Easter in Bonnyville

Today is Easter and I am both drunk and hungover on chocolate.

This year, I decided to give Christofer a Canadian Easter. Here's my column I wrote about it in the Nouvelle:

http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/article/20120403/BNV0903/304039966/-1/BNV09/ashleys-anecdotes

He hasn't had an Easter egg hunt before. Apparently, the Easter bunny skips over Ecuador. So, I decided to show him how we Canadians enjoy Easter.

So last night when we go back from Edmonton, I ordered Chris to go to bed and not come out as I had eggs throughout the house. I also put together the gifts I bought, which included the game Apples to Apples.

Here's a little sneak peak at how it went.

Pictures of our new apartment

Okay, so I promised pictures of my apartment. So first, I'll show you where we started:


Here's the kitchen area, if you can tell...


And our bedroom!

Okay, so it was a bit of a disaster. After Chris and his friend Andy had spent about 8 hours driving from La Crete to Bonnyville, they began unloading the truck and trailer. To our surprise, U-Haul trailers are not very secure. EVERYTHING was covered in dust and dirt from the highway. So that's why everything is piled in the kitchen. We had to wash everything before it could be put in its rightful place. ANNOYING!

Anyways, after lots and lots and lots of work, both cleaning and unpacking and of course finding places to put everything, here's where we are now:



Here's Willy and Mimi enjoying some fresh air on the porch :)



Our new TV stand and lamps :)



Living room area :)



Here's our bedroom, finally put together.


So there are still lots of things that we need, such as a computer desk, gill/BBQ, coffee table and end tables, but they will all come. Then we can put up our pictures, paintings and photos and complete our apartment :)

Interview with Clayton Bellamy

While Clayton Bellamy, originally from The Road Hammers, was visiting his hometown of Bonnyville, I took that as an opportunity to meet yet another country music star and write a great feature.

In releasing his latest album, his first solo one, he decided to tour a few schools in northern alberta, providing a small concert and lecture about following your dreams.

To my surprise, he's quite a great speaker. Very inspirations and moving. His voice totally filled the room. He used video, song and his persuasive words to capture the audience. Even stubborn high school kids were totally getting into it!

I didn't have a long interview with him, it was more of an excuse to meet him and get my picture taken with him, but hey, it was great all the same!

Here's the article, enjoy! :) http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/article/20120313/BNV0307/303139976

Adjusting to life in an apartment building and welcoming spring

Having moved in the winter, Chris and I haven't really had a chance to experience the beauty of Bonnyville. Judging by the name of the town and all the lakes surrounding it, we had hoped it would be a beautiful place to settle down for a few years.

Today it's about 13 degrees. Nothing compared to Ontario's 20-25, but we'll take what we can get. It's absolutely beautiful and bright; however, with the warm weather comes melting snow. So the muddy sidewalks have made afternoons walks a little challenging, but still worth it.

Last weekend Chris and I finally had a weekend off together - our first one together since before Christmas! It was nice. We relaxed, did a lot of cleaning and organizing of the apartment and watched a few movies. And on Sunday morning, we were even able to enjoy breakfast on our porch with our kitties! :) Now all we need is a BBQ so we can start grilling some steak and burgers and we'll be set!

Our apartment has been kind of challenging, but we're adjusting. We're not used to not having the basement for the cats, so that's been interesting. But it's been nice to be able to sleep with the bedroom door open and not have to worry about a room mate peeking in at you!

With apartments come smells. So many smells. So that's been my major priority right now. I've scrubbed everything and Chris has vacuumed and we've put up quite a few air fresheners. Now it's yummy every time you walk in - despite what the halls may smell like due to our neighbour's cooking or pets.

Now, if I could just convince the baby beside me to stop screaming all the time, we'd be set!

Interviewing and meeting Clayton Bellamy (The Road Hammers)

Above is a photo of myself and Clayton Bellamy, country music star from The Road Hammers, after a performance and inspirations speech at Bonnyville Centralized High School recently.

