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:

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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

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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! 🥰