Alternate image text

On one hand, I think setting expectations for yourself is a great thing. If I didn’t have high expectations for myself I wouldn’t have just finished university, I wouldn’t be training for a marathon etc.

However, I think that setting expectations for someone else, is a bad idea.

When we first moved to Kamloops 23 months ago, I had all these expectations of what our life would be like. Eric was going to find a great job right away and I was going to go to school and we were going to meet tons of new people and have lots of friends and life was going to be just perfect.

When none of these expectations were met I found myself spiraling into this really unhappy place. Not only had I just moved 1,000 km away from everything I’d ever known, I’d also set all these ridiculously high expectations for our new life and not a single one of them happened. Not one.

So this time, I’m not setting any expectations.

I’m trying really, really hard to avoid the daydreams of Eric finding the perfect job RIGHT AWAY and everything being just perfect.

Because I know it won’t work that way.

Instead, I am focusing really hard on how unbelievably excited I am to see Eric on Sunday night. How I can’t wait to spend all day Monday hanging out and doing some of our favourite things like playing tennis or going to the movie.

When I start to get anxiety-inducing thoughts of it being November and him still not having a job, or us running out of money, or us fighting all the time because he isn’t job-searching hard enough I acknowledge the thoughts, and then I push them away. I remind myself that I am not setting expectations and I will cross those bridges when/if I come to them.

So, here’s to NOT setting expectations. Here’s to pushing my type-A personality away and going-with-the-flow. Here’s to my love coming back after being long-distance for 11 months.

We made it through that, we can make it through this.

I’m actually getting teary-eyed writing this so I’m going to leave you with this:

The next time you hear from me, Eric will be here too! And that? Is perfect.

{ 21 comments }

Three Things Thursday

by MissAmber on July 29, 2010 · 21 comments

in giveaway, summer, work

I’ve been doing a lot of bullet-point-type posts lately, haven’t I?

I wonder if that alludes to the random-all-over-the-place nature of my life lately?! Maybe. I’ll try to have some more thought-out posts for ya next week!

One.

I’m sure you’ve all entered a million of these lately, and you can enter one here soon too! I’ll be doing an upcoming giveaway + review for CSN. I was excited when I was contacted by them to do a giveaway and review of a product because they have SO MANY different products to choose from. Need some furniture? No problem. A Dutch Oven? Sure. Any kind of fitness equipment or workout DVDs? Yup!

Watch for that review + giveaway in the next couple of weeks!

Two.

After the urging of many of you in the comments section yesterday I finally hooked up the air conditioner! It takes up a ridiculous amount of room and is a bit of a monstrosity in my teeny-tiny apartment but O M G, so worth it. I can sleep again! And for those of you who asked, the heat has been around 36-37 C here the last couple of days, 97-98 F. Because of the desert that I live in it’s a very dry, hits-you-in-the-face kind of heat.

getattachmentaspx

Three.

My work life has been really, really, really busy these last couple weeks. I went from having a few freelance projects here and there to several in one week and with people on holidays I’m taking on a lot of extra responsibility and projects at my full-time job. I didn’t even get my “day off” this week I was so busy! Thank goodness this weekend is a long weekend! I have to wrap up freelance projects on Saturday but I’m hoping to just relax/recoup on Sunday/Monday.

What are your Three Things Thursday this week?

{ 21 comments }

One of my favourite bloggers and good friends, Nora, does a confessions series. I’ve always wanted to join in so today I am!

  • Yesterday morning I had the worst run I’ve had yet in 8 weeks of marathon training. I got home from the run and was thisclose to pouring myself a glass of wine. At 7:00 AM.
  • I’m terribly jealous of all the blogger meet-ups that have happened and are happening this summer but I’m also wildly excited to meet Lisa and Lauren in October!
  • I’ve been really lonely for the last few weeks.
  • I like Tim Hortons iced lattes better than Starbucks. Gasp!
  • My feet are even more gross now then they were in this picture. My feet are so gross they gross ME out. What do I do about the dead skin at the ends of my toes from running? I’m too embarrassed to get a pedicure.
  • I’m dreading my massage next week. That’s right, I said I’m dreading a massage. Why you ask? Because it’s not a relaxation massage, it’s a sports massage focused entirely on my legs for 30 minutes. More specifically, massaging out all the knots and muscle tightness from running. It’s going to hurt.
  • You know that old saying that men think about sex every six seconds or something silly? That’s what I feel like with the marathon. All I think about is the marathon/marathon training/running. Training has taken over my physical and mental life.
  • Eric gets here Sunday night. I have never been more excited to see someone in my life but I’m also kind of dreading sharing a bed in our shoebox apartment. Our shoebox apartment with no air conditioning. I already wake up soaked in sweat every night when it’s just me and Webster in the bed. I think it’s time to bring out the big guns, i.e. the window air conditioner!