I had seen him perform with The Road Hammers years ago; however, never by himself. I really enjoy his solo music and couldn't believe what a moving, passionate and inspirational speaker he was. He's entertaining in so many ways with his words.

Clayton is originally from Bonnyville, which was something I didn't realize. Since I love country music, and am a huge supporter of local artists, I was excited when I heard he would be back in Bonnyville for a performance. He spent last week touring a few northern, rural Alberta schools, advertising his newest album and promoting students to follow their dreams - whatever they may be.

Bonnyville offers a lot of country music, which I really love. In April, Emerson Drive will be performing in Bonnyville and Ronnie Dunn (from Brooks and Dunn) will be performing in June. And we're just hours away from Edmonton, where so many other acts are going on, such as Lady Antebellum and outside of country music, my beloved Stars on Ice tour.

Ah Bonnyville, why must you offer so many artistic options. My bank account will soon be cross with you.

Check me out, online!

Okay, so I've been working for the Bonnyville Nouvelle for a while now, so here are a couple of items that have made it to the website that I think you should all check out :)

Here's a link to my first column, just a little introduction about me:

http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/article/20120110/BNV0903/301109971

Here's my column the next week; a little rant about housing prices in Bonnyville.

http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/article/20120117/BNV0903/301179972

And finally, my first VIDEO! Be sure to check this out. It's about Malanka, the Ukrainian New Year!

http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/article/20120123/BNV0801/120129995

Enjoy! More to come soon!

Reflection from my first few weeks in Bonnyville

So, I’ve been working for The Bonnyville Nouvelle for about a week and a half, and so far, I’m loving it.

Hopefully, I’ll still be able to say that a few months from now :P

The community is great and so are my coworkers. Of course, being away from Chris and now sharing these moments with him has been hard, but it’s been good to be able to focus more on my job and getting into routine.

I just finished my first full week and tomorrow we go to production. I’ve done a few features and profiles, as well as cover Town council, school board and other events.

So far, I love working in a newsroom with other reporters, and, surprisingly, I love working under an editor. I always thought there would be some sort of power struggle, or butting heads, but really, I just love not having the responsibility of doing it all: coming up with story ideas, covering all the events, working every weekend and editing all the articles myself. I love bouncing ideas off Melissa and Brendon, even though the three of us are entirely different people with often conflicting views.

Tomorrow, Monday, is our production day. Brandon, Melissa and I will all show up at 9am, which is something we rarely do. We will each go through the pages as they will be shown in the paper. First, Brandon and I will read through the articles, making any necessary changes and initially the page; then Melissa will read through and make the final changes. After that, we have our story meeting.

Here, we all brainstorm events we’ll cover and story ideas. We all help each other come up with ideas or events in the beats we each cover (really, it’s more of Melissa and I giving Brandon all the sports-related articles, while Melissa and I focus on arts, education and political issues.

However, Chris and I are still in need of a place to live and the fact that I’ve taken a pay cut hasn’t helped with the huge rise in living cost. However, even with having to pay more for rent, I still think we’ll be happier living and working in Bonnyville :)

Life in Bonnyville

I've been working at The Bonnyville Nouvelle for a few days now, so needless to say, this blog post is far overdue.

The quaint town is lively and energetic. The community has a lot to offer and so far, I'm really finding the warmth of home - although that might have to do with the drastic temperature change!

Chris is back up in La Crete until the end of February and though it's been in the positives here in Bonnyville, Chris said they have been pushing -20 in La Crete. No, I don't envy him at all!

Working for the Nouvelle is a lot of fun. The staff is laid back and fun and so far it's been a pretty easy adjustment - aside from being sick! My new editor is Melissa and I am sharing reporting roles with Brandon. We share the newsroom office space together and so far have been sharing a lot of laughs.

Today was our first production day today. Though Brandon and I are both getting over colds, and Melissa (arguably) is just getting one, it didn't go as smoothly as planned; we also had a giant distraction: our (hopefully) soon-to-be office kitty.

