Wowza

Has it seriously been 9 months since my last post!?  I feel like such a loser!!  Haha...my other blog is alive and well (http://ashleyandseandosoutheastasia.blogspot.com) but I guess I have kind of neglected my personal blog.  It's Saturday night and I'm home alone with nothing to do (Sean and his big gracious heart are out helping our dear friends retrieve possessions from their flooded home...more on that later...) and I just got home from work, so I figured I'd spend some time writing.

A quick update on the last 9 months; I will try to condense this as much as possible...

• I graduated!  A month ahead of schedule, on December 17th, 2012.  It feels amazing to be done school and to be building my beautiful career :)
• I got promoted!  I was a student stylist for a few months, but shortly after graduation I was moved up a level.  Which means I started to see much better pay cheques, began charging more for my services, and saw a significant rise in my tips and commission.  Hopefully the next promotion is right around the corner once I pass my licensing exams.
• Sean and I are still happier than ever.  It's stupid, and disgusting at times, how much I freaking love this man.  I've never felt anything like it, and I can't begin to explain it.  I have been waiting for a year and a half for something to go horribly wrong, but it just hasn't.  Our love comes as naturally as breathing.  It's pretty freaky.
• My Dad got really sick at the beginning of this year, and was hospitalized for stress-related health issues.  He's slowly getting better but the strain it has had on me and the rest of my family has been unbelievable.  I don't want to go into detail as it's still too painful, but I believe in the strength of my family to overcome all of our obstacles :)
• I am still living in the same townhouse, and still loving my life here in Calgary.  Sean and I will hopefully begin looking for a place next year, but for now we're both in such awesome situations that we can't help but stay.
• Sean and I spent a beautiful week in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo in April, and it was absolute perfection.
• As previously mentioned, Sean and I have planned a pretty incredible and exciting adventure for this coming winter.  We are going to Southeast Asia for 5 weeks at the end of February, and will be spending the first two weeks volunteering as English Teachers at an elementary school in Bali, Indonesia.  We will then spend the remainder of our time backpacking throughout other parts of Asia.  So far, we plan to hit parts of Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands), Thailand, China and Japan.
• I'm being officially tested for Celiac Disease on Monday.  As some of you may know, I've been experimenting a lot with what I've been eating for the past year and a bit, because I became very, very ill.  I had concluded that I was sensitive to wheat and dairy, but eventually my female energies took over and I just put up with the pain my body goes through when I eat these things in exchange for a delicious grilled cheese sandwich (or whatever)...it wasn't until my doctor informed me that if I am actually, in fact, Celiac (not just sensitive) I could be doing some serious harm to my body and inviting all kinds of cancers into my life.  Not cool.  So.  This syringe-hating lady is getting poked and prodded this week so that I can finally (hopefully) begin to understand what is wrong with me.
• At this point, I don't plan on going back to Kelowna anytime this summer.  Because of our Asia trip, I am completely out of Vacation time for the year.  We're planning on doing lots of little camping trips and overnight trips to the mountains and stuff to keep ourselves sane until our trip.  This city can make you kinda crazy if you let it ;)
• Speaking of Calgary, I'm sure most of you have heard about the devastation we have been experiencing here over the past few days.  If not, let me fill you in; days of heavy rainfall and uncontrolled glacial and snow melts have caused our beloved Bow & Elbow rivers to burst their banks and flood into the city centre and surrounding areas, as well as High River, Black Diamond, and other small communities around Calgary.  Over 100,000 people have been evacuated and there are millions and millions of dollars worth of damage so far.  The majority of downtown is underwater, Sean's office is underwater, major highways are underwater, the Calgary Stampede Grounds, set to hold the world-famous event in 13 short days, are completely submerged, and the Saddledome stadium is flooded up to the 14th row of seats.  Entire homes have been destroyed and 3 people so far have been confirmed dead.  It is a very sobering experience to see a thing like this first hand, and my eyes have shed more tears for my city in the past 3 days than I can count.  I was not personally effected or evacuated, but parts of the lower half of my community were, as well as over 20 other neighbourhoods throughout the city.  Many of my closest friends are now homeless or displaced for an undetermined amount of time.  As far as we can tell the worst is over, but the cleanup and rebuilding process is going to take MONTHS.  The strength and resilience of my beautiful city that I have witnessed throughout this disaster has been inspiring.  Our Mayor, Naheed Nenshi, has been nothing short of incredible as a leader through all of this.  The City of Calgary and Calgary Police Service have been working around the clock to ensure the safety of our citizens.  A huge shout out to the Search and Rescue crews, Emergency Medical Services, and the Calgary Fire Department for their amazing efforts, and to the Canadian Military for being on the scene in less than 24 hours to aid in flood relief.  The power of human compassion has once again left me speechless, and reminds me that as a whole, people are mostly good.  There have been images of men swimming down flooded streets to save stray cats, people seeking refuge in motorboats floating down roadways, rescue operations performed by tractors and combines (true Alberta style!) people being airlifted from their flooded homes, firemen carrying the elderly to safety, and endless efforts by the public to take care of each other.  One staggering figure suggested that out of the 100,000 evacuees, only 1,500 needed to turn to emergency shelters.  That means 98,500 citizens were taken in by family and friends during a time of need.  Incredible.  I have never been more proud to be a Calgarian, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to rebuild our beautiful city together.

