salsa dancing rock climber: part two

the greatest weekends always have something to do with a combination of salsa dancing and rock climbing =) even though i know i should be hibernating at home saving money for europe, instead of gallivanting about spending frivolously hehe

anyways this weekend redan invited me to a christening/birthday party complete with cotton candy and scary ass clowns! red's mom was teasing me and trying to get the clowns to come and entertain me even though she knew i was deathly afraid! reds mom and sis were also dishing out all the dirt on him ahh haha it made for hilarious dinner conversation. we line danced and cha cha'd and then went to check out a salsa social at empire.

the performances were amazing! it really inspired me to get serious into salsa again. anyways i bumped into to my friend toan from ottawa, which just made my day! he asked me to salsa and just made me shine =) that was the first time red ever saw me bust out on the dance floor hehe and i think he was pretty impressed. if only i could find a salsa partner like that in winnipeg...but i think toan's dancing abilities go far beyond even the best in this city haha anyways we called it a night cuz i had to get up at 5am the next day for rock climbing!

i met up with ryan, jason, and ken and we took off for some climbing in kenora at a place called roadside. it was such a gorgeous day! to set up a climb, you could either hike down to the base and work your way up the cliff...or set up top and rappel down the cliff...and what did they make the first time outdoor climber do? yep i reppelled off the cliff! haha it had to be the scariest thing that i had ever done, but it was so much fun! i started the day with a pretty easy route...but what i quickly realized was indoor rock climbing is soOoOo different from outdoor! i can't even explain it in words other than its just amazing. it's because you're exposed to the elements, the wind, the fresh air, the sun, the rain, the trees, the bugs, the view from when you get to the top. it's such an awesome feeling your adrenalin pumping and being outside and challenging yourself and testing your limits! oh man the run on sentences...but really my mind is going a mile a minute trying to explain my first outdoor climbing experience.

anyways, after a few easy climbs (after i overextended my shoulder - tendonitis yikes!) we hiked out further to the highest point of the cliffs which im told is about 30 meters or like 90 feet i think. it was just overwhelming seeing how high the rock face was and thinking "man i gotta climb up this thing??" so before i tackled that route i rolled up my jeans, layed down on a rock and just baked in the sun to get a tan =) finally it was my turn and i roped up, and attempted to climb this route called raspberry jam, and about halfway up i didn't think i was going to make it. i chilled out on a ledge for a break and just found all the energy i could! and somehow i just had the will to make it to the top! the view from up there was just amazing. and it was just a rewarding feeling knowing that i didn't give up and i pushed myself really hard to accomplishment.

we decided to call it a day and hiked,gear in tow back to the car. i think the hike was the most tiring part after a long long day of climbing. with all the adrenalin rushing through my body i didn't feel the pain until the very next morning. but my crazy sore leg muscles and tendonitis of the shoulder was well worth the experiences i have had this weekend. and hopefully many more physically gruelling weekends to come =)

your salsa dancing rock climber,
meesa =)

i love long weekends =)

ahh it's been a wonderful week and a great four day weekend. memories...lets blog.

it all started with my second raise of the year. plus a weekly bonus to enjoy over the weekend =)

friday: i took my paper work to assinaboine park and got paid for getting a tan =)

saturday: i went to salsa lessons with jc and it was like an scene from dirty dancing: havana nights. jc being from colombia has salsa in his blood, so he feels the music isn't too worried about the technical aspects of dance. where i learned to dance with structure, and i'm very technical...geez i learned how to ballroom dance before anything. so we sort of clashed at the beginning of the class, but we were having a lot of fun by the end of it.

i was bitten by the salsa bug so the me and the girls went to empire. except it was packed and u had to pay $15 to go upstairs and salsa. so fuck that. anyways i was introduced to many boys that night as "this is my friend melissa, she's single" and "this is _________(fill name in the blank) he's pre-med/loaded/hot/_________ (fill in an adjective) and he's single." hehe it was probably one of the funnest nights i've had in a while. but so much more fun because i was single, and because school is over hehe anyways there is more potential in winnipeg than i thought and of all places to meet them, than at my favorite bar hehe

after the bar, me, kim and aura dropped of kim's hot premed friend "bye hot asian girls" while mel entertained the boys at kens's restaurant. when we finally met up with the rest of the guys we realized that all of the dishes we ordered were TIMES TWO! and between eight people we spent like 150 bucks. i mean its chinese food lol whos spends that much. anyways it was a strugle keeping our food down. and all of the laughs we had at the dinner table made supper even more painful.

