2018 at a Glance!

2018 was definitely the most adventurous year of my life! I pushed myself further then I ever knew I could. My confidence has sky rocketed since I first left home, and my leadership skills have increased drastically! 

And like always, I learned a lot!!!

So, for the highlights of 2018!

I turned 20 this year! I spent half my day in Killaloe, then bused in the evening to Absolute Equestrian. Sierra hiked three hours in the billizard that day to see me off! She is such an awesome friend!

On January 14th I flew west jet to London England. There I stayed with a really awesome couple in their home, and explored London with a friend of mine from Germany!

One week later, I flew out of Gatwick airport to Entebbe Uganda, Eastern Africa. I was a school teacher at Nabugalo Primary School for about two month.

For the last three weeks of my trip, I went to work for a mission in Kampala. There I had a lot of adventures and came down with typhoid cutting my trip short. Still, it was a pretty epic way to end a trip.

Afterwards, I recovered at home for about two weeks. I then went back to Absolute Equestrian for three months as a working student.

After that, I got a summer job close to home as riding instructor at Frontier Trails.

In August, I got accepted to the Passion to Purpose Conference in Regina. There I developed more leadership skills, and learned about how to pitch and write grant applications. 

In September I started at Durham College in the Animal Care program! Finished the semester with a 4.25 GPA!

In September I also joined Team DNA BJJ in Whitby!

In October, competed for the first time in jiu jitsu and got gold!

In December, I came home for Christmas and went on a family trip to Quebec city.

Overall, despite some of the traumatic experiences this year, it was incredible and I wouldn't change anything.The key things I learned were to trust my gut, to be confident in myself, to never stop fighting, and to focus on one task at a time. This year I discovered I have a lot of self control, that my writing is improving, that I can be extremely ambitious. Although ambition is not a bad thing, I need to be careful of how much control it has over me. Overall I am very happy with my performance and what I have accomplished this year! I am so happy I decided to go back to school, as I am loving it and exceling! Hopefully next semester is going to be just as great!

2018 Goal Reflections:

Go to Africa: I got there and back! It was an incredible experience and was very eye opening! If you ever feel an urge to go somewhere in the world despite the risks, I really encourage you to go! You learn so much about yourself when you travel, and grow to be a stronger person. There were decisions I made there that I probably shouldn't have, but you can't learn without making mistakes.

Publish or work towards Publishing my Novel: Because I got typhoid in Uganda, I was unable to go to Germany to retrieve my laptop, which I had left with a friend there. I had planned to retrieve it on the way home, and it had the whole novel "Of Shadow and Time" on it. We have received the laptop back now, so hopefully I can resume the process again shortly.

Write a New Novel: I did! Sort of! It was a memoir of my trip to Africa

Develop more Spiritualy: I had a lot of spiritual experiences, particularly in Africa. I grew more in my faith in the aspect of my relationship with Jesus. Once again, there were a lot of high and lows, and moments where I felt like I was holding onto it by the end of a string. Thankfully, my personality is not one to let go of things I care about easily! Humility was not a strong virtue for me this year, due to being treated like a goddess in Africa, and overall doing very well at almost everything I did this year! However, jiu jitsu is great for my ego. There will be some people you smash, but being a white belt, you still get smashed plenty as well!

Increase or Maintain Fitness Level: I am very proud of how physically strong I have become over the year! Typhoid had pretty much wreaked my body, but I came back from it stronger then before! I can now do twenty decent pushups, my cardio is improved, and my upper body is much stronger.

Get my G2: I am really failing at this goal! lol. I will get it next year!

Go to Post Secondary: Went to Durham College for Animal Care! Loving it!

Get Dental Work Done: Failed miserbly! Next year!

Continue Blogging: I'm still here!

My hopes in 2018 that came true....

- Continue BJJ
- Get accepted into Vet tech + Vet assistant programs
- Get an animal related job
- Make new friends
- Date somebody

My favorite song from 2018 was "Whatever it Takes,"Imagine Dragons. My favorite movie was The Han Solo movie. My favorite book was "The Eye of the World."

