Climbing Walls

I feel so lucky lately because I'm in such a busy period of my life and it all feels so productive. Besides working 5 days a week and getting payddddd, I've been keeping so busy on the weekends and putting myself outside my comfort zone.

It all started in December when we took a trapeze course in Montreal. It was one of the hardest and scariest things I've ever done and I honestly wanted to quit after my first attempt. I couldn't bring my legs up to the bar and I felt like a hunk of dead weight hanging from the bar but I pushed myself and it ended in me actually doing a catch!

I really wanted to continue with trapezing but there aren't any in our area so I decided to try rock climbing instead. It's another way for me to push and test my body. I look forward to getting good at something and really working to make my body achieve things I didn't think it could. 

The first time we went there were 5 of us and we spent the afternoon with an instructor (seen above) who helped us climb a bunch of walls. There was one wall I got stuck on  and ended up taking about 15 minutes to get up it. My arms were completely shot and I wanted to give up so badly but I didn't Instead I kept pushing until I made it to the top and it was a seriously amazing feeling.

This weekend we took a course so that we could actually tie the ropes ourselves.It came with a two week pass AND the rock climbing gym is right near my work so I'm excited to take full advantage. I'll keep you updated on my journey from a having noodle arms that can't even do a real push up to a jacked up athlete (please feel free to applaud me on not going the cliche route and offering you tickets to the gun show.)

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Rock Climbing Novice, Soon to Be a Pro

I'm Back Guys!

Where have I been lately? Oh just being a grown up person who grew up!

Yes, I do appreciate the fact that there has been radio silence around here lately but hey, a girls gotta get things done...or whatever.

What have I been up to lately?

Well, I went to NYC with my family where I basically spent two days trying to cross off a major New York bucket list. We shopped, we ate, we saw a play on Broadway and walked to every landmark we could possibly think of. It was exhausting but completely awesome.

<< Hello from Brooklyn >>

A mere 4 days after I returned from New York I started a new job. That's right, you heard it here first: I've gone corporate. I am now gainfully employed at a major insurance company. I won't say which because, well, who cares really. And what do I do at this little piece of corporate Canada? Well I am the woman who you talk to on the phone when you have questions. Yes, the highly coveted customer service representative. That's me. 

All in all it's been a pretty good step for me. I love having a structured work schedule, I actually like the office environment, all the way down to my little cubicle, and I love the people I work with (two of whom happen to be two of my best friends). 

This leap into adulthood has led to a domino effect in growing up. I bought a car, Jordan and I are planning a trip to Europe next September (if my time off request goes through...dang structured work environment), and we've even started house hunting.

Yup, I'm a real adult who does real adult things...like think about how much my car insurance costs, and actually gets dressed when I go to work.

What else have I been up to? Jordan has finally convinced me to stick with watching Breaking Bad all the way to the end. I will admit that it is a pretty crazy show and it does make me say "OH.MY.GOD!" every once in a while but I still stick to the fact that I could easily turn the show off at any time and feel fine not knowing what happens to this group of horrible people. 

In other news I have been a pretty crafty person in the past few months. I've been commissioned by a few friends and family to make them scarves...which I should probably get working on since it takes a small lifetime to make one scarf. 

I've also been trying my hand at a few new things. I took up project life because I am a scrapbooking grandma and I don't care who knows it. I also taught myself to use a sewing machine because I am a domesticated housewife and I don't care who knows it.

Besides all those grandma things I've also tried rock climbing and trapezing. Both two completely amazing things that I have every intention of doing again!

So that's what I've been up to since I left you oh so abruptly. I'm hoping to get back on this blogging horse because this girl needs a writing outlet and is more grown up than ever, which is perfect for this little blog.

So sorry I left you my friends but I'm back and typing up a storm!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Full Time Awesome Person

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

I am the busiest lady you'll ever meet right now. I have a full time job and TWO part time jobs. What? How did this happen?

Well the secretary at my parents office had to have emergency surgery so they asked me to step in for her for the month of September. I asked my editing job if I could work in my off hours and they said yes (woop). On top of that I have my job at Boston Pizza.

So here's how my time looks now: I work 7:30am-4:30pm at the office, then a couple days a week I work 5pm to around 11pm at Boston Pizza and whenever I'm not doing that I am editing. It's been crazy but it's also been the first time in a long time that I've had some decent money and I really need it for the cruise I'm going on at the end of the month.