sunday: walked to the gym and found that that by the time i got there it was closing in 15 minutes. so i did a crazy cardio set then walked back home and did pilates. me and the girls stopped by gia's place to say our final goodbyes before she went back home and then off to denmark. anyways. it was like old times the four of us; stuffing our faces with food and glued to the tv for hours, and gigglin and gossiping. so funny how things between us never change!

we finally decided to go to corydon and i treated the girls with gelati (and to meet up with the "boy" for the girls stamp of approval) which made for a very interesting night. we sat at nucci's discussing our love lives (or my lack there of) weddings and remincied. it was so nice to see that even though we've all been apart for so long things between the girls will never ever change. it's a very comforting feeling.

we walked down corydon and then popped by bar i to meet up with the boy...holy awkward! haha then the girls went all high school on me. holy even more awkward. but whatever they're only looking out for me...so judge all u want girls haha we quickly called it a night, but decided to pull an all nighter and see andrea off.

we played all this old school off of my ipod and reminced about the "old times" and just giggled and laughed all night. ahh do i ever love my girls =) we finally fell asleep (four girls on one couch, yes we love each other that much) and then woke up and said a quick goodbye to andrea. geez it hasn't hit me yet that she's moving halfway across the world!

sunday: went shopping with my sister all day at st. vital. i so love shopping with my sister! we chilled out at her apartment. then later i got restless and decided to go chill on corydon with redan. i spilled my weekly update. my drama always seems to amuse people hehe. anyways we went cruisin down portage then all around the highway singing to old school jams. then we called it a night. and here i am bloggin about it =)

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all in the same month i have said goodbye to: dennis, lindsey, rudy, chris, yue-jeen, mitch, mark, and andrea. thank goodness may is almost over. i dunno if i could say another goodbye... =(

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getting setup from friends of friends is always bad news. people, if you love your friends don't set them up lol

summer of the t-dot

so much for no weekend trips this summer. two long weekends off in july = meeting the bm's in karen's wedding party...in vancouver. and a weekend out at sandbanks beach in tdot, then my bday weekend in august for a camping trip and then a wedding the week before europe.

i just can't keep myself away! but i do wish there was a stop to montreal.

ah well four weekend trips this summer should be enough haha

sSsaturday...

"s" day = shopping with shaun then supper then shots then salsa then snack


shopping with shaun: good times =) boy needed an update. boy got one. one store. multiple mix and match outfits. stylin' =) boy even got a pimpin' pair of pumas! yay! it felt like an episode of what not to wear, but so much more fun!

supper: perfect pasta salad which had to be snatched from me to prevent me from over stuffing myself. it was sooOOooOoooOoo good i couldn't stop!

shots: me, france, shaun, and jc pregame at van's place and the yummy amaretto shots

salsa: i always forget how much i love to dance. sexy salsa at empire. taking lesson next sssaturday =) leonardo's this time. we'll see how this goes!

snack: we all meet up with mel and aura for a midnight snack at east ocean.

good times. i forgot how much i loved saturday's before school happened to me.

speaking of "s"...

long time no blog

sighs. its been a rough couple of weeks. for so many reasons, but mainly because in the last week i had to say goodbye to FOUR people in my life...who were all leaving for toronto. this entire week has been full of distraction therapy to avoid all those sad feelings. you just gotta get on with your life and instead of saying goodbye, you gotta leave it at a "see you later" so there isn't that "oh my god you're really leaving" shock. it's that every day normalcy that blankets that whole goodbye syndrome.

anyways i'm so happy that their starting their new lives and living out their dreams, but at the same time there's that sense of sadness and separation anxiety and fears of being left behind. but i guess its a way to test how strong your friendships really are. luckily i've had years of aiesec training in having long distant friendships from around the world and daddy works for air canada i can still have a few spontaneous weekend trips when i'm really really missing everyone.

sometimes you don't realize how important your friends are in your life until they're not in it. i know it's so cliched but the whole taking things for granted mumbo jumbo bites you in the ass when you least expect it.

sighs. everything changes. you just gotta roll with the punches. c'est la vie.

"i try to say goodbye and i choke
try to walk away and i stumble
though i try to hide it, its clear
my world crumbles when you are not here."

"sometimes some things are just better left unsaid."