My favorite moment of 2018 was when Fred and I were sitting together on the school roof in Kampala watching the sun set behind the hills. It was very peaceful, and I felt safe, comfortable, and extremely blessed watching the large sun cast us in its deep orange rays.

That was 2018 for me! Now my goals for 2019!

- Develop spiritualy
- graduate post secondary with at least a 3.9 GPA
- Get an animal related job
- Continue sponsoring my three students in Uganda
- Get my G2
- Renew my Passport
- Travel at least once outside of Canada
- Get Dental and Physio work done on me
- Show Denver again.
- Compete some more in jiu jitsu
- Start working towards publishing one of my novels

My hopes for 2019:

- Potentially go to university
- Write another novel
- Travel to British Columbia
- Get hired by the Toronto Zoo (my school placement is there!)
- Get a car or truck
- Set up a community project

Thankyou for following me on my crazy adventurous this year! A big shout out to all of you who supported me financially, those who kept me in their prayers, and for all of your ongoing moral support! I couldn't have accomplished what I did this year without all of your help!

Mission: St Nicholas: Quebec City

On Christmas morning my Mom opened up a special message in a colourful package from St Nicholas. "A huge storm took my sled off course," the letter explained, "I need the purest beeswax candle. The candle light will reveal my way home to the North Pole." Since my Mother makes beeswax candles, that clearly meant we had to make the trip to Quebec city and hide the candle in a special vault. That way St Nicholas could find his way home!

 I helped my parents make a scavenger hunt, so the children would have fun packing their bags. The next day we took off in two cars for the seven hour drive to Quebec City! 

Us older kids all gathered in my brothers car for the long drive

We stayed at Delta hotel right by old Quebec. Since there wasn't a room for ten people, we spilt into two rooms for five. The food at the hotel was fabulous and it wasn't very busy in the gym! I got the whole gym to myself for an hour! It has been a really long time since I've done any serious running. In high school I used to do track and cross country. I've been so caught up in jiu jitsu that I haven't had time to do other sports. To my surprise though my cardio is actually way better then it used to be before! I think jiu jistu has actually improved my ability to run!

Later that evening us older family members explored part of the old city at night. It was really spectacular, especially with all the Christmas lights!

The next day we packed up and went out as a whole family into the old city! The plan was for me to find a geocache large enough for the special candle. I tried, but being stealth in a high tourist location is difficult, and it was very, very cold outside! In the end we decided to hide the candle under a large Christmas tree in the town square! Not far from the tree we found a choir singing and St Nicholas with them, so the little girls were convinced that our mission was legit! 

The tree where we hid the candle! 

Old Quebec made me think a lot of Europe. The cobblestone roads, the architecture, the language, and music. It was cool to experience that European culture so close to home! It was very cold while we were there, so hopefully next time I come explore this city it will be much warmer! 

Overall it was a fantastic trip to end the year with! I definitely think we should do another St Nicholas related mission again next year!

Christmas 2018!!!!

"Maybe Christmas, the grinch thought, doesn't come from a store." -Dr Seus

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year! Not for the gifts, the lights, the food - although that's definitely one of the best parts! I love being with my family, getting away from the business of my life, and being able to relax! It is also the holiday celebrating the birth of my saviour Jesus Christ. Without him and my faith, I'm not sure where I would be today!

This Christmas was one of the best to date! On Christmas Eve we attended the community dinner. It is a free Christmas dinner for the whole community! I love it as it is a great way for everyone to meet up and share in the Christmas spirit. For those who don't have families to celebrate with, this is the perfect way to have company and enjoy a hearty meal. Santa also came for the kids with free gifts, which made my youngest sister's day!

Siblings chilling at the community dinner.

 We have a tradition of opening the sibling gifts on Christmas Eve! My youngest sister was the sweetest! She managed to get all seven of her siblings gifts without spending a dollar. Instead, she gave us personal items of her own that she thought we would like. It was so touching it almost made me cry! She gave me a purse-since I don't have one. Then a book about hyenas since I have a placement at the Toronto Zoo and she knows I like animals! I also got awesome socks from my sister Nancy!

