Did you read your TEA BAG today?

This is Yogi tea.

(I prefer the Black Licorice one myself, but no matter)

So each tea sac has a message...some are pretty good while others are kinda cheesy.

Today mine said 

"The beauty in you is your spirit..."

Errrrr...well.....ummmm...ugh? Not convinced. 

I think I liked yesterday's message a LOT better.

"Every promise is a present in advance"

Wow...I give away WAY too many presents and then take'em back - gulp.

That was useful advice:Thanks Yogi.

Gotta run.

True Story...

Yes, I do know this model and yes I can even say that we're FRIENDS!

This is Cristy Nurse.

She is a Canadian National Team Rower.

She is also WICKED SMART: Basically she is soon to be a lawyer.

(one year left - boom!)

She is also INCREDIBLY good looking.

(I know it's kinda hard to tell from this picture but believe me I have seen this first hand...)

Conclusion?

Don't mess with her!

(Why? Because she will MESS you up!)

From Your #1 Fan 

(okay, maybe second or fifth...I'm sure family and boyfriend come before me)

HAH!

p.s I am proud of you Cristy Nurse! Good job with everything and keep the photo shoots coming!

Special Note For Teachers: So Everyone Really

A friend sent me this link LONG time ago...

I finally listening to it the other day while getting ready for work and was so struck by what this individual (Taylor Mali) was saying, I had to stop what I was doing, sit down and play it two more times... Of course I was bloody late for work that day ;-)

This speech/poem simply sums up in less than three minutes what I would like to accomplish as a teacher.

The message is direct, speaker is passionate and the examples are non-stop.

Truly motivating and insightful.

Today all OISE Teacher Candidates go into their 2nd and FINAL practicum placement for the year....

First day, of the first week, for only one more month...gulp.

:-)

I can do this, I can do this....sigh*

 I'm doing it.

BOOM!

4 Bike Lovers:Check Out These Tires....WHOA!

I found this in a magazine yesterday and just had to share (quietly ripped it out of a magazine at the doctor's office - thank you Dr. Roberts - hah!)

Did you take a GOOD look at THAT bike!?!?

HaRRRcore right?!?

NOTE: Did you know that the wear and tear of riding for only ONE winter is equal to the wear and tear of riding for FOUR summers? 

Therefore it's kinda necessary to go get a tune up after riding during the winter months. 

And here I thought "ohhh, doesn't the snow like clean my bike and chain for me? Why would I bother getting a tune-up?"

DUH!

Like I said, it's Friday so if you are laughing at me then I say "BEAT IT!"

(smile)

p.s. The gentleman in the photo  is named Dean Eyre who is riding in Whitehorse, no big deal :-)

What did Johnny Teach Me?

JONATHAN LEUSCHNER always insisted that thumbs had to go up in every picture that we took back in Fribourg....the German habit has lived on! 

Although I must say, it's WAY COOLER over there than it is here...

People would complain.
"Lauren, you wrecked the picture again - why do you keep sticking your thumbs up like that?"

So I stopped...in public.
 When alone, in front of my computer, like the geeky-geek that I am the thumbs come up - hah!

Soooo happy birthday dear friend, thanks for teaching me this delightful Johnnyism and I hope you get to celebrate your birthday all week long!

p.s. Everyone knows I have weird thumbs now too, thanks JOHNNY ;-)

How embarrassing...

 I have a bit of a strange phenomona to share with you...I have been liking, preparing and eating a lot of things that are round lately...WHAT?!?

I kid you not, I just noticed it the other day when half the stuff in my fridge were Tupperware full of little-round food balls.

For example?

A delicious morning Date Ball for a quick snack before workout (home made of course :-)

Mix up the morning treat with a Pumpkin Seed-Tahini Ball, just to add some choice with coffee.

For lunch a warm homemade falafel ball with sun dried tomatoes and leeks...mmm! 

Cherries for dessert? Oui merci!

 (I love cherries but it's a real treat since no, sadly they are NOT in season and 

grown in Canada cost an arm and a leg)

Last but not least....I take at least TWO of these big guys everyday for snacking. 

I love peeling in front of people like an orange, always get a smile or weird reaction.

Especially from students.

Let's keep this PG people...like I said, it's just a weird phenomena I discovered.

p.s. Got my eight hours of sleep last night too! To be honest,  I don't feel that AMAZING kinda groggy and confused...:-(

Lauren's Sleep Experiment

My BIG idea.

This week is all about getting 8 hours of sleep every night.

That doesn't mean going to bed at the same time each day

 (impossible working at bar) 

Just making sure that I allocate EIGHT hours of sleep for every 24 hours: the bed will not open until I have hit the 8 hour mark...what a funny thought? 

