Merry Christmas - And Happy New Year!!

I haven't had any time to post about anything interesting or exciting as of late because I've been really busy with work and what not, but I thought while I'm sitting at home drinking my cooler and watching the TV that I would grab my computer and update a little bit about my holidays!

So, over the holidays I've done quite a bit. On Christmas Eve my mom and I went to go to see Black Swan, and it was amazing. I won't say a lot about it in cause there are some people reading this who have an interest in seeing it, but it was seriously one of the best movies I saw all year - and that's saying something because I saw a LOT of great movies this year. To make my top movie list this close to the end of the year is difficult because there have been so many great movies - but I would rank it in my top ten movies of 2010. So, that being said GO SEE IT!

Christmas was swell as always, lots of great gifts, a couple of books, money, some new Burberry perfume - oh and tickets to the Vancouver Canucks game on January 20th! I'm pretty stoked about that one. Did I mention I have the best boyfriend ever?

As today was my only day off this week, and I have to work again tomorrow, so I really don't have much to say about the rest of the week. Boxing day week is super crazy of course, although it was much less busy than I expected if I'm going to be honest. I never really understand the necessity of Boxing Day to begin with, so I can't say it's my favourite time of the year. Alex and I went to the mall today, and it was crazy, which means that I will wait a while until I decide to go spend some of my Christmas money on some needed new clothes!

Speaking of Alex, he came home today! I went to the airport to pick him up, and I managed to get myself there and home without getting lost! This is a big accomplishment, because when I took him to the airport last week he had to give me directions there, and I got crazy lost on the way home! Ah well, he's home now, so I don't really need to worry about it. Everything is starting to feel back to normal!

I doubt that I will post tomorrow, so with this post I will say "Happy New Year" to all of you! I hope the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 treats you all very well, and that you party like it's 1999.



Or perhaps you'd rather party like it's the end of the world, party like it's 2012!



Maybe we should all just party like it's 2011... Have a good one! =)

Blog, be happy, and see you all in 2011!

Kyleigh.

Lots of exciting things!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! I didn't really think that I would have much to post about right BEFORE Christmas, usually the blog world is over run with posts on Christmas night and the Boxing day about the presents received, the successful (or unsuccessful!) Christmas dinners, the great times had with friends and family, and the super Boxing day sales. I'm sure I will have that kind of post too (minus the boxing day part, I have to work), but right now I just have too much stuff going on to wait that long (and I don't want to have a 45 paragraph post come Sunday or Monday!)

First, I will start with my terrible news. Alex left today for Saskatchewan. I drove him to the airport quite early this morning, and if all went as planned he should have left at 10:00 am, so about an hour ago, and he should land is Saskatoon at 3:00 their time, so noon-ish here in Vancouver. It'll take him about 3 hours to get to his final destination, and I'll be awaiting the update that he got there safely and that his mom was there to pick him up and take him to his week long temporary home in Hudsons Bay, Saskatchewan. I shall count down the days until I have to go back to the airport to get him (although I'm certain I will talk to him like every day that he's gone via the wonders of the internet!)

Now, for the EXCELLENT news! I am awaiting absolute confirmation (which should come any time now) from the bank that I got my line of credit! This is amazing for one reason, and one reason only. I GET TO START SCHOOL 4 MONTHS EARLY! Yes! For those of you who missed the post, I'm not going to SFU anymore, I'm going to Vancouver Hairdressing Academy, and they just had a spot open up for their January 12th enrollment. The spot was offered to me, and if I can get the funds from the bank, I will be able to start a whole 4 months earlier than I expected, and not have to sit around on my butt waiting until April to go! I did have a horrible dream last night that I drowned in debt and died from creditors attacking me for not being able to afford this loan... but it was just a dream... right?

Also, Alex and I exchanged our gifts for Christmas last night because he was leaving this morning. I got him this really cool Alex Burrows charcoal drawing by this amazing guy in Coquitlam Centre, and I framed it. It's really quite cool, and he liked it a lot, maybe when he comes home I'll take a picture of it and post it here. BUT I got from him tickets to the January 20th Canucks game vs. San Jose!! This is super exciting because I've only ever been to one game before, and I was like 7, and I don't remember it at all. I can't remember who we played or if we won because when I was 7 I didn't care quite as much as I do now. 12 years is a long time to remember something when you didn't care about, so this is like my first game all over again!! =) I'm pretty excited! 

