Bonnie Marie Leishman

Today one of my best friends in the whole world was born.

Fondly known by many names... Bon Tron, Boninator, Bondiggity, Bon Bon, Bonster, Bonnie and Marie... she's really easy to give nicknames to... and for the most part they are all very interchangeable. That's besides the point. I love this girl. Thats the point.

Bonnie and I became friends through Cathy Frache. And it has been magic ever since.

So here's a few things you need to know about Bon Tron:

1. She is SO FUNNY. For real. What makes it even funnier you ask? How about the fact that she prompts people to tell her she is funny. Love this kid.

2. Bonnie is SO DOMESTICATED. She may be competing for housewife of the year. And be a front runner. Seriously anytime I am at Bonnie's house she is the perfect housewife. Minus the marriage part. She cooks amazing meals, she cleans, she gets water and even if I'm demanding she still gets me popcorn, with melted butter.

3. She is a woman of MANY TALENTS. She gave grace at her graduation, sang a song (like an angel), she quilts... and she makes the greatest caramel sauce - guaranteed to melt a heart. We have confirmed that there are many boys that wanna tap that to have one taste of her caramel sauce.

4. Bonnie has a great SENSE OF STYLE... and an unlimited dress supply for every occasion. She is a great friend to have just for the borrowing abilities. Cathy and I may have sniped a belt of hers... that she hasnt even worn yet. She can pull off many looks, from the neon fake glasses to the super high heels and wide belts. Basically Bonnie is a freaking rockstar. Loves her.

5. Bonnie is a MULTI-TASKER. Legs - behind the head. Spoon - horizontal in the mouth. Tongue - in the nose. There is picture proof above. Kingsway found their queen. Easily.

6. Bonnie can open her mouth SO WIDE. Seriously. Crazy wide. I maintain that I know no one out there that can beat her. And we have searched far and wide. With no one to dethrone her.

7. Bonnie is SMART. Valedictorian of her high school. She also knows alot about things out there in the world. I have no use for newspapers and news channels. I have Bonnie. She is a brillant dental hygienist... who will soon have her Bachelor of Science in under four years. She is brillant.

8. She loves to do FUN THINGS. I never am bored if I am with Bonnie. Whether we are slingshot paintballing (and not hitting anything - whoops), doing a crazy photoshoot, sitting in her van talking until her Dad and brother come find her, sitting on her deck in Waterton, watching a movie, searching the racks of a bookstore, Bonnie is thoroughly entertaining and so fun to be around.

9. She is someone to TRUST. I would never doubt that Bonnie has my back. Sure her secret keeping may not always be up to par... but for me it is. I never worry about Bonnie's loyalty. She is one of my best friends.

10. Bonnie is SO FUNNY.

I am so pleased to be able to call Bonnie my friend. She truly understands my inner awkwardness. And that alone would have us being friends for a very long time. But she is so much more than that. So Bonnie - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love you!

Hello North.

I have never been to Grande Prairie. And really... Had ZERO desire to ever go. Can you say hella north? Cause I sure can. But Cath and I decided to go and visit her boyfriend and some friends.

Turns out Grande Prairie is made up of two things.... To your right... Grande Prairie... To your left... a Grand Prairie.

But I've been having a great time. Maurita Tollestrup... my long lost cousin, who I have not seen for like the last five years easy... and I call her up so randomly and ask if I can camp in her backyard... and she ones ups that as it turns out and has let Cathy and I stay in the greatest thing known to man. This little number.

For real... be jealous. I love this.

So basically Cathy and I probably coulda saved the ten hour drive... cause mostly we just wait for Ben and Corey Hyde to be done selling and hang out with each other. We probably coulda hung out with each other in Lethbridge and it woulda been fine. But its nice to know that literally we just have nothing to do and can just lounge about. I like it alot. Only thing Grande Prairie is missing? Bon Tron.

Yum Yum now

Attention Attention.

Lethbridge AB has now opened a

And its amazing.

But I go there with my two besties... And this is the stunning conversation I get.

Thanks kids.

Just kidding. They are addicted to their phones tho... well Cathy for sure. Not sure about Bon Tron.

Far East Asia

So Cathy and I head down to Calgary Thursday night. We arrive and go to a good friend of Cathy's. Erin Wilderman is in Cathy's dental hygiene program and well... Cathy speaks more than highly of her and her entire family. And I found out for good reason. They really are just amazingly kind, generous and HILARIOUS people. And I loved every second. To walk into a stranger's house and instantly feel welcomed... something I hope to one day be able to accomplish.

Anyways, not ten minutes from being there all the sudden they had Cathy all dressed up.

Shoes, kimono, high bun, chop sticks and samarai sword.

And they couldnt let me miss out on this special moment.

So we bowed.

Took up our fighting positions.

And waged a epic battle.

All in all, this moment was ridiculous. But made me think of my asian cousins. So I hope I did you all proud.

