his latest album! 

Friday I had my first sleep-in of the break, only to later realize that I slept through my physiotherapy appointment. Oops. I hit up the Boxing Day sale at Michael's (got some new wool) and then went to the gym with my dad. Yes ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly. I went to the actual gym with my dad. And he worked out! He put his Christmas present to good use! Following the gym, I went public skating with my friend Zack, received an "anonymous" bouquet of red roses, and then packed to go to Collingwood for the weekend. By 8pm that night, Jamie, Connor, Lauren, my dad and I were on the road to Blue Mountain!

We spent Saturday and Sunday on the slopes and the skiing was fantastic! There was a ton of snow and the temperature was just cold enough to keep the snow solid but warm enough that we did not freeze. The 5 of us skied together on Saturday during the day and night, with a quick stop at Swiss Chalet for diner and then Terri, Tyler and my granny joined us on Sunday for the day. Sunday started off with beautiful weather, but around 2:30 a giant fog cloud appeared and the temperature dropped! We toughed it out for another hour before packing up to head back to the condo and then home. 

Sunday night was the postposed Wenonah Staff Holiday Party, so Lauren and I went to Burlington for the night - Lauren to see a friend and me to go to the party. It was great to see everyone from camp and here about their first semesters, especially the first year staff who had just started university. Several of my best friends from camp couldn't make it, which was really sad but it was nice to see everyone else that was able to make it. I then missioned it across southern Ontario with my friends Alex and Sydney to go the after-party in Guelph but was faced with a tricky situation when we got there - we couldn't find anywhere to park. After stressing out for about an hour, my mom gave me the number to call for an overnight parking pass, so I parked, called and went into the party. We were all there until about 4:30am, at which point we went our separate ways, mine being to Hannah's student house "just down the road (aka a 20 minute walk) from the party." We were freezing by the time we got home! So I put on all of my layers and curled up to get some sleep (3 and a half hours) before getting up and making the trip home to Ancaster. 

With my boss at the staff party! 

So that brings us to today. This morning, I brought Sydney and Alex back here for some breakfast and relaxation post-party and we watched the Price is Right until Sydney was picked up. I then took Alex took the train station, went to SAIL with my mom and then to physio. While there, I was called into work, so I came home to take a quick shower before heading into glitter central aka Bowring. After a 4 hour shift, I came home for dinner and Downton Abbey on our new Netflix account with my awesome* mom. Oh yes, and I finished a knitting project - all in all, a successful night! 

So as you can see, I haven't really taken any sort of break sine being home, but really, when have I taken any sort of break this year? 2013 was certainly a big year for me and despite many ups and downs, it was overall pretty great. I finished my first year of university, worked as a landscaper, achieved my dream of being a counsellor, worked as a language monitor, became a student teacher, learned to knit and spent some great times with family and friends. So thank you to each and every person that helped make my year so special and I hope that 2014 will be a continuation of the great year I have had. As for New Year's Resolutions, I haven't thought of mine yet, so that will be my task for today and I will let you know next week! Happy New Year everyone! I hope that tonight you will be somewhere to ring in the New Year in style! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxxo

PS Back in September, I applied to work in DisneyWorld for the summer and had just begun to give up  hope BUT today I got an email to start the second round of the application process. I don't have many details yet but I will keep you posted as I go through the application! 

*was paid to put include this 

Talk to you next year! 

Love Erica 

Home for the Holidays

Hello from Ancaster friends, family and others who are interested in what I have been up to! My first semester is officially over and I am home for the break! Clearly, I am in a Christmas shopping mood as I have been home for 3 days and have already been to 3 different malls. Yet, I still have so many presents to buy (at this rate, everyone will be getting a gift from Bowring). I am not too stressed yet and hopefully I can get the bulk of my shopping done before I start back at work on Thursday. But before I jump ahead to all of my Christmas break plans, here is a look back on the final week of my first semester of second year!

So as I said last week, Vicki took me on a Dewies date on Monday so after a morning at the gym, I went to Dewies (the campus meal hall) from 12:30 until 6:00pm. Vicki had 2 guest passes left which she gave to me and our other friend Maddy so the 3 of us spent the afternoon studying for our astronomy exam together. After having lunch, an afternoon snack and packing dinner to go, the 3 of us went to a study session with our astronomy professor. After 8 hours of studying and discussing astronomy, I was feeling very prepared (and very sick of astronomy). Monday was also Bishop's 170th birthday and they were supposedly giving out cupcakes on campus but I failed to find one, despite making 2 trips to where they were said to be. However, the birthday celebrations did end up raising over $170 000 for BU, a lot of which will be used for student scholarships which means that more future Gaiters will be able to have the Bishop's experience!

