Present

Working on the wedding slideshow

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:53:03 -0400

Working on the wedding slideshow

Spoils of a mini trip to the states. Nike running jacket: $25;...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:11:00 -0500

Spoils of a mini trip to the states. Nike running jacket: $25; Adidas dry fit t-shirt: $20; Adidas shin pads: $5; lululemon hot yoga shorts: $20. ** prices in USD before tax

growing on me

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 13:24:44 -0500

growing on me

Friday night spent with dinner at home then studying at a coffee...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:52:01 -0500

Friday night spent with dinner at home then studying at a coffee shop. Yes, we’re paying for our wedding #dowhatyougottado

A messy NYE

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:13:42 -0500

A messy NYE

Fancy dinner night at Elliot’s in Seattle, last weekend of...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:06:48 -0500

Fancy dinner night at Elliot’s in Seattle, last weekend of 2012

2013

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 01:17:49 -0500

Moving out for the first time, getting married - 2013 is poised to be the biggest year of my life, the most definitive step into a new phase. Monica and I are joining forces to blog and share our pre-wedding journey. Friends, family, strangers: follow us on twitter and instagram @frugallyfrivol and visit frugallyfrivolous.com (tumblr).

We are blessed to live/get married in one of the best (and most expensive) cities in the world. Frugally frivolous is our approach to making the most of it.

Bikram Yoga

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:40:30 -0500

Not sure if I like it

Or hate it. Is that a hallmark of a good workout?

Wikipedia: Bikram Yoga

NPR Planet Money Podcast: Why Do We Tip?

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 19:03:08 -0500

NPR Planet Money Podcast: Why Do We Tip?

"Atheism is a necessary moment in any relationship with the strangeness, the wildness, the mystery..."

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:02:13 -0500

“Atheism is a necessary moment in any relationship with the strangeness, the wildness, the mystery that the word God tries to name, and to tame”

- After Atheism: New Perspectives on God and Religion (CBC Podcast)

idreamstarr: @#)($()#$()@#$()@#$#$@*()$#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:51:00 -0400

idreamstarr:

@#)($*()#*$()@#*$()@#*$#$@*()$#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

m3lissa: Been listening to the Zolas’ “Knot In My Heart” on...

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:39:33 -0400

m3lissa:

Been listening to the Zolas’ “Knot In My Heart” on repeat at work. Definitely one of my favourite songs of 2012.

Speaking of which, I think this set in Sandbar is one of my faves in 2012.

a reason to celebrate / a reason to mourn

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:48:19 -0400

I’m turning the corner on one of the most significant and drastic transitions of my life, and I am glad to report that I have a tremendous opportunity to join the Fraser Health/PHSA Workplace Health team. My new role is as a PHSA Return to Work Associate. It’s exactly the kind of job that I wanted and it’s with the public sector “top BC employer” that I wanted it with. I am truly blessed, especially with the timing of everything.

While still in South America, I had asked to be booked at RSCL until the end of August as I was pretty sure that it would take me at least that long to find a job in Disability Management. Luckily, my new job started in September so I was able to smoothly transition into my new role. The same can be said with Boston Pizza and the Rafael Living Foundation - both were extremely accommodating and supportive in my change and I’ve since put in my two weeks notice. My last shift at Boston Pizza was Labour Day Monday; I was decidedly sad to say goodbye to my old life even though it was a step forward that I had strived for and engineered.

But in every event I believe that there is reason to celebrate and a reason to mourn – it is important to acknowledge and respect both. No occasion fit this bill more perfectly than the weekend of my last shift at RSCL, when I packed up my clothes to move out to Vancouver, and when I punched out for the last time at Boston Pizza, saying goodbye to a phase of life that was so formative and that treated me so well.

Putting the most significant transition of my life further behind me, it was (and is) the most definitive bittersweet moment of my life so far. As I begin baby steps to normalize my new life and excel in my new role, I can start to focus my energies on other projects - mainly, finding my first home and marrying my best friend to live in it with!

Engagement shoot (Taken with Instagram)

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 23:10:56 -0400

Engagement shoot (Taken with Instagram)

"One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more"

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:24:37 -0400

“One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more”

- Washington Irving

CBC Podcast: Love and Economics

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:02:21 -0400

CBC Podcast: Love and Economics:

I’ve been listening to a lot of economics podcasts as of late. Highly recommend: Freakonomics, NPR Planet Money, and CBC’s Invisible Hand.

Capping off SeaWheeze with sunset yoga (Taken with Instagram)

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 11:09:37 -0400

Capping off SeaWheeze with sunset yoga (Taken with Instagram)

Gold medal vaults, 54 years apart

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 02:57:56 -0400

Gold medal vaults, 54 years apart

Back in Vancouver

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:06:31 -0400

I loved breakfast every morning with backpackers from around the world. I loved not having to worry about schedules or work and only worrying about how to have the most fun every day, for 5+ weeks. I loved the culture, the diversity, the lifestyle, and the excitement of South America and waking up in a different bed every few days.

But I love waking up in my own bed too. I know I have it good because as good as it was there, I eagerly looked forward to coming home to my life. And, at ramming speed, I want to be home to tackle the most significant transitionary phase of my life so far.

Life begins immediately.

This weekend, we head to VanDusen Gardens for a tasting of our reception menu and will be taking some engagement photos in Steveston. Next weekend, we’re away for our Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend. I also can’t wait to start training again - I have about a month to go from zero to (my first) half-marathon - in order to not embarrass myself at Sea Wheeze.