I think that's about all I have to say for now.  I'm going to go for a run down by the flood plain and see how she's looking.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend <3

xo-ac

Beautiful People

Good morning, world!  I was tired of fighting with the sleepless night, so I figured I'd wake up extra early and start writing as I haven't in a very long time.

Just a quick update for any of you far away friends or family members that like to keep tabs on what's happening in my crazy life...I am now on the salon floor at Diva!  It's truly so exciting to move out of reception and onto what I'm truly passionate about.  I started a few weeks ago by just taking models (haircuts are free and colours only pay product cost, which is under $30) and this serves as a chance for me to show off what I can do for my managers.  Once they decide I am ready and capable, they allow me to start taking actual paying clients.  I did models for 3 shifts and was then allowed to start booking women's cuts, kids cuts, and blow-dry styles.  Exciting!!  It's so cool to watch your books fill up with both request clients and new clients, and it's even more cool to watch those new clients become request clients.  I'm seriously as giddy as a kid on Christmas, I am so ridiculously passionate about my work.

I've been busting my non-existent balls trying to get ahead on my hours in school, going in extra days trying to make up for lost time.  I'm almost where I need to be to graduate on time, but that's not good enough for me as I've set a personal goal to be finished at the institute before Christmas.  I adore every single person that I've met at school and I do believe that some of them will be life-long friends, but I am so ready to move on with my life.  Especially now that I'm actually building a clientele outside of school.  I am ready to start making money and living my life again.

Anyway, this won't be a long post as there's really nothing more to my life other than school, work, eat, sleep (sometimes) and repeat.  Actually, on the topic of sleep, for the last few nights I haven't been able to, partly because I have a wicked cold, and partly because I can't turn my stupid brain off and ALL I do is dream of hair!!  It's exhausting!  It's the kind of sleep where you toss and turn and flop furiously around your bed trying to think of something other than work, work, work, but it's all you can do and you end up feeling like you never even got a rest at all.  It's terrible.  I'm not sure how to fix it, but I may need to invest an hour every night when I get home to something alternative to really shut my mind off of work.  But when you immerse yourself in something so completely and there's really no other substance to your life, no time for hobbies, no time for a break...I guess it does consume you.

My poor boyfriend.  He has to put up with me through these crazy sleepless nights when I often catch myself talking out loud about hair colour formulas at 3am.

Other than that, all I can say is that I continue to feel unbelievably blessed every single day with the people in my life.  I have met such an incredible group of people here in Calgary, and I'm happier than I ever imagined I'd be out here.  I can't believe it's almost been a full year since the day I packed my life into my little silver dodge and made the trip back to the city where I was born.  But it was the best decision I've ever made and I'm happy to plant my roots here.  Come to think of it, I think they've always been planted here.

It's true what they say;

"You can take the girl out of Alberta, but you can't take Alberta out of the girl."

Have a great day my friends.

xo-ac

A small, simple update

I feel like I always find time to blog when I'm in Kelowna.

I really don't have much to say.  I've had the most relaxing, wonderful 10 days in Kelowna and Osoyoos.  We haven't done much.  Just beaches, beers, pools, wine, food, friends and family.