Tuesday I woke up feeling very sad as it was the first Tuesday since September that I did not have my practicum. After a quick period of mourning, I got myself out of bed to say goodbye to Jocelyn as she was finished her exams and heading home to the Loo (Waterloo, not the bathroom in the UK). We all got up to say goodbye and then quickly transitioned into celebrating Hannah's 20th birthday! It was a momentous occasion as she was/is the first housemate to reach the second decade. After she opened her presents (a garlic press and dark chocolate covered almonds and cranberries from me, pjs from Elizabeth), I went to the gym and then came home to study and cook dinner. I whipped up some pork chops and baked cranberry cupcakes for dessert, and our friends Gaby and Taylor came over to help us eat and celebrate. My eventful afternoon helped keep my mind off my exam that evening at 7pm. The exam itself took me just over 3 hours to complete, making it my longest exam to date, but I am happy with how it went and am hoping that I will be just as happy with my mark. Keep your fingers crossed for me! 

Happy 20th Birthday Hannah! 

Following my exam, I was ready to go home and go to bed but just as I was walking in the door, Hannah and Elizabeth were walking out to go to the Lion with Taylor. Since it was Hannah's birthday and most likely the last time we would go out for the semester, I went with them. It ended up being really nice, as there were not too many people there and it was not too loud, so it was a good ending to a good day. On our way home from the Lion, we stopped at the Couche-Tard because Taylor wanted to buy hot dogs and Elizabeth ended up buying two as well. Elizabeth rarely finishes her food, so I bet  her that she wouldn't finish them which she took as a challenge. For the first time ever, I was wrong as she finished both hot dogs around 1:30am. So congratulations Elizabeth! 

Elizabeth Sabyan - Professional Hot Dog Eater

Wednesday I woke up planning to study French all day, as astronomy had taken priority over French for the past week and I was not feeling prepared at all. However, I ended up falling back asleep for an hour after my alarm went off and then Hannah was helping me fix my knitting so it was 11:00 by the time I finally sat down at my desk to study. After putting in a solid hour and a half of review, I went to the gym and then to the local elementary school to watch my students from practicum play in a volleyball tournament. The tournament was a lot of fun as I knew the kids on both teams, from my practicum and from Outdoor Club. I was originally sitting on the stage with all of the parents but then the students called me to come sit down on the team benches with them so I was right in on the action. My associate teacher was also there, so I got to catch up with her and say goodbye to her and all of my students for the holidays. Following the tournament, I went home for more studying and dinner and then went with a friend to see Catching Fire at the Sherbrooke movie theatre. I felt really guilty about going to the movie instead of studying but the movie was soooooo good!! To make up for missed studying time I was up late into the night studying (and stressing) and then once studying was just not happening anymore I switched to packing to try and calm my nerves. 

Preparing for the volleyball tournament! 

Thursday, I woke up and studied until noon and then went to a study session with my French prof and fellow students, which was really helpful. She gave us some hints and talked about the format and what to expect on the exam. So I encourage everyone to always, always go to review sessions!! Once all of my questions were answered, I headed over to LES to go the Marché à La Gare (where I went with Vicki the previous week) with the Outdoor Club. Half of the group walked the path around the river and the other half went skating. I chose skating and I was taken right back to my days of coaching when I was tying skates and holding hands and helping kids up - it was so much fun! Then, as a surprise treat, the teacher in charge bought us all tickets to ride the ferris wheel! Following that, we headed back to the school for hot chocolate and homemade donuts. It was the perfect study break and helped to relieve some of my exam stress. I was really sad when I left as I do not think that my schedule will allow me to do Outdoor Club next semester :( I will have to see if there are any other clubs at LES that I can help out with. After a wonderful afternoon, I came home for dinner, more studying and more packing and to enjoy one last night in our Lennoxville house. 

