Field Trip!

A little back logged here, but, that's alright. Its been busy as hell lately, but, I have some breathing room now, and should have good amounts of it for a while.

So, for one of my classes this semester, I got to go on a field trip. This is the first of several that I have to go on for my major (unless I change my major (slightly), which is a possibility). We went to the interior of British Colombia, and looked at all these really cool remnants of past geological events. This was my first time going into the interior of BC, so it was a really fun experience for me. Well, I've been in the interior-I did take a bus through the mountains-but it was at night, and I was on 3 days of no sleep.
This time, I was not. I was well awake, and got to see some of the amazingness of the mountains, and the plateaus that are part of BC's landscape.

Boring for many of you, I'm sure. The rocks, and geological stuff, I mean. Just because I have a nerd hard on for rocks and stuff doesn't mean that all you do.

I did get some cool photos though, ones that aren't of rocks, or alluvial fans, of landslides.

I want to see more of British Colombia before I leave here for good. I have a few good years, mind you, but there is a lot to see here, and it's going to take a long time.

Yet another thing I'm doing

I do a lot of things, don't i?

So, I am still doing the book about self harm! Post over here  and information is in the Projects header ^

But, new thing!

I am hoping to volunteer my time at a wildlife preservation this summer, between my semesters, down in South Africa.

Cool, right?

But also expensive.  As such, I am looking to get donations from animal and adventure loving people, who want to further a broke ass student in her studies and goals in life!

Now, over 1/3 of the money raised is directly for the wildlife preservation to help pay for their overhead, food, medicine and the paid (local) labor. The rest of it is pretty much all flights. Because, holy crap, flying to Johannesburg is expensive!

If you can donate, or want more information about this project, there are links in the Projects header ^ and here is the link to the gofundme page I have set up. There are more details to be found there!

Donate to me!

We are offering small rewards to those who donate money. Now, keep in mind, broke ass students here. We are doing the best we can to help those in need, while still being able to afford school (not as easy as you think).

We are trying to do something that we both (hubs and I) think is important. We want to not only be able to see some of the endangered wildlife in Africa, but we also want to do what we can to help ensure the survival of those species.

Did you know what there are only 4 white rhinos in the wild today? 4. And the idea that they are killed for the stupidest fake "science" ever makes me sick.

It is humans who have destroyed the habitat, the water and the food. It is humans who kill and maim them for fun.
And it should be humans who do what they can to save them.
So, please help, if you can.

Fondue time

Did I ever mention that I have some amazing friends? I admit that I don't have that many, but what I lack in quantity, I surely make up for in quality. I am truly grateful to have met some of the most awesome people in the world, and be able to call them friends.

Now, a little background on this particular friend-we (he and I) met on a cross-country bus trip, from Toronto to Vancouver. We both smoked, had a thing for Kate Beckinsdale, and bemoaned the entire trip. Over the few days on the bus, we became friends. Once we arrived in Vancouver, we exchanged contact info, and, to be honest, I thought that was it.
But, of course, it wasn't. We kept in contact, and it has been 7 years of awesome friendship, spanning breakups, weddings, WoW addictions, multiple moving trips (ours), babies (his, not mine) and more coffee than should legally be allowed.

Anyways, thanks to his awesomeness, Kristan and I got to go out for Fondue for a belated Valentines day date! It was belated A. because we couldn't get a reservation in time and B. because the hubs was sick on Valentines, and I stayed in reading manga (not complaining!)

The place is called Capstone tea and fondue, and is located downtown Vancouver, on Robson St. It's all white and pale green and surprisingly relaxing, given that it is almost always entirely booked.

Now, Vancouver is all about Asian fusion in almost everything it does. It comes with the territory of being the most Asian city in Canada, and having caucasian be a minority in this city. For those who don't know, fondue is a Swiss dish, which consists of melted cheese and chocolate, served with fresh fruits, vegetables and bread for dipping. Being in an Asian fusion city, all the tea options were typically Asian-matcha, green, green matcha, oolong, and so forth, as opposed to European-orange peako, English breakfast, or Earl Gray. I had an ooling tea, and the hubs had a London Fog (early gray with steamed milk foam)

We sat with our drinks for a little while, before we got the set menu of fresh fruits and veggies, bread and-of course-the warm cheese and chocolate. Now, originally, it didn't look like a lot, but, wow, was it ever filling! It totally took the place of dinner, and what  a wonderful dinner it was!

It was a lovely experience, and one I would love to have again. It was healthy, delicious, filling and a lot of fun to do with people that you love. I'm hoping that I get to do this as a double date sometime soon! Maybe in Switzerland, which would be amazing. I wonder how different it is there, in its home country. Although, the man who opened the restaurant is Swiss, i wonder if he changed the original recipes, and, if so, by how much.
xo

I'm back!

Well, mostly back anyways. I still have a big project to do, as well as a midterm-plus finals-but I have enough breathing space to be able to update here, and try to remember my social life. Not that I have much of one, mind you.

Anyways, right before I took my hiatus, I had a very good friend of mine come visit. It was his first time in Vancouver, which is crazy since he has been all over the world. We tried to get him to see the good parts of Van, but it's hard when there is only 1 day.

We took him out to Trees cafe (which I did a cafe review on back when I was writing for Beyond Robson, which seems to be on permanent hiatus) and got some mighty delightful cheesecake and yummy drinks.

He was here in the city to do a Microsoft thing with Windows Azure (of which I know nothing about) and to see us. I like to stroke my ego and say it was all us, but, I don't pay his salary, which puts me at a slight disadvantage in that department.
After his presentation thinger, he came over to enjoy a lovely game of Catan, Star Trek version (and kicked my ass, like, wow) and to hang out with my lovely bear Leonard (whom you may remember was a gift from my dear Texan friend).

The awesome news out of all of this is that he, and his lady friend, are coming to Fan Expo Vancouver, so we get to see him again super soon! Hurray for social lifes and awesome, amazing friends!