Ringette runs in this family’s blood - Canstar

Ringette runs in this family’s blood - Canstar

I Want the Passion Back.

I get it now.

I get why I chose journalism as my major. Tonight I had the pleasure of interviewing an 8th grader named Alana about her love of sports, specifically ringette.

We sat down in Southdale arena for an hour and chatted. Just talked about everything from school to ringette to playing sports against boys.

Her big sister sat beside her mostly silent the entire time Alana spoke to me about playing ringette and what the sport means to her. She's 13 years old and already knows she wants to try out for the Canada winter games in 2015. She's 13 years old and knows that she'll be trying out for a spot on the team against many girls much older than her. She's 13 and knows what she wants.

She's ambitious. I like that. I like that she's not concerned with the politics of everything, she just wants to play the game she loves.

I could see how proud big sister Sarah was. She just watched as Alana told me everything she had to share. Her favorite moments this year so far. How much she enjoys "skating faster than all the boys at the outdoor rink." How she knows that she'll have to start training now if she wants a spot on that team.

And then I saw Sarah's eyes light up a little when Alana referred to her ringette team as a "family."

Sarah and I have played on ringette teams just like that. It's amazing to see relationships like that develop at a younger age than it did when we were in Alana's spot. Sarah still plays the game. In fact, she plays in the National Ringette League. I admire Sarah for sitting back and letting her little sister soak up the glory.

(- my older sister would have NEVER done that)

Even though these sisters have never had the privilege of playing on the same team they still share one thing in common- the love of the game.

I saw the passion and drive in Alana's eyes tonight. She was so happy. And definitely in her element talking about a sport she clearly knows a lot about.

Tonight I had a lightbulb moment. The lightbulb went off when I noticed Alana had stopped paying attention to the voice recorder on the table. She was comfortable and ready to open up to me. If this is what being a journalist is all about then I'm on board.

I'm going to bed with a smile on my face thinking back to being Alana's age and not having a care in the world. I also have a new desire to lace the skates up and get back on the ice. My guess is this will happen over Christmas break. Until then- here's my player card at 11 years old.

Some people were down with IPP.

Bit off more than I can chew. Again.

Deciding to be one of the co-coordinators for this years IPPPs was a ridiculous thing I did last year. I do no applaud my behavior.

I was young and naive way back in March. I clearly wasn't thinking straight. Planning fundraisers and gaining sponsors for these presentations has proved to be very tough for Sam and I.

However. We did it. We made it through our first fundraiser this weekend. Despite the freakin snowstorm we had on Saturday night we had some loyal friends and family show up to our social. We're a quarter of a way to our goal- which is better than nothing.

Now that the first one is done we need to start planning more and more and more.

So I will go to sleep to dream up marvelous schemes of getting money from CEOs and other big wigs.

How can we trick them into loving us?!?

So many questions. So little time. So sleep deprived. So CreComm.

Before I bid adieu I shall leave you with a picture of Sam and I after she stopped freaking out because she thought no one would show up.

It's that time of year again

With this icky wet snow falling tonight a vivid memory flashed through my mind as I stood at the bus stop on Bishop Grandin.

"People need to slow down."

I can't express enough how important it is to be careful when you're on the road-

If you're driving be careful of your surroundings and take it easy. Rushing to get to your destination is not worth putting your life on the line.

If you're the passenger make sure to wear your seatbelt and do your best to not distract your driver.

I know I posted this video last year but the kids involved in this crash were from my hometown. Two kids died. One was my friend and one was my friends older brother.

I want my trips home to be for good reason and not for a double funeral.

I love everyone in my life so be sure to take extra caution as the snow starts to fall because at age 20 I've become too familiar with funerals, and I don't want to bury another friend anytime soon.

Just Slow Down. Please.
Watch the video.

Bisons ready for first playoff tilt in 5 years - Canstar

Bisons ready for first playoff tilt in 5 years - Canstar

Remember walking down the street and knocking on your friend's door?

I had to work Boo at the Zoo this weekend. And last. It was cold out. But that isn't what this blog post is about. This post is about something I said out loud while I was there.

As you know I come from a small town, so naturally I have friends from said town. Now I haven't had the chance to get back home in a while so that means I haven't seen my first friends in a while.

So here I am at Boo at the Zoo freezing my little tush off and I hear,

"Allison? Allison!"

I turn to my left and BAM! Little Tia is standing right there waving and smiling at me. Tia turns 18 on Wednesday do she came into the city for a "real bar experience."

At first I was super excited to see her. I love her, she's like a little sister to me. But then I got mad.

"How come you never told me you were coming in!"

I pretty much scolded the poor kid but my emotions were running high- I was so freakin excited but she caught me off guard and I don't like being surprised.

"I got a new phone so I don't have your number. I couldn't text you."

"You have me on Facebook! Coulda messaged me on there!"

Did I really just say that? Yes I did bout loud. People stared.

Now I'm all for social media, I love it a lot. But sometimes I miss the days when I would tell my friends to "call on me" which meant coming to knock on my door later to see if I could come out and play.

I wonder what life was like for the generations before mine. No Internet. No cellphones. I doubt they could even fathom what an "app" was.

I'm all for moving forward in today's world. Social media is huge. Everything is becoming digital these days. But sometimes I wish I could be that little kid again- when I could hear my mom calling me to come home from a block away because that woman is a powerhouse when it comes to yelling. My curfew was when the street lights came on. And 50 cents was enough for a jumbo freezie at M&Ms convenience store- and a jumbo freezie was enough for both me and my best friend Dillon to share. That would be really hard to believe if you saw him now... A whole box of freezies probably wouldn't fill that kid up.

I used Facebook as a verb. End of story.

These are some pics of me and Dilly over the years. He's my besty.

1000 farewells.

We read 'A Thousand Farewells' by Nahlah Ayed for J class. After reading the book we had a test in class and were set to blog about it. Because I can't think of a creative way to dive into this blog post I'm just going to answer the questions our instructor told us to answer. Brief rundown- Nahlah Ayed lived in Winnipeg before her parents decided to pack the kids up and move back to the Middle East and live in a refugee camp for a few years before moving back to Canada. Later in her life, Nahlah travels back to the Middle East as a journalist and she encounters many horrible things like mass graves and being beaten up in a war zone. This is her recount of these events.

What works?

Nahlah Ayed is amazing at painting visuals in your head. She basically makes you feel like you're right there.

What doesn't work?

I felt there were a lot of points in the book where I had to re-read the same thing a few times until I fully understood what I was reading when it came to deciphering the names. Half the time I wasn't sure if she was talking about a person or a place.

What's missing?

I felt the book was well-rounded enough. I didn't think it was missing anything in particular.

What can journalists learn from this?

They can learn what it's like to be a journalist in a foreign country and that it's not always daisies and rainbows. At one point Nahlah and her crew got attacked and were physically beaten just because they were reporters. You have to be prepared to accept whatever life is going to throw at you whether it's negative or positive when traveling as a journalist and you may actually have to put your life on the line to get the story you're after.

How does it compare to another non-fiction work of your choice in any medium?

I'm not sure I've read a story similar enough to this one to actually compare it. But I do applaud Nahlah for being able to open up and talk about her experiences of living in the Middle East as a child and going back as an adult and the struggles she faced.

How did reading this book affect you?

It definitely opened my eyes to what it's like to travel overseas and try to make your way in a country that doesn't want you there. I've never been a foreigner in my life so I've never experienced what it might be like to feel that way. After reading this book it changed my opinion on pursuing the journalist route. I'm not really sure I want to do it anymore.