What Dreams Are Made Of

I drift into unreality. Sleep envelopes and causes a fading at my edges. But as sleep continues, so does the fading. Soon it becomes difficult to recall what it was like to be awake. But in my dreams things seem so real. So as I sleep, I live in my dreams. And suddenly I’m awake again. But it isn’t real. Its the world my mind creates. And while you’d think that living in your dreams would be wonderful, dreams represent a reality that’s frightening. So my mind bombards me with its version of truth. Truth I’m not ready or willing to deal with in the real world. Facts that started out as fiction become the only truth I believe through dreaming. My unconscious mind shows the truth it wants to and destroys my fragile peace of mind. And dreams become un-restful. Dreaming forces me to face the truths that are more inadequacies and fear, than reality. But as I wake I find that life has become the dream. I wander around in my faded dream-like state and become less real and visible in the real world. I wait for another dream to envelope and show me the truths my conscious mind tries to hide. And even though these dreams cut and scar, I cling to them and their truths. For in them I see myself clearly for the first time. In them I am no longer an invisible person, faded at the edges, but someone who matters.

So You Wanna Be A Baller?

Slingshot Paint Baller that is.

Ed - my new friend is the greatest for coming up with this idea.

We needed something to do on a Monday night. What better thing to do than go down to the river bottom and crawl through the shrubbery and roots to nail someone with a paint ball. With a slingshot.

Oh! It is heaven.

I mean who doesnt love safety goggles (which P.S impair my peripheral vision to the point where I can only look straight down as I move about - yup I'm a handy)

Cath, Me and Jeb (Jeb is a freaking Hardcore... its scary - trust me.)

We'se girls are tough!

So for the first round of 3 on 3 on 3... Me, Bonnie and Ed got out. Yup. Our team was brutal. We did redeem ourselves on the last round. But we still didnt win. Dang Harrison (in Red) totally destroyed Bon and I. Crap. Guess I need to work on my slingshot skills...

Amy knows how to strut her stuff.

This game will never end. We're hardcore like that.

While I maintain that this game isnt really all that violent... well... we had our violent moments. Many a head shot occurred. Bonnie - got hit twice. Ed - got hit twice (yup... they definitely hit each other).. and poor poor Cathy - Bonnie just missed the glasses and got her right in the widows peak. I would say it was skill - but having been on Bon's team, I may change that to luck.

So the game may have ended... but the hitting each other didnt. Our excuse? We had to use up the left over paint balls.

So Bonnie - as we are driving, turns back to Cathy and goes "Cathy - you should really shower at my house. You're hair is DISGUSTING."

And Cathy is a little shocked...

So she replies "Bonnie - have you looked at your hair? Melissa - take a picture so she knows what she looks like."

Yup.. they both decided to veto the shower once this pic came out.

Rachel here is all smiles. Despite the fact that she majorly rolled her ankle being all stealth for paint ball. Sure.. her ankle caused the fun and games to end... But I did nail her in the neck with a paint ball... so we'll call it fair?

Sometimes I get to be the big strong man in our group of friends. Its pretty much amazing.

One of these things does not look like the other... Poor Rachel. Her ankle swelled up immediately.

On the upside, she doesnt have to work this week? Mostly cause she cant walk.

Yup. We're Ballers... Sling-shot paint ballers... And we love it.

Technicolor moments.

Somedays I feel like ideas are a fluid entity. They flow in and out of my mind. Sometimes they dance along my fingertips. I want to hold them close and make them mine. But they swirl often just out of reach. But sometimes, if I focus and hold my breath, they let me catch a good long glimpse. Friday, an idea let me hold it just long enough to put it into reality.

Makeup. Hair. Outfits.

So let me introduce the lovely and talented models I had to work with...

Bonnie Leishman.

First time model... long time ANTM fan.  I gave her a tough scene.  A serious scene.  Something Bonnie doesnt often do.  And well... she pulled it off spectacularly.  Dont let the haters hate Bon.  This was brilliant.  I know it and you know it.

Next on the docket:

Cathy Frache.

She has proved that even the good girl can pull off a little Bad A punk rock when called upon.

Clarissa Baines.

Not gonna lie... she was a random last minute insert. But I give her all the credit in the world. Because there is many a girl who wouldnt have just ran with this photoshoot.  So she was dressed a bit like a pirate.  She made it work.

Now I dont wanna brag, but both Amy Erickson (the other photographer - except she's legit and I'm a faker) and I had little fan section watching the shoot go down. 

Our first fan - the ten year old on a bike that asked what we were doing and then sat in the bushes and watched me direct the photo shoot.

Fan's number two - the two teenage smokers. They were in a cool part of the park and so Cath and I intruded on their domain and literally had a little shoot within arms reach of them. Which is shown in the picture below. They didnt say a word. Just let us photo shoot next to them. It was awesome. 

Lets get to see a little snippet of the pieces we came up with... 

BONNIE

The first in Bon's section is called Dance monkey Dance.  Bon was a great sport.  Love this girl.

CATHY 

Freak.  If she had a CD I would want to put these on the cover... Dont judge - we used Avril as our inspiration.  I think it was pretty spot on for teenage angst.

CLARISSA

We shot until there wasnt anymore light.  All in all probably one of the funnest moments of the summer so far.

I really have great friends.  They let me orchestrate and put this together.  All because I had so much fun directing a mini-photoshoot for grad.  It didnt matter that I have no skills.  It was just fun and a spontaneous thing to do.