I’m happy to be back working on Monday, taking on-call shifts at the day program and the restaurant to generate some cash flow as I focus on absolutely destroying my job hunt. Last time, my post-UBC job search was characterized by a lack of direction, applying for anything and everything. While I wanted desperately to take my first brisk steps into a challenging and giving career, I didn’t know which direction to take them - I remember using the term ‘paralyzing inertia’ to describe it.

But this time it’s different. Let it be known I am looking for a job in the field of disability management. Keywords I’m looking for: disability management consultant, return to work coordinator, disability case manager.

Today, I picked up my Diploma in Disability & Rehabilitation Management and am now a proud alumnus of both SFU and UBC. With it, along with my years of experience working with adults with developmental disabilities and my Bachelor of Health Science & Kinesiology, I am full of optimism that this transition phase, the most important of my life, will end up very well for me.

Updates to come :)

Almost Home

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 15:22:53 -0400

Hi guys,

I’m currently at a hostel in Huacachina - a dessert town 4.5 bus hours south of Lima. There are 2 reasons we’re here: sandboarding (going down giant sand dunes on a snowboard) and visiting the Paracas National Reserve (a UNESCO world heritage site described to me from a friend as ‘the poor man’s galapagos’). We’ve booked both of these activities and are just relaxing in this tourist spot.

We head back to Lima tomorrow where we’ll spend our last couple nights before returning home! Before this…

Amazon Basin. We spent just over 48 hours in the amazon jungle. Per hour, probably the most expensive leg of our journey, especially when you consider how much it cost for immunizations against yellow fever and the fiasco that was my malaria pills (Yes, I had it sorted and it was just CND $80 to get the malarone equivalent and I am now safely on the pill). Given everything I went through to get prepared for te Amazon’s worst, I was happy to take advantage of photo ops with two different species of monkeys jumping on me and manhandling my face. In the end, it wasn’t exactly teaming with wildlife. I saw a bunch of ants (leaf cutters, fire, bullet), alligators, and an insane amount of parrots and birds, and glimpsed PJ’s cousin *a wild guinea pig about the size of a small to medium dog* but overall, I was a bit underwhelmed when it came to seeing the jungle’s fauna. The resort we stayed in has been open for 18 years. I speculate that tourism, climate change, etc has led to the present state of wildlife scarcity. But overall, I really enjoyed the 2 days in the Amazon and think that it rounds out this trip nicely. We were lucky to meet some fantastic brits and I enjoyed the high end resort that made me nostalgic for our experiences in the Philippines together. I felt old (in a good sense) to be paying my own way in a resort, similar to the ones that Dad used to finance for us as kids.

Machu Picchu. This was the biggest draw for me in deciding on South America (vs. Asia or Europe). To be brief, the road to Machu Picchu was surprisingly difficult, stressful and meandering. We intended on taking our time through the Sacred Valley from Cusco, visiting the ancient terrace ruins of Moray and the salt mines of Salinas, which we did. They were worth it. But along the way, we met a french canadian couple who informed us that there were indigenous protesters who were at the moment actively blocking the roads and railways to Machu Picchu. I panicked as we already paid for tickets to get in that cost us a dizzying 128 Soles. But besides the money, it would be crazy if I missed seeing this!! To add to my anxiety, we realized that our plan of taking buses and hiking for 2 hrs to get to Aguas Callientes would mean that we’d be hiking with our packs after sunset through mountain ranges - a prospect that I looked at as a virtual guarantee to get robbed.

Oh, I should mention that after leaving Moray and Pisac on a bus that we hailed down, 5 minutes later I frantically asked the driver to “Para Por Favor!!!” I forgot my camera in the cab. Getting off, I hitch hiked back in the heat of the sacred valley and thankfully, the camera was still there. Classic Sam, I know…

But it proved to be lucky, as on the new bus that we hailed down, we met Jessie, our Australian friend who was also on the road to Machu Picchu. After joining forces and benefiting from her espanol, we successfully arranged to get to Aguas Callientes on train (Costing us so much more money, but easing my anxiety) where we met up with our american friends from Cuzco who we had arranged to hike up to Machu Picchu together.

We arrived in Aguas Callientes around midnight and went to bed, only to wake up 3 hours later to hike up to the entrance of Machu Picchu (saving us about USD $14). The morning hike wasn’t exactly smooth. We were supposed to meet our American friends but they didn’t show up, so we hiked up through the dark and drizzle with other travelers in a grouse grind-esque (although not as intense) pilgrimage to Machu Picchu. The hike really added to the experience of getting there, getting there before 6AM to be the first to enter Machu Picchu. We were astonished to see Carl, our friend we met in Quito, Ecuador at the entrance to Machu Picchu. We knew that he wanted to be there that day but highly doubted him showing up as he was waking up in Lima the day before.

Entering Machu Picchu, we were disheartened that it was raining harder than at any point during our trip. But at least we were able to meet up with Jessie. We joined up with a tour and about an hour later, reconnected with our american friends. The rain and rain clouds abated soon after that and were able to appreciate Machu Picchu in the sun and glory that I had originally hoped. In the end, I liked how the weather worked out because I was able to appreciate it in both climates, and it staggered the awe factor a little bit.

The cost associated with getting to and from Machu Picchu is relatively restricting, but absolutely worth it. I miss you all and can’t wait to come home. Remember, my flight arrives at YVR at 8:30 on Thursday. I think that I’ll be craving sushi ;) See you then!