What are your confessions today?

{ 44 comments }

Farmers Market

by MissAmber on July 27, 2010 · 42 comments

in food and cooking, money, weekend

One of my favourite weekend rituals is the Farmers Market.

farmers-market

Kamloops - being so close to the Okanagan (hello fresh fruit) - has an amazing Farmers Market. I only went once last summer but this summer I’ve gone almost every weekend so far!

Saturday my fridge was looking kind of sparse so I really stocked up, this is the first weekend I’ve been that they had so much fruit.

I got blueberries, raspberries, peaches and cherries. B.C. cherries are the best thing ever.

berries

cherries

I also got some delicious tomatoes and peppers. You know, I have never been a fan of tomatoes but I LOVE the ones that I get at the Farmers Market every weekend. They are so fresh and delicious.

tomatoes-and-peppers

Every single weekend I go I pass the kettlecorn booth and eye it up. But I never buy any. Well this weekend I finally gave into my urges. I figured I was running 14-miles on Sunday so I deserved a bag of kettlecorn :)

kettlecorn-booth

kettlecorn

I also treated myself to some Bannock. If you’ve never had bannock you are majorly missing out. It is the most amazing piece of fried goodness ever. Ever!

bannock

I also got some bread - one loaf of whole wheat and one loaf of cinnamon raisin.

All together now.

groceries

I got the above haul of stuff for about $45, so not cheap. If you remember my grocery shopping trip a couple weeks ago I got much more stuff for $44 at Superstore.

BUT I’d rather give my money to the local farmers than to Superstore OR even the local Organic store. There is something about handing cash directly to the person who picked the tomato, or cherry or baked the bread that makes me feel good! :)

Do you shop at your local Farmers Market?

{ 42 comments }

It’s the end of July already! Whattt? Ridiculous.

Anyways, this months featured career is my good friend, Danielle (aka Newf). Danielle and I went to J-school together before she moved back to Newfoundland to pursue her career as a broadcast reporter!

****************************

danielle_featured-career

1. What exactly is your job?

I’m a broadcast reporter

2. Describe a typical day at your job?

Well there’s never really a typical day… but the day always begins with the morning meeting. It lasts anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour. We’re given assignments and brainstorm other ideas and different angles we can take on current stories. We also talk about what stories our competitors have been doing.

Depending on what assignments I’m given I usually get started right away. If I have outside events I’ll do a bit of research on whatever it is, if I have time, if not I just wing it. Lately I’ve been in the station, which means I’m interviewing sources by phone, writing, and recording newscasts.

So after the meeting I’ll read through the news just to see what’s going on. Then I’ll start to make phone calls. It’s rare to reach a source on the first try so it’s good to start calling early. Also it gets busier later in the day. Around 10:30am I start to put together my cast, so I choose which stories I want to use, based on the region of the province I’m broadcasting to. Then I record…all. day. I read about 20 newscasts a day. In between those I’m interviewing, and writing, and sometimes finding time to eat. (So I’m one of the people that you hear at most stations at the top of the hour reading the news.)

3. What do you love about your job? Hate about it?

I love the adrenaline rush. The urgency of it all. I love trying to beat out the competition to have the story before them, or have more detail than them. I love that no day is the same, and that I’m always busy. I love receiving compliments and thanks for having provided coverage to an important issue.

I hate that I can’t leave work at the office. Don’t get me wrong some reporters can, but I’m not one of those and I hate my wage. Considering the serious nature of a lot of the stories we do reporters should be making more.

