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