I had to wake up so early this morning to take Alex to the airport (we left at 6:30 this morning just in case there was traffic and what not) and when I finally made it home after a very long drive home (which took me much longer because I missed every exit like 45 times trying to get back to New West) there was of course nothing to do. I decided to see if there were any movies on, and I just so happened to get home right as Michael Jackson's This Is It started. I really like Michael Jackson, his music is timeless, he was years before his time, and has cut himself a slice of history that no one will ever be able to take from him. When I saw this movie in it's preview stage right after his death, I wasn't that interested in watching it. It didn't seem that interesting, and I've never had the desire to watch that much behind the scenes stuff for anyone, not even Michael. I was expecting to put it on and fall right to sleep since I was up so early, but it has actually been a really good film! I'm glad that I decided to watch it!

My FAVOURITE Michael Jackson song of all time is Man in the Mirror. It makes me think so much of the famous quote by Gandhi. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I love that quote, I love this song, and I like to think that even I can make a change in the world, even if it's just a small one.

If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make the change.




Before I go, I need to post this on here though. This premiered on SNL this past Saturday night, and I am personally a super SNL fan, and a big fan of The Lonely Island. We watched in Saturday night on Youtube when it had 303 views. It now has over 12 million views. It's crazy to watch something go viral. In the spirit of Christmas, and the previous Christmas hit from The Lonely Island and Justin Timberlake which I'm sure you all know, I thought I would share the new single from The Lonely Island's upcoming CD. Enjoy!





I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season, and that you enjoy your Christmas (or what ever other holiday you may be celebrating this time of year) so very much. I'm sure I will post again soon!

Blog, and be happy! (and Go, Canucks Go!)


Kyleigh.

Christmas Lights & Movies!

So, last night Alex and I went on a Christmas date, and it was tonnes of fun despite the fact that it didn't really go as planned. We went to The Keg, and had a really nice dinner which is something that we don't get to do that often, but that we decided was worth it for last night. We were going to go to the Christmas train, and I was going to buy tickets before hand, but there are just so many variables when it comes to getting downtown like traffic and parking that made me think picking a specific time would be a bad thing. Needless to say, we finally get downtown, and all the tickets are sold out, so no Christmas train for us. It was okay though, because last night was really quite cold, and in the 20 minutes we were there we froze our faces off. They have a really great light display down there even if you don't get on the train, so we got to see some cool things, donate some money to the Vancouver Burn Fund, and get a couple of candy canes!

 The super cool Canada Flag lights!

 Alex taking a picture with his new iPhone.

 A collection of Santa's at the entrance/exit of Bright Nights.

 The very cool Christmas sign you meet when you park!

So, after that very long drive, we decided that we were going to go look at some of the cool Christmas lights displays around Coquitlam, and we found a few that were really neat!

 This house is in PoCo, and it was AMAZING. It's crazy awesome, and we probably spent 5 minutes admiring it with several other couples and families who came to see it too.

 The lights seriously came from everywhere. SO many different things and lights. They had everything from blow up Santas and snowmen, to light up snowflakes hanging from the roof.

 This is a different house that was also quite good just off of Como Lake. That big bright band at the top of the house are LED panels that flash different things, and it was really neat, although it didn't photgraph well! They also played music at this house, which was also pretty cool. I loved the trees!!

We went to go exchange gifts with Alex's sister as he's leaving on Thursday, and it was nice to see her and her boyfriend before Christmas! We then proceded back to Alex's where we watched some great Simpsons Christmas episodes, and had a good laugh while warming up from the evening in the cold. 

Over the last couple of days, Alex and I have been getting into the Christmas spirit by watching Christmas movies. On Friday night we watched Elf, which I had never seen before and, though I LOATHE Will Ferrell as a general rule, I didn't hate it that much. I think Zooey Deschanel made up for it!

On Saturday night, Alex and I watched The Grinch which he had never seen before! The Grinch it definitely my favourite Christmas movie (and story!). We watched the Jim Carrey version, which is the best because it's so funny, and I think it really put me in a Christmas mood! It did shock me that the movie is already 10 years old though, but it's still amazing, and makes me laugh just like the first time every time I see it.