Today, a kitten was brought to the Nouvelle office and hung out with all the staff for the day. The publisher, Clare, wasn't in today, so we all shared a part in coming up with ideas and tactics to justify keeping the cat. Though Clare initially shot down the idea of an office kitty, she then changed her tone. She said we need to deliver a convincing presentation tomorrow, stating why we should keep the office pet and how we plan to care for it. So I drafted a pros and cons list (of course, the cons side was empty) and we'll present it to her tomorrow. I really hope we get to keep her! I wanted to name her Nouvelle, but, sadly, I was outvoted.

I will be sure to keep you all updated on my new Bonnyville life and, most importantly, if we get to keep our office pet.

My next adventure

It's official: I'll be beginning my second full-time jouralism adventure this winter. I'm starting 2012 with a new job, new town, and a new start.

I've accepted the position of Senior Reporter/Photographer for The Bonnyville Nouvelle, in Bonnyville, Alberta. Yes, still in Alberta, but about 10 hours south of here (still technically in northern Alberta though) and just inside the Saskatchewant border. Here's the link to their very impressive website: http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/

I accepted the job a few days ago and officially gave my notice late last week. My last official day at The Northern Pioneer will be Dec. 19, when I finish up for deadline day, before we fly home for Christmas on Dec. 20. When we fly back on Jan. 3, we will drive to La Crete, gather up our things, and head to Bonnyville.

Well, at least I will. It's likely that Chris will be staying in La Crete until late January, or early February. Not ideal to be apart for the first part of the move, but doable. It will give me time to adjust and focus on my job.

I'll be working with the editor and assistant publisher. Some of my articles may appear online and in the interview, we also discussed some video footage. It will be fun to play around with some of the multimedia tools I learned at Guelph-Humber.

I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. We're not sure what the community has to offer, but hope we will enjoy the new location and make friends easily. Of course, deciding to leave was hard, having so many great friends here in La Crete now, but we decided we have to do what's best for our careers and future.

In Bonnyville, we will be about 20-30 mins to Cold Lake, a small city with a military base, and about two hours to Edmonton. You know what that means, fellow Ontarians: you have no excuse not to fly to Edmonton to come visit me!

I'll keep you all updated on my transition to Bonnyville. So far, we haven't found an appartment or made any other arrangements aside from accept the job. It's a little scary, not know yet where we will live or how things will work out, but we're confident it will all work out.

See you soon, Ontarians! One month from today I'll be home!

Remedies for the winter blahs

It's coming and it's coming fast: winter.

It's been nearly two months since I've written in my blog. I can try to blame a lot of things: pretend by saying I've been too busy, or blame pure laziness, but I think I'll stick to the easiest: the winter blahs.

Though we've only had a few snowfalls in La Crete yet this year (as opposed to have about a foot of snow by this time last year. We got snow Oct 25 that lasted until April) it's still getting darker, slower and definitely colder. My poor sunfire (yep - it's still kicking!) isn't liking the -18 nights we've had lately.

Last year about this time I took a part time job at the La Crete & Area Chamber of Commerce to keep me busy and try to help me out of the winter blahs. However, this year I've decided that taking a part time job may be too difficult, as my schedule is all over the place, so I've decided to stick to one full time job. However, the problem still lies: how will I keep myself busy during the cold, short days of winter?

I've decided to take up a few hobbies. When mom came out in the summer, I asked her to bring my scrapbooking things along. Though I've only used them once or twice so far, I plan to make all my Christmas cards this year and do some fun picture things to brighten the place up this winter.

As well, I've started reading again, something that I never really got into doing too much of. I've been reading The Help (I got too busy and had to put it down for a few weeks but have picked it back up again and am loving it) and reading Macleans and more online news.

However, when reading and scrapbooking isn't enough, I've decided I may do something I though was only for highschoolers and seniors: volunteer.