"Ohh jeez, I would love to but my bed isn't open yet... I still have another 40 mins to sleep; sorry!"   

BOOM!

This means NO MORE waking up SUPER early to finish homework, exercise or make scones :-) 

For example: cheese & sundried tomato is my speciality

What instigated this sleeping experiment? 

 I'm normally a train wreck even on a good day, but last week was terrible. 

Lauren = ABSOLUTE GRINCH who actually locked herself out of the house TWICE, got lost biking home from work three times, and forget important conversations with teachers, professors, and my boss.... little concerning.

By making SLEEP a priority (cough-GEEK-cough) I will see how I feel, watch for changes and at the end of the week determine whether or not skipping workouts (cuz I think that might happen) to get appropriate amount of sleep is worth it.

BOOM! 

(2nd boom of the morning, I know-I know)

Hopefully I can change this....

...errr to this? (alright, not much better ;-)

As Sir John always says (that's my dad):

"The poor bloke that marry's you will have to be both deaf and blind..."

Maybe getting more sleep (beauty sleep?) will help change me MORE than I ever imagined - hahaha!

What a novel thought?

Ohhh how EXCITING - LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

WARNING: Family Day Chee-ZI-ness

Babysitting started at 7 am on Family Day...

...I'm loving it :-)

p.s. Made Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies too - BOOM!

p.p.s. Okay, these don't really look good but OH-MY-WORD are they ever tasty!

Smile.

How does this happen every time?

This is my bloody room by the end of the week....

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN???

Clothes everywhere, the bunk bed which you cannot see is FULL of clean clothes, closet is a mess, there is not even enough room on my desk for me to type... keyboard is on my freaking lap!

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH - Where to start?

DID SOMEONE SAY GYM? 

(otherwise known as Lauren's #1 procrastination method)

(#2 is grocery shopping)

(#3 is skyping)

(#4 cleaning)

This is me contemplating....gym? Room clean? Homework? 

Forget it, easy answer.

Lauren's Mind: FABULOUS IDEA LAUREN (yes, I talk to myself like this) - 

GO TO THE GYM! 

How can you argue with that?

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL three day weekend...ahhh, Family Day :-)

p.s. Not a word about the hat, hair or bags under my eyes...has been a week of LATE NIGHTS working at the bar :-(

It's International.

How to Say the the Word "Fart" Around the World...




Part I.

Arabic: fus

Chinese: fon pei ha

Czech: prd

Danish: fis

Esperanto: furz

Farsi: gooz

Finnish: pieru




Really, Lauren?

Yes. Really.

It's Friday - BEAT IT!

(smiling)

It's A Work DAY Today

Why do I work at a bar?

Nope, money ain't a good enough reason sometimes :-)

Perhaps this is bad advice but I'll say anyways...
If you ever get the chance to work with a family member; DO IT!

Sometimes yes, it's aw--kward...
(especially when people think you are fighting but it's just a regular-Wells heated discussion - hah)

But most of the time working with Everett is the reason why I love going to work.

We just have WAY too much fun together.

They call us the Olsen twins...something about how we talk the same?

I don't get it.

YAY - for work tonight!

Opps - Where are the Lovers in a Dangerous Time?

I completely forgot it was Valentine's Day yesterday... my bad! To think I didn't post some my the best love songs of ALL TIME is just a blooming shame.

My deepest apologies to all your lovers out there waiting for this amazing playlist. 

Hope the night was not a waste...you can still surprise her this morning with breakie in bed and music:)

p.s. Sorry about the flipping photos yesterday (from last entry), I tried to fix them but ended up just changing them all...guess you really can't steal someone else's photos.  

Dang copy rights!

My top three favourite love songs in no particular order...or are they just good songs that happen to be about love? Je ne sais pas. 

Last but not least...

*sigh

Okay-okay---cheesey stops now. Back to real world.

BOOM!

The "Desh" lovingly nicknamed by my Family

Mmm so...Last week I accepted a position teaching overseas for two years at an IB International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

I still don't believe it myself. I think "shock" is the right word.

Excited?

Undoubtedly.

Scared-Nevous-Anxious?

Even more (laughing) but I love that awful-challenging feeling, especially when it comes to teaching.

I wanted to tell people individually but there are so many of you flipping lovely people that I couldn't manage writing individual notes...lame Lauren I know!
So I apologize to those who are finding out right now - :-(

So let the rumors start, shall we? Lauren is teaching in Istanbul?