Friday, I woke up for at 5:50am to say goodbye to Hannah and went back to bed after approximately 5 minutes of being awake. I then got up a few hours later and dragged myself to the gym for the last time for the semester.  At the gym, because of my achilles tendon, there is only one machine that I like to use. There was only one other person in the cardio room when I got there and HE WAS ON THE ONE MACHINE THAT I USE! Once I finally got to use the machine that I wanted, I went home to say goodbye to Elizabeth who was heading back to Toronto. Once she was gone, I ate lunch, studied a bit and finished packing and then wandered around the house aimlessly until it was time to go write my exam. My exam went really well, especially since the night before, I had decided to write a practice essay for the essay component of the exam and my practice topic that I had randomly chosen was the actual topic no the exam! Once that was finished, I hurried home to grab my bags and catch my carpool into Montreal. Bye, bye Lennoxville!

I got into Montreal around 8pm and met up with my friend Natasha who goes to McGill. I had a bus to catch at midnight, so she took me to a place called Juliet et Chocolat for a late night snack. As you can guess from the name, there were a lot of sweets there! We both ordered a dessert called The Trifle, which was ice cream, caramel sauce and brownie bits together with hot chocolate sauce to pour on top. It was soooo good. We ended up sitting, eating and talking for 3 hours, as we were making plans for the Christmas break because Natasha's mom had just moved back to Ancaster so she will be here for the holidays. We lost track of time and I had to hurry to the bus station (I made it with 7 minutes to spare) in order to catch my bus home. 

I spent the next 7 hours on the bus and got into Toronto around 6:30 in the morning. I got off the bus and went to get on the subway to Union but it was closed for police investigation. It was only later that I found out that there had been a shooting there the previous evening!! Even though I wasn't aware of the shooting, I was still super freaked out about how I was going to get to Union station and the TTC workers were being very unhelpful but I eventually found the right bus and made it on to the Go train and home in one, very tired piece. 

After a quick stop at home, my friend Bailey, who I used to skate with, picked me up to go to Stratford for the day to watch our old team compete. Anyone who lives in Southern Ontario most likely experienced the snow storm on Saturday but we decided to brave the weather anyway and go cheer on our old teammates. Unfortunately, we were moving very slowly on the roads and we missed their first skate by 2 minutes!! Since we had drive all the way out there, we decided to hang around for their second skate, even though it was at 10:30pm. To kill time, we went exploring in downtown Stratford and out for dinner and then watched a few other categories of skating before the Intermediate category. Bailey was making fun of me because I spent a lot of time in the stands knitting but whatever, I made a nice hat. After a long wait, we finally got to watch the Intermediate team skate and before they even took the ice, I was crying. They all just looked so beautiful and I was so sad that I wasn't out there with them. Luckily, the other moms in the stands had some tissues for me. Their skate was beautiful and I loved their dresses and their music! I even recognized one of their songs as a piece I played in my high school band. I believe they ended up in third so congratulations to them!! They made me so proud! I personally believe it was my amazing red fan outfit  that brought them good luck, as I am the #1 fan of Nexxice Intermediate (even though my retro thunder sticks said Ice Image on them…) and I wish them all the luck in the world for their season ahead! (Oh and Bailey and I both made it home safely, in case you were wondering). 

Sunday, I allowed myself a much needed sleep-in and then went to the gym (how many times have I used the sentence "I went to they gym" in the past month?). I bummed around the house for a bit and then spent the afternoon at Square One mall with my dad, helping him finish his Christmas shopping for my cousins. They are going to love their gifts! Well, at least the ones that I picked out! We were going to get a daddy-daughter picture with Santa but the line was ridiculous! We then picked up Jamie from his hockey party and went home for a late night family dinner. Oh yes, and I started knitting myself a headband and finished all the stitching in just one day! My grandma is going to be so proud of me!

Today, I followed pretty much the same schedule as yesterday: I went to the gym and the mall with my mom, bought Christmas presents for myself, had dinner and decorated the Christmas tree while watching Elf. I know, I know, I shouldn't be buying presents for myself but I couldn't resist! I really need to finish my Christmas shopping for others!! I will have to squeeze it in between all of my social outings and my work schedule! Just looking to the week ahead, my days are filling up fast: tomorrow, I'm going to a make-up party, Wednesday, Elena and I are going to Cora's, Thursday I start working at Bowring and Friday my grandparents are flying in! I've got lots to do this winter break and it has only just begun! I am just hoping that I will be able to find time for everything, including sleep! 

Lauren and I hanging our Justin Bieber decorations!
(9 days until his movie comes out!)

Our decorated Christmas tree! 