I've really spent the last week or so getting myself into the mood for Christmas. All my gifts are wrapped under the tree, I've been watching movies, going to see lights, and tonight we have a Christmas dinner to go to, which should be fun! Maybe I will get some baking done today for various upcoming occasions, or maybe I won't. I haven't quite decided. 

I hope this season is treating you all well! 

Blog, and be happy.

Kyleigh.

Just some things.

So, a couple of days ago it was my half-birthday. (And yes, half-birthdays are a real thing. They are up there with un-birthdays and monthiversaries. All very real.) I have 6 months until I leave my teens and enter my 20's. So, I have officially decided that I will turn twenty-teen in June! I'm not trying to say 20 is old or anything, but 20 is kind of scary. 20 means I can't really be a teen anymore- I feel like responsibility actually means something at 20. Am I afraid to get old? A little bit. I'm sure when you get there you don't mind, but the thought of being halfway to 40 is a little scary.. isn't it? Ah well. I'll get over it.

In other news, there really is no other news. I finished Christmas shopping (finally) which was a serious battle with the malls, or rather the people in the malls. I'm generally a patient person when it comes to the mall. I don't mind bobbing and weaving my way through the strollers and the slow walkers, but when there are a million of them it's a LOT harder. I should do Christmas shopping in July. Would save me a lot of trouble. I don't think I've ever left Christmas shopping so late before, and not having a job in the week (still nothing on the job front!), it's shocking I didn't get it done sooner. Ah well, only a couple other things to wrap up, and then I'm going to call it a season.

Alex leaves in 6 days, and I'm kind of sad about it. You know, it didn't bother me when he told me in like June that he was going, and part of me knows he really needs to go see his mom and family and enjoy time away from here... but at the same time it's one of those things where I'm kind of sad he won't be here to spend our first Christmas together. I mean - we are celebrating Christmas together of course before he leaves, and I'm sure I will keep up with him while he's there for the week he is gone, but I can just feel next Thursday morning looming over my head. 

Also, it's suppose to snow this weekend, which is both good and bad. Good because who doesn't like to see a bit of snow on the ground in December (?), but bad because I had this super awesome Sunday planned for me and Alex because I was lucky enough to get the day off, and now it may not happen. I guess it depends how much it snows Saturday and Sunday morning/afternoon for me to decide if we shall trek out on our amazing adventure. If it happens, I will be sure to post about it.

As I have to work tomorrow, I should really get myself to bed. Alex's truck broke down again today, so I have to take him to work along with myself. Although we're working in the afternoon, I have things that must get done in the AM (such as the rest of my Christmas wrapping - I'm afraid they will find the gifts if I don't wrap them!) 

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh

(p.s. It's clearly past midnight. If only you knew how many times I've spelled words wrong and had to hit the delete button... Took me 6 times to spell my name! Hahaha... oh gosh.)

My Hunt, and A Special Tree.

I have 15 tabs open on my internet browser, this can only mean one thing. I'm looking for another job. I hate looking for a job, because I'm not qualified to do anything, and all the things I'm qualified to do never seem to have openings that are reasonable! It's times like these when I think living in the suburbs of Vancouver sucks, especially since I'm going to school WAY downtown starting in April, and it seems all the jobs I would be successful at are there too. I have a rule of thumb when applying for work based on location. I have to be able to get to work in 1 hour, whether it is one hour by transit, one hour by vehicle, one hour by foot (okay, not by foot. I would never walk to work if it was going to take me an hour)... you get the idea. I think that that is a reasonable distance to travel for a job, unless of course this job is like your dream job and you're getting paid enough to make it worth while to travel forever. Because I have set this boundary around my job applications, it makes it hard to find something.

When I first started looking for jobs (and I mean first, like when I was 15) I had to transit, I had no car, and I couldn't get a ride to work all the time, so 1 hour was reasonable, and that's about how long it took me to get to work via transit, so I have a good idea of how far 1 hour on transit is. Now that I have a vehicle, 1 hour is quite a bit, and gives me a better estimated distance when looking for something, but of course I am more inclined to apply for jobs in the Tri-Cities rather than in Surrey or Richmond or something.

It seems the only jobs that I can get are telemarketing, and I do not want that kind of job. I hate telemarketers, so to be one goes against all my morals. Plus, I don't think I would be able to handle people hanging up on me and getting mad that I'm calling them all day. Marketing just isn't for me - I always prefer to deal with people face to face in retail type jobs... apparently those kinds are hard to come by though. The other problem is that I have a job I want to keep on the weekends, so when looking for retail type jobs, the people who are hiring are always looking for people to work Saturdays or Sundays, or both... and I'm not prepared to quit my other job.

