Hot Yoga

So ever since school started up I've let my "workout regime" slip.
Well okay, I've never really had a workout regime.

I don't like going to gyms, I look like a complete fool when I workout, I'm incredibly uncoordinated and gingers get super red from even the smallest bit of exhaustion. Maybe I'm too concered with looking good, but there are lots of hot guys at gyms that I drive away with my sweaty red face.

But in the summer it's really easy for me to keep fit, I play ultimate frisbee once a week plus I'm constantly going for walks, just running around the backyard with my dog; or when i'm at the cabin swimming and kayaking. About a year ago I took up running as well. I only run in the spring and summer because I'm a baby when it comes to the cold but I try to do that now and then as well.

Well after fall ultimate ended in October the most physical activity I've done is taking the stairs at school... and I quit that a while ago. The elevator is my best friend. I've also ran in the library twice but after my second warning I decided I should stop doing that.

My yoga tags

So today I decided to go to hot yoga. I used to go quite often, I've never been good at it but it's pretty fun. I haven't been in probably 4 or 5 months though and let me tell you the yogi's have gotten pretty pretentious since I've been gone.

I'm that girl in hot yoga that's falling over in every position, quietly laughing, I'm there for a workout but also a good time. My colourful beach towel got some dirty looks from the yogi's this evening.

Most stereotypical yoga teacher I've ever had at Moksha tonight. Maybe this is some people's style but I was just losing it laughing.
"now breath out your muscle tissue, stress, and and tension."
Breath out my muscle tissue?! I don't think I want to do that dude.
"feel a string of energy going from your middle finger through your body and into your other hand."
All I felt was my legs shaking because I think he was trying to kill me by not counting down to 1 faster.

I totally respect people like him who are in that zen place in their life, congrats, good for you, you're more balanced than I am, you have less toxins, whatever.

All I wanted was a little workout so I didn't feel so bad about going home to have Lindor chocolates and a Pepsi for dinner.

I litterally had to cover my mouth to stop the laughing because of how seriously everyone in that room was taking their "practice". I did eventually get a giggle from the woman next to me. We pay a lot of money to go to these hoity toity yoga classes and I want to have some fun with them while at the same time finding peace and tranquility and all that other crap. Clearly the rest of them did not have that same intention tonight.

The teacher sang Amazing Grace at the end of the class. It might be time to go back to the elliptical.

Term 1

As the end of my first term of CreComm approaches I think I'm starting to lose my mind.
I've overcome my daily Redbull addiction recently,
But I've sacrificed the luxery of sleep.
I've developed a nice sore back from hunching over computers for hours on end
And I've lost about 30 dollars worth of pens in the past couple months.
My diet has become coffee, bagels, chicken fingers, and the amazing hot dogs from the stand outside the college.
But this has been the most insanely busy, most difficult, and best term ever.
I've met the most amazing people in the past few months and I'll be a section twoer for life.

My first day of CreComm I put my coffee down in student services and spilled half of it... such an embarassing way to start my year.
Then I walked up to my first class in the computer lab... and spilled the rest of the coffee all over the counter and floor. Great first impression!

I've experienced things I never thought I would since I started CreComm.
I've directed a TV show - one of my biggest dreams! I would love a career in TV..
I've been throw out on the streets and had to approach random people to get interviews. Scariest day ever.
I'll have my own radio show in less than a week!
I've been to city council, an election party, and a rememberance day ceremony for the first time.
And I've had my first published article. 
CreComm has granted me so many opportunities that I wouldn't have with out it, and after not being sure when or if I would go back to school after leaving UofW last winter, I am so grateful I gave it a chance.

I feel everyone's pain from the ridiculous projects and deadlines this week but it has been hillarious seeing everyone scramble at the same time.

As soon as anyone hears the word "stressed", "test", "due", or "dropbox" people FREAK OUT. Myself included. For the first time in my life I've actually had to use my agenda and I'm still just crossing my fingers that I haven't forgotten anything important.

At the beginning of the year I bought a little half inch binder for each of my subjects and last night I ran into this problem

It doesn't all fit!!!

There are two types of students come exam time, the ones who have organized, highlighted, and dog eared important notes. They have done all assignments in advance. Then there's the rest of us. The scramblers, the all-nighters, and the panickers.