Wishing you all a wonderful week and successful holiday shopping! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxo 

PS Shout out to my sister and the Cheersport Sailfin Sharks who won their cheerleading competition on Saturday! #chompdown

Birthday Girl and Her Interprovincial Travels!

LCBO cashier: "Can we see your ID please?" 

19 year old me: "Of course you can, there it is - 19 years old!"

Ok that was a fictional conversation, BUT it has the potential to happen in the near future! Last Tuesday, I celebrated my 19th birthday so happy birthday to me. I want to extend the largest of THANK YOUs to every single person who made my birthday such a great day! And truth be told, I pretty much extended my birthday to a birth week but what are birthdays for? So thank you to everyone who contributed to the great week! I celebrated with my students, with my friends and with my family (quick trip back to Ancaster) and now here I am, back in Lennoxville, waiting to START and finish my exams. 

The week got off to a lovely start, as my friend Vicki and I spent Monday afternoon in Sherbrooke together. We went to the Marché à la Gare, which is a little marketplace/park area near the Grand Times Hotel and right on the river. They had a small outdoor skating rink, so Vicki and I went for a skate…well I skated, and Vicki held on to my arm and shuffled around the ice, but skating nonetheless! Following that, we went into the little stores around the park and then for gelato before walking back to the bus station and coming back to school. Vicki came with me while I did my grocery shopping and then we parted ways when I came home to make dinner (spaghetti squares - an Erica Zucker classic), plan my lessons and pack my suitcase. 

Outdoor skating! Can't wait for more this winter! 

Tuesday I got up bright and early to go to practicum, and awoke to a Justin Bieber and One Direction party themed bedroom door (#1 thank you to housemates)! I went to my school, where I had not planned to tell my students that it was my birthday, but it was one of my students' birthdays as well, so we celebrated together. I hope he didn't mind! They tried to guess my age and I got the full range from 16 to 25. My grade 3/4 class sang Happy Birthday to me in 4 different languages! Since my classes were over, I was able to stay for the entire school day, so I got to eat lunch with my students and go out for recess with them, which was a lot of fun! In the morning, the grade 6s were practicing their songs for the Christmas concert, and they gave me a booklet of the songs so that I could sing right along with them. In the afternoon, we did a sharing circle, where we all shared something from our weekend (I talked about our Christmas party and going skating with one of my students - the others were jealous!) and then we went to gym class. They were playing volleyball and for some reason, all wanted me to be on their team. Clearly, they had never seen me play volleyball! Despite my lacking abilities, which ended up being just fine for the grade 6 level, gym class was a lot of fun! A handful of my students are in a volleyball tournament at Lennoxville Elementary School on Wednesday so I promised that I would go watch. At the end of the day, I was super sad to leave all of my students but I cannot wait to see them in the New Year!

After an amazing day at school, all I wanted to do was take a nap but there is no time for napping on birthdays! When I got home, my housemates had presents for me to unwrap and I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning (thank you to housemates #2)! I may have felt like a little kid since they made me wear a Minnie Mouse party hat while opening presents… but who am I kidding, I loved it! Elizabeth aka Queen of Photoshop made me a card with Justin Bieber and "me" walking hand in hand on the beach which has earned a place on my bedroom wall where it will stay until I get it framed. We then all got ready to go out for dinner in Sherbrooke (housemates + Gaby) but were extremely late leaving so Jocelyn and I literally had to chase the bus to get on! When we got into town, we walked to the creperie that we had planned to go to only to find out that it is closed on Tuesdays! We walked down the road and found a Thai restaurant to try but they couldn't seat us until 8pm. The third time was the charm and we ended up eating at Le Tapageur, a little restaurant beside the movie theatre.  It was a great evening and I couldn't have asked for better people to spend my birthday with! 

Enjoying my birthday drink - the Fashionista! 

