And They're Off....

I am wondering why I was ever worried about having a gorgeous summer in PG?!? Being a Kelowna Beach Bum I am used to the blazing sun, warm nights and the art of the rotating fan (having never lived in a house with A/C). The move to PG had me thinking I would never even get to wear my bikini this summer, let alone go swimming. Much to my surprise PG has been GORGEOUS! We have had + 30 days, wonderful sunshine and even found some really nice lakes to go swimming or boating in. Austin has quite the sunburn from boating on Cluculz Lake with friends all day yesterday, yet I feel like he has no right to complain seeing as I spent the day working in the mall. However, my day at work was fairly exciting due to a customer who thought it would be appropriate to pepper spray the mall causing an emergency evacuation - people are so stupid! But I did get paid to sit in the mall parking lot for 40 minutes while the fire department aired out the mall...

(Getting a tan while fishing on Fracis Lake)

Now onto the exciting stuff! Austin and I are moving out of the basement suit and into a new rental on an acre! I am so excited, though living in the basement suit has been an experience I have about had it with sharing my life with strangers who won't let us in the yard and force me to sleep on the couch as a result of "Dora the Explorer" being played above my bedroom at 2 am on a Monday. We have got ourselves a lovely little mobile home to move into at the end of a dirt road. The house has a huge shop, a gigantic yard and (my personal favourite) a soaker tub. Moving day is August 1st which is approaching a little quicker than I would like.

Though moving is always such a hassle I have a feeling that the next place is where we will stay until we are ready to buy after I am done school. Funny how fast life speeds past you, one moment you are moving away from home and the next you are thinking about where you'd like to buy a house after graduation. I cannot wait to have our own space, get a picnic table for the yard and trim whatever trees we want to! Another bonus is that this next house allows pets so I will finally be able to bring my cat, Tango, up from Kelowna where my family has graciously been watching her!

(A picture of my cat Tango sent to me by my sister to put an end to my "is my cat okay?!?!?!?" messages that she receives on a regular basis.)

Excitement all around, though I am sure closer to moving day my blogs might not be quite to eager after days of hauling boxes and furniture! Thanks so much for reading and if you'd like leave a comment! -Shelby

Quading....AKA Being Covered in Mud

So far PG has had a lot to offer, and I am really starting to enjoy it here after our 3 days of adventuring out in the bush! We were lucky enough to have Austin's dad come up for a visit, and with him came enough quads for each of us to crash through the bush without some one's ribs being cracked by a screaming passenger (speaking from experience as the "screaming passenger").

By driving only 40 minutes we were in the middle of no where! I love going quadding in Kelowna, but it's usually fairly busy with lots of people out and about trying to find woods that are easily accessible. We were surrounded by gorgeous trees, fields of flowers and not to mention "gumbo" a PG specialty mud that sucks you in and keeps you there!

The whole trip was tons of fun, and I even got stuck in a little gumbo myself. Hope you enjoy the photos, let me know what you think! As always thank you for reading - Shelby

(Fields of tall grass and flowers)

(The quad I was riding, as Austin noted: "It's little like you!")

(Tadpoles living in a puddle)

(Lots of tadpoles = lots of frogs = very happy Shelby)

(Austin and his dad attempting to navigate through the foliage)

(Hotdogs-the perfect ourdoors lunch)

(Me in my very attractive rain pants)

(Austin enjoying his new quad)

Working Away As Usual

Things here in PG are going really well as of yet. It's been a little bit crazy to tell you the truth, but I am loving every minute of it. I am working full time, which is amazing, at a bookstore and it has taken a lot of my time. I have only been there since May and already have gotten a promotion (hence the lack of blogging!).

Seeing as I have been so busy I thought I would do a little write up about some of the things I've learned since being up here.


1) There Is Always Something To Do Up Here
Want to go fishing? Load up the boat and drive 20 minutes to trout filled lakes or merely find a nice spot on the Nechako River (which runs through town) and try your luck at some salmon fishing. Want to go to a show? There are numerous theatres in town with live shows featuring talented actors paid to perform while CN Centre is always featuring great acts or entertainment. Hiking, hunting, quading, shopping or even just a nice relaxing afternoon reading in a coffee shop - Prince George is a great place to be.

(Very cheesy photo of me out doing some target practice in the pouring rain)

2) The Kitchen Is Not A Scary Place
As you may have previously read I am newly moved out from home, and with moving out comes many challenges. The most difficult for me being the "Battle of The Kitchen". I come from a family fortunate enough to be filled with amazing cooks, and no matter how many times my Dad may have attempted to teach me proper cooking techniques this was an area of slight agony to me. However, my days off thus far have been blissfully (and sometimes admittedly agonizingly)filled with creating all sorts of delicious foods from scratch such as chicken curry, chocolate cake and even (Austin's personal favourite) jambalaya!


3) People Are More Relaxed
There is a reason Kelowna is jokingly nicknamed "Kelownafornia". It's busy, fast paced and filled with women containing more implants than you could possibly count. Sometimes you can spend half an hour attempting just to get to Walmart. Prince George, though widely spread out, lacks a lot of the stress found in big cities even though it's considered the capitol of the North. I have never had a more pleasant time working retail in my entire career - and believe me I have worked a lot of retail! I am constantly impressed by the friendliness and welcoming attitude of the people here, I even had a customer offer to give me her reusable shopping bag as a gift when I commented on how cute it was.