One of the main highlights of this trip was the little 3-day mini vacation that Sean and I took in Osoyoos.  We stayed at a resort called Spirit Ridge, which is attached to the Nk'Mip winery…what a stunning property.  Our suite had a lake and vineyard view, a full kitchen, giant fluffy king bed, two fireplaces, a BBQ, and a private outdoor jacuzzi on our patio overlooking the lake.  It was nothing short of amazing.  On the last night, Sean and I had dinner at the restaurant at Nk'Mip after a wine tasting and it was one of the most incredible nights of my life.  Our table overlooked the lake and the valley, the weather was warm and still and perfect, the sunset spectacular, and the food and wine were amazing.  Neither of us wanted to leave.

Another highlight for me personally was getting on a Stand-up Paddle Board for the first time.  What a thrill.  I can't believe how much I enjoyed it…you'd think that it would be boring, just standing there and paddling around, but not only is it a complete blast, but it's also an incredible workout.  If I still lived in Kelowna I would have bought one right then and there.  Sean fell off of his probably 6 or 7 times, and I fell off once when the boat wakes knocked me over.  I'm hoping we get to get back on the paddle boards before we leave tomorrow.

Back to real life is going to be a slight smack in the tits.  I've missed so much school…I have almost two hundred hours to make up before graduation.  I'm going to have to start going in one more day than I already do…and working just as much…so I will probably be back up around 80 hours a week.  Siiiiiggghh.  But this vacation has been an amazing recharge…and not it's pedal to the metal until graduation in December.  I just can't wait.  It's time to get going on "real life"…and Sean has plans to further his education in the near future as well, so we both have some work ahead of us.  But, the rewards and benefits will be well worth all of this hard work, and I'm slowly starting to see that now.

The future is bright.

xo ac

Small Stuff

The craziest thing happened to me this week. I ran into someone who I hadn't seen in a long time. Someone who ignited thoughts and memories of pain, betrayal, deceit and heartache. Someone who had hurt me in the past. Someone who I was harboring so much pent up and pointless anger towards. When I saw them, my heart felt nothing but joy. Excitement. Happiness. Gratitude. Because not only did all of those things that seemed so incredibly catastrophic at the time suddenly diminish into simple little nothing's, but I also realized that all of those simple little nothing's led me directly to where I am today. "Don't sweat the small stuff. And, it really is ALL small stuff."

My Baby

In October of 2010, I played an opening performance at my friend Jessica Myroon's CD release party at The Habitat in Kelowna for the release of her first album.  I was so moved and inspired by this amazing young girl (she was only 16 at the time) releasing her very own album.  So many people came out to support her, and the energy in that tiny venue was stronger than anything I'd ever felt.  Jessica's success was enormous, and that was the night that I met her brother and producer, Tyler, for the first time.

After my opening performance Tyler approached me and we talked for a while about the possibility of recording an album.  I loved the way that Jessica's album held the preservation of everything natural about her music.  Nothing was overproduced, and nothing was perfect.  It was a pure, imperfectly beautiful replication of her music.  And that's exactly what I wanted to be able to create for myself.

My biggest pet peeve in the world of recorded music is the overproduction of it all.  Don't get me wrong, I love the hottest auto-tuned pop song just as much as the next girl, but when it comes to true, raw, beautiful talent...I find that the true elements of gorgeousness in the vocals and the rhythms often get overlooked and lost in the production stages.  And there is nothing worse than seeing a band or an artist live and feeling that "oh, they sounded way better on recording..." feeling.  I'd rather it be the opposite, actually.

After scraping together a few measly dollars, I made it my 2011 goal to complete this album.  I even put off my education another year in order to pursue it.  The second weekend in January, I held a big fundraiser show at the bistro where I was working.  I couldn't believe how many people showed up...and how much money I raised with my "entrance by donation" approach.  It was such a simple show, just me and a few musical friends of mine, 2 small amps and my outdated equipment.  But it set in stone the promise that I was going to actually do this.

I began recording at West Ave Studios in Salmon Arm a week later.  The 90 minute drive there and back gave me a lot of time to warm up my vocals (I remember that Carrie Underwood was my best friend on those drives) and reflect on what I really wanted this album to be.  And for what Tyler and I had to work with in the small, developing studio, and the fact that he was simply one producer and I was simply one musician, I am proud to say that this album has blown every expectation that I ever had for it WAY out of the water.

