Let's Recap Feb-April

Wow, it's been four to five  months since I last updated this blog. Life has been in the fast lane since we got back from Christmas vacation. I don't know where to start, but chronological order seems to be a good place.

February: Chinese New Year - the Year of the Snake

I love February, for more than one reason. My birthday falls just before Valentine's Day and our anniversary is somewhere in there as well. We don't necessarily celebrate the actual day of our anniversary, rather the event. Alex and I were set up by a mutual friend and our first date was the Paardeberg Ball, which is a bi-annual event. Generally, we celebrate by going to the ball.

During this month, I also tried ice climbing for the first time. It was a ton of fun. I can definitely see why people are addicted to the thrill of the sport. I was comfortable top roping ice, but I doubt I will ever lead climb ice. Next winter, this is definitely on the list of things to do again!

I also started training for my new job with the Kinesiology Faculty at UNB. A mat leave opportunity opened up with the Take HEART Program as the coordinator/research assistant. I always thought I would go back to school to do my Masters, but I'm not entirely convinced that I like research, data entry and data analysis. The hardest part is being sedentary for hours a day. I didn't realize sitting behind a computer would be so exhausting. Regardless of all the sitting, it's a great experience and can't hurt my resume.


March: New Hampshire & Getting Certified 
The weekend before March Break, we made a trip to New Hampshire with friends of ours (Joel and Tara). As couples, we drove in our respective vehicles, with the intention that Tara and I would head back to Fredericton together on the Sunday because we have jobs that don't allow as much time off. The boys stayed down for an extra day and half to get more technical ice climbing in. Before we left NH, we did some hiking, a little shopping and lots of eating.

March was also a busy month getting certified to become a personal trainer. I audited KIN 4282, as it was the only class I was missing to become nationally certified through CSEP. Throughout the month I conducted several fitness assessments, completed the practical exam and passed the written exam. I thought the written exam was a bit tricky, but I only needed a 70% to get certified. Typically, I would cringe at a 70%, but because I was auditing the course, I knew it wouldn't affect my official transcript. Thankfully, I passed with a 92% and now I'm waiting for my certificate in the mail. I don't intend to make a living training people, but this certification also has includes insurance, and allows me to practice independently of an organization. It's a transportable certification and valuable in my field of study/practice.

April: Easter Chocolate, Frisbee Throwing and Posting Messages
Before I knew it, Easter was here and another long weekend to look forward to. Alex's parents sent us more than enough sweets to get us through the weekend. I think this was the first long weekend we stayed in Fredericton. We've been doing so much travel lately that I was definitely burnt out.

A good friend of mine, Heather, came from Ottawa to visit for a weekend. We played in an ultimate tournament together. It was so great to catch up with this girl. Another great experience about that weekend was meeting her brother, Tim. He is cycling across Canada and playing Ultimate along the way! His story is unique and very interesting. I would recommend taking
a read through his blog.

 To cap off the month, Alex was promoted and posted within 7 days of each other, while he was in the field. The next adventure will be Wainwright, Alberta. Stay tuned for an update on this!