Quick and to the point.

Last day at The Bay today-hurray

1 Interview today

3 Interviews tomorrow

Hopefully a job will come out of this!

And the hunt is on....

After 3.5 hours and 13 delivered resumés I am pooped...and hopeful.

On the most overblown 'holiday' of the year...

...I'm thankful for:

• My husband who I wouldn't trade for the world, and who I love more than the day I married him.
• A family that loves each other and likes to spend together.
• A roof over my head.
• A passport that is on its way!!!!
• The means to be able to take a trip to AZ to see a bunch of wonderful friends this upcoming week.
• Great friends who I can have fun with and yet have serious time too!
• A world of opportunities!

Hello My Name Is Solveig Chamagne and....

I'M A REGISTERED MASSAGE THERAPIST... After two years of school I can now say that I'm fully and completely done. I finished my schooling in early December of 2010, however I totally froze during the practical portion of my board exams which granted me a VERY unwelcome "non-mastered" grade. I had never considered the possibility of not passing the test, I was sure I would be a Registered Therapist and raking in the dough by January 1st. I never thought that I could be waiting two months to rewrite the test.

So I failed, I had two months of what I called my "limbo" period and today I went back to redo the test. My stomach churned and I wasn't able to eat anything all morning. I was sure I would be the first to ever fail the board exams twice. I already had started thinking of a new career path, little did I know how much I would impress myself! I walked into the exam area and all my nerves melted away, I took a breath, said a quick prayer and began. The whole time I felt composed and answered with assurance and confidance. I knew when I left the room that I was a different person taking the test that day. About 25 minutes after I left the exam I got an email with my results- I PASSED! The first thing I did was stuff two pieces of eggs on toast down my mouth and laugh. Now I just have to drop about $400.00 to join the association and I can begin working!!!

As much as I whined and complained about my initial failure, I can now admit that the "non-mastered" experience was needed, in more ways than one! Not only did I just need a break from work (my schooling was condensed over two years so I basically got one week in the summer and one week in the winter off for two years), but also my ego needed a reality check, I went from thinking I was invincible to realizing that I am definitely not as awesome as I thought I was, yes I am capable of failure and studying is really not overrated...Most importantly I also needed that failure to truly validate for myself the profession that I have chosen, subconsciously I think I've always thought of massage as less therapeutic and more relaxing, but you REALLY have to know your stuff. I am truly proud of my accomplishments/profession because I realize that it wasn't just handed to me, I earned it!

Winter blues

I don't particularly like winter, but living in practically the coldest place on earth I have learned to deal with it. I can handle the cold, the dark, the mud, the ice, the driving, and pretty much everything else. My biggest frustration with winter is how dry my skin is. I have cracked knuckles, flaking elbows, and itchy knees.

The most embarrassing thing is that ALL of these are moisturizers, maybe I should start using them...

Some exciting news........

It looks like in about 9 months there will be a new member of our family! oh...I see how that sounds, no it's not what it sounds like, it's STEPH! PD (my older bro) and his girlfriend Steph have decided to tie the knot sometime in October. I'm so happy for them, PD has changed so much in the months that him and Steph have been together, and it's a good thing, not that he was bad before, he's just better now. They are so happy together and I know that they will make a very wonderful life together. I can't wait to see what the future holds for them.Welcome to the Family Steph! Mazal Tov!

Passport Update

Good news! It pays to be a procrastinator! Well not really, but I finally got my application for my passport in yesterday, and it only cost me an additional $30 to have it rushed so that I can go pick it up on the 17th, the day before we leave...The moral of the story is this, renew your passport when it expires so that you can save yourself $30, the stress of worrying about getting it in time, and the inconvenience of having to go pick it up yourself! Although I'm sure in roughly 5 years I'll be posting something all too similar... I wish it was easier to change...

Movie Talk

Fun Facts about February!

• Black History Month-woohoo
• National birdfeeding month-come on feed those birds
• Groundhog Day- Feb 2nd
• Chinese New Years- Feb 3rd we had a party this year-SO FUN
• Valentines Day- Feb 14th money making scandal!
• International Mother Language Day- Feb 21...what?...
• Leap year! once every four years makes it pretty exciting I reckon.
• THE 83RD ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS! -FEB 27

Now February is what I like to call the underdog month. It's short, and cold and is mispronounced more often than not...It's FebRuary nor Febuary.... not to mention it has less days than any other month. However, if one chooses to, there are quite a few little gems hidden inside this 28 day month that need to be addressed, the greatest of these gems (in my opinion) the Academy Awards.