Following dinner, I caught a bus into Montreal and then got the midnight bus from Montreal to Toronto. While on the bus, I learned that my old skating coach, Jen and her husband Jay had welcomed their new son Grayson into the world earlier that day, so the lucky guy now gets to share a birthday with me. Congratulations Jen and Jay! I can't wait to meet Grayson! I spent the rest of the night sleeping (and knitting) on the bus, and then on the train and was picked up at the train station by my dad Wednesday morning and home I went. Everyone was at school so it was just my dad and me (and our cleaning lady) until my dad had to go to work and I went to the gym. Following that, I went to visit Bowring, aka the new store where Benix was, which is the store that I will be working at over Christmas. It is a Christmas wonderland inside (see photo below)!! So many sparkles! I picked a good time to go, as my manager was there and my friend from last year and they were both happy to see me, and I them. I picked up my employee package and explored the store. It is a maze in there! There is a lot of stuff that I will have to learn about! I eventually had to remind myself that I had exams to study for  and took myself home to study for the rest of the night. However, I did take a break for cake and presents with the fam, and then studied alongside my two favourite study companions, my television with cable and the family pantry, and studied the solar system while eating snacks and watching Christmas at the Rockefeller Centre. 

Me in Union Station with my favourite British boy band! 

Bowring - the supplier of all your Christmas needs! 

Birthday celebrations continued! 

Thursday, I got up to study more and then went to see a new physiotherapist. It was a pretty good appointment and I will go see her more when I get back for the holidays. In positive news, she did say that she thinks I will be able to start running again! Yay! I then went to cardio kickboxing at the gym and spent the afternoon studying more. I picked my brother up from school and went to my mom's house to see my mom who had just returned from Hawaii! I was extremely jealous that she had just come back from the beach and the sunshine and that we were ankle deep in snow at school but it was nice to see her, all tanned and glowing. For dinner, we made our annual trip to Swiss Chalet for the festive special, where I ordered my first glass of wine in Ontario. (In case you were wondering, I do not recommend the Swiss Chalet wine). Following dinner, my Thursday night was very much a repeat of my Wednesday night, with me studying to the tune of the Carrie Underwood Sound of Music holiday special. 

On Friday, I headed back to Quebec with Terri and Tyler, who were going to visit McGill University. I had planned to study on the drive but ended up knitting most of the way instead. And then tragedy struck! My knitting needle with my hat on it snapped!! And so ended the knitting career of Erica :( well, at least until I get a new knitting needle. Luckily, it broke when we got to our hotel, the Nelligan, which is in Old Montreal. We arrived around 8pm and after dumping our bags in our room, went for dinner at the hotel's restaurant.  The dinner was delicious! We had veal, and monkfish, and octopus and fancy pork and wine and yule cake with pistachio ice cream. Needless to say, I went to bed very full and very satisfied but not before putting in another 3 hours of studying. I am slowly dying an astronomy death…

Saturday morning, we went to St-Viateur's Bagel Shop for hot-out-of-the-oven bagels accompanied by David's Tea. The bagels were scooped out of the oven and placed in our bags - so good! I then caught a bus back to Sherbrooke on which, I made a new friend with my seat mate who was a student at l'Université de Sherbrooke. He invited me to come watch his trumpet shows in the New Year. I finally made it back to my house around 1pm, thanks to my friend who picked me up at the bus station after his exam. Upon arrival, I got right back into my typical routine, meaning I dragged myself to the gym and then to the library for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Can I just take my exams already??

Today has been pretty much the same, with studying and exercising and catching up with my housemates. Well, catching up and getting in some quality bonding before we all leave for the holidays. Unfortunately, we are already down one housemate - we miss you Sarah - but we hope that she got home to Vancouver safely! On that note, I am soo jealous of everyone who is already done their exams and even of people who have at least started! I just want to be done! On a side note, a lot of people asked me why I made the trip home over the past week and the truth is, I honestly just needed something to do. I am so glad that I did, despite all the travel because I had a great time. The only downside was that it was a bit of a tease to have just a taste of being home for the holidays with my exams looming ahead. 

On that note, I better get back to studying before hitting the hay. Tomorrow, Vicki is taking me on a Dewies date as she has an extra guest pass and we are going to study for astronomy together and then go to a class review session. It is also Bishop's 170th birthday tomorrow and rumour has it that there will be cupcakes at McGreer by 10am! The countdown is on - 5 more days and my holidays begin! But I have a lot to do in the next 5 days - 2 exams, a volleyball tournament, another trip to the Marché with the Outdoor Club, HANNAH'S 20TH BIRTHDAY and a lot of goodbyes! So I wish you all a wonderful week and ask that you keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday night and Friday afternoon! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxo

P.S. Grandma, my David's Tea advent calendar has been a wonderful addition to my December days! Personal favourites so far have been "White Chocolate Frost" and "Stormy Night." Now my biggest problem is fitting the box into my suitcase to take it home for Christmas! 