I've put in an application to become a Victim Support Advocate for the Fort Vermilion unit. This will be nice because it's in Fort, instead of La Crete, so it will get me out of the town a little and into the community for non-news-related reasons, which will allow me to meet more people on a more personal level - I hope. However, this application process can take months.

So in the meantime, I will read. And scrapbook. And I've been debating buying a sewing machine so I can sew, but until then, my friend Julie (yep - I even have a few more friends if you can believe it!) bought one, so I may need to sneak into her giant house to use hers while she teaches. Shh, don't tell Julie.

A glimpse of Mennonite history

Recently, I've had the opportunity to participate in some of the celebrations for the 75th Jubilee - marking 75 years since Mennonites pioneered La Crete and surrounding area. This has included a boat tour to Cacajou Landing, as well as a horse and buggy ride to the La Crete Landing.

Both of these events have been jam-packed with history, traditional Mennonite foods, and story telling from seniors about the hardships in pioneering Northern Alberta.

At Carcajou, I even had the opportunity to go up in a helicopter - that's right, a helicopter - to view the settlement area. There were a number of buildings still standing that we were able to fly over and take pictures of, and then later go into on a horse and buggy ride. I was even able to meet a man who once lived at Carcajou as a child, and he told me of some of his memories of the area before it became the 'hopping town' of La Crete today.



Recently at the La Crete landing, I was seated on a buggy with a man who knew a lot of the history of the area, and remembered visiting the landing as a child. He told me that at that time, Fort Vermilion, the smallest northern community today, was the 'big city'. Even High Level only had a few buildings. He said it would take them five hours to ride to Fort from La Crete. Today, it takes me about 25 minutes to drive.

I also was able to learn a lot about the naming of La Crete - once the article is published with my findings, I will publish it here. In short, a few French-Canadian brothers, from Quebec, was running from the war and fled to Northern Albert between 1914 and 1917. The ridge where they were hiding, near La Crete Landing, looked like a rooster's comb to them, so they named it 'la crete,' meaning 'rooster's comb' in French. The name stuck and today, the predominantly Mennonite and German speaking town is still referred to as La Crete, under French naming.

There is one more jubilee celebration coming up - an old fashioned dinner and slide show. Also included will be an art exhibit. I am most looking forward to seeing old photographs and art from the pioneer days and hearing more stories from seniors about their hardships moving from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and even Mexico and Bolivia, to northern Alberta.

A year and counting...

So it's been just over a year that I've been living and reporting in Mackenzie County, in northern Alberta. Although some of the thrill of newness is gone, there is still a lot to learn and improve upon, so here I am! Still reporting for The Northern Pioneer.

Of course, now things are starting to become routine; more of a pattern, or repeat, if you will. The same supplements to prepare, the same annual events, the same busy and slow season. It makes preparing holidays far more easier and planning for work weeks more efficient.

This summer, I covered quite a few bike rodeos, kids programs and fundraisers that I also covered last year. Of course, along with the smaller, less "exciting" events came the bigger, more thrilling ones as well, such as the La Crete Pro Rodeo and local mud bogs. Last year, I was able to convince the president of the La Crete Mud Bog Committee to take me through the mud bog in his truck, but this year it broke down before my ride. However, there is still the Fort Vermilion Mud Bog to look forward to! I can only hope our, I mean, their truck is fixed in time.

I worried that things would slow down after a year working in Mackenzie County; however, I couldn't have been more further from the truth. I'm busier than ever! I now am following ongoing event in municipal government, which I was not doing fully before, and have been able to do more investigative journalism since I've been able to create some great contacts in the communities.

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... I'm not going anywhere. So Mackenzie County, you're stuck with me for now!

(Below are some photos from this year's La Crete Mud Bog)

Mom's visit to La Crete: Northwest Territories and Edmonton

In case you're wondering why I haven't been updating my blog lately, it's because I've been quite busy. Mom came to visit for about 10 days, and aunt Heather and Josie also came along for part of the trip. I had a great time but it's sure made me homesick for Ontario!

