2 years and 8 months later

in january 2007 i moved to saskatoon to go back to school. my job in yellowknife was ok, but it didnt really challenge me. doing the exact same thing day after day got old after about 10 months and i decided i needed something to push me a little bit more.

i didnt know what i was getting myself into when i signed up for grad school. i figured it would be a shorter version of my undergrad degree and i would learn some new concepts and enjoy the life of a student again.

the first few months were awful. it was so different than anything i had expected.i wanted something that would push me a 'little' bit more...not to the brink of quitting. the courses were noticeably more difficult, the expectations were that much higher and every person i met in the hallways was a hell of a lot more intelligent than i was. i wanted to quit everday for the first few months.

jackson and tressia were the two people i would work with everday for the next 32 months and were also a big part of the reason i stuck with it. they were both super patient and friendly and sort of taught me the ropes about working in a research setting. i enjoyed getting to know them better and learned a great deal from both of them, not only about chemistry but about life as well. you dont get a chance to meet such quality people all the time, and it was more than a privilege to get to work with these guys.

anyway, my time in the Foley lab has come to an end. a new chapter starts once i walk out the door at the end of today. a new chapter that i am super excited for. however, its still hard moving on. even though my new workplace will be within walking distance of where ive spent the last few years, it wont be the same. ill miss the surroundings that have become so comfortable.

maybe thats when its time for things to change..when things become comfortable?

unemployed no more

so i got a job at the Canadian Light Source (sometimes called the Synchrotron). im pretty excited about this opportunity, and excited to be able to stay in saskatoon for a while longer. check out
THIS video cause it explains what happens in the building much better than i can.

a week in Montreal

After a week in Montreal the time has come to head back west. Montreal was unreal, but before I get to that, I have to say how bad the Winnipeg airport is. It would be worth driving to a different city like Regina or Minneapolis to avoid this building. Now that I have that out of the way...

Montreal is a sweet city. Go read Nics blog for what he thinks. It is written far better than mine will be. Growing up I always thought I hated large cities but that's because the only ones I had seen were calgary and Edmonton. No wonder I had a bad taste in my mouth. I've been a few more places since my younger days and have learned that a lot of bigger cities actually have things put together in a much more logical manner. Montreal is one of those. 

Besides that, the history and architecture are great in this city. We watched tennis for a week straight, ate some amazing ethnic food, and of course it is home of the greatest franchise in pro sports. The only thing it is missing is the Expos. If we could have seen a baseball game there, our week would've been entirely complete. We did however manage to find an unlocked door in Olympic stadium to take in the place that would have been home of the 1994 world series champs had there not been a strike. I still blame this strike on the demise of the MLB in this city. 

We had a blast, met some sweet people and watched some unreal tennis. Thanks to Jacynthe for letting us crash in your living room. We will be back when the Canadiens begin pursuit of their 25th Stanley cup. Until next time..