Let the Holiday Parties Begin!

Happy December everyone! Hope your month has gotten off to a wonderful start! Honestly, where has the time gone on? Where did November go?? I don't think November has even gone by so fast!! But I won't complain, because I love December (minus exams) and am looking forward to everything that will happen this month! 

One year ago today - Lauren and I at the Justin Bieber concert! 

So before we jump ahead to December, I have to say that November came to a very nice close. Monday, I got my French Quiz back, which I got a 93% on, so that was a nice start to my week. However, I was not paying attention in class when were taking it up but all of a sudden, while I was writing in my agenda, my prof called my name and I just looked up clueless as she said, "Erica, isn't this the question you got wrong?" So the entire class got to learn where I had made my mistake… I felt like I was back in high school, but it's ok, I got over it. After that, I went to the pool and to my afternoon class and then Vicki and I worked on our video for a bit in the education lounge. Following that, I made my weekly trip to Provigo and came home to make Greek salad pitas for dinner. On a side note, I would just like to point out that I had planned to make Greek salad BEFORE the email from the campus dining hall came out saying that it was Greek week at Dewies. 

Tuesday was "school day" but it was a big day because I taught two lessons - one to my grade 3/4 class and one to my grade 6 class. In both classes, we worked on a website called Storybird, making online visual stories. Based on student reactions, it seemed like majority of them liked it. My teacher even commented that one boy was working harder than she had ever seen him work! My favourite moment of the day was when one of my students in grade 3 came over to me, held both my hands, looked up at me and said "Miss Erica, I don't want to do my work, I just want to walk around with you." How could I say no to that? So, he became my little shadow for the rest of the day. In my grade 6 class, I showed them another YouTube video called "20 Things We Should Say More Often" and they really liked it - they even said some of the lines to me at the end of the class. And gave me hugs! So it was all around a great morning! 

After that, I came back to school and went to my Ed Teach class, in which we presented our creative projects. My visual story about bullying was well received and it was neat to see what everyone else had come up with. After that, I hit up the gym  (I can't believe I just said that) - I went to the gym and then to the student ministry dinner with Elizabeth and Gaby. It was the last one for me for the semester so I would like to extend a huge thank you to the student ministry (led by my housemate Sarah) for feeding me every Tuesday this semester. I so, so appreciate it, as do all the other students that come to the meals. Following dinner, I had my last astronomy class and then came home and chatted with my mom before she left for Hawaii. 

Wednesday, I dragged myself to campus to go to the Sports Medicine centre for an early appointment. I got in a bit of trouble for being 20 minutes late. Oops! I blame the slippery sidewalks because I was unable to walk at my usual quick pace. My ankle does not feel as though it has made much progress, but it has only been two weeks so I guess I need to just be patient. After that, I went to my final French class, where we were doing exam review, but every time I tried to answer, I was told to be quiet! Not a good final week of French for me… ? Anyway, that afternoon in my education class, we showed each other our videos about our educational philosophies. They were so fun! We were supposed to have Oscars awards but my prof forgot to bring the paperwork, so we just enjoyed each other's videos while eating TImbits. You can see mine and Vicki's below (I hope it works!). 

Following class, I went to see my prof Kamran so that he could look over my unit plan, which is the final project for his class. When I went to his office, he was doing interviews for his first year education students, the same process I went through last year. I said that I could come back later, but he invited me in to ask questions to the first years and I ended up staying in his office for 3 hours, helping with interviews and chatting about the semester. Kamran was my favourite prof this semester and I am so, so sad that I won't have his class in the winter, which I told him. He is unfortunately not teaching any second year classes next semester, so I will have to wait until 4th year to have him again. :(

When I finally left Kamran's office, I went with Hannah to Vicki's rez event in Mackinnon - Movemberfest. Her event was based on educating residents on Movember, so she had trivia posted around the room, a pin-the-moustahce on One Direction game, a make your own moustache table and brownies to eat once you completed the activities. Hannah and I helped set up and helped eat the brownies and then trekked home for dinner. I was tempted to hang around until 8pm for the Mackinnon Guilty Pleasure night, but Hannah convinced me not to steal anymore food from the residents, so home I came. I spent the rest of the night relaxing and reviewing for my exam the next morning. 

My exam care package from my dad arrived on Wednesday! 

