the last day: pack-rat vs. super-packer

AHHHH TOMORROW! omg. so the past two days have gone *sort of* how i planned, but everything ended up working out in the end as it always does!

friday was my last day of work. it was so crazy how fast this week went! it was really sad to say bye to everyone, but its all part of the process like i said before, and everyone sent me off with encouraging words! i felt the love :) i also received some cards and beautiful flowers, along with a homemade decorated journal with maple leaves on it from some members and my coworkers! i cried a little.... a lot. haha!

i only worked til 12, and my mum took the day off to help me pack. i had some running around to do after work, and didn't end up getting home until about 3 or 330. then i had some lunch (i was so all over the place at work i had forgotten to eat since 6am!) then we started laying things out to pack around 4/430. we got through toiletries, electronics and miscellaneous, and then we had to eat dinner and then it was time for me to go over to kaitlyn's house with katie, kelly and kaitlin to hang out for a bit and say bye :( i hadn't planned to stay for too long so i could get home and finish packing, but obviously that didn't happen! haha it was so nice to just hang out, we did nails, and they taught me how to use snapchat lol we also facetimed with our friend kristin who is out in alberta starting her new job teaching grade 3! so awesome.

so i basically got home around 1030... organized a few things into piles and went to bed. was going to go to body pump one last time with mom today, but we realized that it would cut too much into our packing time. it's probably really good we didn't go because packing basically took 3 hours! or maybe 4 i forget. 

when it comes to packing, i am the type of person who forgets that im going to another country basically like canada, and that what i dont have, i definitely can buy there. i tried to bring 5 containers of floss, for example. my mom got me down to 2, but i wouldn't budge on that! so we laid out all of my clothes, and as i put stuff in the pile, my mom wrote each thing down in a journal (i told you i was super crazy organized! in a nutty way lol) 

now, my mother is an expert packer. not only in helping cut down on the 15 tshirts and 14 pairs of underwear i was trying to bring, but physically getting everything into the bag. to put this endeavour into perspective: we had to pack and repack a few times. we cut lots of stuff out, and i had to consult my travel guru bryanna a few times over facebook for some advice! needless to say, we got everything in there, zippers busting at the seams. the bag weighs 40lbs which is perfect because the weight limit is 50lbs!

if anyone is interested in seeing my packing list (some people were asking about it earlier) just let me know and i can email it to you :) 

some of my tshirts (they didn't all make it in!)

daisy chillin

most of my stuff laid out

she looks so small! 

then in the afternoon, my friends from work jess sam and mckenzie had planned to come over and hang out and say bye. well, they came and ended up staying until 730! haha we had a really great time, lots of snacks, pizzzaaaaaa, and we laughed so much. definitely hard saying bye, but we will obviously stay in touch and skype often <3 love those girls!

after they left, i skyped with ness and russell again, spoke on the phone with my uncle, and earlier in the day i talked to my dad and grandma, so those were all nice conversations.

then i tackled the final room clean! oh man, it is so tidy my mom will be really happy when she gets up tomorrow and sees everything put away lol! i'm 5. 

now i'm just going to get ready for bed, take my pre jet lag pill and hit the hay! leaving the house around 1030 tomorrow morning and ill turn my phone off right before i leave, so feel free to text me i will write back if i get it! i also will have the iPhone which i can use on wifi in the airports and stuff so we can talk that way :) 

ONE MORE SLEEP AHHHHH! going to be a long few days of travelling, but i know it will be worth it! 

goodnight everyone! 

Soph <3

my current first world problem...

... SO MANY EMOTIONS! waaaaaah! 

today, i had an awesome star wars marathon burrito fest with two of my very close friends. we ate chips, imitated chewbacca (which i am very good at i might add) and reminisced about when two of us were 10 and i was jealous of her plastic lightsaber because when we played star wars, i had to pretend a stick was my lightsaber, while she had the real thing. 

you know, classic friend hang out time. it came time to leave and i teared up as we hugged and i half jokingly but actually, tried to convince them to save up and come meet me halfway for an adventure sometime in the next year. 

i began the drive home, and the shuffle feature on my ipod was only playing slow, sad songs no matter how many times i clicked 'next'. go figure. i stopped shuffling and let it play out as the ipod gods intended. tears welled up in my eyes as i drove down the country road with lighting and thunder building across the fields. it was very dramatic, and i couldn't help picturing this scene as a movie and wondering how it would look from an outsider looking in. 

