February + March + April Recap

I'm still playing catch up with all my posts.  This should be the last one in my backlog.  Now that I've finished my first year of uni, I've got a lot of time on my hands to write.  I could have gotten this posted faster, but I returned home to an extremely unkept house and have spent the past week held up inside just scrubbing and sweeping away.  There's going to be a lot coming up in the next few weeks but let's take a look at what I managed to document these past three months...

FEBRUARY 5th, 2019

I finally trashed my beloved Snoopy shoes :(  I was hoping I could duct tape it and prolong it's life, but everyone told me it was time to move on.  They were right.  And I'm still on the hunt for another pair of casual shoes as these, which I got second-hand for $20.  I remember taking photos for this post when I first got these shoes.  I can't believe that was almost two years ago!

FEBRUARY 8th, 2019

Meet lil' G.  When Serenity and I went to go pick up a necklace from a local seller in Peterborough she graciously gave her a plant.  He became infamous.  Unfortunately one too many windy nights blew lil' G off her window sill... may he rest in peace.

FEBRUARY 12th, 2019

And then winter really hit.

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

I finished this amazing read: The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary by Andrew Westoll (5/5).  It's an incredibly well written, emotionally charged documentation about Westoll, a journalist, and his experience volunteering at Fauna Sanctuary along with the background on how Fauna came to be.  Fauna is the only chimp sanctuary in all of North America and it is proudly situated in Quebec.  I really want to get involved with this organization.  My plan was to live in Quebec for at least a year after I graduate to work on my French.  Here are some pages from the book that really stood out to me.  I hope you pick this book as your next read.

"...American taxpayer, owns just over half (517) of these apes, while the remaining 450 are owned by the labs themselves."

On the brutally violent testing and treatment of chimps: "I was wondering what archaeologists of the future, looking back at our generation, would think about our level of civilization if this DVD was made available to them."

"... a chimp in the wild is considered endangered, but one that lives in a cage in America is only threatened.  This clever "split-listing" allows the biomedical industry to continue using chimps in research with a clear legal conscience..."

Probably the coolest thing I made in the chemistry lab this year.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

More volunteering at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre.  Meet this little roumd blandings turtle.  Maybe I should name him Roumd Boi.  And if you aren't already familiar with the Facebook page Famtastic Roumdbois Amd Where To Fimd Them I highly recommend it.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

One of the benefits of closing a cafe is taking home leftovers.  I packed this delicious mix of leftovers for my trip to Montreal.

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

A full Montreal post is already up :) And while writing it I finally figured out how to put accents on letters using my regular keyboard.

For some reason I can't find the date this photo was taken.  Regardless, I love Dana and this Japanese-Korean restaurent Madoi has become the go-to for hanging out with friends.

MARCH 11, 2019

Tried Kombucha... never again

MARCH 22nd, 2019

I finally read the famous Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (4/5).  Half way through the book, I figured out how to put highlights on the page.  I've been loving using the public library app Libby.  It's completely free and serves as an ebook on your phone!  The selection of books is limited, but hopefully in the future they improve on expanding their electronic collection because I love it.  It a great way to read on the go or in the dark with out having to buy a kindle.  Again, here are screenshots of pages that caught my attention.  I've been really into reading finance books.  I thought they would be super boring and fact heavy.  Instead, I find some of them to very insightful and actionable.  Yes, some criticize Kiyosaki for writing very obvious facts.  However, I found that he effectively summarizes the most important concepts in ways that the reader can take actionable steps and never forget: Assets vs. Liabilities.

Kiyosaki talks endlessly about assets and liabilities and cash flow.  His mantra made a lightbulb go off in my head.  Now I see most things are either an asset or liability.  I'm working on increasing my asset column.

"Every time people try to punish the rich, the rich don't simply comply.  They react.  They have the...intent to change things.  They don't just sit there..."

"My poor dad never fought back.  My rich dad didn't either.  He just played the game smarter..."

MARCH 30th, 2019

 More Madoi :)

APRIL 5th, 2019

Every time I go to volunteer with the turtles, there's always a disgusting amount of trash on the side of the roads.  People in their cars, drive by and chuck their garage out their windows.  It piles up, freezes during the winter months, and in the spring time when the ice begins to melt, the garage is still there.

This time, I remembered to bring a bag to collect as much trash as I could fit.  I felt inspired by all the for Earth Instagram accounts I follow.  4Oceans is an amazing organization that recruits people to pull trash out of the Ocean.  For Dana's birthday, I bought her a 4Ocean bracelet.  Every bracelet purchased pulls 1 pound of trash from the oceans.  I fully support their efforts and recommend you check them out as well.  There are also a bunch of incredible people who organize beach cleanups.

APRIL 10th, 2019

All my friends know that I'm trying to live a more sustainable, zerowaste lifestyle.  My friend Hala volunteered to judge a science fair for kids and sent me this pictures of one of the contestant's project.    The girl had made single-use degradable spoons.  I'm so glad kids are becoming more aware about current issues and care so much about the environment.

APRIL 11, 2019

The next day, someone left a pile of trash outside my residence :(

Laster that day, I tried my hand at intentionally shopping plastic free.  It's not perfect as I needed laundry detergent and toothpaste (both which are things I want to make myself in the future).

I brought the produce to a pizza event my work was hosting.  So good!

APRIL 12th, 2019

On my way to the gym in the morning, I stopped to take photos of the lovely trees.

APRIL 16, 2019

On a bus to go to Madoi...again.

Thanks, Dana, for all these beautiful selfies.

Later that night, Dana, Serenity, and I watched Paranormal Activity 5.  Then, somehow Dana got us to watch Peppa Pig...

APRIL 17, 2019

I started to get back into drawing.  Our Planet is a great docuseries on Netflix and has lots of amazing animals to practice drawing.

APRIL 22nd, 2019

I got all my stuff packed and ready to move out!

 APRIL 23rd, 2019

 It's move out day and my mom and I stopped along the way to try out a Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon Boys.  It was pretty good and decently priced.

APRIL 24th, 2019

And of course, what better way to end this post then with an outfit pic.  I love this combo (all secondhand!) and am waiting for an occasion to wear it out the house.

Thanks for sticking around!

Sophia