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See you on Canada Day! June 27, 2009

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Well, BF and I are hitting the road now! I’m very excited, and hopefully I’ll have lots to tell you about when I get back Wednesday night (plus, hopefully pictures!).

Have a great weekend and a great Canada Day.


Finally have my passport June 26, 2009

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Whew! Thankfully after all the hassle (getting the Letter of Authorization from Canada Post, calling 4 different times – and getting 4 different answers, getting the L0A notarized, and finally mailing it off to my mom so she could have the required original copy), I finally got my passport from Canada Post. Well, my mom has it. And my sister will bring it over with her when she comes to visit in a few weeks. Woo hoo!

Now my fingers are crossed that my BC Parks parking pass arrived in the mail today. :)


Reached a $30,000 net worth. Finally! June 26, 2009

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Hoorah! Today I finally crossed over the $30k net worth plateau that I’ve been struggling with for over a year.

If it wasn’t the market crashing, it was LASIK eye surgery, or the car crash (and the purchase of a car), or moving 3 times in 1.5 years, or starting up expensive hobbies, or the unfortunate passing of my grandma. One after the other, they kept forcing me back down. It’s certainly been a costly few years! And I feel a sense of accomplishment to finally get over the psychological barrier of “the $30,000 net worth.”

Now I hope with all the setbacks behind me, I can zoom ahead and hit $45k by this time next year!


Where did you go? June 26, 2009

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Did I miss something?

Flirty*almost*30 has shut her blog down. :( Why? Where did you go? I miss you already.


The cost of hiking June 26, 2009

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Yesterday after work, BF and I went to MEC. I hate going to MEC because I always “find” things that I need, and spend way more than I had anticipated.

This time, I had a plan. I knew what I wanted to buy, and ended up spending $149.

So, not bad. I got a lot of things that I needed. Like SP at Stacking Pennies, I’ve invested so much money into this hobby. I have thousands of dollars worth of gear. Thankfully BF gets a discount on some of the stuff that I’ve purchased (some he’s bought me too), but mostly I’ve had to fork over cold, hard cash. And it’s all necessary gear too. Hiking and camping are definitely cheap activities to do, but only once you’ve invested the money in getting proper high quality gear.

For example, if you spend $3,000 on good hiking gear (sleeping bag, waterproof backpack, tent, boots, technical clothing, accessories, etc.), that’s a sizable investment. You could go on 2 all-inclusive vacations for that kind of money. But in the future, hiking and camping are FREE activities to do – of course you’ll have to buy food and gas money depending on where you’re going. But this 5-day trip, everything included, should cost each of us less than $150 each. So for an initial up-front cost, we’re going to have cheap vacations for years and years to come. Of course, spending a vacation in a tent, without showering, might not appeal to everyone. :)

Anyway, tomorrow we’re leaving at 6am! :) We’ll drive for about 3 hours to get to Cathedral Park. Then to get to where we want to camp for the night, we have to drive 40km up a gravel road, then spend the rest of the day hiking in. The next day, BF said that we’ll have to climb a few smaller peaks to get to the top of Grimface Mountain (2,635 m or 8,645 ft). And then after that, we’re just going to hang out in the mountains, exploring and rock climbing … until we have to come back down on Wednesday.


RIP Michael Jackson June 25, 2009

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Possible contract work June 25, 2009

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I’m in negotiation with a previous employer from my hometown – they want to do some contract design work for them. And since they’re government, they pay quite well. This could lead to a lot more work, since I know they don’t have a designer on staff. Fingers are crossed!


Working some OT June 25, 2009

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So far this week I’ve worked 2.5 hrs of overtime. Not a lot, but I’m hoping to work enough so that I can take a day off work when my sister comes to visit in mid-July. The plan is to go down to the outlet mall in Washington. It’s kind of scary. This is the first time she’s visited since we got into the car crash, and the first time since the crash either of us will drive across the border too. I’m a little apprehensive about it. I don’t want to go to the same border crossing that we went to the last time – just thinking about it makes me not even want to go. We’ll just go to the other one, and we’ll be fine. :)

We are also going to the Death Cab For Cutie concert (bought tickets for her birthday back in March) while she’s here.

Speaking of concerts, Sam Roberts is coming in August, and I’m debating about buying tickets for BF and I. I just saw him earlier this year, so I don’t really need to go. But it would be amazing. I haven’t seen him perform at an outdoor venue since 2005. We’ll see.