i braked at an empty four way stop and had a change of heart. why am i crying? here i am, about to start a new chapter of my life in a beautiful country. this is something that i've worked towards for a whole year and now it is finally happening. i should be celebrating and smiling and laughing! although i'm going to be away from all of my family and friends who are such a huge part of my daily life and happiness, (which is definitely what the tears were about at this point!) i am one lucky ducky to have this opportunity. leaving those you love is all a part of the journey, just another part of this experience for me to learn and grow from! i put on some bob, and did a little dance as i sped away, thankful for my new outlook and ability to change my perspective into a positive.

so that's it in a nutshell. i feel kind of silly for getting so sad, but i want to feel all of my emotions about this, it's not healthy to keep your feelings in. it is all part of this experience. so yes, some of the time i am going to feel sad about leaving everyone, but the rest of the time i will feel everything else. excited, nervous, butterflies, anxious, like i want a time machine (to go forwards and backwards!) reflective, open, shy, outgoing, brave, small, sheltered, worldly, and every other emotional synonym and antonym out there! i will feel it all.

i really enjoy writing this blog, i don't even know if anyone reads it besides my mom haha but it really helps me to vent and write all of this stuff down. so if you are reading, thank you! i promise the posts will be a lot less sappy once i get there and get settled! i just have to work through this crazy emotional roller coaster first :) there is a light at the end of this blog and it begins on tuesday august 13th at 3pm in perth wa! (or 3AM on the 13th for my friends in ottawa) 

i'm packing on friday, and i'll be sure to document that process on here (pics and list included due to my organized tendencies lol) 

goodnight!
s

and a happy happy birthday to my dear friend ness who celebrated on wednesday <3

4 days!

just wanted to do a quick update! 3 more work shifts left and 4 more days! omgomgomg i'm freaking out! it sort of still doesn't feel real, i need to pinch myself every so often haha

i'm on track to get an unlocked iphone 4 (unfortunately, the iphone 3 that jess gave me was unlocked in this super ghetto way which wouldn't allow me to update the iOS to get any apps wah!) so make sure you all add me to iMessage which i will be using when i have a wifi connection in australia, and most likely on my massive layovers in LA and melbourne. even though you all will be sleeping bahaha. add me using my email sophie.i.hebert@gmail.com

i also jumped on the instagram bandwagon @sophhebert. literally no idea how to use this app, of course the one pic i have posted is one of daisy. classic. 

i also have a couchsurfing host lined up for the few days before i meet bryanna, who is arriving on the 20th! so i have a full week to explore aka get adjusted to the time difference lol so this is awesome, i'm really excited to meet some local peeps and get the low down of things to do in freo! 

part of my couchsurfing profile

i bought a ton of cliff bars and emergen-c for the plane ride, just in case the food sucks and/or my veg meal request didn't go through (fingers crossed it does!) 

this long weekend, i went up to ness' cottage and we had some fun playing around with my underwater camera :) we made a few videos, and when we took some of the pics, the flash even went off! this cam is intense i love it. it was really sad to say bye to her, just to know that i'm not a 5 hr greyhound bus ride away anymore... she'll just have to save up and come visit ;) 

i'm really not looking forward to saying the last of my goodbyes, but i know that the leaving part is all a part of travelling and the beginning of a new adventure. thanks to all the technology we have now, friends and family will only be a skype chat away <3

as for the rest of my time here, i'm having a star wars original trilogy marathon, doing a few more workouts (going to miss body pump so much!!!) packing with my mum on friday, and as a final celebration of my trip and the end of shark week (who watches shark week the week before they leave for Australia?!?!), a double feature on saturday night. JAWS and SHARKNADO. i mean, could that have been timed any better, really? #stoked

also, if you have not done so, please inbox me your addresses on facebook. i'm going to try and send out some postcards when i reach the land down unda'. who knows how long the mail will take, so it may end up being a christmas card haha we shall see! and add me on iMessage and SKYPE please! my photo is the same one on my blog profile :)

missing everyone already <3 

love Soph

ps... shout outs to my cousin cindy and her husband dave who had their baby, Tyler Evan Rempel on saturday! can't wait to meet the little guy :) hope everyone is doing well! and hello aunt annette who is in cali with them for a few weeks. love you guys! xoxoxo

birthday/bon voyage!

