spoiled.

my last day of work yesterday was wonderful.  I got some really good feedback about the work that I did while I was there and left feeling accomplished and optimistic that I can hopefully work there again sometime in the near(ish) future.  I learned so much during that short 3 months.  derek brought me these home to congratulate me on my last day..

he is the best.  we love having lilies around the house- they last long, smell wonderful and are just plain beautiful. I love receiving flowers and he always picks the best days! things have been pretty crazy around here lately as I'm getting organized to leave so sometimes it's nice to just forget about all the "to-do's" and enjoy time with friends and family.  D and I have a date tonight because it's our last day that we have a chance to spend with each other being that the weekend is filled with a birthday party friday night and a wedding on saturday!

this morning, in celebration of not having to go to work this morning, I enjoyed a non-traditional weekday breakfast.  normally, its overnight oats but this morning I had blueberry eggo's with peanut butter, a little syrup, frozen berries and a banana! delicious! it is a nice treat to switch it up sometimes.

after breakfast, errands(including getting my passport photo taken and going to the passport office), I met my mom and dad for a coffee date! mom brought me these two little treasures home from her trip.  this tea towel is the jam!! it says:

I am not a chef

I did not attend 

le cordon bleu 

I don't wear 

a puffy hat

I cook

for my family

my friends

myself

I am not a chef

I am a cook

I absolutely love it! I'm not sure if I am a very good "cook" just yet, but I really am trying! and this bowl is awesome- I already have a plate and another bowl that are the same brand.  they are made out of recycled material, which is right up my alley and they are super funky.  I need to pick up a couple more so I can make a whole set!

anyways, it has been a wonderful week.  lots of socializing- including megs 30th birthday- shout out to her!! I managed to squeeze in a fab yoga for athletes yoga class on monday and a vinyasa flow on tuesday.  today I'm headed to the studio for my last class until I return in September- how sad!! I hope to squeeze in a run tomorrow and possibly zumba on saturday.

just wanted to touch quickly on what my plan is in terms of blogging while I'm away.  I will try my best to post a few times a week, but I don't get my schedule until I start class on monday.  I am going to be extremely busy out there but I will make time for the blog whenever I can.  be patient and I will do my best!

--m

a day in the field.

here are a few photos that my co-worker took yesterday when we were in the field...

the first two were her attempts to catch the orcas.  can you see them? 

whales rock.

little killer whales.

working girl

my octopus friend.

nudibranch- this guy was cool!

its times like these when I really love my job :) on the downside the super awesome girl I share my office with has her last day tomorrow.  I will miss her, its going to be lonely!

happy wednesday!
--m

a gorgeous day on the water..

or maybe I should say a gorgeous afternoon. the morning was not so nice- rainy and windy but the sun came out eventually! I had a great day on the water.  I feel so content and satisfied when I'm out there- rain or shine.  we were sampling bycatch from commercial prawn fishing boats.  one prawn fisherman expressed exactly how I feel about being in the field when he said, "any day on the water is a good day." so true! regardless of the fact that it was raining and so chilly in the morning, I had a smile on my face.

laurie hanging out on the boat.

I finished the day off with a vinyasa flow yoga class after work which was fantastic! I can't wait for my acro yoga workshop on saturday! should be awesome :)

D made dinner which was a lovely help- homemade mac and cheese, veggies and corn on the cob. perfect comfort food after a long day. 

hope everyone is having a great week!

--m

oh ps. the BEST part of the day was that we saw 3 orcas within 15 minutes of being on the water this morning! woo woo- along with some other fun catches including a cute little octopus.  I enjoyed sampling this fishery because all the bycatch goes back in the water almost instantaneously and you can see everything swim away! definitely more rewarding.  that is all- good night!

weekly reflections.

some of my random thoughts and reflections from the past week..

*the absolute smallest or minor detail can have such an enormous effect on my mood.  this week, while I was getting very frustrated with a particular computer database program at work, I realized how quickly my mood can shift.  several small acts of kindness this week served as a simple reminder that work isn't everything and it is so crucial to remain focused on the bigger picture! since this has been my first "big girl" job in the biology field I often find myself putting way too much pressure myself.  I am learning to let that go and this week has been a work in progress.

*how am I ever going to work, be a wife, be a mom, be a sister, be a daughter, be a friend.. oh my goodness! how do people do it!? I felt overwhelmed this week while trying to keep up with my work, my fitness, friends and family, cooking, cleaning and trying to find some small amount of time for myself!   I was telling my dad the other day about the vehicle I want to buy when suzy(my volvo) passes on.  I said, "it will be perfect for the dogs!" (dogs that I will have as SOON as I'm not living in a condo)  his response was, "yah perfect for 2 dogs, 2 car-seats with screaming kids and a mother(me) thats looks like she is ready to rip her hair out"  that was a nice reality check :) thanks dad! haha. but seriously- my dad rocks. can't wait for fathers day!!

*people are so incredibly frustrating- why on earth would you dump your tray of cigarette butts in the middle of the sidewalk...? just the same as why you would dump all your garbage on the side of the road..? seriously!

*hot yoga never ceases to amaze me.  I haven't been in the hot room for a couple months and I went to a vinyasa flow class yesterday.  one of my favourite teachers taught the class and she also happens to now be my co-worker! well, she is a powerhouse and just got back from a 11 day yoga retreat where she learned some crazy moves.  needless to say, it was very intense and I was a little nervous about being back in the heat.  once we got going I was amazed with how well I did with her new power moves and the heat.  goes to show- you can do anything you set your mind to. this yoga teacher(I am finding this about a few of my favourite yoga teachers) is someone I really look up to.  she has such a positive attitude, is so incredibly encouraging and has a zest for life that I feel rubs off on me every time I see her.