When Mom, Aunt Heather and Josie first arrived in La Crete after a long drive from Edmonton, they were exhausted and ready for bed. However, I had other plans: a tri-birthday party to celebrate all three of their birthdays that I had missed. I brought out a chocolate two-tier cake, cards for all, and birthday gifts.



After that Heather and Jo scooted off to their hotel, while mom and I caught up before bed. The next day we mostly sat around outside and talked, drank wine, and enjoyed a small tour of La Crete. That evening, once Chris was off work, we headed north for the Northwest Territories.

We stopped at the 60th Parallel / NWT sign, which probably was the highlight of the trip. We arrived in Hay River, NWT, at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday, planning to stay until Sunday. We played games in the hotel until about 2:00 a.m. when we decided to go to sleep. Wrong. Aunt Heather pulled back the sheets to find two bugs. Bedbugs - she called them. No, more like screamed. I initially thought they looked more like beetles than bedbugs, but I had no idea what bedbugs looked like. Chris took some photos and looked it up and we got out of there within minutes. I was throwing everything into the closest bag I could find. When we got in the car, Chris's dirty socks and wallet were in Mom's purse! (We were later informed that these were not bedbugs, but instead Strawberry Root Weevils - still gross!)



So now it was nearly 2:30 a.m. and we're driving around Hay River wondering what to do. None of the hotels/motels were open, being a small town, and there were drunks roaming about that were scaring us. We decided we ought to sleep in the truck until morning, when some of the stores and motels would be open. The safest place we could think of was the RCMP station, so off we went. However, Heather figured that 3:30 a.m. crammed in a truck was a good time to play on her iPad and sing, so none of us slept. Just before 4:30 a.m. we decided to just head home.



We stopped at some waterfalls along the way home, a very tiresome and ugly drive. Thanks to Chris for driving to and back from Hay River! We stopped in High Level for breakfast and were home in bed by 11 a.m.



So, change of plans. We enjoyed some home-cooked meals and a picnic at the Blue Hills Tower before Heather and Josie left on Monday morning. Then mom and I hung out for the week, while I worked some. Mom came with me to a council meeting, among other events, which mom found to be a little less exciting than I did. We also went to the Mennonite Heritage Museum, the Trapper Shack restaurant in Fort Vermilion, and the famous Pizza Place in La Crete!



Friday morning after one of my events we all headed south for the West Edmonton Mall - a much longer drive than the Hay River one. About 850kms one way; actually, I out 1780kms on my car driving there and back. We left around 10:30a.m. and arrived at the mall around 7:00 p.m. for "cocktail hour" and met up with Heather and Josie in the hotel room.



We spent the next couple of days at the mall: enjoying shopping, the underwater sea world, animal shows, the water park, water massages, movies, sushi, wine, and more shopping! It was a ton of fun and we even met up with Karen and Ralph, mom's best friend growing up, for dinner and drinks.



Sadly, mom, Heather and Josie left on Sunday for Ontario. Chris and I drove with them to the airport and said our goodbyes after some lovely Tim Hortons coffee and lunch (a luxury in the north). Chris and I decided to stay in Edmonton another night before heading north again.



It was a fabulous time, now I am just looking forward to my trip home for Christmas!ev

Peacefest

Before moving to Alberta I had attended 59 country concernts. That's right, 59. And that doesn't count the other music concerts and festivals I've been to.

One would think that moving to Alberta, a province known for agriculture and country living, and having the Calgary Stampede and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, that I would be able to uphold this lifestyle. However, living in the north definitely puts a damper on my country concert going.

Therefore, when I heard about Peacefest, in Peace River, Alberta, I just couldn't refuse. Even though my bank account said otherwise, I bought the tickets on visa with a buy now pay later attitude. I had to see a concert! Besides, my cityslicker boyfriend, Chris, had never been to a concert before and I wanted to show him how we hicks get down at a country concert.

