My 5-year BC Citizenship – Check!!

Among many things, British Columbia, Canada, is a land of adventure, varied landscapes, the world’s only inland temperate rainforest, and much unique and fascinating industry and history that I continue to learn. I was thrilled to move here five years ago, to share life with the man of my dreams. Along with Mike’s warm welcome, I was embraced into his beautiful family, for whom I am grateful and enjoy spending lots of time with. I have also met and made many friends, acquaintances, and colleagues in Prince George, BC.

It has been a busy five years to be sure! And I was always on my toes – alert for any opportunity to earn “points” toward my “BC Citizenship application.” As I have mentioned before, when I moved here, Mike gaily informed me that I would not truly be a British Columbian until I had passed the exam after five whole years of living here. (If you have not previously read my blog about the move and introduction of the BC Citizenship, please feel free to sidebar, here) And I quote: “Mike tests me regularly. I frequently 'lose points,' but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test.”

We’ve driven to the Yukon, the Shuswap, the Okanagan, the Kooteneys, the Bowron Lakes chain, and the Island. Have touched the geographical centre of British Columbia, as well as BC’s Pacific coast in four places – Stewart, Prince Rupert, Bella Coola, and Tofino. Multiple trips to Vancouver of course, via the Fraser Canyon or the Duffy Lake road – both equally entertaining! Also hit up a place called Sasquatch – no joke.

I know where the Fraser River begins. Have camped boondocking. Touched ancient petroglyphs. Skinny-dipped in the midnight sun.

I have my gold miner’s license and know how and where to pan for gold. We hold annual passes for Barkerville, and we’ve explored Likely, Quesnel Forks, and the historical mines of the area.

We’ve adventured countless lakes, rivers, water falls, trails, back roads, dams, hot springs, hoodoos, gondolas, suspension bridges, and even a rodeo ground after dark. We’ve seen glaciers, bears, moose, deer, elk, caribou, bison, eagles, and the most incredible night skies – stars stars stars and of course the aurora borealis.

I’ve met Mike Hall, Claudia Bunce, Caden Fanshaw – and Mr. PG! I’ve written a blog for the City of Prince George, and I’ve gotten myself on three local radio stations as well as the CKPG Today television broadcast. And Mike and I were featured in and on the cover of our neighbourhood magazine. 😁

I’ve gotten my photo taken with a Conservation Officer.  And most recently, I have registered a business in BC, to renew my entrepreneurial vigor and be in BC Business. (More on that later)

 

And drumroll please…..  

I got my BC Citizenship!!!

 

On the 5^th anniversary of beginning our adventure together, Mike threw me a crazy impromptu surprise party with a bunch of our beloved family and friends! I was so shocked, walking in to the party with so many special faces (and a secret surprise guest I’m not allowed to reveal but whose photo you can find elsewhere in this blog), a huge cake, a BC flag, and all the love I could possibly imagine flowing around the table.

In classic Mike fashion though I had to work for it LOL – there was indeed an exam! I had to answer five questions about British Columbia, standing in front of everyone, still so shocked but also thrilled.

I aced all the questions except for a brief phone-a-friend moment for the year that BC joined Confederation – my Ontario showed when all I could think of was 1867 – BC became a Canadian province in 1871. Whoops – I knew that from all the great presentations at Barkerville! I did make up a few points by over-answering a couple of the other questions, and my smarty-pants friends even challenged me with the suggestion of a couple of real stumper questions – thanks guys!

My ever-flowing tears really burst forth when Mike announced I had officially passed the citizenship test and was now declared a British Columbian, and all my loved ones around the table waved little BC flags! 

Mike left no stone unturned in this process, and I am grateful for his thoughtfulness and caring, and his love of fun and shenanigans. We laughed and cried and partied on, so freakin’ wonderful I can’t even put it into words. ❤️ Thank you Mike!! ❤️ And everyone, for making that crazy surprise happen, for being there for me that evening and in the last five years, and for the promise of more love and laughter in the years to come.

So, as a real live BC Citizen, I’d love to share with you some photos of our last five years. Thank you Mike, for being who you are, and for sharing with me. I love and cherish you so much and appreciate every moment we spend together. -- AND I’m extra super glad I passed my citizenship as I truly don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t!! I’m glad you’re keeping me, but I’ll still always work extra hard for the points. 

To close this blog, I’ll leave you with the tidbit that I will soon be officially launching our new business: Allan Events Co.  Mike and I are partnering on this venture, which will encompass business event planning, but also our writing and speaking engagements. Very excited to return to entrepreneurship and support the business community and medical education sphere in Prince George and the province!

Allan Events Co.: corporate event organizers planning, coordinating, and executing business-related conferences, summits, networking events, meetings, education events, and CME accredited programs. Whether it’s an industry summit or a grassroots networking event, we create space for ideas to flourish and people to thrive.

Our work is also deeply rooted in the oncology patient support space, where we’ve helped lead advocacy initiatives, global education campaigns, and professional development events for healthcare providers.