Good luck everyone in finishing up this term, I wouldn't have done it with anyone else. Try to stay calm, only one more day left.

Then sleep aaaaall day saturday. We deserve a break!

Post study cab sav... an absolute must!

Clubbing

When I turned 18 I was really into the club scene. Until the novelty wore off. Now I just don't really understand the appeal. I admit, I enjoy going out with a girlfriend every now and then but I can't wrap my head around the idea that people go to the clubs every weekend and have fun! Here are a few reasons why I don't fit in at the clubs:

I don't know what to wear
the last time I went to the club I wore tweed shoes. Apparently tweed isn't hip anymore. No one informed me.
The time before that I wore a vest. I got ready with another non club going friend of mine and we decided it looked nice. People don't wear vests to clubs.
I'm 5'10''. The apparent social protocol is to wear painful heels to the club. Being a head taller than my girlfriends is the most awkward way to dance.

Personal space
If I don't know you, please don't touch me. It's not flattering and I have issues with people in my personal bubble who were not invited.

Walking and drinking
For a long time now I've struggled with my inability to move and drink at the same time. There's a 50/50 chance I'll spill my drink standing still or sitting down so when I'm forced to walk or even worse dance with a drink I stain my clothes. Dry cleaning isn't in my student budget.

Dancing
My dancing skills are non existant. Unless you count awkward swaying or flailing as dancing. Don't ask me to demostrate.

Frizzy hair
Everytime I go to the clubs I straighten my hair and try to look cute and when I get there the humidity in that place is worse than Hawaii and it almost immediatly goes curly and frizzy and gross.

I'm not saying it's impossible to have fun at a club but for the most part I end up standing around with a big question mark on my face because I feel so incedibly awkward. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing at a club... If they maybe turned the music down so I could hear the person next to me I would have fun. Buy a pool table, get a good band, anything! For now I just don't see the appeal.

Poop Green

About a year ago I was getting my hair cut wearing a poop green shirt and when I was leaving the salon I came across matching poop green nail polish!

Super cool right?
Nope.

But I sure thought so at the time. So I bought it.

It was actually OPI's Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow

It looked less emerald and more poop on me.

I got home, put on my awesome, trendy, poop green find and sported it for a few days before realizing that I was nowhere near trendy enough to make poop green nail polish look good.

But as some of you girls know OPI is good quality and not the cheapest around so I felt an obligation to wear it every now and then to get good use out of my money.

Now, a year later I'm searching for my beloved poop green polish to use and I can't find it.
And I kind of really miss it. Like a lot.
It doesn't look good, I can't pull it off, but I've been attempting to do so for a year and to know the task is over is a little disapointing.

Concert Etiquette

I don't know which fork is for salad and which course will come first. I may not be able to sit through an entire ballet or symphony, but I am an expert in concert etiquette. One of my favourite things is seeing live music and I'm lucky that most of the music I like tends to be shown in smaller venues so I can go see my favourite bands. Throughout the years I've noticed variations on what I call the "Concert Shithead" here they are:

1. The Chit Chatter
This is a person that chats with the person next to them, across from them, behind them, and anyone else who will lend an ear during slow quiet songs, song breaks, or when the band is trying to talk to you. The conversation is irrelevant and loud. The most recent Shithead I encountered committing this concert crime was at Hey Rosetta! just last week. During Yer Fall I listened to a girl talk about her grandmas car and how stale beer "totally sucks". I don't care about either of those things. I do care about Yer Fall.

prominent spot stealer at this Stars concert

2. The Spot Stealer

This is a particularily annoying Shithead. He or she tries to shove past the easy going concert attendees who have been waiting in line for the past hour to get at the front. These concert goers sacrifice basic needs such as peeing to maintain their positions at the front. The Shithead pushes these kind people to the side and steps in front of them until they must move back to avoid accidental groping. He or she is typically 6 feet tall or more.

3. The Grump
This Shithead does not want to be there but insists

In the muck and the mire

on standing somewhere in row 1-4. They complain loudly and wont move or clap with the crowd. Extensive texting, drinking, and grumbling is involved. I encountered one of these Shitheads on day 3 of Lollapalooza this summer. I waited 2 hours in the rain  up to my knees in mud to see Cold War Kids. Last show of the weekend. When the band started playing Hang Me Up to Dry the crowd starting splashing around in the muck and the mire when the band sang "splashing around in the muck and the mire". The guy beside me was wearing white pants in the muck in the mire. He got upset with me because i splashed him. You're wearing white pants in knee deep mud during a song about splashing in the mud. Put two and two together buddy.

