We made the newspaper!

We made it into the local newspaper for our Amazing Race during the retreat! I'll try to get my hands on a few copies if anyone wants them for historical purposes. How great is it that we have a picture of the alumnae and active doing an event together?

Amanda

What a Weekend!

Well another Alumnae Retreat has come and gone! The 2010 event was held in Prince George this year with Carrie, Suzy, Ashlyn, Robyn and Catherine coming from out of town.

We started out with the traditional Wine and Cheese night on Friday with much gabbing and catching up to do. Pink bags were decorated to be used for the scavenger hunt prizes. Saturday morning we all met up at UNBC for our group pictures and a tour of the continually changing campus. As fate would have it, our tour guide, Sufey, was a member of the active group! She had no idea who she was giving a tour to and when she saw our letters she exclaimed "I know those letters, who are you guys?!" Susan convinced her to spend the rest of the day with us... I hope we convinced her to take an active role in the group and eventually become an alumnae.In the afternoon, we split up into 3 teams to run the "Amazing PG Race". The teams had to complete challenges and collect clues to lead them through 8 PG locations. We started with a clue on the highest diving platform of the Aquatic Centre, and from there went all around PG fromriding the mini-railway at the Railway Museum, to creating an art piece at the Two River's Gallery, to bowling a strike at Strike Zone (which I am proud to say I'm the only one who did that on her own merits!) and finally meeting up for dinner to laugh about the events of the day.

On Sunday, we went to Lonnie's house for tasty brunch and created a small flip scrapbook to commemorate the weekend. Ask a member who attended to show their's off... they turned out great! Later that evening we had a BBQ and played Pictionary Man - which is a family game even though the clues involved everything from "seduction" to "penetrate"!! It was hilarious, though you probably had to be there!

Monday was very laid back with out of town members splitting up to visit with various local girls before heading back home. All in all it was a nice mix of activity and relaxing. Thanks again to everyone for making this a weekend to remember. I know I speak for us all when I say that we're looking forward to the 2011 Calgary Retreat... woohoo Stampede!

Amanda

Our big move!!!

Hello girls!!!

It has been a long time since I have posted on here. I haven't had any new news to share until now, so never knew what to write on here. For those of you who haven't heard, Clarence and I have decided to make a major move up to the Northwest Territories!!! At Christmas time I applied for a job up there and then our phone lines went down so they couldn't contact me and so when another job opened up a fellow social worker told me to apply. That was in February and I just received the job offer 2 weeks ago. We are very excited...however a little scared. Neither of us have ever lived outside BC and to move so far away from family was a big decision. And to top it all off we are leaving next week!!! So this is going to be a very busy week for us with packing and getting things in order at my current job for the next person to take over.

I will be a Community Social Worker in Fort Providence, which is on the Mackenzie River just at the west side of the Great Slave Lake. The pay is good, twice what I am currently making for doing almost the same type of work. Also there are more job opportunities for Clarence up there as he is hoping to get a job with the diamond mines up there. All in all, I think this is the right move for us (and I have an aunt and uncle only 2 hours away in Hay River).

We both love to travel so I am sure we will be making lots of trips back to BC or Alberta so I will see you all again. Unfortunately because I will just be starting my new job, I won't be able to make it to the retreat this year, but definitely will keep in it in my plans for next year. Also, if anyone wants to come and visit us, we will have a very nice brand new 2 bedroom townhouse so we can host guests. Our townhouse is right on the river, so there will be plenty of fishing up there!!!

We are both very excited as we also have a 'new' used vehicle. I sold my Dodge Durango and bought ourselves a Cadillac Escalade!!! It is a bit older than my vehicle but the km's were low and the owner's kept it in good shape. So this is a bit of a new beginnings for us...new job, new town, new house, and 'new' SUV. I would post pictures, but technology and I don't get along, and I have never figured out how to post pictures.

I also want to say thank-you to my sisters in the sorority who have encouraged me to make this step and who have supported me along the way. I will miss you all and hope everyone has a good time at the retreat. I will see you all next year!

My new address will be: General Delivery
Fort Providence, NT
X0E 0L0

I will update you all when I get a new phone number, but in the meantime I will still have my old cell phone number (250) 981-0808. I won't have cell service up there after May but I can check my messages and call you back. Or you can email me at blackjackqueen@hotmail.com . Stay in touch and best wishes to you all....

