I live in Calgary...

So I live in Calgary. I’ve been here for almost two and a half months, but somehow it took the arrival of the cats this week to really cement that fact for me. Up until this point having them in St. John’s has almost felt like I’ve had one foot in each province. When they arrived this week it really solidified this move, which was a little scary. I’m still very happy with the decision I made, but sometimes I forget how big of a decision it was and the weight of it all.

This week was also really exciting because I discovered that a friend of mine that I came up through cadets with is moving here in a few weeks. We have similar tastes in music, so it’s great to have someone to go shows and concerts with.  Plus, one of my really good girlfriends from university is also moving here around the same time. The east coast just keeps coming out here to keep me company.

One of the awesome things about living here is all of the potential to see live music. On Wednesday I’m going to see Gotye, which should be really fun. Many people have heard Somebody I Used To Know, but he has lots of other stuff as well.  Eyes Wide Open and Easy Way Out are both lots of fun.

Ok, I’ve been a bit of a delinquent with the blogging in the last few weeks, but it’s been a little slower so I haven’t had as much to say. I’ll try to come up with some more ideas of what might be interesting to write about. 

Running...

In April I decided I wanted to start running. I started with the couch to 5K app, which was great, but alas I didn’t really finish it. I made it to week six, but between moving and adjusting to a new city (especially the altitude) I got off track and sort of fell off the running wagon. Over the last two weeks I’ve been trying hard to get back to a regular running schedule. In order to motivate myself I signed up for a 5K race that is one month from today.  I'm also trying to take advantage of the awesome places I have to run. I’m lucky that I live fairly close to the Elbow River, so I get to run along the wonderful river paths and through the parks.

The biggest thing I have to overcome with running is my dislike of sweating and being overheated. Sounds like a pretty big part of exercise in general to overcome, yes?  I swear that because my pores are so tiny I don’t sweat properly. It all gets trapped just below the skin and I feel, and look, like a lobster in boiling water. I’ve worked hard and am working passed this, mostly by developing my own fitness so I don’t overheat as easily. This has been especially tricky given the hot summer we are having here in Calgary.

Tonight I had a really great run. I ran 3K straight without stopping to walk and it felt pretty good until about the last .5K. I was thrown by this because for the last few weeks at times I’ve made it to a single kilometer and had to start walking. I thought it was the heat that’s been knocking me down, but it was 30 degrees when I started tonight. So now I’m trying to sort out if it’s the sun being much lower in the sky or if my body likes running this time of day better. I’d be very curious to hear my running friend’s thoughts on this. Hopefully this will be the beginning of hitting my stride so I can work my way up to 5K before September 8.

I thought I would share two of my very favourite songs to run to this week. They are also two of my happy songs. Can’t listen to either of these without wanting to jump around the room and belt them. It takes a lot sometimes not to do this when I am out and about running.

Say Hey (I LoveYou) by Michael Franti, I dare you to try not to dance. Also, check out this fun flash mob from an episode of Weeds using this song. Apparently they had him at Folkfest a few years ago. So sad I missed this.

Shake it Out by Florence + The Machine. I am borderline obsessed with Flo at the moment. Easily in the top three of bands I want to see live the most. And here’s a fun choral version for good measure J I wish they were a little less choral-like with their diction, but overall enjoyable. 

Music and Friends

Second blog, one week to the day! Congrats to me on sticking to my schedule.

Folkfest this weekend was amazing. I just kept looking around at the lawn-chaired seated crowd and up at the blue sky and feeling so very content. It was actually the closest that Calgary has felt to the same kind of communal experience that I often experienced at home. Everyone just puts their chairs, tarps and blankets down at the beginning of the day and your place is saved for the main stage shows that evening no questions asked. There was a huge range of generations and everyone was so lovely to one another all weekend. The music was fantastic and the food was amazing. All outdoor concerts should learn from their relationships with vendors, it added so much to the experience. I’ve uploaded some videos from the weekend here (singing along with Dan Mangan and 10,000 people was probably the highlight for me).  I already know I will be home to visit this time next year, which I’m happy about, but sad that I’ll miss this very lovely experience. 

