Wow, it has been too long..

Wow, it has been far to long!  Really, my last post was January.....time flies

Is it just me, or is the first year of college the only year to fly by... when it's one of the other times you don't want it to ever end?

Anyways, college life has been over for summer break since April and it's about to start up in a few weeks. Can't wait to go back.  I kinda miss getting assignments, and having to run around to meet a deadline.  Durham College really gets you ready for the real world.  After I left it I feel like life has been soaking in molasses.  Too darn slow!

Personal life has been really well.  I have been dating this boy of mine for almost a year.  We have had some dame good rocky parts (all my fault I can admit that), but I am glad it is with him and not someone else.  I don't think anyone else would be as patient as he has been for me to turn a leaf.  He seems to always know the answer before I even get to the last hurdle.

I relaunched my business, but this time it has a new name.  I call it, Mersadie-Margaret Photography.  The Margaret part because it's my family name;  all the women have it as a middle name.  Mersadie is a name (and spelling) I came up with.  Kinda embarrassing, but I have always loved that name.  It's unique, a little quirky, and questionable.  But it relates to my field I guess, right?  I mean, art is all of those three things...and sometimes photography can be all of those as well.  So it works!  (At least in my little noggin it does!)

It's getting a little late now, and I have a photo shoot tomorrow, so I think this post will end there.

GOODNIGHT ONLINE WORLD.

P.S. check out www.mersadie-margaret.blogspot.com

It's my company's blog.

Healthy Cheap food? Is there such thing?

It is SUPER hard to be healthy while going to college...

In the Durham College marketplace, we have four different places to eat: Pizza pizza, Burger studio, extreme pita, and some form of stir fry place.

Think of it this way:
You think Extreme pita is a healthy choice...so you walk into the line up and wait for the two people in front of you to order.  All you want is a small veggie pita, and the two other people get a Philly steak sandwich.

Great. a longer wait.

Then you finally get up to the front, grab your pita and get into the 5746574654574893 people line up to cash out.  After they all leave, you get up to the front.  and your small veggie pita with a water comes to more than that pizzapizza slice and a coke would have cost.

This was me about half an hour ago.

If society wants us to eat healthier, why don't they make it healthier for the student budget?

Lets do the math here:
a bottle of water + bowl of fruit + and a small veggie pita = $12.94
...x5 (week of school) = $64.70
I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money on a minimum wage/student budget.

a bottle of coke + cookie + cheese slice pizza = $8.76
...total savings, = $4.18
....x5 = $20.90 in savings per week .

TWENTY BUCKS IS WICKED!  That's enough for gas for the week in the car I use.
But it's not healthy....not one bit..

What is there a college chick to do?
:(
Guess I'm not going to be driving for a while

xoxo
Jenn Barr

P.S. If someone can help me find a good discount for healthy food...LET ME KNOW.  It would be much appreciated. 

New year's resolutions and their fallbacks

Happy New Year!  2012 has finally arrived.

Before I start this post, I want to ask you what was your new years resolution?  Post me a comment or e-mail me at jennifer.barr@hotmail.ca !  I want to know if you have been sticking to it, keep up the "resoluting"!

Last new years I made three resolutions:
1. Be in love with the man I love,
2. Be able to get into the college that will jump start me into the picture,
and number three was, of course, to start going to the gym.

On December 31st, 2011, I realized that one and a half of them had been successful.
And like many other people I know, it was not the going to the gym one that made the list.

I remember walking into the Extreme Fitness gym, and seeing about 100 people doing the same resolution as I had made.  As the weeks went by, fewer and fewer people came out, and by mid-February...only about 30 of the original "resoluters" were still coming out.

I do not know how many were still there by the end of the year, because by mid February, I too had become a quitter.

My question is, too all of you who have, as well, been in the same boat as I, why do we quit?
Is it because it's too much work then what we thought?
Is it because across from the gym, while being hungry, there was food affordable at McDonalds with the coin found on my car floor?
Or is it because we do it for the wrong reasons?