Almost a mommy!

HI Girls!

Well, I am getting closer. I am officially 36 weeks now and feel and look huge! It could literally be any day. For those who don't know, Corey and I are expecting our first little girl in the next 4 weeks. We have named her Gemma Lily Mitchell. Super excited and just a little bit terrified too.

If you want to see our maternity photo shoot, you can go to www.babyart.ca or http://www.bowesphotography.ca/index2.php and go to the "clients" tab on the tool bar in the main website. Enter our password "nm10" and you can view the proofs from our session last week. The online link will only be available until May 5, so have a peek before then!

Hope all is well with you guys! Lots of love, Natalie

This mommy thing is working out well for me....

....so I thought I go for it one more time! LOL

Yup, Baby Watts #3 is due Sept 21, 2010!! Big sister Robyn is really excited and wants this one to be a baby sister (who apparantly is "going to sleep in her bed, because she has two pillows and she only uses one of them!" lol, aahh 3 year olds!)
Big brother Ollie has no idea what's going on, but he's such a loveable guy and loves to give hugs and kisses, I know he'll be a great big bro!
We are really excited and also a little scared - they are going to outnumber us now! Ack!

Hope everyone is doing well, you all deserve a better update post from me and I hope to get to that soon!

-Sarah

It's been a long time.

Hey Sisters,

So I just wanted to say Hi, I miss you guys so much and wanted to let you know how things are going.

Life is busy as usual, it just dawned on me last month that I have officially been attending post-secondary for 11 years now. When this current program is over, it still won't be over for me. I am almost done (May 28th) the medical lab assistant program at VCC, which I am loving. However, I have also applied for the Practical Nursing program as the MLA program was really only to see if I could handle full-time school and Taryn. So since we are hoping to have another baby or two in the future I decided RN is a little too much to commit to right now but an LPN can always be built on. Yay! I'm finally going into nursing, only 9 years after I initially wanted to. School is amazing, I am loving doing ECG's and poking people with needles it is much easier and less scarier than I thought it would ever be.

Taryn and Chris are great. Chris is amazing and so supportive with school and Taryn. He makes it so easy for me to relax when I come home from school. Having my parents in the suite downstairs is nice as they usually have dinner ready for us when we get home and leaving Taryn with them puts me at ease.

I can't believe how quickly Taryn is growing. We went for a walk yesterday to the park and watching her run around on her own is such a shock. When did that happen?

So I have decided to challenge myself this spring and will be partaking in the 'Climb the Wall' event for BC Lung Assoc. I will be climbing 48 flights of stairs (739 steps). So I started my training this week and hope to god to just make it to the top without wanting to quite. I'm not up for a race to the top just to actually complete it, next year I can worry about time.

This November we will be going to Australia for a month as a family to celebrate Chris's sisters wedding and see as much as possible with a 2 year old at that time. It will be amazing as Chris's mom will be there for a bit to help with Taryn, Chris's sister Coral has offered to watch Taryn for a couple days when we are in Sydney with her friend (who is going to come babysit Taryn while we are at the reception). His sister Hannieh, who lives in Australia is going to take us to Queensland and show us all around. I can't wait to meet my new brother-in-law and niece (i've never met her due to the distance). To make this trip even more amazing the money that we

were going to be spending on flights can now be used as spending money and for traveling to Alice Springs and a week in Hong Kong as Chris's dad gave us the flights to Australia as a Christmas gift.

So overall, this year has started off with a bang, it is moving so fast and I am loving every minute of it. I love watching Taryn grow, I love developing and growing more myself with my new skills and I love watching my family grow together and closer every day.

I wish you all a good year and hope that you find enjoyment in your lives.

Love Trish

Just a Little Update!

Hi ladies.