I am apparently a very difficult person to hire. I've done everything from stalking Craigslist and other job boards, to applying to Temp agencies, to looking at every mall in the Lower Mainland's career postings. I do random Google searches, accost my friends and email my resume to every one under the sun, and I have no second job yet. I've been at this pretty much every week day for the last week and a half. I'm sincerely hoping that this will be over soon! My record for finding a job when I was desperate is 3 weeks. 3 weeks really isn't that bad, and I'm looking for something in January so I'm giving myself another couple of weeks before I get really desperate.


In other news, I need to post this because I think it's amazing. I was sad that Alex didn't have a Christmas tree, so I went to superstore and bought him the smallest most ridiculous tree that I could find, and I only spent $6 on it too. He was mad it wasn't a Charlie Brown tree, but he seemed to think he could make it look like one!

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the REAL Charlie Brown Tree!

Alex's attempt at making his new Christmas Tree look like Charlie Brown's.

See the apple hanging from the top? Well, you can't say he didn't try.

Obviously the tree I bought Alex is better, but he doesn't think so. I'm going to bring a string of lights to put on it, and that may help to distract of the bizarre ornaments that came with the little tree. I'm thinking I may need to go buy some better ornaments for it... at least one or two, but I don't know yet. When I put lights on it, I will for sure put up another picture!! =)

I changed my blog background to make it for festive too! Snowflakes anyone? =)

Blog, and be happy! (and Go, Canucks Go!) 

Kyleigh.

My Christmas House.

As there are only 18-ish days left until Christmas, last night my mom and I decided to put up the tree, pull out all of our snowmen and light up parts of our house with lights. Since my last post was so solemn, I thought I'd best post something festive and happy in order to counteract my somewhat dampened mood this past week, and I decided the thing to post would be photos of my apartment all decked out in it's Christmas glory!

 Our little tree all lit up! 

 Our tree with all our little ornaments! (and the slightly too large star!)

 The snow-people take over my house at Christmas time.

 We counted 14 of them tonight, I think there are more though.

 Our Christmas Countdown, and the Christmas "Sandman.

The garland actually looks really cool because of the lights, but there was no good way to get a picture of it really. We have ornaments hanging from it too!

I tried!

My mom still wants to put up lights around the outside of our apartment, but we haven't got there yet. I should also mention that the way that my house is arranged now is not how it was arranged pre-last night. My mom and I re-arranged the living room in hopes of being able to find some more space since our living room is so small. It'll work for now, and it does give us the ability to use our dining room table which we hadn't been able to do before now, and we've lived here since March. On another Christmas note though, I should take a picture of my Grandparent's house, because it's always so cool. Despite my grandpa getting older, he still seems to find the energy to put up the lights and such every year, and that always makes me happy to see. His house always looks like the best one on the block (although I am biased toward the matter of course!) Perhaps I will drive by some time this week and take a photo to share.

I hope the Christmas season is treating everyone well! I shall continue Christmas shopping tomorrow, which I really need to do. 18-ish days is not enough time to get everything I need to do finished, so it's really going to take some dedication now! I still have my part of my mom's gift, my dad's gift, part of Alex's gift and part of my brother's gift to get done, and I haven't wrapped anything yet either! Oh Christmas, you always come sooner than I expect!

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

Life Goes By Too Quickly.

I've been thinking a lot around this holiday season about love and friendship and sharing time with the people you care about most. I like to think that I'm able to do that, and that I make the time I need to make for the people who I care about and who I feel care about me too. Of course, that being said, not everyone has this luxury. While I always tend to gear my more serious posts towards LGBTQ rights as I have strong ties to it's fight and I always seem to feel the need to raise awareness about it's ever glaring neglect, I don't mean to say that there aren't other people facing injustice in the world either, so please forgive me if I veer off onto a tangent, I will get back to my point. 

While I loathe the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid, really raises a question that not many people think about while indulging in chocolate and obsessively collecting Christmas lights and little houses to place all over the mantel. There is a world outside your warm house with that big Christmas tree. There is a world full of hungry people, sick people, lonely people, and some of these people are people you know, people in your town, sitting on your street corner or in the apartment down the hall. While Band Aid was trying to make a point about Africa, and raise money for them, it's not only about Africa. It's about helping the people in your own backyard too. I think that it's important to give this holiday season even more than you take. If you give more than you get, it really does make a difference in the way you see the season.