4. Do you see yourself doing this forever? Why or why not?

I don’t really know about forever, because right now it just seems to be exhausting. I can’t imagine trying to raise a family and work this hard. The hours are long and even when I’m off. I’m not really. We call ourselves “newsies” because everything you do is news related. I could be having a conversation with someone and something they say often triggers a story. On my days off I’m also still keeping up on what the station is doing so that when I go back I’m still in the loop. This helps because on any given day I could be assigned to any story. So having the background just makes it easier.

I hope to eventually be doing spot news, which is basically the reporter assigned to do outside events. They’re the face of the station. They cover everything from cheque presentations, to fires etc. It’s exhilarating! It’s unfortunate because I love my job but unless I get a serious pay raise I won’t be doing it forever. As a single women, it’s just not feasible, unless I plan to stay in my parent’s basement forever. With that in mind I’ll probably end up doing PR at some point, preferably for a non-profit literacy organization. Though I’m not sure the money would be much better.

5. What’s one thing about your job that most people don’t realize?

Maybe how hectic it is. I imagine other newsrooms are like this too, but there’s always phones ringing, and audio being played back and multiple people recording at once there’s never quiet. We work on an hourly deadline, because we have a newscast at the top of every hour. Everything we do is urgent. We always want a story like 5mins ago. So whenever you get your interview you basically have to have the story written for the next hour.

6. What’s the biggest way your job differs from print journalism?

Well the deadlines as I explained above but also the celebrity-esque nature of it. I don’t consider mysself a celebrity at. all. But it’s the sort of things when you tell people you work for a radio station they say “your famous.” It just happens. And while my face may be unknown my name is not and that takes some getting use to. I reach an audience of 500-thousand. In print I feel as though you can much more easily fly under the radar.

7. Any thing else you’d like to add?

Radio is a really neat atmosphere. It’s fun especially outside the bubble of the newsroom. Our sister stations always have contests and concerts, there’s always a buzz. Any the phrase “you have a face for radio” completly false. There’s a good-looking bunch at my corp! Feel free to ask me any other questions :)

Thanks, Newf! XO

Fun fact: My little brother has a job working at the radio station in FSJ this summer! I, on the other hand, could never see myself working in broadcast journalism because I hate the sound of my voice (you can hear my voice in my vlog here).

Do you like the way your voice sounds recorded? And does anyone else have trouble leaving work at the office? (I do, sometimes!)

{ 15 comments }

Friday Five

July 23, 2010

It’s been awhile since I did a Friday Five post and I know my IRL friend Tammy (Hi Tam!) enjoys them so here we go.
One.
I was talking to my friend Tiffany on Facebook yesterday and she was telling me about her latest dating escapades etc. and then she said, “So, what’s new with you?” and [...]

Read the full article →

Marathon Training: The Good, Bad and Ugly

July 22, 2010

Me and my training partner, Lisa, are blog swapping today. So head over to Lisa’s blog to see my eerily similar post. (We didn’t plan to post on the exact same topic - I swear!!)
*******
Hey everyone! It’s Lisa of Lisa’s Yarns, aka Amber’s marathon training partner! While this is my 2nd marathon, it [...]

Read the full article →

Reorganization Nation

July 20, 2010

I am attempting this post in Ecto… I just could not HANDLE doing photo-heavy posts directly in Wordpress anymore. It made me want to throw my computer at the wall.
So we’ll see how posting in Ecto goes…
Moving on.
As you all know, I was in a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad mood last week. I was [...]

Read the full article →

The Feet Want What They Want

July 20, 2010

Unfortunately, what my feet want are the Asics Gel-Kayano’s. One of the most expensive pairs of shoes out there.
Ya’ll might remember what happened last time I tried to get these shoes for a good deal?
The increasing irritation in my shin bone was telling me that I needed a new pair of shoes asap. And, I [...]

Read the full article →

The Monday Meeting: Workplace Fashion (2)

July 19, 2010

First, the Monday Meeting posts will be a little more sporadic throughout the summer and not necessarily posting every Monday.
Welcome to the second installment of Workplace Fashion (see the first one here). This installment of the series has a theme: Work Dresses!
I personally LOVE wearing dresses to work in the summer. It’s too hot for [...]

Read the full article →
link to small business website design page