Sorry, I have not been very active in the sorority since I became alumnae but I am hoping to change that in the near future (maybe May-ish as I have no time till then). I graduated with my Bachelor of Education in May 2009 but was never able to find work at the school district here. However, after 8 months of being unemployed, a job just seemed to fall into my lap. I am currently an English Instructor at the College of New Caledonia here in Prince George. I work for the College and Career Preparation program which is adult upgrading. I am full-time (contract), teaching 3 English courses (2 at grade 10 level and 1 at the grade 12 level). It is not what I expected to do with my life as I am trained to work with primary children. I almost did not take the job as the thought of teaching adults terrified me. However, I am sooooo happy I took the job because I am loving it. I pretty much work 6 days a week and 11 hours a day during the week just trying to plan and prep everything (not to mention the stack of marking I have yet to do). It is crazy, busy and time consuming but I am really enjoying myself. I am hoping they like me and will hire me back on again in September. Anyway, that is about it for new and exciting stuff going on in my life. Hope everyone else is doing well and I can't wait to meet everyone in May.

Shannon Perlstrom

Finally a Blog!

Hello Ladies and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. For those of you I haven't met, I'm Sam. I joined the sorority in 2000. I had just moved up to Prince George and knew hardly anyone. I met up with a few friends of a friend who were in the sorority and they convinced me to sign up. I almost didn't because I was so scared of what would happen at initiations!

Anyways, I am now living in Victoria. My family has lived here since I was 11 but before moving home I had lived away from Victoria for almost seven years, five spent in PG and two spent in Japan.

My past year has been filled with lots of adventures. All of which I have really enjoyed! I started my post degree program in education in September of 2008. I did my practicum at a high school in town. I spent 4 amazing months working with some pretty amazing kids and having the support of some fantastic teachers. My practicum was a sucess but after I was finished I was left wondering what to do! Being a Social Studies teacher there wasn't much work here on the lower island and so I decided to do some professional developement. I have been working towards a French diploma and a diploma from the Special Education program from Vancouver Island University. I have also been working for my brother's IT company as their administrative assistant. When I am not doing school and working I have been volunteering. As many of you know I work for a fair trade company ordering crafts from cooperatives in Africa. I also volunteer for the Intercultural Association teaching newcomer Canadians English.

Other than the crazy amounts of pro-d and the volunteering....I also have been blessed with a very supportive Aunt and Uncle. Lucky for me they decided to buy me a car over the summer. YAY! I was really excited and really have felt really lukcy to have her. Driving just makes things so much easier when I am so busy!

Anyways! Finally a blog! I hope everyone is well!

Merry Christmas!

Hi Ladies,

I am terrible with sending out Christmas cards so this year again I am doing a little online x-mas card for my sorority sisters! I hope that all of you have an amazing Christmas and a very happy New Year and that 2010 brings you all the happiness, health and success you could ask for. This year we are staying in Grande Prairie for Christmas and my parents and my youngest two siblings will be coming to spend it with us. This will be the first time that we have ever hosted Christmas and Marshall is extremely excited that Santa is coming to his house this year for the first time, Lainey is still too little to really understand Christmas but I think it will be nice for her to be in her own home as well. I think that it is going to be a very quiet and peaceful holiday which will be a nice change from the hectic travelling/running around that we normally do. I hope everything is great for all of you and that it's a perfect holiday for you all. I love you lots and miss you girls, I can't wait until May for the retreat. Big Hugs and lots of love

Gina

Update on me!

So since after tonights potluck dinner with the Vancouver chapter my secret will be out, I thought I had better drop a line on here to let the rest of you ladies know that in May our family of three will be growing to four. We are super excited for the new little one to join us and complete our family, even Adam seems to be on board with the baby in mommy's tummy. Our little addition is due May 24/10 (same day as Nat B ) but after talking to the doctors who took care of me with Adam and will monitor me through this one we have decided to go will the repeat c-section, not what I would have ideally liked but it is the right choice and also means we will meet this little one likely 10-12 days before my actual due date. We have our big u/s on Jan 9 and are hoping to find out if we are having a boy or girl at that time so in the meantime I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season!

Update since my last post this summer

Hello ladies :o)

It is really great to see all the big changes that have happened for everyone. I figured I should update since my last post as it has been a crazy 5 months for me.

At the end of June I started to get these weird hives all over for no reason. It came with joint pain and major swelling, itching and a lack to be alert or have the ability to remember things or concentrate. I had the hives for a total of 3.5 months with no break of the symptoms and no treatment that worked.

