With a title like that, all I can say is one out of two isn't as good as it could be and I'd really rather it was better.

What am I talking about, you may ask? Isn't this a blog about two besties working hard to get themselves to the country?

It is, but there are potholes in the road sometimes, and I'm dealing with a major pothole today. I have IBS, which stands for irritable bowel syndrome. Sounds fun, right? Ha!

I will not go into too much detail here (and you are very lucky, my manager at work is NOT so lucky, poor man), but suffice to say I'm glad to be within five to ten feet of the washroom.

This sucks, because I cannot leave the house. I am missing a day of pay from my job which I really need. Denise is stuck struggling through the day without the support of her bestie, making her more stressed than she needs to be.

Denise has her issues too, not just me. not only is she allergic to the sun, but she is very allergic to peanuts too, and carries an epiPen. I've spent lots of time in the emergency room with her, to the point where we do get a bit blasé about it after a while, we make jokes about Denise having her own room, and could we just check in ahead of time. Denise also likes telling people that I'm dying to use the EpiPen on her, which is true.

So, though our goal is always the same, some days it is hard to near impossible to work toward it everyday. I think the most important thing we can do is to get up the next day and try. To get that much closer to our goal.


~ Melina

Melina had the thought that seeing as we are sharing our efforts to realize our dream, we should have a post telling a little bit about ourselves. What made us who we are, as it were. A good idea on the surface, but WOW describing myself is hard! So then she suggested we describe each other. Possibly easier, but how do I narrow down everything I know about her?

I'll start with the obvious. Melina grew up on the South Shore of Nova Scotia with an amazing sister, Melisa. Yes, that's right. Melina and Melisa. I really want to make fun of this, but for reasons which may later become apparent, I can't. She spent long days wandering the woods, sometimes running away and setting up 'camp' with the plan of surviving on tea berries. She always went home by dinner.

High school happened and with it came a love of 80's British music, a genre for which she still has a VOLUMINOUS amount of knowledge. If you need to know the bassist of some obscure UK band of the 80's, she is your girl. She also continued her love of art at this time, earning the name 'Morbid Melina' from her art teacher due to her habit of incorporating a severed head into every painting. Considering that her teacher like unicorns and rainbows, I am surprised she was not councillor-bound.

By now you have a certain image of her in your head. Well, throw it out. She is a mass of contradictions. When she worked at HMV, a co-worker once told her that she was the only person they knew who would buy Britney Spears and death metal at the same time. That is Melina in a nutshell. She is a Mama by nature. She likes to cook and bumble around the house and jokes that she is meant to be a house frau. She takes care of everyone. And she is super-funny, and I swear we could have a blast if we were locked in a closet together.

That's my bestie!

~ Denise





Describing oneself is one of the most trying things one can do. Ever. You don't want to be too serious, and sound like a pompous fool. But you also don't want to be flippant and sound like a flake either.so, much better to describe your best friend, right?

Denise is the best person I know. How did she get that way? I 'blame' (kidding!!!) her family. She grew up in Moncton, a city in New Brunswick. Her family is the most normal, functional one I've ever seen. Being French Canadian and catholic, it was a big family. Her sisters, wait for it, Debbie, Donna, Darlene, Diane. Denise is the youngest.

Early in her life, Denise was on track to be a dancer, spending most spare time at the dance studio. Until her knee blewout. Twice. After the first operation, she still wanted to dance. Denise is a bit stubborn, her mothers pet name for her roughly translates into 'cement head'.

Luckily she really is a born writer. After relocating to Halifax for university she stayed awhile, poured a lot of coffee and sprayed much perfume. She learned what she wanted to write. She will ever champion the wronged and the needy, but is so not a push over. My favourite way to bug her is to tell her that one day her mouth with write a cheque her ass can't cash.

That is my bestie!

~ Melina