October 22nd - Episode 3: Personal Trainer, Andrea Smith
Andrea is a triple threat. A personal trainer, bikini model, and body
builder makes Andrea a busy gal and an inspiration. Andrea strives to
give women the motivation they need to become active, healthy, and to feel happy and accomplished with all of their
hard work. Her business, Get Ready Girls (getreadygirls.ca) features a
number of different fitness programs suited to different needs and
interests and every day women. The three Cs Andrea chooses to live by
are Confidence, Commitment, and Consistency, and she invites women to
share in her mantra.
I introduce you to one of Winnipeg’s Finest, Andrea Smith!
Remember the days when the soldiers had fought, A lot of young people they seemed to have taught. They taught us that we deserve to be free, They fought for people like you and people like me. They went to war and risked their lives,
And left their daughters, their sons, their wives. They taught us all about like and love, Those soldiers are now the bright stars above. Remember the days when the soldiers had fought, Me I know...they surely have taught.
October 15th - Episode 2: Photographer, Charmaine Mallari
Charmaine is a Winnipeg photographer who is fairly well known
throughout the community. She has a strong passion for fashion
photography and has worked with a large number of local
designers who are always impressed with her work. Her love of
photography started when she was really young and just beginning to
learn the ins and outs of a camera. Charmaine's business name, TRUE CHARISMA PHOTOGRAPHY, is reflection of how others have seen her throughout her life, and is a description she aspires to live up to everyday.
I introduce you to one of Winnipeg's Finest, Charmaine Mallari!
Last night my mom and I took my little cousin
Trick-or-Treating. As a kid Halloween was one of the best days of the year. At
school we would do our work in the morning as scheduled, but in the afternoon
we always had a Halloween party! Everyone in the class would bring an array of
snacks, we’d all get dressed up in our cute little costumes, and then we’d
watch a Halloween movie. This happened until at least grade 6, if not later. After
the school day was done, my friends and I would always hit up a few houses for
candy on our way home to drop off our school bags, re-adjust our costumes, grab
our heavy duty pillow cases, and head out the door. To be honest, I went
trick-or-treating with my mom most of the time, even as I got older. She’s a
fun lady that mother of mine. Sometimes my friends would join us too, but my
mom always wanted to be part of the fun. She’d always be nice enough to make
sure the people handing out candy knew that her son was at home and couldn’t
come out because he had a cold, and people would always give us extra candy for
him.
I’m an only child.
Nearly all the houses on every street had some sort of Halloween
decorations, and there were always a handful of houses that went all out with
flashy lights, sound effects, and scary monsters that pop out at you from
behind the bushes. My mom would always try her best to get us to the really
good parts of the city who hand out full sized chocolate bars, big bags of
chips, and cans of pop. I remember going home 2 or 3 times in the middle of our
journey, to empty my pillowcases so I can get more goods. I’d say having 5 sacks
of candy makes for a successful Halloween night. I remember being able to
trick-or-treat until about midnight, sometimes even 1 in the morning, which was
perfectly fine because school was always cancelled the following day!
Fast forward to Halloween 2012.
Last night was nothing like I’ve just described. I barely
saw any trick-or-treaters out and about, which may have had something to do
with only 6 houses per block (if that) with their lights on. We started about
7:30pm and apparently that was a late start. Some of the houses we started off
with gave us the last of their stash, as they were nearly out for the evening.
Now I don’t think this was because they had a ton of little monsters at their
door, but more because they likely bought one small bag of candy and figured
that would do the trick. Some simply stopped handing out candy because there
was only a trick-or-treater every half an hour or so, if not longer.
As we walked from one house with lights to the next, which
was about 18 houses away, I asked my cousin what she did at school for Halloween.
You know what they did at her school? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! No dress up.
No party. No movies. No Halloween sing-alongs….nothing!
What’s going on? Is Halloween being phased out? Do people no
longer believe in Halloween fun? What is it?
I loved Halloween as a kid, and I’m disappointed that this generation
is not getting the chance to enjoy it the way I did. I feel like they’re
getting ripped off BIG TIME! Some people have serious views about not
participating in Halloween festivities, but what about everybody else?
So tell me folks, why do you think kids aren’t as excited
about Halloween as they used to be? Why did people stop handing out candy? Why
don’t parents take their kids out anymore? What happened to the school parties?
Halloween dances? Costumes?
While you ponder, please enjoy this video of the sweetest halloween house, ever! (Watch for at least 2 minutes to get the full effect)