*its friday- the sun is shining, I have some great weekend plans(primarily, the beach and my book) I am one happy camper- life is good! 

--m

workin' girl.

so as most of you know I landed myself quite a fabulous job for the summer.  in previous posts I discussed the field work I have been doing but I thought I would give you an update as to what I have been working on while I'm in the office.

currently I am doing some lab work on scallops.  scallop surveys were completed earlier this year and the samples have just been kept in the freezer because nobody has had a chance to take all the biological measurements. (insert-ME!) I am actually really enjoying this work- to most it would probably seem really tedious and repetitive.  a couple other biologists that were in and out of the lab today looked like they were doing some interesting work so I asked them what they were working on.  one of them was working with six gill shark pups and the other is doing her masters which is focused on reducing the pollution and emissions generated from aquaculture.  so cool! I loved being surrounded by lots of science nerds! I find it really beneficial to learn about all the projects going on because it exposes me to many other departments and opportunities that I otherwise would have no idea even existed.  the work being done is so diverse and I look forward to hopefully being fortunate enough to work in one of these departments when I graduate. fingers crossed!

so I have been struggling to come up with creative lunch ideas.  any suggestions? while I was in the field all of my meals were prepared for me :) but now I have to get back to prepping lunches to take to work each day.  yesterday I used some leftover pasta and cut up lots of veggies and topped it with balsamic vinaigrette.  this was actually really tasty and filling! I packed in some extra nutrition with an orange and strawberries.

today I made a taco salad(minus the meat) as well as a fruit salad and a muffin! hope that keeps me going until 4.  wishing everyone a great day!

--m

bamfield.

although our trip was throughout barkley sound, we spent 1 night in bamfield and 2 nights docked in west bamfield. I haven't been there before so it was really nice to check it out! considering I am going to be spending 6 weeks at the bamfield marine sciences centre in july and august. west bamfield has a really cute boardwalk that I walked both times I was there. here are a few pics..

the last picture is the marine station that I will be attending. the campus is quite large with the residences and all the different labs that they have. quite the facility and I am really looking forward to showering myself with a wealth of information while I am there :)

I have really been enjoying my days off while I am home. especially not having school work to do! I went to yoga yesterday and today and have been doing a lot of walking and catching up with friends and family. yesterday, I did a yoga core class and I was SO sore this morning but the hatha flow I did this afternoon made me feel significantly better! of course, helping D out whenever I can with stuff around the house. hope his shoulder heals up fast! may birthday celebrations start tomorrow! Derek's family tomorrow and mine on Friday! I love family time :) more on that to come!

happy wednesday!

--m

shrimp survey adventures.

so here are a few details about the adventure I have been on for work this past week..

I went out to barkley sound on a government boat to do shrimp surveys. this job was something totally new to me and I was nervous but really excited at the same time. my initial concerns were obviously motion sickness but I surprisingly managed just fine! I didn't even take one gravol the entire time! yay me! the first day was quite rough but I stayed on the deck the majority of the day to keep myself from feeling sick. from there the days only got more beautiful... as you can see from these pictures.

it was such a great experience and I feel fortunate to have landed myself this opportunity. my typical day started at about 6.30 but I had some time to relax in the morning while they pulled in the first tow. once the tow was in, we sorted out all the different fish by species(I am a rockstar with fish now) and then weighed each species and recorded it. from there, we kept a certain portion of shrimp from our sub sample to take sex and length measurements on. normally, there was 2 different species of shrimp that we recorded biological measurements for and then we were on to the next tow! the days went by surprisingly fast- normally about 8 or 9 tows a day and it was 6.00! each evening we normally docked in a different spot. ucluelet, bamfield, west bamfield- it was awesome! west bamfield was amazing because brady's beach was only a short walk away and they had a cute little boardwalk in the village too(pictures to come)

I learned so much on this trip and the crew was welcoming, entertaining and fun to be around. it is so awesome to have the chance to work in my field and I thank many people for assisting me in scoring this great opportunity. my favourite part by far, was all the wildlife. I learned so much about fish, saw so many different species and managed to apply a lot of knowledge from the classroom in a real life setting. I saw the sea lions in ukee on a regular basis, my eagle friends came by each afternoon, and of course tons of different fish! since I'm not eating meat, I ate seafood pretty much every evening. they would just make me some fresh prawns that we got from the boat that day or a crab or sole that we caught in the grate. it was fantastic!! I felt quite spoiled.

a few more photos and stories to come!

hope everyone has a great week!

--m

birthday love.

a few things on the agenda.

first- carissa, scarves and socks will miss you. thank you for the very sweet birthday post! i miss hangin' at the beach with you too!

second- sorry for being so absent. was crazy with school work and exams and then I was out on the boat for work(more on this to come)

third- I am happy to be home for a week to catch up on some blogging and enjoy my birthday with friends and family. I think 22 is going to be a great year!

and thanks everyone for the birthday love. I came home to this lovely site on the kitchen table today :) what a nice bf. and then tulips on my bedside table. what a doll. it was a nice welcome home surprise. and he bought me a brownie treat for my birthday dessert. and cleaned the entire house with one arm... he fractured his shoulder on his mountain bike last friday. looks like I will have some company on my days off this week! can't wait to hang out with him.

this was my favourite spot I came across on my adventures on the boat this past week..

brady's beach. what a treat. this beach was amazing!! nice soft sand and a beautiful sunset.

see you all tomorrow!

--m