However, come Friday, it appeared that Mother Nature decided to put a 'damper' on our first weekend getaway since Christmas holidays. And 'damper' doesn't even begin to describe it. It was pouring, with flood warnings in Peace River. But did that stop us? You bet it didn't. I went out to buy Chris and I rubber boots and we braved the storm for the 3.5 hour drive south.

























Friday night we watch Chad Brownlee and Blue Rodeo. I had seen Blue Rodeo before and love them; however, Chris didn't know either of the performers. Kristin and her boyfriend Cody also came Friday night but left shortly after Blue Rodeo came on. She was wearing flats in inches of mud and water - I don't blame her.



After Blue Rodeo we all went to Cody's for the night. The next day the four of us went to the movies (something Chris and I hadn't done together since Christmas Eve) before getting ready for our second night of country music. Saturday night we watched High Valley, local artists from La Crete, and Doc Walker.



I've seen Doc Walker before, who are great performers. I know almost all of their songs; however, Chris didn't again. But we both really enjoyed High Valley. Chris and I both know all their songs and they were great entertainers. My mom and Dad have seen them about three times, so now that we've finally seen them perform live that's one thing mom and dad can't hold over my head anymore! I've met Curtis from High Valley a few times, and seen Bryan and talked to Brad on the phone, but it was great to finally see them perform and introduce myself to Brad and Bryan. Hopefully now that we've all met in person I can convince them to stop by for a fire when Mom is visiting me later this month! Ha!

We had wanted to go to the Calgary Stampede this year, but I guess since that was out of the question Peace Fest filled the country music void my heart. Stampede, watch out next year!

Bike-a-thon

Check this out!

http://cycleforlife-buildpeace-stopaids.blogspot.com/2011/06/adam-being-interviewed-by-ashley-foley.html

Here's a link to a photo MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Alberta put up on their blog and website about me interviewing Adam and John before they left on their bike-a-thon to Edmonton. They did this to raise money and awareness for HIV AIDS and to spread peace.


Enjoy!

Dad visits La Crete

Just recently my Dad came to visit me in La Crete, and his presence alone sure made this remote location feel a lot like home.



He first arrived on Wednesday, June 15, around noon. He had landed at midnight and planned to take Highway 88, but with some difficulties and set backs, he eventually found himself backtracking to Peace River and up Highway 697. Eventually, he made it here and we headed off for lunch with Chris, all day breakfast at the Country Grill.

After that I took Dad on a tour of La Crete: Duck-Shit-Lake, the old ferry landing (Atlas Landing), my office, and "hot spots" in La Crete, such as the Co-op and Bargain Shop -- yes, these are the places we look forward to here in the north.

We had wanted to head out to meet up with Councillor Dicky Driedger to get a tour of his farm, but we were both pretty tired and just wanted to catch up. Dad had just come from Los Vegas and has lots of stories to tell, so we headed home and waited for Chris. After a nice pan of homemade lasagna we introduced Dad to two Mennonite games: Settlers and Beans.

Most mornings Dad and I didn't move too quickly. We'd sleep in until 9 or 10am, have coffee and chit-chat until Chris joined us for lunch (or brunch for us!) at noon.



On Thursday, we headed off to the Mennonite Heritage Museum in La Crete. We had a lot of fun touring the old pioneer buildings and talking to locals about the history of La Crete. Then we headed in to the Heritage Centre to check out the animals on display for the Fish and Game Club awards night that evening. That evening, the weather cooperated so we had a BBQ and bonfire with s'mores (of course!). The weather was pretty wet throughout his trip, so we were lucky we decided to have a fire on Thursday.



Friday Dad and I went to Fort Vermilion in the afternoon and went to their museum. We toured around, read about the Irish Potato Famine (where we Foley's came to Canada) and learned about the Peace River and native settlement in the north. We toured a couple old houses and a quick tour of the hamlet before heading home for coffee at the UFA and board games.

