Winterpeg Trip from Mid February Recap

So after feeling less than stellar in Calgary at least I was headed to Winnipeg.  For those of you who don't know where that is.It's here...

kind of in the middle of nowhere (which is why I'm the first of the girls to head there to visit Sophie in Winnipeg!).

Also it is of surprising note that I would head there seeing as it is regarded as "According to Environment Canada, Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population of over 600,000 based on the average night-time temperature during December, January and February, inclusive.^{[5]" (Thank you Wikipedia).}  I'm so not a cold weather person (I know kind of unfortunate living in Canada then eh?)  So I decided to brave the cold to see Sophie :)  and at least I was hoping to get my mind of everything like this or this.  Another cool Winnipeg fact...that is what Winnie the Pooh is named after!

So Monday (yup Valentines Monday thank goodness Sophie doesn't celebrate!)
It was a pretty pleasant flight (no random selection for searching/x-rays etc.) and I even made it to the airport without getting turned around (yea me!)  So I arrived into Winterpeg around 5:30pm-ish and I was greeted by Sophie at the baggage claim!  I haven't seen Sophie since Jane's wedding in October (with Spencer sigh).  So it was great to just be around her AND she was able to take off all three days I was going to be there :)

We headed straight to her house (yea!) I wish I had taken pictures of it to give a tour but I was so darn excited I totally didn't (she is also the first one of us girls to buy an actual house).  It is 100 years old (but updated) and has tons of character.  I love the wide baseboards and the hardwood floors and the vent thingys (I know they probably have a proper name).  And maybe Canadians were just with it because whenever I see closets in 100 year old homes on TV they are teeny but these ones were actually all pretty decent (granted likely they are from updates but don't seem that way).  Imagine a sweet house that has tons of potential. 

And she has a dog she rescued that we think is a cross between a rottweiler and a collie and just the sweetest thing ever.  We had a long discussion of wanting to do Doggie DNA tests on our dogs (both rescues from shelters) to find out exactly what they are haha.  I wonder how accurate they are and how expensive it is.  So we had a couple of glasses of wine and her husband cooked us dinner.  It was actually really nice to hang with her and her husband.  He is REALLY super shy and quiet which makes it hard with our core group because we have a TON of outspoken ones in the group so often he kind of hangs in the background.  So it was pretty cool to get to know him better too.  We just stayed up chatting until midnight or so before finally going to sleep.  She had the sweetest flannel sheets that were so snuggly I had the BEST sleep that night.

Tuesday
The next day we got up and made a huge breakfast of bacon and eggs etc.  Then we hung out in our PJs and drinking coffee until 4pm!  Seriously all we did was watch HGTV and look through decorating magazines and contemplated paint colours for her house.  She had painted 3 different colours on two walls in her main living area that we contemplated throughout the day.  It was perfect and relaxing and I was starting to feel a lot happier and like myself.  At 4pm we finally mustered up the energy to shower and change and take her dog for a "short" walk.  First thing we saw on the walk that I HAD to take a photo of to show Taylor was someone shoveling their roof with a special shovel! 

Ummm I didn't realize his "short" walks were an hour.  Granted my amazing sweet dog lasts only about 10 maybe 15 minutes maximum (he is also only 5lbs).  So I wasn't used to the cold weather (even though it was UNSEASONABLE warm in Winnipeg the entire time I was there).  On the walk I gave Sophie the low down on the whole Spencer story (it wasn't like I wanted to pick up the phone around Christmas and give her this horrible sad story).  She was floored and really didn't see it coming at all (none of the girls did).  She made me feel way better after talking to her even though I balled my eyes out (gosh when will THAT stop happening? its kind of annoying at this point).  We also had a really great talk about my grandpa and the immense guilt and sadness I was feeling.  I just am so heartbroken.  There are a lot of stories I need to blog about but not yet.  So it was great to actually talk about my grandpa with a friend.  That night we went and had sushi which was amazing!  It has been a long time since I've gotten to do that so it was awesome.


Wednesday
The next day we actually made it out of our pajamas before noon.  We headed to the Mint. 

And learned all about money.  We held up a gold bar which is valued at $500,000 and it was pretty darn heavy.  All those movies with people tossing gold bars into duffel bags...no WAY could that happen.  The Royal Canadian Mint makes something like 62 countries coins which was pretty cool to see.  We even got to see Medals from the most recent Olympics.  So gorgeous!

After we learned everything we could about money we headed to a cute market area in downtown Winnipeg called The Forks (which reminded me of my love for Twilight haha)  and even made it into an antique store.  Embarrassing enough I'm pretty sure that was my first time in an antique store and has now definitely peaked my interests.  (I may just be a person that starts to antique :) )

It was a great relaxing day.  I also found my Winnipeg Ornament.  So I do this weird thing.  Where I don't collect like spoons or magnets or mugs or t-shirts from places I visit, I collect Christmas ornaments.  Then when I decorate my tree (like this past year) it is like looking back (on usually) really fun times in my life.  It also keeps the cheezy touristy stuff away most of the year.  Sometimes they aren't actual Christmas ornaments but I fashion them into one.  Like a wooden gecko painted in Batik style from Indonesia etc.  Places like Thailand don't really have "Christmas stores" haha.  So I found a beautiful traditional painted glass ornament in Winnipeg with a teepee and buffalo and first nations on it. 

And will be a reminder of the great three days with Sophie in Winnipeg.  (We did happen across a HUGE teepee and went inside and have a picture taken outside one so it is really appropriate). 

That night we had tacos for dinner (yum!) and it was kind of funny because Sophie was never a meat eater but she is doing so in order to better support the possibility of starting a family :)  So excited for her!  So then we stayed up pretty late just chatting and drinking wine.

Thursday
Before I knew it the trip was over :(  It went by fast and I found myself wishing I had planned to stay longer but I still had that last online essay to finish and submit (at 15, 000 words +) by Friday at midnight.  I was sad to leave Sophie but glad I made the trip out there.  Now I had basically 24 hours to finish the essay.  I guess I never really explained about that essay test.  But it pretty much was this huge essay that I was really tempted to just not do because of it occuring so close to provincial and national testing in Calgary.  However, after talking to some friends and colleagues I decided to just try and submit (a rather crappy and embarrassing acutal) version and see what happens.  So I did and hit submit at 11:31pm.  Those results come back in 30 days.  I feel like I have no hope for that one but at least I tried which at this point in my life is taking a substantial effort. So that is how I spent my week in western and central Canada.  I do have the BEST girlfriends in the entire world who have been such a huge support to me. (Blog followers this also means you too!) Now I just have to pick myself and put my life together.  It wouldn't be fair to disappoint them and you after all this support. 



Pictures from: http://www.ec.gc.ca/EnviroZine/images/Issue60/Winnipeg_l.jpg, http://professorelliot.com/wordpress/2010/01/winnipeg-the-bear/, http://classifiedswinnipeg.ca/wp-content/themes/classipress/images/winnipegclassifieds.jpg, http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1164/1460234579_2e9d561bbb.jpg, http://bahbs.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/img_6308.jpg, http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3293704473_0ee0e94a1d.jpg,http://philmosher.com/2011/01/14/winnipeg-set-to-be-hottest-housing-market-in-2011/, http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM51DC_Royal_Canadian_Mint_Winnipeg_MB,