Christmas morning I was bombarded by my siblings at 6am trying to roll me out of bed! We started the morning by open gifts! The best gift for me was a new bedding rake, and it was extra special since I have my name engraved in it as well! I will now be the fastest mucker in the barn with this awesome rake! Co-workers beware! lol (its being engraved right now so I don't have a picture!).

I also got myself a sweater with my jiu jitsu clubs logo on it! I really feel a part of the team now! I'm happy to be home with my family, but I'm really missing the training and my team mates!

I also got a toque from Absolute Equestian! I always wanted one of these, and now I have one!

We then went to church, where there was a round of secret santa gifts between my sisters and their friends. It was great catching up with my old friends, and celebrating the reason for the season.

Then we had an endless amount of delicious food and sweets! I feel sick to my stomach, I ate way to much, but it was so worth it! 

Right now we are in Quebec city on a family adventure (geocaching and exploring the city). Will be doing a post about that soon! Merry Christmas to you all! Wishing you a safe and blessed holiday!

Slow Down!

I find in our culture there is always this push to exceed limits, go faster, push forward, and essentially run till you burn out.

Now I am definitely not opposed with pushing yourself, giving 100%, and exceeding limits....

Got Gold at my first jiu jitsu competition last weekend. Ian and Sheri (Who I met in Africa) came to watch! They are such an awesome couple, so happy to have met them!

But sometimes we need to SLOW down!

And this is more a post for me then anyone else! I don't like to slow down! I have so much energy, I love exploring, experiencing new things, being successful, pouring my whole self into something. Non of this is bad, but I definitely over due it sometimes, and as I lay in bed my lungs filling with mucous, and my head heavy from clogged airways for almost a week now, I am beginning to realize that maybe I would recover quicker from ailments if I gave myself some time to recover.

I made a decision this weekend to give up doing something that I would normally not do! Two things actually! Ask for a day off of work, and give up showing Denver on the weekend.

I don't like taking days off work short notice, because I do love my job, I commit my time to it, and I want to be reliable. However, I always tell my co-workers they should take the day off when they are sick, so I decided to do what I advise and allow myself to heal.

Giving up the horse show was a little harder, I won't lie. I love competing and I feel like Denver and I really had a shot at doing well. I remembered the fable of a man though, who ran all day around this large section of land to claim it as his own. He covered many miles by the end of the day, but when he crossed the finish line he collapsed and died due to his greed for more land then he probably needed. In healthy circumstances would pushing myself to do well in the show and bring home ribbons matter? No, it would be good for character. However, being sick as I am and pushing myself would only be for my desire to hang a few more ribbons up on the wall. It would not be fair to Denver either, placing ourselves in that situation, and there will be other horse shows.

This is kind of a funny post to make before I begin National Novel Writing Month where I will literally put every spare minute of my day into finishing a 50,000 word novel in a month. It was a super rewarding challenge last year though and I want to do it again. Last year I wrote a novel called Witness about the end times and witnesses mentioned in the book of Revelations (Bible). This year I am devoting the challenge to complete a memoir about my Trip tp Africa! Here is a little sneak peak!

Synopsis

Memoir about my three month trip to Uganda. Twenty years of age, minimal traveling experience, and first time in an undeveloped country. A journey of discovering, unexpected adventures, making dreams come true, battling disease, and love.  

Excerpt

I want to take you on a journey across the seas to reddish soil, dark skin, affectious smiles, lizards, laughter, dance, and song! To a land with corruption deep in its core, where bloated chests heave, where dark powers reside, and blood is not uncommonly seen. 

Where I only shed tears once, where I was happy, anxious, excited all at once. Where my heart got captured and torn apart. The land deep in my dream land that I saved up to see, the dreams of the people I grew to know, and who became family. 

So enjoy the ride from car crash, sickness, laughter, dance, song; parched lips, deadly liquids, witch craft, spirituality, love, heart, and running from harm. 

So even if you are busy and challenge yourself relentlessly as I often do, take half a day off sometimes, do something you enjoy, make sure you sleep. Pause an activity and never feel bad taking time to admire beautiful things!