I lost a friend this past Tuesday to cancer, and I truly wish that I had had one more chance to tell him how amazing he was, and given him one last handshake and a smile to let him know he changed and touched my life in his own special way. If there is a better place, I have no doubt that he is there. He was a great man, and I will miss his smiles and kind words dearly. This loss really got me thinking about life, and how short it is. In a season where we spend so much time happy, laughing and content with our family and friends (despite our popsicle cars and fingers), there are people out there with nothing, and people facing hate and anger in a way many of us can't even possibly understand. And there are people losing battles, and leaving their friends and family behind - and I don't just mean cancer battles. My friend brought so many people together, and his memorial is going to be packed full of not only people who loved him so much, but filled with people who love each other so much. His memorial will be in the spirit of the season, bringing people together to share love, and I know this to be true. This holiday season, I will remember to send his partner even more love than usual, because he doesn't deserve to be alone on Christmas, and he won't be.

This is a shirt I have every intention on purchasing. It describes exactly how I feel at this moment, and it gives a whole new meaning to LGBTQ. I think life goes by too quickly not to live your life the way that makes you happy. I think that you need to concern yourself with your business, and if other people are doing something you don't believe in, that you realize that there is a good chance you're doing something they don't believe in either. I think life goes by too quickly for us to hate so much, and that there is too much in this world to experience to waste your time caring about whether people are gay or straight, or black or white, or male or female... If you're seriously wasting your life away hating people for something uncontrollable, you are just not even close to understanding the meaning of why you are here. How about you put your hate toward the fact that there are starving and abused children in the world, or that there are people dieing from cancer and AIDS? Or why don't you put your hate toward the fact that the family down the street can't afford to have Christmas like you can? Why don't you channel that hate, and use it towards making someone's season brighter, instead of making other people's darker with your misguided hatred? Go spend some time at that homeless shelter you pass on the way to work, or drop off some money to your SPCA. Sponsor a child this Christmas, or donate that jacket you'll never wear to a coat drive, or write a letter to the damn U.N. telling them you think it's unacceptable there are still suffering people in this world of materialistic waste. You'll be amazed at how good you feel doing something amazing for someone else this Christmas instead of ruining the season for those people you don't like for what ever reason it is.

I am desperately trying to be a postive person, when I know that sometimes I'm not, and this season I plan on taking my advice and spreading the love and joy of the season not only for myself, but in the memory of my lost friend, who would have spread so much joy this Christmas had he been able to see it.

Life
Goes
By
Too
Quickly.

Please don't forget that. 

RIP Bryce.


Blog, and be happy.

Kyleigh.

'Tis the Season....

It's officially December, so I can now declare it the Christmas Season! I have decided that as of today, Christmas Lights, Christmas Trees, inside decorations, gifts in wrapping, Christmas jewelry and the dreaded Christmas music can come out of hiding and be enjoyed by the millions of people who want to enjoy it. I personally am struggling with the fact that 2010 is almost over, so I may leave my decorations in the closet a few days longer!

I figure that since I'm declaring Christmas, I must post something Christmas related in order for it to be legit. SO. I got this really cool email from Starbucks yesterday, and I thought for those of you not on the Starbucks list, but who enjoy Starbucks occasionally, that I would pass this on!

Starbucks 12 Days of Sharing

This website it really cool, and it runs for the next 12 days at Starbucks like an advent calendar (but without the chocolate!) Every day, there's something to share from them... for example, today if you buy a handcrafted specialty drink, they'll donate 5 cents to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. 5 cents isn't a LOT, but it's something more than what they usually give. So, if on this December 1st you go to Starbucks, make sure you get them to donate! (It's World AIDS day, and we need to find a cure. If you don't like Starbucks, please donate to the Global Fund or a local AIDS fund anyway! People shouldn't have to die from this disease anymore!)

I must go Christmas shopping, so I will cut this post short in order to not get myself caught up in the desire to keep posting random things. I've been putting it off, but I really, really need to get out there and just do it before the malls get so full you can't move. Wish me luck!


Blog, and be happy! (and Go, Canucks Go!)

Kyleigh.