I had to take 5 weeks off work b/c it was affecting my memory and my concentration. It was a really hard decision for me, but I was probably at risk of making a serious mistake at work; In my job that can be disastrous. So while off I had a lot of time to think about a lot of stuff, which I think I needed to do. I also went through a TON of tests and medications to see if anything would work. Eventually, Aerius was prescribed and it worked!! I was taking double the dose, but it was helping with things. In the end, I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Chronic Urticaria. Which in our normal people talk, Chronic hives that are occurring b/c your body is attacking itself for an unknown reason. This kinda freaked me out, but they were able to guarantee me that whatever this was wasn't killing me or hurting my organs.

I hope I didn't gross anyone out with the pics, but it is the only way to really explain the situation.

Things in that area have improved :o) I have been hive free (with the exception of about 6 hives a day) for about 3 weeks and I haven't had to take an aerius for about 3 days. All of the other symptoms have also gone away, which has significantly increased my quality of life. In the summer this issue caused me to be unable to ride my brand new bike :o( The last time I road it pretty much all summer was the bike trip i posted about in the last blog. I got one late trip in October to Whistler, but dumped my bike b/c I got mentally fatigued on the way down and made a stupid move. Me and the bike are fine.. except for my dignity and my ankle :o)

The biggest and most exciting news is that Aaron and I just bought a town home in Langley! We decided at the end of September that for our 2nd anniversary we would be making a deal on a house. It was the first place I saw and the last place he saw, b/c I went out before without him. He loved it, and I was already in love with it, but didn't tell him that. So we picked the same place :o) We move all our stuff in over the next four days. We are going to buy all new furniture... not sure how to do that money wise.... but we can make cuts in our budget for it somewhere :o) I posted the 'before' pics here, the after are to come :o)

New Alumnae Baby On The Way!!

I would like to introduce Baby Mitchell to the world! I am 3 months and 3 days pregnant and freaking right out! Yes, for those that are doing the mental math, I did just get married 3.5 months ago and yes, this is a honeymoon baby! I guess Corey is just that good! I just never thought it would happen quite so fast. Did I mention that I am still getting used to the idea? Thank god my best friend Amanda is a wiz at parenting and will have a fresh memory to share! So, here is a pic of our alien for your viewing pleasure!

By the way I will be in PG Nov 25-29 if anyone wants to visit. Hope all is well! Love you all, Natalie (Borys) Mitchell

Fall 2009 Gamma Chapter Event

For our Fall 2009 Gamma Chapter Event we organized the same thing as last year because the event last year was such a success. We all went to the Maple Meadows Corn Maze. We had absolutely the best weather possible, Sun, Sun, Sun. And we even welcomed the guys to join us for our day of events at the Corn Maze. The turn out was great, Mel, Catherine, Aaron, Susan, Robyn, Ian & Carrie all participated and we had a great time. Thanks to our fearless leader, Ian we were actually able to complete the enter maze and get all 12 stamps. Ian was our Gamma G.P.S and navigated us through most of the maze, as we dodged loud families and unsupervised children. The day was a total success and a personal highlight for me was getting to shot the Corn Gun. The corn gun is very similar to a potato gun, but you use corn. And they have several targets set up for you to aim at. I was not able to hit any of the targets, but I had a great time shooting the gun.

The best part of the day was being able to visit and catch up with each other as we all walked around trying to find the Corn stamping stations. Some updated that were shared during our walk were… Catherine & Aaron have found a lovely home that they will be buying… Carrie is scheduled to move into her new home on Nov 20th… Mel is trying to do her final practicum (starting in Jan) in Nanaimo so that she could be closer to her man… Robyn still loves her job with Kiewit and so going to be participating in the UNBC career fair representing her company this month. I think we are all now really looking forward to our Gamma Winter event, which is going to be our 5th Annual Gamma Christmas Potluck. It is yet to be determined who will hosting our Potluck this year. But I am sure it will be great as always.

A Whole New World

Hello ladies,

I love to read all of your news and find out how life is for my "sisters" so I thought it was about time for me to post one myself. Life is so busy adjusting from being a couple to having a family.

Calista is already 8 months old and is a big girl... she weighs 25 lbs and is pretty tall too (or is it still length since she isn't walking yet?)! She's figured out how to roll and gets around the house pretty well that way ~ we've begun to child proof the house as it's only a matter of time before she's crawling and walking and getting curious about everything she can reach.