No, no, she is going to Kuwait. Really, I heard Qatar? No, it's Iran! What about Germany?

NO: DHAKA, BANGLADESH !

*sigh

Here are some photos of the ISD School and Dhaka city just to make it more believable.

Looking at these pictures helps convince me it's real...who am I kidding?

It still hasn't hit me yet.

August is miles away right now. Until then, there is too much other CRAP to do.

Gotta-hop-to-it-then.

Lauren:Stop Procrastinating!

You know you're procrastinating when - you wake up early to finish a paper but instead you...

1) Bake Banana Raisin muffins (that you can't eat...gluten is not my friend)
2) Clean the bathroom
3) Do your laundry (as well as, construct a line to hang it up in your room)
4) Pump your tires full of air (because one never knows when they need their road bike in the winter:-)
5) Vacuum carpet
6) Put out trash & Recycling (after sorting and cleaning the actual containers)
7) Start blogging about your day.....

And so here we are. What time is it anyways?

Ugh! I am not sleeping well these days...too worried about how busy things will get in the next coming months...so maybe I should just stop procrastinating and get this CRAP DONE?!?

Fine.  I'm leaving.  Thanks for listening or was that a self pep-talk?

Really Lauren?

Just shut up and start the week off right, will ya?

*(smile)

p.s. this photo sums up my life perfectly right now

It's Friday, let's Celebrate: Smiles All Around.

Let's start working those SMILING muscles please...wake'em UP!

I love days that are partly cloudy with scattered showers.

Pssst - who's the guy in the middle suppose to be?

Eating birthday cake full of GLUTEN (but dark gluten - YUM!) with a little help from family, my niece Leia and her baby doll lovingly called "Baby"- how original.

Watching someone ski away from you because you are too stubborn (and scared) to go at their pace down a "small" hill.....yes, that little black dot to the left is a PERSON!

WARNING: Never lie about being able to ski, swim, or mountain bike to a man from Switzerland. Their standards are different. You're skills will be challenged. 

And they have little sympathy for you when you've been saying all along 
"Sure, sure...I can ski!"

Especially when you're at the top of the mountain crying 
(when I cry it's more like hiccuping),

 hyper-ventilating (air was so thin), and getting chilled because your clothes are soaked from sweating anxiously.

Imagine me trying to explain myself between sobs, in broken french/basic english - disaster!

What did I learn? 

That SNOWPLOWING is not equivalent to skiing and is useless on "small" hills in Switzerland.

Smile.

Watching two men dance, not afraid to show their love.

(weddings bring out the best in people sometimes)

Leaving love notes for my old roommates makes me smile.

Leaving permanent notes INSIDE the boat also make me smile!

Dancing with a sexy white man's overbite, niiice.

And let's not forget amazing places like this: downtown city of Dhaka in Bangladesh ;-)

It's going to be a BUSY-BEE weekend for me so please, enjoy le weekend FREE from my silly blog, endless thoughts and non-sense picture postings.

Smiling already.

Changes coming soon :-)

This is how quickly I'm flying through life right now...

Okay, so it doesn't look that fast but I swear, the hill got steeper and I started going REALLY FAST...
The green jacket becomes a BLURRRRRR with speed later on, promise!

(Oh right, the guys on the right? Umm they were the tour guides...mmm yeah, they were a little worried about my skiing skills so they so nicely offered to followed me down the hill.... the whole way...)
 Yes, it was humiliating for me.

True story.

p.s. I cannot tell a lie...I'm not a good skiier.
BOOM!

p.p.s. I cannot wait to tell those of you who actually read this silly-mindless-blabber some really  important news :-) 

Pass-it-on!

This made me smile from head to toe yesterday!

I love passing on rowing stuff that I no longer need, use, or plain can't fit in anymore....who needs 24 long sleeves, mmmm? 

Juliette, you look sooo good and make me so PROUD today...as well as the LTC- tee-hee!

Bravo ma belle, j'y pense à toi!

(This is a picture of the lovely Suisse rower Juliette, at a training camp in Seville, Spain Feb 2012.  

She is part of the Lausanne Sport rowing club in Switzerland, as well as, apart of the Junior SUI National Rowing Team...no big deal! And from all the way over the ocean, she is wearing one of my old (but new) rowing long-sleeves :-)

Sparkle-sparkle-shiny and NEW

I'm thinking it's time I bought myself my very own new helmet
(no more second hand or old beat-up helmets).
One that I PICKED myself for my very own nog'in :-)

Here are some options I am considering.

Think I might like the last one the best...what do we think?

I am open to any other suggestions.

Ugh - its gonna be one of those days...full of tough choices *sigh