Don't get me wrong, there are some negatives to. However, for the moment we are keeping it positive! Thank you so much for reading my little blog and please feel free to comment! - Shelby

(I am also searching for a new name for the blog - any thoughts?)

Settling In

Well, another week down! I haven't been blogging much because unfortunately I have not done much. It's a lot of work to put a house together and to top it all off I have been sick. Between the stress of final exams, packing, moving, finding a job, and getting my courses sorted out for this fall I am honestly not surprised I got a little run down. However, some fun things did happen! Firstly Austin has taught me to drive his truck so when he's not working I get to drive it, if I can find a place to park the beast that is. Nineties long box, extended cab Fords are not the nicest to park- not to mention it's standard which creates a whole new realm of difficulty. While practicing on some country roads we happened to stumble upon a mama black bear and her two little cubs. They were adorable rolling around in the grass and chasing each other!

(This is Austin's old Ford, we had a minor accident. The new one is avoiding trees to say the least!) Secondly the house is unpacked!!! Oh the happiness is like no other! I feel so good looking around and not seeing a single box. This place is feeling more like home by the day even if the only place I know how to get to is the grocery store. Funny note: Austin and I also thought that some of the yard was our responsibility (our rental agreement says so) and I was raking away while Austin used his chainsaw to trim the pine trees around our house, when all of the sudden the lady from upstairs came out of her suite, looked at me and said "what are you doing?!?!?". Turns out she didn't like the trees being chopped up and is under the opinion the yard is hers. Quite the awkward moment. Oops? Lastly I am now employed! At last I am free from this house day after day. It was really starting to drive me insane being home all the time with not a whole lot to do. I will be working in a book store and am looking forward to interacting with people again (other than raging people wanting to protect dead tree branches that is). Prince George is turning out pretty well so far, other than missing my family. Today we went to not only a gun show (Austin is the proud new owner of yet another shot gun), but a horse show also. I am looking forward to more PG adventures! Any thoughts of fun things to do here? Leave a comment if so! - Shelby

PG At Last

Well, I am here at last! Hello PG! It was quite the journey to get here, an 8 hour drive with my little 8 foot by 5 foot Uhaul trailer (paid for and generously driven by my Dad). It's a strange thing to see the entire contents of you life shoved, with a fair amount of force might I add, into a 5x8 trailer. Pretty humbling to see absolutely everything that you own in one place at one time! I have been here a week today, and man has it ever been a busy week. Unpacking, organising and cleaning cleaning cleaning! Austin works on average 6 days a week, sometimes even doing 18 hour days, so I can totally understand that the last thing he wants to do on his evenings off is clean. All I can say is boys....you women out there know what I mean! Our little basement suit is starting to look a lot more like home, even if it still feels like I am just visiting. The reality that this is my house too still has not quite sunk in. Our house is more than I could have imagined in a "first home". The roomy two bedroom with a huge bathroom is suiting our needs quite nicely. The washing machine is something of a bother for me....looking at it I am not sure whether my clothes will come out cleaner or dirtier than when they went in. So far so good! As for the city of Prince George I am not sure what to say. It's not really very exciting. The surrounding area is gorgeous, I am really looking forward to getting some fishing in once the ice is off the lakes. PG itself however, nothing special! Being the hub of the North there are a lot of big box stores to supply all the little towns around here, not many of the little boutiques that I love to shop so much like in Kelowna. Now that my life is settling down a little bit I hope to keep up the blog more regularly. We will have to see how often my high heels get to come out, I have a feeling the snowshoes and cowboy boots are going to get their fair share of use up here and lead to the most written about adventures. Have a good weekend! -Shelby

The Dogs Are Nipping at My Heels

My name is Shelby and I am about to embark on one heck of a journey. I am leaving my family, hometown and friends all at the same time to move to Northern British Columbia. Recently I was accepted into UNBC in Prince George, British Columbia to enter the third year of my Environmental Studies BA with directed studies in Natural Resource Management. Quite the mouthful to say the least! So this means I am moving eight hours away from home, moving in with my boyfriend, going to a different university and facing the reality of growing up all within an extremely short time frame. What does someone do when they are starting such a life changing experience? Well we tell the world about it, and that is my intention for this blog. Life isn't easy, in fact it can be quite the opposite, and so I wanted to start this blog to cover the adventures that I will be facing in my life along with whatever comes with them be it good or bad. Whether I am wearing high heels, cowboy boots or snowshoes I know that these events in my life are going to form me to be the person I am to become as I am set loose upon the world. The time has come for me to find my way in this crazy world; the dogs are nipping at my heels and urging me to get a move on. I am lucky to have my partner in crime and loving boyfriend Austin there beside me as well as an amazing support system at home to help me as I make this huge move. The future is gleaming before me and I am a little cautious to touch it and risk the possible damage, but you can't afford to not take the opportunity. Austin has been living in Prince George (PG from now on) since December and I am excited to get to be with him again. Long distance relationships are not an easy thing and I send my best wishes to any of you that may be going through one! Moving day is only two days from now and I am living in utter chaos while attempting to pack up my life from my family home. We will have to see how this all goes, I am going to miss my family a lot but thank goodness for Skype. Thank you for reading my first little blog post, hopefully there will be more interesting ones in the future as I face the challenges of a Northern life. Feel free to comment and I look forward to updating again soon! -Shelby