Prince George is getting cold and I'm already missing the beautiful summer we had. We went down to the river yesterday to take some fall family pictures and it was freezing. Cyrus still went swimming and his fur was frozen before we got back to the car... crazy dog!

I have started taking level 1 cake decorating classes with my mom and will be starting a baby sign class at the end of October. Calista and I are trying to get out of the house and go do different activities together like "Baby Time" at the library (strange how okay I am with singing strange little songs with other people now that I have a baby who loves it) and going swimming at the pool. With winter coming, I'm keeping an eye out for a baby sled to take her on walks in the snow. Oh... and don't tell her dad, but I think she's beginning to like shopping... she picked out a cute little toque and gloves this weekend :)

I try to keep a little more updated on Facebook so if you are not on my friends list already and would like to see how Calista is doing, add me to your list. I post lots of pictures and videos for those that don't see her regularly.

I'm soooo looking forward to seeing everyone at the retreat this year... I was sad to miss the last one!

Gotta go feed my little one her breakfast... so keep in touch and I hope so see you in the near future!

Amanda

Finally - an update!

Hello Ladies!

It has been such a long time since I posted anything on the blog. I have appreciated learning more about you ladies through your postings. Thank you so much for sharing your lives with all of us.

Here is an update on my whereabouts and happenings for the last spring summer

I am still living on the beautiful Sunshine Coast (a pennisula off the mainland), in Gibsons (where the Beach Combers were filmed). I work in nursing for Public Health and have been here for about 4 years. Over the last couple years I have been busy with helping to organize and train for a well attended Youth Clinic where we provide Contraception, Sexually Transmitted Infection screening, support, immunizations, and referals to other agencies/ health care providers when needed. It has been so reqrding working within this scope of nursing practice. I also provide nursing support for moms babes and families in various aspects from newborn visits and breastfeeding to immunizations and developmental assessments.

In my home life, My husband and I live in a townhouse in upper Gibsons with our little dog Bear (i've had Bear throughout university so some may already know him). Walter (my hubby) works as a helicopter pilot in Northern Alberta for Gemin Helicopters. They receive contracts from various organizations, government ministries for this like oil exploration and wellmaintanance, Forrest fire surveying and fighting, air ambulance, transportation of people, Pine beetle surveying etc. Keeps him busy but away a lot. He usually works 4 wks on and 10 days off. However, this can vary as contracts can extend. I find it hard to plan around this but try to keep time open for it. This is why at times I am just not available as many times Walter shows up early (or late) and plans get changed so that I can spend that precious time with him. It has been getting easier as we have been doing this for 4 1/2 years now, but it would be nice if sometime he was home for more time, or a away for shorter periods.

So when the hubby is home we are usually out for a good hike somewhere or off on an adventure. Our latest endeavour is hiking to Emma Lake in Powell River area. It is a 10k hike to a cabin up in the mountains. The pics look beautiful- so we must go explore.

I spent last weeend taking my parents out kayaking for the first time. We went to this place called Secret Cove and paddled along the shoreline to another cove called Smugglers' Cove. Both are beautiful sheltered areas. THe water in Smugglers is usually quite aqua blue. It's amazing the clarity we are getting at this time of year. I will be posting pics on my facebook account for those interested in checking it out.

This weekend plans to be an adventure as I am heading out to Keremeos with my father and brother and his gf to pick up tomotoes and peppers and fruit for canning this Year. On an annual basis we go to keremeos to get our stocks for the winter and then the following few days are a canning blitze of salsa, peppers, tomoato sauce, tomotoes and fruits and jams. Already this year we have made Crab apple Jelly, Blackberry and rasberry jam. I love this time of year. It's like the stock piling before hibernation.

It also helps that my paretns and I have a communal garden at their place where we can grow many things we can eat through summer and store in winter. This year I am working towards planting winter plants (brocolli, beets, leeks) as well as planting in fall for spring/ summer items (garlic, peas etc).

Well that's really most of my happenings for the summer at least. Hope all is well with everyone of you. Take care

Sandra

Update

I thought I should update you all on whats been happening. After a very suprising and quick decline, mom passed away on August 4th. Its hard to believe that she is gone. There are times when I am doing okay but then there are times when I am not. But with the help of my friends and family I shall be okay.