this saturday (the 20th) was my going away and birthday combo bbq! it was perfect. the weather, all my friends and family, the food, and my AMAZING beautiful cake! and my floating remote control shark... WHAAAAt. i had seriously the best time ever and i am so so thankful to everyone who came and those who couldn't come but i knew were thinking of me that day. i also had an amazing birthday day which was sunday the 21st. my friends from TO and i all went downtown and sat on a patio and had some apps and a cider. we just walked around the market enjoying each other's company and the sunshine. after a while, amy, alex and victoria decided to start the drive home to beat the traffic, so we said goodbye which made me sad because it is the last time i'll see them for a while! alex is planning a trip to se asia in the wintertime, so hopefully we will be able to meet up, and amy is thinking of coming to australia in the new year so that would be ideal! so they hit the road after a lot of epic hugs <3 

my flying remote controlled shark, frank!

me and my birthday cake

all of my beautiful friends

my lovely family!

cake closeup - tasted as good as it looked!

tilley hat my mom got me and everyone signed :)

amy, myself and ness downtown for lunch on my birthday

then it was russell, ness and i left just walking down the street when we saw a sign in a local tattoo shop window. friendship infinity tattoos $50 per person, minimum 3 people. we just looked at each other and were like, yup thats happening! me and russ were super down for it, but ness was a bit nervous because her mum had basically told her that if she gets a tattoo that she is in big trouble.. so we went next door to urban outfitters to walk around and contemplate the decision and this happened: 

this is actually the coolest photo booth i've been in because after it prints out (three sheets so we each got one!), you get a code to go on the website and then you can share it on all the social media channels! it is really smart thinking on urban outfitters' part, and the ad geek in me got super stoked when i saw it :P it also records a video of you in the booth.. so funny!

so ness decided that she was gonna do it, and i was sooo pumped! we were talking about different places that we should get the tattoo done, and after some consultation with our artist dave, we decided on the back of our elbows. she got it on her right and i got it on my left so when we stand beside each other they are on the same side :) russ got his on his ankle and it looks RAD everyone go to Ink City next time you're looking for some new ink. dave is an amazing artist and a really cool guy. #tinytats 

two elbows and a foot! finished product

nessie's first tat!

russ doesn't look so impressed

wicked

besties 

all in all, it was an amazing birthday, and i feel so lucky to have shared the weekend with so many of my family and friends! i had an amazing time, and got lots of great pics that i'm going to print and bring with me so i can look at them when i get sad! 

speaking of pictures actually, on tuesday this week, mckenzie and jess from my work took me to the photo studio to get portraits done for my birthday! we pretty much didn't plan poses or anything, but they turned out so amazing! the one where we were all stacked was a  joke because we saw one with a dad, mum and child posed like that and thought it would be hilarious, but it actually turned out to be one of my faves! excuse the fuzziness, i just took photos of photos on my webcam haha

 ... i love my friends hahahaa

ok so i have enough for about 5 more posts but i won't continue blabbing haha i will write again on the weekend maybe. theme: surfing. 

i'll leave it at that for now :) thanks again to everyone for an amazing birthday weekend, i love you allllll!!!!!

soph xo

if i were any more organized...

... i could probably run a travel agency. but seriously, i just spent 2 hours going through all of my crazy army supplies, dividing into a 'take' pile, a 'leave behind' pile, and a 'if i have room i'll take' pile. unfortunately, the six bags of glow sticks didn't make the cut. although i took three of each colour (blue and green) the rest i plan on using next weekend at my bbq :)

i organized two of my drawers into categories: toiletries and random other stuff. i put things in my carry-on bag already like my toothbrush and toothy tabs to brush my teeth since i'll be travelling for 24 hours. some kleenex, my travel pillow and blanket, my medication i'm bringing including photocopies of each prescription as well as the pharmacy receipts. i included my crank flashlight, emergency blanket, signal mirror and whistle in case of any emergency situations. as i wrote previously in another post i'm not nervous about flying, but this is the longest trip i've ever been on so i just want to make sure i'm super prepared for any situation that might come my way!  