4. The Drunk Chick
When one of these Shitheads started throwing elbows at Mother Mother last year to get to the front I became thankful that I'm not 18 anymore. This particular Shithead is typically barely legal or underage and is wasted off two beers. I only noticed this particular downfall of concert goers after an incident a few years ago when I became one of these Shitheads and spilled beer all over Said the Whale's posters and cried. I don't drink more than one at concerts anymore and neither should you; don't be a Shithead.


If all venues had a better screening process at the door concerts would be much better. A Shithead identifier should be appointed to weed these people out. Live music is fantastic. Just be nice, not a Shithead. Pleeease? :)

Winter

I'm not saying I enjoy winter... but there are a few things to like.
Here's my top ten reasons to love Winnipeg Winter!

10. Moccasins are the most accepted form of footwear

9. A toque can disguise any horrible hair day

8. Extra time en route to school or work for some self taught voice lessons in the car.

7. I don't have to straighten my hair, the snow will make it curly anyways. what's the point?

6. Wearing slipper socks inside my boots.

5. The river trail. Every year I suffer embarrassing falls and injuries, but for people who know how to skate I'd imagine it's pretty fun.

this is hoar frost

4. Staying in on a Friday night to watch movies in your pyjamas isn't lazy - it's practical.

3. Making S'mores inside over a fireplace.

2. Hoar Frost on the trees... and saying hoar frost.

1. Baileys in your coffee or hot chocolate is accepted at any time of day!

I know winter sucks... but cuddle up by a fire in 5 or 6 layers of clothes plus a cozy blanket and try to enjoy it, it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Lykke Li

I don't know much music by Lykke Li, but holy crap is this live acoustic version of "I'm good, I'm gone" fantastic.. definitly made me want to listen to more of her music. Incredible voice, and to believe it's recorded live. The first video I looked up just to listen was "Get Some" where a ton of comments compare her to Lady Gaga. Yes the videos have a similar look, but Lykke put hers out before Gaga's "Born This Way" and after listening to the live version here it's clear the talent level is above and beyond Gaga (not that I ever questioned it). Sorry Gaga, Lykke gets my vote any day!

Lindsjury

I have terrible self-preservation instincts.

I constantly have these small bruises on the sides of my hips and I've never really known what from, the other night I figured out that they're from walking into the chairs at work every single night. So this got me thinking about other places I injure myself on a regular basis.

So here's the list:

1. Chairs at work

2. The top step.
      Common error.. hurts nonetheless.
      I once fell down my stairs and my foot went through the drywall.






3. This tree.

I park in this lot every day at school. and nearly everyday I swing around the edge of that rail when I'm climbing over and smack my head on the lowest branch.

Keep your eyes our for a power hungry ginger with a branch. I'm gunna rip it off soon enough. 

4. Grey Bin
  This bin is overhanging it's spot on the shelf blocking the entrance to my house through the garage. Either I dodge it at the last second like a ninja or hit my head. My mother has admitted to doing the same. Plans to move it in the future? nope.

I do learn from a few of my more memorable mistakes. One in particular was the incident with the over hang in my basement..
I was chasing my dog down the stair, jumped and wacked my head on the ceiling. Fell right to the floor, drywall flakes fall on me, big bump for days, and some blood. I was not as young and stupid as you'd hope. I was 17. There's still a mark in the drywall... wasn't fixed as well as we'd hope




Another lesson I've recently learned was don't run in the dishpit at work. About a year ago I was rushing out of work to get to the liquor store before it closed (karma) and fell in the dishpit.
*hint* don't speed walk on tiled floors that are visibly wet.
I tried to grab onto a counter top and instead scraped my arm down the edge.
Lesson : your wellbeing is more important than booze.

So what I guess I'm trying to say is that I won't die of natural causes... if you hear about some fatal accident where I just did something stupid, don't be shocked.

Abuse

It’s been a rough month for teenagers.

This morning I read a story on the Free Press app about a judge who beat his sixteen year old daughter (now 23). One of her many “spankings” was caught on camera 7 years ago and released on YouTube earlier this week. When I came home from school this afternoon I watched the video, one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever witnessed. 

The seven and a half long video shows William Adams, a judge from Texas whipping his daughter Hillary with “the big belt”. William appears to be about six feet or taller, winds up with all his strength and whips his 16 year old daughter EIGHTEEN times. Hillary screams and cries “that’s enough!” but William doesn’t stop. The man beats his daughter “into submission” until she is curled up in a ball on the floor. Her mother also takes one whip at her and tells her to take it like an adult.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police defines child abuse as

“any form of physical, psychological, social, emotional or sexual maltreatment of a child whereby the survival, safety, self-esteem, growth and development of the child are endangered.”

I realize this story is from Texas, but I’m going by the definition I’ve known as a Canadian. This man was not disciplining his daughter, he was abusing her. 

Oh and why was this girl being whipped like an animal? She downloaded music and games off the internet.

Why this person (I have a difficult time calling him a man) has not been thrown in jail yet is beyond me. If that child was an animal he would be charged with animal cruelty. If that child was not his own he would be thrown in jail so fast the media wouldn’t even have time to report it. If that was his wife he would be charged with domestic violence and thrown in jail immediately. Saying he was disciplining his child and that “it looks worse than it is” is complete BULLSHIT. 

All night I’ve been thinking about this video. 

 *The Daily What has a vieo up of an interview with Hillary as well as the video of the beating.

http://thedailywh.at/tag/hillary-adams/

*YouTube has an age restriction on the original but here it is if you have an account..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9y3SIPt7o
*CTV on their decision to play the video
http://m.ctv.ca/topstories/20111103/lisa-laflamme-blog-texas-judge-beating-video-debate-111103.html

Every time my mind goes blank I picture it. I can’t even imagine the kind of pain both physical and emotional Hillary went through. Even with no personal connection to this story it’s been haunting me all night.

So how did this go unnoticed for 7 years? 

Are her neighbours, teachers, family, and any other adults going to claim they didn’t know anything? How can that go unnoticed? The people in that girl’s life should be ashamed that they didn’t do anything to stop the abuse. I don’t care if there was no “proof”. Suspicion is enough when it’s about a child. Adults NEED to defend children.

Which brings me to Jamie Hubley.

Jamie was a 15 year old openly gay man from Ottawa who committed suicide on October 15^th. Bullying attributed to his decision to kill himself. Jamie had tried in his highschool to start a Rainbow Alliance club to build tolerance amongst the students. His posters were torn down and mocked by his classmates.

And nothing was done.

To tell Jamie to look towards the future because things will get better is not enough. Adults have that responsibility to build tolerance in all children to prevent this from ever happening again. It’s disgusting to see someone kill themselves because they can’t be accepted for who they are. This problem arises again and again, and nothing gets better. No one changes to stop it.

I wish I lived in a world where all types of people were celebrated with children. I want to see gay couples become mainstream in kids books and classrooms. I wish that we could get to a point where throughout elementary kids were taught acceptance of all people. I don’t care what a parents beliefs are about gay people. I don’t care if they get offended by the material, it has to be done.

Rick Mercer on the topic...

 

Two stories that broke my heart in the past month. Being a teenager is hard enough, if you see one in need, give them your love and support. Do whatever you need to do I don’t want to read anything like this again.

Media vs. Real Life

I follow 62 people on Twitter at this point. Compared to a lot of people on Twitter, that's really not many, but with only 62 people to tweet I still have days when I check my feed after a few hours and I have 100+ tweets.

tweet! tweet! tweet!
even the sound of birds get annoying

How am i supposed to read and retain all of that?!

Plus on a daily basis I try my best to read the Winnipeg Free Press online, the Metro, and any important article that CBC Manitoba may tweet. Plus I have my friends and classmates linking me to news articles all day on Facebook and Twitter from different news sources which I try to read as well.

I still feel like I'm constantly behind in the media.

Information overload will claim the sanity of countless students every year.

It is so difficult to feel like you have all the correct information on a new story when it's easy to find and read countless articles, blogs, and editorials about the topic. How do you know exactly what's relevant and what's not? How do you know if you're reading something completely slanted to one side of the debate?

I just want to be able to hold my own in an intellectual conversation about recent events. But wait... that's another way we gain information. Word of mouth.

So there's really no way to escape information overload if you want to feel like a working member of society, is there?

outside can be nice too

To be as properly informed as I would like to be I would have to:

-watch the morning news when I get up

-listen to the radio on the way to school

-read the papers when I'm in line for my morning coffee

-check the blogs as soon as I get to class

-simultaneously have my news apps going on my iPad

-tweet about all that I've read so far, then read the replies I get

-repeat previous steps using different papers, stations, and blogs

With all that crammed into my day plus all day school and all night work, sleep would become obsolete. Oh yeah... and assignments and studying.

Maybe that's the way some people live, but I can't do it. I have deadlines, study material, my job, and some days even a personal life bouncing around my mind.

I love being informed. I love feeling like I have a grasp on reality, and on the world around me but sometimes I need a break. I need my time to enjoy music, and outside. That's the real world to me.

lazy cabin days. No cell service, internet, or TV.

Not my computer, my iPad, or my Twitter and Facebook feed.

I would rather have a couple hours a day of ignorance to enjoy life.
Information is important, but when you look back on your student life you can remember your iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, and news apps.

OR

You can remember the people in your life, the relationships you formed, and the moments you enjoyed and really lived. Real memories.

This is what I want to remember... not my iPad.

Car Band

I'm a drummer / percussionist / singer
In my car.
Elsewhere I'm terrbile at all three... Rock Band told me so.

Today my car beats have been Bloc Party's album Silent Alarm.
Bloc Party is not meant to be played quiet and my one gal air band is not either.

I've figured out over the years how to keep my band hidden though and I've assembled a few rules:
-Never perform when oncoming traffic is busy
-Never perform when following behind someone you know
-Never perform around your desination point, especially when its work
-Only perform to your full capabilities when alone.
-Never begin a performance until you're out of your driveway

Follow these quick guidelines and your one man car air band will remain anonymously.
Keep jamming.

Sweatpants

My addiction to my sweatpants is ruining my life.

It is currently 2:30 pm sunday afternoon and i have only poked my head out of my room twice today.
Once my mom made pancakes and bacon. necessity.
The second was to shower. necessity.

My sweatpants trap me in my comfy little cave.
The outside world isn't ready for us.

I used to study and do homework at starbucks or the UofM... now i study in my sweatpants in my room because that's the only place we're fully accepted. My UofW sweatpants got wierd looks at UofM.

I used to go on osborne shopping days or make the trek out to Polo Park.. now I shop online because the girls at stores dont help people that look homeless get stuff off the top shelves.

All I want to do on weekend is sleep and spend quality time with my sweatpants watching TV on my laptop.
I don't watch TV on the TV anymore because I think it's even unacceptable to be in sweats in the middle of the day in my own house.

I can hear the wind blowing from my room so that's a definite NO on the leaving my bed until I have to go to work.

This is how my sweatpants make me feel:

(cover your ears kids, there's some language...)

Cooking Rice

Everyone is good at something. That thing for me is NOT cooking. 

I have never been able to successfully cook rice which has bothered me for a long time; so my mom walked me through it the other day.


1.  Measure rice and water. Put in pot.
I can handle that.














2. Bring to a boil
Clearly I couldn't handle that quite as well. Overflow!

I also made veggies and chicken.... pretty big accomplishment.
They did not burn.
*something I wish I would have remembered - mushrooms don't take as long to cook as carrots*
Mushroom mush.

3. Get mother to take rice off heat...
I was watching Modern Family... whoops!

That's better than usual! No black pieces.
4. Let pot rinse for a long time. Not my fault rice sticks to everything.

5. Mix all that crap together. Add soya sauce. If you're more
skilled then me add stuff that skilled cooks add.

That's about as far as my cooking skills go.
I typically live in a world of grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken fingers.
I can make a mean stir fry; but that's really my only talent.
Anyone have any easy student friendly recipes for me?

Not a Nose Job

The ego trip my immune system has been on lately came to a screeching halt last night; I think I've finally caught the dreaded CreComm cold.

The sniffles have been showing up for the past couple days but I've been in denial. Now it's time to accept the truth.

Granted, I am proud of my immune system for fighting this long; see, I had surgery on my nose in June, and this is my first cold since then.

And no, it wasn't a nose job.

I had a Septoplasty which no, is not a fancy word for "nose job".

Up until June breathing through my nose has been impossible to very challenging at best for my entire life. My nose was shaped like this:

More exaggerated... I'm not that much of a whiner.

So I got that straightened out. And yes, it is considered reconstructive surgery but no, I maintain that I did not get a nose job.

I'm no doctor, but between my "not a nose job" nose job and my recent health, I've got to believe that my surgery helped. I used to get a cold every two weeks or so.

Having so many people together in confined spaces at school however, has defied my belief that my surgery had cured the common cold. You guys are just too germy.

Election Night

I had an awesome time doing election coverage in my own riding Tuesday night with CreCommers. Here's a blurry unedited snapshot of what went down for me on election night!

Enjoy!

Heading out to see Theresa Oswald

                                        Global brought some stuff...

                                                    ...And so did I

                                                Results starting to come in

                     We won! I mean... I wasn't rooting for anyone but journalism.

                                                    Alright lets start writing!

                                                         ...what cha doin recorder...

                                               NO SERIOUSLY. WHAT. CHA. DOIN?! 

                                      Lost all my recordings Angry Birds therapy session

                                           Pulled myself together to get a story going

                                                          Yay! all done.

                                               Gunna go drop this off in sketchville

                                                      1:18....

                                             ...And I'm out of gas. awesome.

                                            Back on track! An abandoned Main Street

                                                   Red River College!

                                                         And.... sleep.

Janey's Dreams

When I'm old I want to be a crazy dog lady.

Cats make my eyes itch and I sniffle until no one wants to sit beside me. Granted if I'm striving to become a crazy old lady I guess I won't have many people sitting beside me anyways... but I dont think that my family would even come visit my drippy nose.

Children are very high maintenance beings. And eventually they learn how to talk and tell you all the issues they have with you.

Dogs are the obvious choice for this potnetial crazy lady. I've never seen a child or a cat that jumps for joy purely at the sight of you. My dog is way more entertaining than a screaming child or a cat that stares into your soul and hissed at your touch.

She sleep runs, sleep barks, and sleep cries. She just woke me up and I wasn't angry at all. Instead I grabbed my camera and creeped on her. Unfortuatly I don't have video on my camera so you'll just have to imagine what you'd think dogs would dream about. This particular dream sounded like chasing an uncatchable squirrel.

Yep, crazy dog lady sounds like my new life aspiration.

Page One: Inside the New York Times

This is the Winnipeg Free Press that my parents read:

This is the Winnipeg Free Press that I read:

My parents pay for a subscription to the paper copy that gets updated daily, yet I get mine free with up to the minute updates that I can carry around with me everywhere I go.  Seems like a no brainer if you had to choose one right?

This is the issue that print newspapers are facing in this technologically driven society. Page One: Inside the New York Times, a film by Andrew Rossi, chronicles one year at the New York Times as this technology seems to be deteriorating the old fashioned news sources we all grew up with - paper. 

Before I saw this documentary I was a little sceptical. How much loss can news apps reallybe causing for companies? I mean I see people reading the paper everyday; on the bus, at school, at work. I really didn’t think that most of the public would find the need to completely shift the way they get their news.

Apparently I was wrong. 

The New York Times is one of the few print newspapers that has survived the changes that media has seen with social networking and apps, but the worry isn’t completely absent in their minds. The journalists and editors scramble throughout the film to find ways to be ahead of the curb. They show how news that breaks in the middle of the day is accessible to the public so much faster online than they can offer and they don’t rule out the possibility that the Times could go out of business...

But even with all these troubles journalism seems to be striving at the Times. The level of intelligence and awareness that you see from these journalists especially David Carr and Brian Stelter is astounding. The differences between their styles of reporting is what I thought was the most interesting part of the movie. David Carr spends his time interviewing in person drilling information out everyone and writing like a madman, he’s so passionate about the Times and it’s so evident in his actions.

Brian Stelter is what Carr describes as a robot sent to destroy him. Three screens open at once one he is a social media expert and an incredible multitasker. If you are curious at all about how the newspaper business functions on a day to day basis you need to see this. I was so much more engaged than I thought I would be and it turned out to be a great experience.