My Engagement

Hello all,

So I asked Robyn to marry me, and based on the title of this post, I hope you all realize that she said yes.

It all started with me surfing the internet looking for a northern vacation destination. I had found a site that offered a wedding package that included getting married on a glacier in Alaska. Robyn told me that if we would only get married where her parents could attend and that if we got married in Nova Scotia, I could pick where we went on our honeymoon. She said, it didn’t matter as I didn’t have a ring for her.

So we jokingly argued for about an hour about getting married, she giving in concessions because she was 100% positive I didn’t have a ring for her, and she would not accept a proposal without a ring. Eventually I told her that I had a ring in my truck, yet she did not believe me.

So we went out to my truck and I told her to get in and we would go for a drive, so I could find a spot to propose. While in the truck, she told me that I was too cheap to buy a ring for her and that I was a liar about having a ring. She also told me while we drove around for about and hour that I could just give up, it was ok for me to just go home, she understood that she had called my bluff and that I had lost. I kept telling her that I had a ring, and she was like, well where is it you liar?

So I thought about proposing in Amber’s backyard, but i figured it would be messy with the dogs. Kale told me not to go to Bower Pond, because that is where he’s going to propose someday and didn’t want me to steal it from him. So we eventually ended up at Three Mile Bend. So we pulled over by the river and I told her how much she meant to me, all the while she is laughing at me because she doesn’t believe I have a ring.

So I had told her that it was in my change pouch between my front seats. So she looked through the pouch and couldn’t find the ring, so she told me that she knew I didn’t have a ring, so I told her to look in the glovebox. Once she opened the glovebox she saw the ring and was speechless. She eventually squeaked out a yes, and we were engaged. She then apologized for saying all the mean things to me regarding the absence of ring.

And that is the story of my engagement.

My First Week

Hello all,

I spent all of the last week in Edmonton for my job training as a furniture salesperson for Ashley’s Home Furnishings. I really enjoyed the training, the staff in Edmonton were very nice and it was great to be put up in a hotel for a few days. The Sandman hotel was amazing and every hotel should have a 24-hour Denny’s attached to it, as it is very convenient.

Once I started at Ashley’s Home Furnishings here in Red Deer, my mood was soured a bit. The store is no where near as stable as in Edmonton, and the potential for earnings is a lot lower.

Once I realized that, I was thankful for a call with a job offer from Staples. I will be starting as the Sales Manager of the IT Department on Monday morning, and it comes along with a $30,000 a year salary, compared to the commission-only renumeration offered by Ashey’s.

For anyone that is interested, I would highly recommend Ashley’s Home Furnishings to anyone seeking furniture, or even a place to work. The position is great, but only if you want to added stress of working solely on commission. I want to eventually purchase a home, and I am going to need a salary to qualify for a mortgage.

Trip Across Canada

Hello all,

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted so I will have to correct that oversight. I have recently moved from Saint John, New Brunswick to Red Deer, Alberta.

I left Wednesday late afternoon and made it to Red Deer early Monday afternoon. Kale did a lot of driving with me as we only had three drivers for our two vehicles. Our first day was eventful, as we shredded our hind tire outside of Drummundville, Quebec. We had to get a tow to the nearest service station and have the spare tire cut off of the truck as it was seized on. We ended up in Trenton, Ontario almost 24 hours after leaving Saint John, New Brunswick.

We spent the night at Robyn’s friend, Jessi Haines, place. Her boyfriend has a nice house just inside of Trenton. We spent the night playing Cranium until we fell asleep. We left the next morning and drove as far as Wawa, Ontario where we stayed in a motel for the night.

On the third day of our trip, we drove until Kale was just too tired to drive any farther so we stayed at the Tower Motel in Kenora, Ontario. It was interesting staying in another tower, and it brought back a lot of memories when we heard drunks running up and down the halls all night.

On the fourth day of our trip, we had the longest time getting to Winnipeg, Manitoba as we had to travel up a slight slope for many many kilometers. This slope, combined with the strong headwind, only allowed our truck and u-haul to reach a top speed of 80 kph. Once getting onto the prairies, the drive went a lot faster. We hit a snowstorm heading into Medicine Hat, Alberta and Kale put the truck and u-haul off the road. There was very little damage done, but it did cause us to loss a couple of hours. We slept in the vehicles and hit the road to Red Deer in the mid-morning of our fifth day.

We arrived in Red Deer around 1pm on Monday and have spent the time since unpacking and job searching. I have has an interview at a Cash Advance outlet while Robyn has had interviews at Smart Set and The Body Shop, while she waits to hear back from her music therapy application.

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun, Kale did a great job driving, even though he shredded a tire and put the truck off the road, both instances were not his fault.

I would strongly recommend this trip for anyone who likes to drive and has an interest in seeing everything this country has to offer, the trip should be done at least once in one’s life.

End of a Soccer Season

Hello all,

So the indoor soccer season is over. We finished our season with a tough loss and an unlucky tie, but c’est la vie. We played really well, I just want to throw out some names; Adriano Silva, Don Laver, and Marc Dietmann. These people played exceptionally well during these two game, Faisal Hakami was only present for game #2 and he would have been an asset for the first game. Raj Damhar also played very well as a mid-fielder, I think he has found his new calling.

Marc played well all season despite injuries. Don had some shaky games, but played very well when we needed him. Adriano is probably the most under-rated player on our team. He plays at 100% every game, sets up plays and marks his man all while not complaining once, my hat goes off to all of you.

Tomorrow Robyn and I are off to Zellers to do the L’Oreal reline. There is supposed to be a huge snowstorm tomorrow, but nothing has started yet. After Tuesday, all of the L’Oreal relines will be completed and then I will have to final shifts at Superbob’s Home Furnishings. I’m looking forward to be finishing there and packing up and driving across Canada. I will have to be sure to take lots of pictures and post them up on here and on facebook.

Anyway, it was a great season, we played very well all season. Our record may not have been the greatest, but we were competitive in almost every game with a lot of 1-goal losses. I’ll be glad to give my legs a rest for the next few weeks, my shin is pretty bruised up so it will be good to heal until I start soccer again in Red Deer.

Ryan ‘Piece’ Levy

Lazy Hazy Saturday

Hello all,

So I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been pretty busy with work. I’m usually pretty tired after work, it’s not a demanding job, but it can get tiresome at the end of a long day.

This coming week, I have my last two shifts at Superbob’s, my two last shifts for CIM Ltd, outsourced to L’Oreal, and then its a trip to Nova Scotia to drop off my kitchen table and chairs, and pick up my younger brother’s motorcycle (Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250) for the trip to Red Deer.

Tomorrow I play a double-header of soccer. I just tried to find out when I play, but the website is down to due to the planned power outage at UNBSJ. I plan on letting everyone know how that goes, we got our first win in the last few weeks last game, with a hard fought 1-0 victory.

My plans for tonight is supper in a little bit, probably will have a beer or two, watch Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, and then crash after Saturday Night Live.

Hopefully I will be posting more often now that my work is finishing up.

Ryan ‘Piece’ Levy