it is getting a little bit crazy though... i mean, i put all of my documents (passport, international drivers permit, photocopies of prescriptions, confirmation pages printed out for flights and hostel etc.) into a friggin waterproof plastic zip bag in my carry on! i suppose it is all good to have everything together and organized, but i think i'm using this as a way to deal with my anxiety and nervousness a little bit lol if nothing else, this trip has definitely helped me realize my control freak-ish tendencies! i can't control everything that's going to happen to me in aus, but i can control my belongings, what i bring, and how it is all packed and organized. i know i sound like a nut, but it's really helping me to feel better about everything. i only have a few more things to do and then i'll be ready to go, so it's nice to not have to run around like a chicken without my head only a few days before i leave! i'll be able to relax and make the most of the last few days with my friends and family instead of doing last minute errands :)

i know that no one cares about all of this mundane stuff, but i enjoy documenting my process of getting all ready for this trip, and i think it helps me to take note of it and express my feelings into the world rather than just keep 'em all up in my head! so thanks for letting me rant!

on a more exciting note, i had a great conversation today with my pal bryanna, whom i will be meeting in perth (or rather, she will be meeting me, around the 18th). we talked about our plans and surfing and buying cars and working, and basically what the next 3 or 4 months of life are going to be like for us. i am beyond excited. honestly didn't think i could get more excited and then we had that conversation haha! so that was really nice to talk to her :) she is touring around europe right now (hard life!) and off to portugal tomorrow. safe travels B! 

anyways, just wanted to do a quick update and write some stuff down... i'm going to bed now! hope everyone had a fantastic weekend <3 

one month....

yep, i really did have to go there. the hair, that tan, those shorts. . . so majestic. this video is cheesier than a grilled cheese sandwich made on cheese bread, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, but i feel this is the only example i can find of the expression of my feelings of excitement. i mean, that dude is serious about flying off into space! 

as i start this post at 12:07 am on july the 11th (obviously a little eager about the one month mark) i just don't even know what to feel/say anymore. i am sending out an apology to everyone i work with, and all of the members at our gym who come in and hear about my trip on a daily basis, whether they want to or not haha. i just can't stop talking about it. i have almost everything i need now, just waiting for my new laptop case and plug adapter to come in the mail. my uncle gave me a ton of epic survival supplies including 4 bags of glowsticks, so obviously i was delighted. i am now pretty much equipped to camp out in the desert, start a fire in the rain, survive subzero temperatures, signal a plane passing overhead... and open a bottle of beer with my multi tool (gotta keep the priorities in mind LOL) 

i am getting pretty sad about leaving all of you guys though. thankfully, a bunch of my friends from toronto are coming up next weekend and all my friends and fams are getting together for a farewell/birthday bbq. text me for the deets ;) i am very very much looking forward to that. time is going by so fast it is actually crazy! i don't know if it's just because i have this aug 11th date in my head, or if it's normal, but it feels like just a few days ago that i bought my plane ticket! exciting stufffff! 

so far for the rest of my time here, i have some friend time scheduled, my bbq, a cottage weekend, and a few girls days with my momma (thinking about going to le nordique!) i'm going to be working right up until i leave, probably til the 9th, so i can see all of my morning ladies one last friday morning :) other than that, i will just be doing the gym thing, chilling at home and hanging out at the lake with my fam. gotta save as much as i can! my travel insurance ended up costing a bit more than i thought, so it affected my budget a little bit :P gotta have it though!

i also booked my first three nights stay at a hostel in a suburb of perth called fremantle. i will be staying in the sundancer backpackers hostel it looks sooo chill! also this town looks amazing. they have this wicked market on the weekend with tons of local arts and crafts, fresh produce and handmade soaps and stuff. like the carp farmers market x 100 lol! i'm also planning on doing a daytrip to rottnest island. it's a short ferry ride from freo, and the island is small enough that they offer bike rentals so you can bike around! there is also apparently really good snorkeling and surfing there too. and there's these lil guys....

quokkas! they are these adorable little furry animals, about the size of a cat, and they always look like they are smiling!

when i first heard about them, i knew they were in australia, but i didn't know where. imagine my excitement when i found out that they live right on this island super close to where i am going to be!!! i'm definitely not leaving freo before i see one haha so cutee!

our plans are pretty up in the air from there. we might head down to margaret river, or maybe to a little town a bit more south east called denmark. either way, my goal is to get my 88 days of regional work done right away so i am eligible for a second year visa if i want one. then i want to travel around a bit and come back in january for the grape picking season! but really, who the heck knows what will happen? and that's the excitement of it all! 

anyways, i'm going to hit the hay. thanks for reading and supporting me on this crazy journey! love you guys lots! 

peace and good vibes <3
soph