I know I did that resolution to look better for my boyfriend at the time whom I loved.
I had done it for the wrong reason.  I didn't do it for the sake of my health, I did it for the external beauty for another.
I also didn't have a proper time limit on when I was going to get this done.  I never realized until AFTER I quit the idea that it takes much more then an "off the brain" resolution.  It takes knowledge of what you need and how you are going to get to that goal.

This year, I have created a new resolution, and it was to become Vegan for the month of January, and become a solid vegetarian for the next six months, and then see where it goes from there.  I have my reasons for doing this resolution, but it wasn't until after talking about it with others who have been successful, and how it will benefit my health, instead of it benefiting my significant other (whom by the way has changed too, hence the 0.5 above).

When celebrating new years, having a drink or five, and being with close friends and family, remember to keep YOU in mind about those resolutions for this year (oh my gosh it's 2012!), and not the people around you.

Thanks for reading!
Jenn Barr
@thebarrscorner

Follow-up: Canadian Christmas

Earlier this week I wrote about Tim Hortons and how they are not advertising their festiveness on their cups this season.  I sent out a fe e-mails and got in contact with Michael, whom is at guest services for Tim Hortons.  Here is a copy of what I got back from him:

Tim Hortons is proud to announce the launch of our new espresso based beverages on November 14th! We are delighted to offer our guests even more variety in our restaurants - particularly at a time of year where friends and family gather together to celebrate the holidays.

This November and December, our take out cup will be dedicated to sharing the exciting news of our espresso launch with our guests. While this means our cup will not feature holiday imagery as it has in the past, we are confident that the spirit of the season has been well reflected in our seasonal advertising and in our Restaurants through our seasonal bakery offerings, our holiday merchandise program which features an assortment of exciting gift ideas for the coffee lover, and holiday imagery in our in-store signage.

In short, yes there will not be any christmas/winter season cups this year.  However, it is not because of the alleged complaints that they have been getting from people - they are just promoting their new latte's in the store. 

YAY.  I will be looking forward to them next year!

Jenn Barr

Whats a Canadian Christmas without the Canadian Coffee?

Tim Hortons 2010 Christmas Coffee Cup (from Google Images)

Jenn Barr

I woke up this mornimg on a (not so regular) warm December morning only wanting a Tim Hortons coffee. It was rather enjoyable...however to my dismay i had no christmas festiveness on my cup. 

According to these allegations going around, it is said to belive many people were arguing that the festivities on the cups were leaning towards the christmas religion rather than just the winter scenes.  A few of the arguments wanted to have it removed, while others said that they want their religion to be shown on the sups as well.  Since Tim Hortons could not add every single holiday religion, head office said they would stop going the cups for 2011/2012 winter season

I know it may seem irrelevant to some people, but the christmas festivities that appear on this "Timmy's" cup is something I look forward too every December.

Personally, Christmas isn't celebrated as well as it should be in my household.  Tree decorating doesn't happen until the second or third week of december, and it gets taken down January 2.  Christmas lights haven't been on my house for the second year in a row.  My family says it's because of the new eves put onto our house, and my mom doesn't want to get them scratch.  Pft.

I seem to not be the only one upset about this matter.  Tara from B101, Barrie's Hit Music station, expresses for love of the "missing coffee cups"

On her blog she wrote  "I know it may not be a big deal to some...but the Christmas Cups at Tim Horton's have become an almost official start to the holiday season...a cup of hot coffee inside a cutesy idyllic winter scene...made my morning over the holidays...and I swear...the coffee tastes better in those cups then the regular cups...now...it looks like we have to make do with their lousy old brown "Buy and over-priced Latte" cups..."

And people agreed with her, commenting that they look forward to the cups every year as well, saying that it "makes the reason bright."

E-mails have been sent to head office and PR people of this franchise to hear the truth and put a solid source to this allegations .