Everything was completed by July of 2011, and I was in the planning stages of a CD release, when life took a major turn and in less than two weeks I was on my way to Calgary, AB, with my entire life packed into my tiny Dodge Neon.  I had to cancel upcoming shows as I suddenly was moving to another province.  My move to Calgary was a long time coming (I had been planning it for 3 years) but still all happened so fast when I actually decided to go for it.  Life got incredibly crazy from that moment forward, as I began working two serving jobs and trying to get used to my new city, my new apartment, my new friends and some other major personal life changes.  Fall turned to Winter and all of a sudden, boom, I was in School.  Just like that.  Everything about the album had been put on hold, and I actually still haven't written a single song worth recording since I left Kelowna.  Life has just been too busy.

I felt guilty and discouraged when I let myself realize that over half a year had passed since the completion of the album, and it was still just sitting there, lifeless.  I had myself convinced that in order to release it, I had to have a release show, hard copies of the album to sell, and all of my ducks in a row for online distribution as well.  This would have cost thousands of dollars that I didn't have, and not to mention that I have spent most of my life in Calgary working between 60 to 110 hours per week.

I came down with a brutal flu a few weeks ago that put me out of commission for a few days, and I took advantage of the extra time in bed to piece together my album release.  I decided that an online release is not only better for my wallet (and yours) but it is also exponentially more environmentally friendly.  So I just went for it, kind of sporadically, and now ten days later, My Baby has been born!  I still have 6 months to go until I am finished school, and I'm working on top of that, so I won't have much time for performances or promotion until early 2013.  But I figured simply getting my music out there was one small step in the right direction, and I promise you all, that there is much, much more to come.  Life just has to settle down a little bit, and my priorities will eventually shift back to where I truly want them...

I just wanted to write this post to anyone who is reading to basically say Thank You.  Thank You for your love, Thank You for your support, Thank You for your inspiration, Thank You for coming to my shows, Thank You for buying my album, Thank You for waiting so patiently, Thank You for never rolling your eyes or laughing at me when I came up with this crazy idea, Thank You for standing by me even when I went MIA for weeks at a time, Thank You for sharing my music with your friends, and most of all, Thank You for believing in me, even when I didn't.

There is a lot of heart and soul laid out in this album.  Some of the songs are 5 years old and some of them are recent.  One was even written in 1979 by my incredible aunt Connie right before she passed away.  I know it's only 7 songs, but every single word means something enormous to me.  As many of you know, I get pretty emotionally involved with my music.  And, for that reason, this album truly does feel like My Baby.  I loved it, nurtured it, fed it and watched it grow, and I didn't ever kick it in the teeth when it was pissing me off to no end, even though some days I really, REALLY wanted to.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

xo-ac

Recharged

For a change of scenery, I decided to write this blog post from the comfort of the passenger seat of Sean's car as we bomb down the Trans Canada highway.  I'm trying to avoid motion sickness so that I don't FROW UP (which I usually do) but I figured if I didn't write this post now, then I probably never will.

First off, I sincerely hope all of you lovelies had a fantastic May long weekend.  The weather was apparently pretty shitty in Calgary so we were both very happy to be in Kelowna, even though it wasn't too much better…we did manage to get one nice day in on the boat though.  That was awesome.  I got to show Sean a lot of the sights, which was cool because I got to play tourist as well.  We went to a few wineries, did a tiny tiny bit of hiking (not as much as I had hoped) saw a lot of different places and spent some quality time with the family and the beagle!  It was a nice break for sure…even if I did spend all day Monday cutting and colouring the entire family's hair.

I didn't have much of a chance to see any friends while I was back, which I find crazy because I was back for an entire 5 days, but I just get myself so goddamn tired when I'm in Calgary living my stupid crazy life.  Not to mention that I also get sick of people in general.  It was nice to just kind of unplug and unwind and not focus on much of anything for a little while.

During my visit I also had some appointments to try and figure out what the hell is going on with my health.  I told my doctor about how sick I have been, and that I have cut dairy and gluten from my diet completely.  He said that's wonderful, because your body doesn't NEED dairy or gluten to function, and in most cases they're actually more hinder than help anyway.  The unfortunate thing is that I didn't really get any answers as to what to do about it.  

Unfortunately, there is no test in existence that can determine whether or not a person is lactose intolerant, so I guess it's just a matter of not eating what makes you feel sick.  So I guess I'm doing the right thing by just simply not eating dairy.