All year I love going to movies, analyzing, arguing and discussing these films with anyone willing to do so, usually with my movie going partner who doubles as my husband. In the back of my mind I'm making my predictions as to which ones will be nominated and will ultimately win the great Oscar! I've looked over the nominations and have decided to put my predictions down here for all to read and comment.

And the nominees are......

Actor in a leading role:

• Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"- I haven't seen this film so I don't know but if his performance is anything like "No Country for Old Men" then I think he has a shot.
• Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"- As much as I LOVE the Coen Bro's and good ol' Jeff, I don't think this performance is worthy of best Actor, I'll be surprised if he wins. It was a great movie though!
• Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"- I would be SHOCKED if he wins, this movie was hardly worth the 10.50 I payed to watch it. I don't think I'd watch it again and mainly because of the leading role. This has nothing to do with how unlikeable the character was, I just thought his acting was pretty hollow. I'm surprised he was even nominated.
• Colin Firth in "The Kings Speach"- Here is your winner! I'm 80% sure he's going to take this one. Not only was the film FANTASTIC but Colin Firth and made it for me. I think this movie might be the one that wins 'em all this year!
• James Franco in "127 Hours"- He should win just because he's so scrumptious. However, I haven't seen the movie so I can't say too much one way or another. I would be content if he won.

Actor in supporting Role:

• Christian Bale in "The Fighter"- I love Christian Bale, I loved him in this movie and I love him in every other movie, I think he has a 50% chance.
• John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"- Haven't seen, I doubt it, but you never know.
• Jeremy Renner in "The Town"- Not a chance.
• Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids are Alright" I would be surprised.
• Geoffrey Rush in "The Kings Speech" I think he's got the other 50% chance, he was wonderful in this movie along with every other movie I've seen him in.

Actress in a leading Role:

• Annette Bening in "The Kids are Alright"- Don't know...
• Nicole Kidman in "The Rabbit Hole" -Once again not sure...
• Jeniffer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone" -I don't think so.
• Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" -I've got my bets on this one, don't really have a reason, just a hunch.
• Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine" -I would like that, but as I said I think Natalie's got it.

Actress in a supporting role:

• Amy Adams in "The Fighter"- This was a different role for her, I liked it a lot, I don't think she's going to win, but if she does I think she deserves it!
• Helena Bonham Carter -in "The Kings Speech" It sure was nice to see her not playing someone who's insane (although she does it well...almost too well). I think she made an excellent Queen.
• Mellisa Leo in "The Fighter"- I think she was pretty great however I'm not sure it was worthy of an academy award, once again I'd be surprised.
• Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"- I HOPE she wins, it would be pretty awesome if she does. I'll be cheering for her!
• Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"- No comment...

Best Picture:

• Black Swan- Doubt it. But not utterly surprised
• True Grit- Hope so!
• 127 Hours- Possible
• The Kids are Alright- Nope
• The Kings Speech- This is your winner, I'm guessing at least.
• The Social Network- Noo
• Toy Story 3- Cute movie but I don't think so.
• Winter's Bone- This is a possibility I think
• The Fighter- Good movie but I'd be surprised.
• Inception- Once again, a good movie but I don't think it was quite good enough.

So those are predictions. I didn't make any on all the other categories because I don't know enough to even pretend to have a guess. So here is my list of who I think will take the win in each of the categories.

• Colin Firth!
• Geoffrey Rush! or Christian Bale!
• Natalie Portman!
• Hailee Steinfeld!
• The Kings Speech!

Looks like in 3 weeks we'll see how wrong I am! Please comment on your predictions, and if anyone wants to attend an Oscar Party, we're hosting!

WineMaking

So, something that I had failed to mention in my Goals 2011 post was that this year Ben and I wanted to start making our own wine. This has been a hobby of my mom's for years, something that has provided us all with what seems like an endless supply of tasty wine, so we thought, why not we try our hands at it?! So today we tromped on down to Wine Kitz and picked up two kits, one Green Apple, and one Valpolicella. We'll make both batches and then split the 60 bottles between my mom and us- 15 red and 15 white for both of us! We went over to my parents and got started making our first batch, in 6 weeks we'll have 60 bottles of wine ready to bottle and cork! Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Adding the cool water to the concentrated juice

Here I am with my mom adding hot water to the concentrated juice

(I'm learning from the BEST, for those of you at our wedding, my mom made all the wine!)

Stirring the prepared mixture, now it's ready to go into the cellar to ferment for 14 days,

more to come!