In-person, virtual, or hybrid - we’ve delivered impactful events in every format—from networking events, training sessions, and roundtable meetings to CME-accredited conferences and symposiums. Event idea? Let’s make it happen!

From Meaford to Mr. PG: Finding Home in Northern BC

This past winter, I had the pleasure of working with the Economic Development team at the City of Prince George when our organizations co-hosted the B2B Expo - a large business networking event that brought together a diverse mix of local businesses and entrepreneurs. It was a great opportunity to build connections and support new collaborations, many of which I'm proud to cheer on.

One particularly special opportunity that came out of this partnership was my being invited to write a blog for the City’s Move Up Prince George initiative. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know I have a soft spot for our city’s beloved mascot, Mr. PG. (Remember when the girls visited and we took the must-have family selfie with the Mr. PG statue? Definitely a highlight!) So when I was mid-story, sharing one of my many Mr. PG tales with the City staff, they asked if I’d write a guest blog about him—and I said an enthusiastic heck yes! Blogging and Mr. PG? Say no more.

Please allow me to link you over to their blog, where you can read about my relationship with my other favourite man in Prince George:

From Meaford to Mr. PG: Finding Home in Northern BC

With this blog you'll see several photos of Mike and the girls and I hanging out with Mr. PG, AND my favourite moment of this past winter and my time at the B2B Expo - meeting the Mr. PG mascot!!! 😁

Shoutout to my B2B Expo buddy Krystin, + Annie, Imogene, and Lucas - you rock!

I’d also like to give a shoutout to Tourism Prince George, who supported the B2B Expo. Plus, they have scads of cool Mr. PG merch, which they included in their display at the event. Thank you Tourism PG, for giving me this memory:

Huge thanks to Move Up Prince George for inviting me to contribute to your blog and help share the culture and character of this awesome city. Writing this piece was not only fun - it was a meaningful way to reflect on why Prince George is such a special place to live and work. I’m proud to call this community home, and I hope my story adds a little extra love to the Move Up initiative and the spirit behind it.

PS - Mike says this definitely gets me points toward my BC Citizenship! 😜

And an honourable mention for the blog dog:

🤎🤎🤎

Melanoma Blog(s) Updates - a Quick Check-in

Every year around this time I get a bit twitchy about my upcoming cancer-versary, it's soon annual CT scan time, and so I need to stop and smell the roses. Many amazing things have happened in my life in the last year, it's really been non-stop around here - all good stuff! And never a dull moment. Mike and I travelled around BC a bunch, including a raucous Camaro trip to the Kooteneys, and a stunning camping trip to Bella Coola. 

Also news: Claire and Cass moved here to Prince George (haha right - I never thought I'd say those words!) and are settling in beautifully. I of course am thrilled that we are back to living close to eachother!!! They are loving PG and immersing themselves in their new city.  We're slowly but surely getting their Toronto-blood-pressures down, and the imminent spring weather is going to greatly help that when we can get back out there for camping, exploring, and adventuring. 

In the meantime... work. Mike and I both have been burning the candle at both ends the past couple of seasons. Mike worked BC Elections as he loves to do, and then took on a side gig here in town to help him pass the winter (aka non-Camaro) season. I've still been working with Community Futures but also was part of a Scientific Planning Committee (my first one!) to bring a two-day accredited for Physicians hybrid conference to Prince George for Lymphedema Education. It was a large undertaking and I am honoured to have been able to support this event with my conference planning skills. Not long after that, I was part of the team who brought the B2B Expo to the Prince George business community - another large project I am proud to have been part of. These recent refreshers have reminded me how much I love to plan and facilitate corporate events, and how my professional efforts need to swing more in that direction. 

Sprinkled in between all of that was also a little bit of time with Save Your Skin Foundation! In February, SYSF invited me to host their Fireside Chat and speak on the topic of "Connecting to Your New Normal." It did stretch my cancer patient muscles a bit - I dusted off some decade-old feelings about this disease and shared my story and perspectives on life after cancer, hopefully giving even just one person a glimmer of hope in their skin cancer journey. 

SYSF has now posted the recording of my talk, and a short blog re-capping my melanoma and Save Your Skin story. You can check these out here and here: 

SYSF February 2025 Fireside Chat: "Connecting to Your New Normal" 

with host Natalie Allan, Cancer Survivor & Motivational Speaker

Thank you Kathy and Save Your Skin Foundation, for being there for me, and for Mike, our families, and all of the patients and caregivers your life-saving work supports in the cancer community. 🙌

I'm grateful to have some re-connects with my melanoma friends and family, and these opportunities help me to pause and reflect, and celebrate almost 11 years since I was first diagnosed, and I am HERE. 🙏 xoxoxo

🧡

One more quick note before I dash off to the next thing - just this very morning I received an email from Feedspot notifying me that my blog was again on the Top Melanoma Blogs list! Surprising as I haven't posted as much since last receiving this honour in 2017, but a very welcome nod and neat timing as I was just preparing to post about the SYSF event. Thank you @Feedspot - I appreciate #29 and will happily share your new badge. Great to see so many of my old friends and melahomies on this list as well! 🥰

Update - We Got Married!