We celebrated Father's Day on his final day in town, Saturday. First we headed out of town to check out the new Zip-line in La Crete. It was both exciting and terrifying. I've been zip-lining in BC, and although I'm terrified of heights I did enjoy the adventure, but here there are pegs in the post for people to climb to the top before zipping. If I ever made it to the top, I'm sure the zip line would be great, but there is NO way I would ever make it up that post!



Then we headed to Fort Vermilion to watch the York boat come in and take part in those festivities. Dad met the Hon. Frank Oberle, our MLA, a few councillors, and some of the York boat crew. We then toured the Old Bay House in Fort before heading to our favourite local restaurant: The Trapper Shack.

We had planned to go to the Mud Bog in High Level or Penner's Speedway in La Crete that evening, but we were all tired so came home to watch a movie, play a few rounds of Settler's and head to bed. Dad had to get to bed early in order to be up at 2:40am to be on the road just before 3 to head to Edmonton.

Now I'll just have to wait for Mom's visit in July. And then for my visit home at Christmas!

La Crete Highlights: Introducing Greg to Cool

Last night we met our friend Greg at the Pizza Place (famous La Crete pizza store - the best pizza I've ever had!) for ice cream. After that, it was still so sunny and nice out at 9:30 pm that we decided to go for a drive in our new, sexy truck, called McSexy.

We soon realized that Greg had never been to La Crete's "lake" (*note: the lake is a glorified pond to you Ontarians who live on the Great Lakes). The lake is famously called "Duck-Shit-Lake" so you can imagine the beauty of it. :P

Anyways, we drove him out there to show him his students' party place. It's really nice if you're not standing down wind of the stench smell. It's a small pond/lake so the water is still, which makes it smell a bit swampy and duck-shit like, but aside from that, it's pretty nice! haha. There were people tubing and when one fell off Greg pleaded for them to get back into the boat quietly to himself. He's quite the city boy and had a problem with the smell and water with with he called "green guck" in it.


(This photo was taken at "Duck Shit Lake" last September when Chris first moved to La Crete)

We went to sit on one of the picnic tables, wanting to start a fire but without a lighter or matches, but were soon chased away by an army of mosquitoes. That didn't seem to bother all the people down at the lake, but we were starting to overdo it with Greg. Poor city boy :P (sorry Greg, if you're reading this!)

So then, of course, we had to do a couple small donuts in the truck so Greg could tell his students that he was reliving his teenage years in La Crete: going to the Pizza Place, Duck Shit Lake, and even being reckless by doing donuts.

After that, Greg wanted to turn the music up really high and go "cruising" as his students do, and he said his vehicle just wasn't cool enough. We agreed. So we cruised around La Crete for a little while, circling the post office and fire hall a couple times and then came to the conclusion that cruising is both non economical, environmental and is just plain stupid.

We drove Greg to his vehicle, but he still refused to get out. He said he wanted to do something else. Then we realized he had never been the the old La Crete Ferry landing, out by the river.

"What have you been doing in La Crete for the last year?" I asked him. Apparently nothing. He apparently doesn't go for these random drives like Chris and I like to do to discover new parts of the area. So we drove him about 20 minutes to the river, walked for about 4 or 5 minutes before being chased away by an even larger army of mosquitoes, and then drove home.

by this time, it was after 10:30 pm and Greg had lots of stories to tell his students: he'd been cruising with loud music, been to two of their party areas; the river and the lake, and ate at their favourite restaurant.

We agreed that that night alone made Greg the cool teacher. If he wasn't already.

Visits from family

Well I've almost been in La Crete a year. It's hard to believe it's been that long, but what's even harder to believe is that I made it though nine months of snow!



But enough about that, now I have 24-hours of daylight to look forward to. And my parents visit!! Unfortunately, they won't be coming together. Thanks, Ongwanada. But fortunately, they will be coming.

My Dad will only be here a few days in June, after his Vegas trip with the guys. Even though it will be a short visit and I have approximately 20913829038 events to cover while he's here, we'll have a great visit. He leaves the day before Father's Day, so it will be bitter-sweet, but at least we'll get to celebrate Father's day together the day before.