As far as the celiac/gluten thing goes, there is a blood test that exists to test gluten allergy and sensitivity.  So thats good news.  However, they can't actually test for that unless you have gluten in your system, in order to see how it reacts with your blood and body.  So in order to take this test, I basically need to find a 3 month period in my life where I can eat a lot of gluten for 3 months, feel like shit, and then take the blood test.  Obviously that time is not going to arise any time soon (or ever, who the fuck has time to feel like shit for 3 months!?) so I have been advised to just keep doing what I'm doing and simply not eat any of it.

Another thing that my doctor did suggest is slowly experimenting with certain things and keeping a journal on how they make me feel.  For example, one day I may have a glass of milk, another day a slice of bread…etc. etc. just so I can see how individual foods make me feel, because sometimes people will just be sensitive to a few items instead of dairy or gluten as a whole.

So that's the update kids.  I've got a lot of work and bellyaches ahead but hopefully in a few years I'll know what the fuck is really happening all up in my digestive GRILLZ…and of course I will keep you posted.

In other news, life is actually pretty wonderful.  I feel very lucky to have somehow caught an absolutely wonderful boyfriend.  I've never had anyone love me so completely or treat me so well in my entire life.  We actually have a pretty cute story behind us…but I think I will save that for another time.

xo-ac

Keep on keepin' on

Welcome to another blog post from my iPhone on the train. Somewhere between the smelly person in front of me and the snoring man a few rows back I am finding my focus aboard Calgary Transit once again. It has been an incredibly turbulent few weeks which is why I haven't posted in so long. I got the news that I had to leave my apartment 4 weeks ago on Friday night, which was devastating, and I was moved out and into my new place by Sunday afternoon. Talk about gettin 'er done. But I am now all settled in my new condo (which I absolutely adore more than I ever dreamed I would) and we had the official inspection and move out of our old apartment last Tuesday. Glad that whole stressful chapter is behind me. I also transferred locations within my salon last week. Working way up north when it would sometimes take me 90 minutes just to get to work was really wearing on me (and the little free time I already had) so I am much, much happier to be working at a mall in the south that takes me 15 minutes to drive to. The staff there are so wonderful and I've truly never felt that I fit in so quickly. Another major change I've had to face in these last few weeks is that I found out I have developed celiac disease and a lactose allergy/sensitivity. I have yet to be officially diagnosed as it requires an extensive amount of blood work and allergy testing (not exactly my forte) but I did speak with a doctor who explained that given my symptoms and reactions to dairy and wheat, that is almost certainly what it is. He said its something he's been seeing a lot of in people my age, probably to do with all of the chemicals and hormones added to the foods that we eat nowadays, and that I may eventually grow out of it, but based on my history it's probably something that I have been suffering from minorly for my entire life. Party hey? To make a long story longer I have completely cut wheat and dairy out of my life cold turkey since I found this out 4 weeks ago. No more bread, pasta, cheese, milk, yogurt, chocolate (I know) or many sauces containing balsamic vinegar or worcestershire..it's been a learning experience. Grocery shopping now takes me three times as long and costs me double what it used to..and attempting to eat out at restaurants or fast food joints is an unimaginable struggle. I've learned to cook a lot of my own staples that I'd otherwise took for granted. What a fun year this is shaping up to be! At least it's not uneventful... Anyway.  School is still clippin right along..I'm still loving it.. I just can't believe it's possible for a person to even function when they are as mentally, physically and completely exhausted as I am right now. I'm so grateful to have such an incredible support system behind me..between FaceTime sessions with my family in BC and the support from my boyfriend and all my wonderful friends..it's actually kind of sad to see the toll this school year is taking on all of us. We started with so much energy and passion..and now we just walk around like zombies following any scent of coffee that we may catch. Most of us are doing 80+ hours a week between school and work, one of my friends even goes to school for 36 hours a week, is a flight attendant at westjet, AND a server at moxies. How he isn't dead yet, I have no idea. It's going to be really rough pushing through all the way until December with no breaks at all. But the sun is still shining and the weather is getting warmer, which means the days are getting longer, and that makes us all feel a hell of a lot better. It's not even half over yet. Onwards and upwards! Take care of yourselves darlings. xo ac