Summer

So you are in for a treat. 3 blog posts in one night!! I guess I'm making up for a lack of posts this past month. Hard to believe I've been off from school for almost a month now and I really haven't written about anything I've done. It's been a pretty busy month, this last week wasn't as crazy and I actually had a few days I was bored but other than that I really have been keeping myself occupied. Here are some things I've done...

1) Went Camping in Spruce Woods for 5 days.

I went with my mom, dad, Steve, Olena and Austin. The 5 of us (6 with baby) slept in my parents trailer. It was a little "cozy" in there but it actually worked. I planned on setting up my tent so we'd have more sleeping room but our spot was a lot smaller than the picture showed and there was no room for it. It was Austin's first official camping trip and he was a little trooper. He slept pretty well at night and we had a great time with him each day. We went to the beach a couple times and for an evening stroll for ice cream in a town close by. Steve and Olena left a day earlier than we did so on that last evening and day we got some hiking in. My mom and dad even went with me on a 10km hike to the Spirit Sands and Devil's Punch Bowl. It was a long and hot walk but we made it.

Canada landed on our last night there

A small lake we crossed before getting to the Devil's Punchbowl. 

The Devil's Punchbowl

A view of the river nearby

The Spirit Sands

My parents after our 10km hike.

2) Painted the trim on my windows and watersealed my deck.

So the watersealing went super easy and looked fantastic.... for about a day. Then it rained! and rained! and the next morning I woke up to a splotchy and awful looking deck. I was so disapponted. I guess the water seal hadn't dried enough and where ever the rain was sitting on the deck over night it made splotchy marks. I was so frustrated and since the stuff is supposed to be clear, I figured a second coat wouldn't help any. Luckily it rained again the next day and it evened it out a bit more. I decided to sand down the worst spots and redid them (the railing mostly and the front step) but the rest will have to do and I just put the furniture back on the deck to cover it up. I'll redo it again next year and I guess it will even itself out from normal wear.

The painting went a lot better. I must admit I was a little scared to get up on the ladder to paint the second floor windows but after a while I kind of got used to it. Still not the funnest feeling though. So I decided to paint my window trim white. It was a reddish colour before and I never liked it. I know a few people have told me.. white??? That's so boring! (and I know one reader of this blog will think I'm just talking about her but you're not the olny one to say this) but I like the way it looks. I don't have a picture of the front of my house to show you yet but I'll post a before and after later for you to judge yourself :)

3) Spent time with my amazing nephew, Austin. Enough said!!!

4) Went golfing three times so far in the last 2 weeks.

I can't believe how long it's taken me to get out on a course this year but I've tried 2 new courses so far. I went to one just down my street for the first time and I loved it. Didn't do so great but it was my first time out this year. The second game was at an old favourite and then today I went with a new boy in my life and his friend. We went out to Teulon. It's an hour drive to get there but the course was really nice.

5) Other stuff here and there. Went for a few bike rides down the bike path near my home. It goes all the way to the cemetary where my cousin has his spot so it's nice to have a destination to ride to and to have a moment at his bench. Acutally went on a 24km bike ride with the new boy I spoke of earlier. We couldn't take the bike path because he was on roller blades and a small section was being redone so we took a very long detour and then when around some other areas as well. When all was said and done ended up figuring out it was about 24km long. I went to Corydon for ice cream. Tried out the frozen yogurt at Menchies for the first time. Had a bon fire at the boy's place. Been to a few movies including a drive-in at the church near my parents place and I went to see The Heat which I totally recommend. I've done a little planning here and there for school but nothing crazy. Still keeping up my garden and heading to the gym when I get the chance.

Other than that the days seem to be flying by. I know August is going to go by so much quicker. I have a 7 night camping trip planned for Rushing River. A 2 night camping trip to Grand Beach. A few events planned with family and friends and Rainbow Stage tickets for Mary Poppins are bought. The last two weeks before going back to school are going to be busy with back to school preperations and then that's it. Summer will be over. I'm going to make the most of it though and enjoy every minute.

Hope your summer is going great!

Concerts

So this summer I've been to a few country concerts already. I love outdoor concerts, especially country concerts. There is something about being outside listening to music that is just so amazing. It started out with the Ex concerts. Every year the schools get Ex tickets to give to students who read more than 20mins a day for 20 days the month before the Ex comes. There are always so many tickets left over that the teachers can take some for their own use. I took my share for sure (better than them going to waste!). So I invited Christine and some of her friends that we went with last year and I was super excited they wanted to go.  The main artist was Jason Blaine and the opening act was Small Town Pistols (The Wilkinson's minus the dad). Both were really good. It ended up raining on us and at first we went and hid under a roof off to the side but eventually I just gave in and got soaked. You couldn't hear very well standing off to the side where the roof was so I just enjoyed.

The following week George Canyon was performing at the Ex. A few of the ladies at my work were going and offered that I could join them if I couldn't find a friend who wanted to go. Unfortunately most of my friends don't listen to country and Olena, who loves going to country concerts with me, has a new baby at home and couldn't join me this year. I mentioned the concert to my mom however and she offered to come with me. It was actually really good and the weather turned out perfect.

Last weekend Doc Walker played at the Lyric Theatre in Assiniboine Park and The Show Was Free! (ok that was a sad joke based off of a song of their's, but it was actually free). Again I told my mom about it and she was even more exctied to join me after the last concert had been so good and she actually knew who the band was without me having to play their songs for her. On the day of the concert it rained all day and I was worried we wouldn't get to go but the skies cleared up just in time and we couldn't have asked for a better night. We bumped into several people there we hadn't seen in a while and just had a great time singing, dancing and laughing together. I love that my mom and I can go out and just hang out like a couple of girl friends.

Haircut

I was overdue for a haircut. Really overdue. My hair was at the length where I felt like the only thing I could do with it was a side braid and if I did anything other than that it just went crazy. So I finally got ahold of my hairdresser (which is nearly impossible) and booked an appointment for last Thursday.  I realized the last time I saw her was 11 months ago. I did go to Singleton's once in between (Christmas time I think) and they butchered my hair and I've been dying to get it recut since then. I was planning to go a bit shorter than I did. I usually go to around the shoulders but I had a few people suggest I leave some length to it, so I listened. Here are the results...

I was happy with the job my hairdresser did but not super impressed with her professionalism. She was busy texting the entire time she did my hair, she was 15mins late for our appointment (as in not even in the salon yet) and then made me sit for 30mins while she coloured her next clients hair before she blowdryed and styled my hair. I've gone to her for a few years now and I'm ready to find someone else. There is a hair salon opening at the end of my street I think I'll check out next time.