As for Mom, she's coming for a bit longer in July so we'll have a bit more time to relax. We're hoping to go to NWT for a night or two, up to Hay River. My Aunt Heather and cousin Josie are also planning to come for a couple of days with mom, before heading on a road trip through the Rockies.

I can't wait for the two of them to come. It will sure make the wait to my visit home at Christmas easier. But I guess I can't really complain .. I did just get back from Ecuador just a few weeks ago! But that doesn't change the fact that I still miss my family.

Bradley Bear

For those of you who actually know me reading this blog, you know all about my brother Bradley and the crazy things he does! You also know that he's autistic, which makes being so far away even more difficult.



You see, I call home about everyday ... okay, multiple times a day sometimes (hey, if you've got free long distance you may as well put it to good use!) and I always talk to my mom and dad whenever they're around, but only sometimes do I get a good conversation in with Brad. But when we do, it's so worth the wait.

Bradley's mood swings are worst than any PMS anyone has ever experienced. He can go from happy to mad in seconds. So whenever he's in a good mood, I try to talk to him.

Mom or Dad will put me on speakerphone so he can hear me and he usually holds the phone, playing "stop sign" with it or using it as a car while we talk. The other day we had a good, long conversation for about 40 minutes. We probably could have talked longer, but I had to get to work. One of the few times I hated my job because I wanted to talk all day!

Bradley sat in my room at Mom and Dads and looked out the windows, telling me about all the flowers he could see: yellow, red and orange, he told me. Then he told me about the rain and the sun and the rainbow (okay, so I'm not sure if all of these were true, but that's besides the point!). The rainbow had "all the colours" he said "all six!" He's so smart :)

Then he told me about all the people who came down to visit him during the May long weekend. Aunt Dale, Uncle Waaaaaaaaaleter, and "everybody" he said. Even his worker, Al, came by. When I asked what he said to Brad, he said "Al was smoking" *cough cough* haha, caught you again Al! Brad's a good taddle tale.

We also played the "Ashley eat this" game, where he makes me pretend to eat bumble bees, fire trucks and even Alberta. This game is hilarious for him, annoying for me. But he loves it so I do it!

Finally I told him it wasn't raining in Alberta like it was in Frankford. He stopped for a few minutes and thought about that. Then he said.. "Ashley come to Frankford?" It just about broke my heart! When I told him I wouldn't be home until Christmas he sighed and sadly said "Oh .. okay."

I sure miss seeing him and talking to him about the weather, race cars and everything else. We'll have to have a special brother-sister day once I get back to Ontario at Christmas to make up for all the days we've missed.

xo B-Rad aka Brother Bear.
Love Sister Bear.

The Truck Club

It's official. We're part of The Truck Club.

Chris and I recently traded in our 2007 Dodge Caliber for a 2008 Dodge Dakota truck. I know, we hadn't had the caliber long, but it was proving to be a pain and besides, how can one live in La Crete and NOT own a truck?



There she is. And I'm in love with it. We still haven't named it. I'm thinking McSexy, so it has some Grey's Anatomy in it as well. It sure is beautiful though. It's black...and that's about all I know about trucks. Hey, I know the type of truck it was, so that's pretty good for me! It came with a cover for the bed and steps (important for me to have) and everything is automatic. Unfortunately, we lost our sunroof which I miss dearly, but I'm sure I'll appreciate having command start this winter!

And it's already proved to be amazing. Remember those Buffalo Head Hills we tried to get to last fall with Kristin but my sunfire couldn't make it? Well, McSexy got us up there last night. However, after three tries trying to locate and get up the hills, we were a little disappointed once we got to the top. Albertans just don't know hills like we Ontarians. They weren't nearly as large as I had thought, but the views were pretty nice. Max, the dog we're taking care of while living in La Crete for our landlords, also enjoyed the walk and drive.