What does a picture of a ferris wheel have to do with all this? Well I was asked by Boston Pizza to work at a booth at the fall fair. So from today until Sunday I'll be at the fair for 6-8 hours a day. I'm delivering food to the fair four times a day and spending the rest of my time sitting at the booth handing out coupons. Perks: free admission to the fair. Cotton candy please??

Moral of the story: I am a superwoman and I can't stop, won't stop, might cry (...I'm a little tired okay!)

I don't know how workaholics do it. I'm dreaming of a cruise right about now!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Workaholic Against My Will

We Went Adventuring!

Over the past weekend we decided to make the most of our Labour Day and go on a good old fashioned adventure!

Our original plan was to go canoeing but after the rental place was sold out we decided to go to Webster's Falls. Turns out we made the right decision!

Webster's Falls is part of a huge gorge in Hamilton, ON. We thought we were just going to see some waterfalls. We had no idea how huge this place really was. It ended up being a HUGE nature walk that took us to the tops of waterfalls, over lookouts, and through the forest. I had no idea we had something so incredibly beautiful hiding near a city. It was a perfect day.

 << Sadly we couldn't get to the bottom of these falls because the stairs were out. Guess we'll have to go back! >>

<< It threatened to rain on us early in the day but the clouds went away and we ended up with gorgeous hiking weather! >>

<< One of the cool/freaky things at Webster Falls is the small plot of tombstones for the Websters. This one has a very creepy poem on it.

It reads:
"Come my friends and cast an eye

Then go your way and prepare to die,

Learn here your doom and know you must

One day like me be turned to dust."

Thanks George, Thanks a lot. >>

 << The girls conquering waterfalls and generally being fearless. >>

<< What a view. Who would have guessed that there's waterfalls and a gorge under there? >>

After thoroughly exhausting ourselves and pushing the guys to their limit of hunger we called it a day and went to go get a late lunch. Since I hadn't seen Shauna and Erika since my birthday last week they brought cupcakes. 

<< Dee-lish.>>

All in all it was a pretty fantastic Labour Day, I think we should definitely go back in the fall to see all of those trees with beautifully colourful leaves!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Adventurer, Nature Lover

I Got Older

I am totally weird about birthdays.

I never want to plan anything, never want to make a big deal out of it...but I'm also the person that will wear her prettiest dress and sparkliest shoes because "It's my birthday." Which is also my line when I try to get people to do things for me. I will milk the heck out of that line. This includes but is not limited to: making people grab things that you are too lazy to grab, explaining why you've eaten desserts after every meal, reasons why you should get what you want.

What can I say? I must be a real gem to be around.

I turned 23 yesterday and this is by no means a special age. You know how some birthdays just mean something? 23 means that you're on your way to 25 (which is my designated "adult" age). Scary stuff people. Yes, I am a bit neurotic.

I worked during the day yesterday and then spent the night with my family. We went to dinner at the Keg and filled our bellies with laughter, but more importantly, with food. 

I wore this because I'm a birthday princess and I deserve to look beautiful (I told myself as I stared in the mirror). Please enjoy this totally "candid" and definitely not staged selfie:

Fun fact about me: I tend to cash in all of my birthday presents early so my birthdays seem even more like a regular old day. In April I got Ray Bans from my parents and decided not to wait until the end of summer to get them (because sunglasses should be used in the summer. Call me crazy, but this is a strong belief of mine). Another equally fun fact about me: I am on my third pair of Ray Bans. I have actually gotten them for three birthdays now. How can a get a "Find My Ray Bans" app onto my iphone? That would save me a lot of grief. Jordan got me our Jack White tickets from earlier this summer so all that was left to enjoy was the company of my family (which is a-okay by me. They're pretty alright...I guess :)

Another pretty alright person: Erika. She came over the second it turned into my birthday (12am my friends) with ice cream sandwiches. This is by far my favourite birthday tradition. She also brought me this from her adventures in France:

Moral of the story: I'm older and also happier :)

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Former Birthday Princess

Diving from the Sky

This past weekend I did one of the most amazing things I've ever done: I skydove!

Honestly, it was the most mind-blowing experience. I can't compare it to anything I've ever felt.

A couple of weeks ago Jordan mentioned skydiving and I kind of blew the idea off. It's really expensive and I really didn't see the idea coming to fruition. When he actually started looking into booking his dive I realized it was now or never.