One of my folkfest finds were BESH o droM. I heard them do a concert combined with a rap artist (SHAD) and it was so much fun (didn’t stop dancing for an hour), but also really great music. I think I am mostly just so impressed because that clarinet player was blowing my mind!!!

Tomorrow is a day I’ve been anxiously anticipating since I decided that I would be moving to Calgary. It’s my Poppy’s birthday. It isn’t too bad in that a lot of my family are all over the place at the moment so they aren’t doing anything for his actual birthday, but the weight of how far away I am from them is weighing on me this week because of how special my Poppy is to me.

My grandparents are only 70 (give or take a year for either of them), they were still so young when I was born that they are actually more like a second set of parents than what most people’s relationships with their grandparents resemble.  They have both taught me more than anyone that I know. The manner in which I move through this world at all times is consciously or unconsciously informed by them.  They have given me so much knowledge, strength and love throughout my entire life, but I am most grateful for them having passed on their big hearts and love of helping others as this has come to define so much of my life, as these traits have theirs and the rest of their children and grandchildren.

So for my Poppy, here’s what I’m listening to this week: Music and Friends. My Grandparents love to dance and this is definitely their favourite to step out for an old fashioned Newfie waltz. I’m sure I’ll listen to this a few times over the next 24 hours and I’ll try to be less sad that I’m away from them, but more grateful that I am blessed enough to have them in my life.  However, I wouldn’t pass up a few cheering phone calls, texts, etc. to help distract me from how large that distance seems at this time. 

The beginning...

Why did I decide to blog? The main purpose of this is to keep my many family and friends in other parts of the world in the loop on my life in Calgary. It’s also convenient that I know I have to create a blog as part of a course (read last MBA course!!) in the fall. I also hope that this will be a good creative outlet for expressing my opinions/thoughts on the world around me. I’m aiming to blog at least once a week and I’m optimistic about sticking to that schedule. We will see what the coming months bring though and I apologize if I slack on the schedule.

Just over five weeks ago now I moved from St. John’s to Calgary. It was a huge shift for me because I have wonderful friends and family in St. John’s who I am close to, but I got a really wonderful job offer and it’s definitely the right decision for this moment in my life. The last year or so has turned my life upside down in many ways, and I felt like spreading my wings and standing on my own two feet independent of anyone else was what I needed the most right now.

Here’s a very quick update of life in Calgary.

My job - As I have quoted to ever so many people, I feel like I work at Disneyland. The people are amazing, I’m helping kids and families develop and maintain more active and healthy lifestyles, I feel challenged intellectually every day, and I get free yoga and personal training. I always thought when I left my last job that I would never love an organization or coworkers as much as I did there, but it turns out I’m lucky twice! J

Stampede – People in this town are serious about Stampede. Everyone wears western wear for 10 days and many of the businesses basically shut down and just party for 10 days. I had a lot of fun during Stampede, but the actual highlight is a little sad in that it was a deep fried Snickers bar. Oh my gosh. I am drooling typing about it now. I’ll be recreating them, so don’t worry, you too can have this amazing experience and not have to pay whatever I did for it. I’m already looking forward to Stampede again next year, since I feel like I’ll know more of what to plan for the second time around.

Summer – The weather here since I’ve been in town has been amazing. There was one week that got a little hot, but otherwise it’s been perfect. It also stays light here until a bizarrely late hour. It’s not dark until like 10pm. It took me a little while to adjust to the altitude, especially with running. Everyone tells me now though that running on the east coast will be really easy, which I doubt since I’m kind of a baby about running even after three months.

Ok, that is only a very minor life update, but I didn’t want to write a book and I promised I would blog soon, so here it is.

I’m going to end blog entries with things I think you should listen to or that I might be listening to that week. I’m a bit pushy when it comes to songs I like, so this is my way of pushing it on people without harassing.

I’ve listened to the Dixie Chicks’ Wide Open Spaces WAY too many times in the last two months. It’s kind of corny, but completely too true for me at the moment.

My hands down favourite song of spring/summer 2012 is Walk the Moon’s Anna Sun. It’s crazy fun and always makes me dance no matter what kind of mood I’m in. The video is barrels of enjoyment as well.

Last for this week is Dan Mangan’s Post War Blues. I’m going to see this guy at folk fest this weekend and I can barely contain my excitement. Great Canadian talent!