Thursday I wrote my EETC aka the English Exam for Teacher Certification. It had three parts: 1) I had to correct the grammar in 30 sentences, 2) I had to write a letter to parents about a school initiative and 3) I had to write an email to a principal based on a given scenario. It was fairly easy for me, since the exam is primarily geared towards French speakers who are trying to become certified to teach in English. I will get my results in January. Vicki wrote the exam too, and once we finished, we went back to her room to watch Glee. Following that, I went to the gym and then to LES Outdoor Club, where we all went outside and played in the snow for an hour. I really should have brought my snow pants because I was freezing by the end! I was excited to learn that at the next meeting we are going skating and then having a hot chocolate party, so I cannot wait!  After Outdoor Club, I went to knitting club and began working on my first hat. So far, I have had to re-start about 6 times, but I feel the 7th time will be the charm. After knitting club, I came home for dinner and then we had our first Christmas movie night aka we blew up our air mattress and cuddled up to watch Elf (we=me, Jocelyn, Elizabeth, Hannah, Kirsten and Gaby). 

Friday, I spent the morning at the gym (quite honestly, I am becoming a gym rat…) and then went to see Kamran again to help him with some more interviews. I then went with Hannah to the Bishop's students free skate at the rink. There were only 3 other people there, so we almost had the rink to ourselves. We came home and had grilled cheese for lunch and I did some homework and some yoga before meeting Vicki at the last free church dinner of the semester. After some delicious chill and corn bread, Vicki and I came back to my place to get ready for the first ever School of Education holiday formal. Our fellow education friends Sarah and Katelyn came over to get ready with us and after we helped each other choose outfits and perfect one another's hair, we went over to the fire hall together. The formal was a lot of fun, especially the photo booth, which we kept going back to, over and over again. After the formal, there was an after party at an upper year's apartment and then Vicki came back here for a sleepover. It was such a fun night and Sarah, Katelyn, Vicki and me all agreed that we need to go out together more often. 

Me, Vicki, Sarah and Katelyn! 

Saturday, I walked with Vicki to campus and I took Jocelyn to the gym and led her through my workout routine. After I tired her out, we came home and I showered off and then met a friend for coffee at the café in town. We ended up chatting for almost 3 hours! I then came home for a feast prepared by Hannah: homemade bread, ham and ratatouille, It was delicious! That night, had a Christmas party at our house, which began with Elizabeth, Taylor and Gaby making a gingerbread house in the kitchen and everyone else making snowflakes in the living room and escalated from there. Hannah had made a log cake earlier in the day, which unbeknownst to me became a birthday cake that night and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, which was nice (and the cake was delicious). The night was a lot of fun, and no tables were broken so I went to bed very late, but very full and very happy. 

The Gingerbread house! 

Blowing out my candle! 

And today was just a fantastic day all around! I went to the gym in the morning (honestly, it's becoming my second home) and while I was there, I got offered a job. Back story - a few weeks ago, I applied to be a residence duty helper in Mackinnon, which is someone who does a night or two of rounds in residence to make sure all the residents are behaving and I saw the girl who interviewed me at the gym. She asked me if I had gotten her email, which I hadn't and then she offered me the job. So watch out Mackinnon residents - you better behave yourselves! Following that, I met Hannah at the rink for the free skate and while I was there, I saw one of grade 6 students from PEES. At first, I didn't recognize her but she recognized my voice and then skated around with us, holding my hand. I was on cloud nine. I can't wait to have my own daughter to take skating. I hope that Hannah didn't feel too left out! 

While we were skating, my friend texted me that he was going to the mall and offered to bring me Starbucks, which he then hand delivered to my door! I spent the rest of the afternoon curled up with my latte studying astronomy and am now still curled up on the couch but am writing this and watching Love, Actually with my wonderful housemates. Christmas season is well underway here at William-Paige and I am loving every minute of it! 

So as you can see, I am taking full advantage of my break between classes and exams. I really need to put some effort into my exchange year research but I will get to it, I promise! As for now, I am looking forward to my last day of being 18 before my birthday on Tuesday, on which I am spending the entire day at my practicum and then heading home to Ancaster for a few days. I will be back in Lennoxville on Saturday, will take my exams and then head home for the holidays a week later. I've got lots to do before the exam season ends, but right now, I am going to enjoy my white chocolate frost tea (Day 1 of the David's Tea advent calendar) and enjoy my last few days with my housemates before we are separated for three weeks!

Good luck on your exams fellow university scholars!

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxo