I live in a small town in central BC with my husband and my dogs. I love to get outside whether that is hiking, kayaking, taking the dogs for a walk, or spey fishing for steelhead. I have had the privilege to complete several backpacking trips from the historic gold rush Chilkoot trail in the north, the Brazeau Loop, to the West Coast Trail and many in between. I have also made the trip around the Bowron Lakes circuit a couple times and fully intend to go back.
When I am not escaping to the bush I am working as a Literary Intern, bookkeeper, social media advertising, and working on my own creative writing projects. I love learning about the publishing industry and the intricacies that work within it. I love working with agencies and being able to see the publishing world from their perspective. As might be assumed by now I am an avid bookworm and I am always working on building up my own collection. Some of my favourites include Suzanne by Anais Barbeau-Lavelette translated by Rhonda Mullins, Ru by Kim Thuy, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, and I could go on.
They say the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Except that it isn’t. Insanity is defined as, “Insanity. n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.” It is curious… Read more »
Another group of students walked across the stage at Athabasca and received their degrees over the weekend. This year I tuned in to watch one of The Voice Magazine’s own, Barb, accept her degree. I was surprised at just how much excitement I felt, it brought back so many memories and feelings from when I… Read more »
As I sit here, trying to work, there is a finch that is determined to get through my window. It keeps coming back and trying, testing the window with its beak or feet. It never hits the window hard, not hard enough to knock itself out, but enough to test and see if maybe now… Read more »
We went exploring the backroads this weekend. We drove by one (of many) replanted logging blocks; one of them chosen for “assessment”, where they watch and see how the trees are growing, what species thrive better than others, and I am sure other forestry-related things. But, it got me thinking about the choices we make… Read more »
Buying new furniture can be an exciting or frustrating experience. For us, lately, it has been frustrating. It started with the purchase of a new appliance, a stove. We spent time making sure we were picking the one we wanted as we had waited years to upgrade and we didn’t want to have to do… Read more »
There was a time when I didn’t organize my email inbox. Email came in, got read, and piled up right there. Nothing (almost) was deleted, nothing was filed into other folders, nothing was flagged. If I wanted to find something I just did a search. However, while my personal email remains a state of chaos,… Read more »
Things that appear normal to you, things that you grew up with, are sometimes strange to others. My grandparents were Finnish so having pickled herring and rollmops (pickled herring, but with the skin on) around was just normal. They were a nice quick snack. Everyone who would visit Grandma’s always helped themselves (through her encouragement)… Read more »
I think we skipped spring. In only a few days the snow has mostly disappeared, and the yard work that is usually done in about plus 10 degrees Celsius, with a toque, because, well, wind, was finished this year in plus 20 degrees, in shorts and tank tops. One unfortunate thing about the sudden heat… Read more »
After what has felt like the longest winter, it is finally feeling like spring. It turned spring-like a few weeks ago, too, only to have another snowfall warning, which lived up to its name. Now, I love winter, but this year those “it isn’t April it is really January 104th” felt all too real. The… Read more »
It has been about a month since I made the choice to take a step back from school, after having decided to apply for the Masters program. When I mentally withdrew I felt relief. A weight was lifted from my shoulders and I felt like I was able to focus on my chosen career path. … Read more »