To keep my busy I have been going out and taking a lot of pictures of the surrounding area which Ill show you guys.. if i can figure out how to post them

I was playing with my manual focus on that one

and then this one I like

and this one


thats just a few of the many many pics I have taken over the months. I want to learn more techniques lol we shall see how that goes..

Well thats all for now. Thank you all for your support and kind words, you are the best. Take Care
-Andrea D

Danya's Update

This is from Danya

hey there! well i was trying to post a blog post to let everyone know.. but the site won't let me..anyway i broke up with Dan. basically i got sick of paying for everything.. and i've realized he's never going to pay me back so i should just get out. we agreed to keep it friendly since we had to give a month's notice here.. but he still hasn't paid his half of the rent, or his share of the phone bill for the least few months. i got the phone bill yesterday and for this past billing period he racked up over $200 calling his ex gf in calgary. so i shut off his phone. i've been a stressed out mess the last month and a bit but i'm sure things will get better. i just have 2 weeks to find a place to live... also i decided to go back to school in september (upgrading).. i just passed a biology upgrading course wiht a B+!! but since Dan appears to be skipping out on me... i'm not going to be able to afford it.so we'll see... i'm trying really hard to stay strong but sometimes it gets hard. but i'm looking forward to being on my own again.

Wedding Pics!!

Hi Girls!!

We had a beautiful sunny afternoon for our wedding. A small gathering of friends and family attended our ceremony. We made our canopy together (It's a Jewish tradition to get married under a canopy) with the help of Amanda and her husband Nathan. She was, after all, the matron of honour! It was a very emotional and heartfelt ceremony, especially when my husband Corey surprised me with a very personal letter right beofre we said our vows! I have included some pics for you to view, and there are more on my Facebook page. I hope you guys like them!

Love you lots, Natalie Mitchell

Summer Gamma Chapter Event!

Recently I hosted a Gamma Chapter event and I wanted to share it with all of you… we did an APB Spa Night at my house. We all deserve a little pampering now and then!

As I am sure a lot of you know our Sister Sarah is and MK rep, so she was wonderful and supplied all the products and make-up for us to use and try. It was a relaxing night of spa treatments, desserts & treats, as well as good conversation and visiting. Shannon brought a wonderful cake from her cake decorating course for the event that was totally amazing and I wish I had a picture of it. YUMMY!

It is always hard to get together during the summer months because everyone is so busy, but we had a great turn out. Sarah, Carrie, Trish, Mel, Shannon, Nat D, Robyn & obviously I all participated. This was the first time many of us have had the chance to meet Robyn. And as expected… she was wonderful, and fit into our group right way. We missed all of you (Gamma Girls) who were unable to attend this event and it would be great if we planned a fall Chapter event so that we could all get together again soon!

Hugs ~Sue~

Hello All,
My name is Andrea Ducharme and I joined the Sorority last year after a few years of many of you wasking me to join. So i finally did! and I wish I joined sooner as I met some great people that I miss now.

Lets see... I graduated this year with a Bachelors of Geography and plan on specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This will take me either to Edmonton, Calgary, Nanaimo or Vancouver for a further year of schooling. Then after that I plan on working for local governments (hopefully)

I have developed a new hobby, that is photography. If you see me sometime you will likely see me with my SLR snapping away lol as a result last year we got a lot of pictures of our events. (well the ones that I could make it too lol)

Currently I am working here in Prince George at London Drugs in the (where else) the camera department lol. ( I swear this is where all my money goes :). )

I unfortunatly have not been able to partake in a lot of the volunteer efforts the Alumnae is involved in due to having to be close to home as my mother is ill.
Last year she was diagnosed with lung cancer that has since moved on to her brain. She has had 2 chemo treatments and just finished up brain radiation. But nothing has really worked. The last round of radiation has left her feeling pretty weak, but she has her good days and bad days. It is just not knowing when the bad days are that is hard. It has been tough but we are hopefull something will work.

I am glad that I know I have such wonderfull sisters to call upon for support. You are all such a wonderful group of people and I cant wait to meet all of you during the next retreat which will be up here in PG.

Thats all for now, I shall try to keep you all updated on what is happening in my life. Take care
~Andrea