So Saturday August 9th it was. We drove an hour and 45 minutes to end up at the Niagara Skydive Centre at 1pm. I don't think we've ever been so excited for anything in our lives. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face as we watched the informational videos. We then did some quick training and suited up in some very tight onesies. I felt like a race car driver in mine, it was pretty damn badass.

We chose to do tandem skydiving because 1) it takes less training 2) it's cheaper and 3) because I prefer to have someone more competent than I doing all the work while I just enjoy the ride.

We got in a place and went three kilometres up into the air. We passed over the Falls and looped back to the centre before jumping out. Weirdest part about skydiving: you need to get reallllyyy close with a complete stranger, and fast. My instructor/personal human parachute was named Fredrick and he had the best french accent and said my name like this: "Taylerrrr." For the ride in the plane we were basically riding a rattling old tin can up into the clouds. There were no seats so we sat in between our instructors legs. We were at the back and there were two other tandem divers going as well so I also had another instructor in between my legs. I've never had each of my limbs touching so many strangers. Even more, when you get to the right height it's time for your instructor to attach themselves to you. To do this you sit in their laps…for the remaining 5 minutes of the ride. Hellooo Frederick, nice to meet you!

When it was finally time to jump the door opened, the light was green and a pair of jumpers fell out of the plane and disappeared. WHOOSH and they were gone. Oh and the plane was so light that losing two people caused the plane to jolt up and then find it's stability again. I watched this happen three times before it was my turn.

We scooted up to the door, legs dangling and I screamed "I"M SO SCARED." Fredrick took that as his cue and out we went. I've never experienced such a weird feeling in my life. I was rushing towards the ground, there were fields below me and I couldn't do anything but scream, laugh, and take it in. After about 30 seconds to a minute of free fall time the parachute deployed and I laughed in relief that the most dangerous part of our trip was over. The rest of our fall was spent putting our parachute into corkscrews while Fredrick instructed me on pulling the cord to make us spin.

When we started approaching the ground Frederick reminded me to stick my legs out in front of me and to let him do the work. He asked me to try to stick my legs out and they wouldn't go very high. My suit and the harness around my thighs was SO TIGHT. "Highherr Tayllerrr. You can dewwww it." And I used all I had to pull them up…for the practice round…not even the real thing.

We finally got to the ground and as it got closer, and closer, I just dangled and waited until he told me when and the finally I heard "Now Taylerrr." I took the rest of my strength and pulled my legs out straight and we magically slid to the ground. It felt pretty dang graceful. Frederick unhooked me and I just sat there and said "THANK YOU! THAT WAS AMAZING!"

My legs felt like jelly and I watched as the other divers landed around me. When Jordan finally landed we walked towards each other, hugged and talked about how our minds were literally just blown.

If you ever get the chance to skydive I highly recommend it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Certified Badass

Jack White, Mexican Food and Being The Fanciest People We Know

Last week I got a very early and very amazing birthday present from Jordan. My birthday isn't until August 27th but Jack White came into town on July 31st and my birthday dreams came true.

I'm a huge White Stripes and Jack White fan so this was basically as fangirl as it gets for me.

We decided to stay the night in Toronto so we got a hotel near the ACC and walked to El Catrin for some delicious mexican food for dinner.

I got a dee-licious watermelon Margarita to drink and Jordan got some sort of Mojito that had chilli peppers in it and burnt my soul when I tried to drink it. I'm a big sissy when it comes to hot stuff. To eat we had fish and chicken tacos, which is about as adventurous as the two of us get.

Afterwards we grabbed some drinks with friends and then quickly made our way to the concert.

I cannot express my love for this night enough. It was SO good. He played for two hours and basically made all my dreams come true…if I'm not being dramatic enough. Did I mention I love Jack White?

Of course I had to grab myself some merch to commemorate the night:

Honestly…the highlight of the trip was ordering room service in the morning. I was doing my makeup in the bathroom when the room service arrived so I didn't see them come in. When I walked out I was expecting to see a tray with our order on it but instead I saw a table that they brought in and set up with our breakfast.

We honestly thought we were the kings of the world. We were so pleased with ourselves for being so fancy. Of course everything was delicious :)

It was the perfect early birthday present and I couldn't ask for a better person to share it with (woah…that got a little too mushy there. I'll try to tone it down next time :)

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Jack White Enthusiast, Queen for a Day