Today Mike and I posted on social media the news of our recent marriage. On facebook and the other personal and professional social media platforms, we shared a few short words and a photo and drone-video, keeping it brief and true to us. But... on my blog I hold a bit more creative (aka wordy) license, and cannot resist saying a few extra things about our happy news!

Mike is the man of my dreams, a truly wonderful person inside and out, a fellow melanoma warrior - though he is brave and strong enough to call himself a melanoma survivor! - a true inspiration, and my best friend. Mike is intelligent and insightful, can always be relied upon by his friends and family, is invariably adventure-driven, and the funnest person I know. I am unspeakably honoured to share with him this crazy thing called life, and I thank my blessed stars every day that we found each other. 

Mr. Allan and I eloped last weekend, had a quiet ceremony at home, and shared this sacred moment between us with every emotion in our hearts and on our faces. We take this union very seriously, cherishing each other, knowing how quickly life can change and how important every moment is to live to the fullest. As the marriage commissioner prompted our words, the sweetness in the air was tangible, and we vowed to love and care for each other as husband and wife for the rest of our days. 

With an overflowing abundance of love and gratitude, yours truly,

💗 Mrs. Natalie Allan

~ with photography - and love-filled heart! - creds to Mr. Michael Allan 😎💕

March is Lymphedema Awareness Month

Over the years I have written quite a bit about my experience with lymphedema - secondary lymphedema in my right thigh, from surgery for melanoma skin cancer. Lymphedema (lim-fa-DEE-ma): lymphedema is a lifelong condition caused by a buildup of lymph fluid. This happens when the lymphatic system is either faulty or damaged and cannot function as normal. It leads to chronic swelling in the tissues where the lymph flow is blocked.*  I've dabbled in pursuing treatment for this but will admit I have not yet established ongoing management of it. Still on my to-do list. Mike also has lymphedema, from the same surgical procedure for melanoma, but it settled more in his foot. 

In any case, having bolstered a bunch of melanoma-related patient support and education initiatives with Save Your Skin Foundation and on my own over the years, I am now adding a lane, and lending a hand with lymphedema patient support. Recently I have joined a team in Prince George who are planning a Lymphedema Education Conference later this year for Physicians and allied HCPs in the Northern Health region of BC. I am happy to be working with an esteemed local Physiotherapist who is leading the initiative; I will support with my event planning and tech experience. 

Not only am I learning more about lymphedema, and the needs of patients, but through this project I am learning more about the health care system in our region, and the access to resources that Physicians may or may not have. 

Our group is excited to be planning this informative event, which will consist of a full day for Physicians, including a lymphedema care doctor guest speaker from Ontario, and then a half-day for allied health care providers on lymphedema care and bandaging, etc. While planning all of this we are learning about the process of hosting - and funding - an accredited conference for Physicians. It's a big undertaking! But a necessary one, as continuing lymphedema education fights for attention just as many other medical infirmities have to. 

View this video from Shirley Bond, MLA, Prince George-Valemount speaking about World Lymphedema Day and the local work and recent initiatives underway in our area:

I'll update with more information when I can, but in the meantime, I'll end with a shout-out to the 1 million Canadians impacted by lymphedema and bid them a healthy Lymphedema Awareness Day. 

For more information, please check out the Canadian Lymphedema Framework, and/or the lymphedema association in your province:

Canadian Lymphedema Framework

Us - in our neighbourhood magazine!

Well... honestly I'm not even sure where to start with this one. I've frequently reported how I tend to find myself in interesting situations at the most interesting times. Today is no different! And now Mike and I are "in it" together 😁 

We have landed on the cover of a magazine! We did submit ourselves to this - after several months of viewing non-local families being featured in our residential-neighbourhood magazine available in print and delivered to our mailbox monthly, we decided to put our voices to task and contribute to the local publication and share our family story to save the reading masses from random United States etc. family features from flooding our mail. 

Simply enough, we contacted the College Heights (Prince George suburb we live in and love) magazine publisher Best Version Media to submit our story for local interest coverage. Lo and behold, they said "Yes! Fill out this questionnaire and we'll feature you!" And here we are. 

Mike Allan and I wrote every word of this article together:

(I'm pretty sure this supports my BC Citizenship application!!)

Words cannot express how grateful I am for this incredible man with whom I now share my life - he is my dream come true, literally! Mike - amazing human, my partner, I love you. 💖 I am SO grateful we are on this crazy path together. Your openness in sharing your cancer journey - and your life journey - with me is something I cherish deeply, identify with, and will always protect and hold dear. 

***

There is no link to a digital version of this article, so you'll have to bear with us on reading the pdf version scanned from the paper magazine. We are still giggling (and snuffling) over this whole thing, and are grateful for the many people who responded to our call for extra copies so that we can share the print magazine with our kids and family members. Thank you College Heights community - this is what it's all about! 

Please also note - our sweet sphynx cat Archer has the centrefold of the magazine, Save Your Skin Foundation is our chosen feature charity, and there is an honourable mention for my long-time pal Reese, the eternal blog dog 🤎

SO much love xoxoxoxo